Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Wheels on Meals Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 18, 2019

Sammo Hung's "Wheels on Meals" (1984) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage promotional materials for the film, as well as archival interviews with cast and crew members. The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring a new essay by James Oliver. In Cantonese or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Foreign fighters

Forget about chasing the dragon. Johnny Lee and Eddie Tang had a direct line to Big D’s office and took a ton of notes while working on the script for Sammo Hung’s Wheels on Meals. Not convinced? C’mon now. This film would have never turned out as unhinged as it is if they were only occasionally using the old pipe to get an extra dose of inspiration.

Thomas (Jackie Chan) and David (Biao Yuen) have relocated to Barcelona and are making ends meet while selling burgers and drinks from their tiny van. It is not an easy gig but there are always good-looking girls around them and plenty of sun.

While visiting David’s father at a local sanatorium, the cousins bump into Sylvia (Lola Former), a very beautiful Spanish girl, and then much to their delight discover that she is the daughter of the old man’s best friend. They try and fail to engage her, but a day later meet her again -- only this time in the city’s red-light district where she is a pickpocket pretending to be a pricey escort girl. When the police try to catch Sylvia, Thomas and David welcome her to their apartment and renew their attempts to impress her. But the girl steals their money as well, and then leaves them arguing who deserves the lion’s share of the blame for letting her in their apartment.

Meanwhile, in a different corner of the city, private detective Moby (Sammo Hung) is hired to track down a young heiress who has been missing for a long time. After he is handed a juicy down payment for his services, Moby quickly goes to work and has a car accident with Sylvia. She smiles at him, he ‘loses’ his wallet, and they head in different directions.

Eventually, fate brings together the two cousins, Moby and Sylvia, as well as a gang of vicious thugs who seem determined to put Sylvia in a coffin. While they repeatedly clash, Moby realizes that Sylvia might be the heiress that was he was hired to locate.

The technical side of Wheels on Meals, which covers everything from the action choreography to the particular locations that were chosen around Barcelona for key sequences, is predictably strong. Indeed, there is plenty of nice show-off footage where the three male leads basically deliver the type of quality material that one would expect from an action comedy that has their names attached to it.

Unfortunately, everything else is really quite difficult to praise. For example, the quality of the writing is so inconsistent that the overwhelming majority of the humor that is supposed to glue the action together and make it appear meaningful just does not work. There are many scenes where the characters are routinely left to impress with banal lines that make them look very odd and at times even completely lost. What is really bizarre, however, is that it is actually very easy to tell that the writing is problematic and the only magic occurs whenever the stars are no longer expected to engage each other in dull conversations, and yet there are seemingly endless attempts to prove the exact opposite. Excluding most of the action footage, the editing also leaves a lot to be desired. Whenever the latest action scene ends, it feels like the film is rushing to move to the next episode where something greater will be revealed, leaving the buildup that was in progress looking quite random and even misleading. (A good example is the episode where Moby’s client requests a meeting at the very top of the historic tower).

Ultimately, the film’s strength is in the action, and if this is all that one requires to be entertained, then it is hard to imagine that one wouldn’t be pleased with it. However, if one also requires a proper dose of quality humor to go along with it, then there is an excellent chance that sooner or later one would simply grow tired of the problematic writing.

Wheels on Meals Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sammo Hung's Wheels on Meals arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release is sourced from a 2K remaster that is every bit as strong as the one that was used for the recent release of City Hunter. Depth, clarity, and fluidity are excellent. Folks with projectors will be pleased to hear that fluidity is also very good and the visuals hold up really well. There are a few spots where it feels like the blacks are slightly elevated and as a result mild crushing eliminates tiny nuances, but the end result is still very strong. The color grading is convincing. There are solid and healthy primaries with lovely ranges of nuances. Image stability is outstanding. All in all, this is a very strong presentation of the film that will unquestionably please folks that have been waiting for a quality upgrade of it. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Wheels on Meals Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are six standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese: LPCM Mono (Original), Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Cantonese LPCM 2.0 (Alternate Soundtrack), English LPCM Mono (Classic Dub), English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Classic Dub), and English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (2006 Dub).

I decided to view the film with the Alternate Cantonese track, which is exclusive to this release and utilizes original Cantonese dialog plus bits of the soundtrack from the original Internationale release. I did not finish the film with it. My impression is that it will probably be appreciated by fans of the film, but casual viewers viewers will likely not find the differences/additions too meaningful. So, I switched to the classic English dub, which made me smile a bit more than some of the funny scenes from the film (the fake Italian accent in particular). The big picture is this: as expected, there is plenty of unevenness and random flat moments all over the film. Some of the accents make the exchanges difficult to follow, but this is how the dub was recorded. The range of dynamics is good. Also, I did not detect any distracting age-related imperfections.

Wheels on Meals Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers -
  
  1. Original theatrical trailer. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles. (4 min).
  2. Internaitonal trailer. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).
  3. Japanese Startan X trailer. In Japanese, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Outtakes -
  
  1.Startan X alternate Japanese release credits. In English, with printed Japanese subtitles. (4 min).
  2. Outtake footage - a collection of outtakes with some pretty wild action footage. (4 min).

• Interviews -
  
  1. On Giant's Shoulders: An Interview with Sammo Hung - the veteran actor/director recalls what it was like to shoot Wheels on Meals in Spain without speaking Spanish. Also, there are interesting comments about some of the key action scenes from the film. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles. (8 min).
  
  2. Archival Interview with Sammo Hung - the actor/director discusses the early stages of his career, his professional relationship with Jackie Chan, the shooting of Wheels on Meals in Barcelona, working in Hong Kong versus overseas, etc. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).
  
  3. Born to Fight: An Interview with Yuen Biao - in this archival interview, the actor discusses his professional relationship with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, the Hong Kong film industry, the shooting of Wheels on Meals, etc. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles. (15 min).
  
  4. Jet Fighter: An Interview with Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez - in this archival video interview, discusses his philosophy of life and fighting, his interactions with Jackie Chan, the notorious fight at the end of Wheels on Meals, etc. In English, not subtitled. (29 min).
  
  5. King of the Ring: An Interview with Keith Vitali - in this archival interview, actor/martial arts fighter Keith Vitali discusses his admiration for Chuck Norris and his fighting strategy, his time in Barcelona during the shooting of Wheels on Meals, his impressions of the film's three leads and their fighting and acting styles, etc. In English, not subtitled. (34 min).
  
  6. The Inside Track: An Interview with Stanley Tong - in this archival interview, actor Stanley Tong discusses his time in the film business, his involvement with Wheels on Meals, his different ways in which international audiences reaction to action, what it is like to work with Jackie Chan, etc. In English, not subtitled. (35 min).

• Booklet - a Limited Edition Collector's booklet featuring a new essay by James Oliver.

Wheels on Meals Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is pretty obvious that Wheels on Meals was conceived as a 'East-meets-West' type of action comedy that would appeal to a very diverse group of viewers, especially in foreign markets. It is a nice concept for a film, but I think that some of the folks that polished it might have had a bit too much fun with it. It just feels this way. The writing is pretty wild, and not in a good way, and at the end it is only the incredible athleticism of the three leads that actually produces some memorable moments. Eureka Entertainment's new release is sourced from a very nice 2K remaster is guaranteed to please fans of the film. RECOMMENDED.