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Dom Robinson reviews 
M.I.A.
- Cert:
- Cat.no: DV 1037
- Running time: 100 minutes
- Year: 1997
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 18 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
- Languages: Cantonese, English (dubbed)
- Subtitles: English
- Widescreen: 1.78:1 and 2.10:1
- 16:9-enhanced: Yes and No (respectively)
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Theatrical trailers, Making-of featurette, Cast and Filmmakers Biographies, The Legend of Wong Fei Wong, “Behind the Scenes” Still Gallery, Official Production Still Gallery, Original Movie Poster
Director:
- Sammo Hung
(Blade of Fury, Don’t Give a Damn, Dragons Forever, Eastern Condors, Encounter of the Spooky Kind, Enter the Fat Dragon, Ghost Punting, Heart of the Dragon, Iron Fisted Monk, Knockabout, Moon Warriors, Mr. Nice Guy, My Lucky Stars, The Odd Couple (1979), Once Upon a Time in China and America, Owl vs. Bumbo, Pantyhose Hero, Pedicab Driver, Prodigal Son, Seven Warriors, Shanghai Express, Slickers vs. Killers, Spooky Encounters, Spooky Spooky, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, The Victim, Warriors Two, Wheels on Meals, Winners and Sinners)
Producer:
- Tsui Hark
Music:
- Lo Kung Ting
Cast:
- Wong Fei Hung: Jet Li
Aunt Yee: Rosamund Kwan
“Clubfoot” Seven: Xin Xin Xiong
Sol: Kwok-Pong Chan
Once Upon a Time in China and America is a DVD that I thought at first was part of the Hong Kong Legends set of releases because of the way it’s been packaged. After their initial cock-up with the ratio for Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, I thought things were getting back on track with Hitman as it managed an anamorphic widescreen version with both original dialogue and English dubbing, plus optional on-screen subtitles.
It’s not though. It’s from M.I.A. who have released a number of martial arts action films but never quite get it right and here I don’t know what their thinking is, but before I go into all that, I’ll mention the plot, such that it is.
The star of Martial Law, Sammo Hung, takes the directing reins for this tale where martial arts meets the Wild Wild West. Wong Fei-Hong (Jet Li) is out in a horse and carriage with his fiancee Yee (Rosamund Kwan) and best-friend and sidekick “Clubfoot” Seven (Xin Xin Xiong). After being set upon by Native American Indians, their carriage is knocked down a cliff into the river and Wong smashes his head on a rock, knocking him out.
When he wakes up in John Dunbar-territory, he can’t remember who he is and sets about jumping and kicking all and sundry until his memory returns. The action is quite entertaining, but it doesn’t offer anything we’ve not seen before so don’t make it top of your list for DVD purchases.
Originally filmed in 2.35:1, the wording on the box sounded positive. It offered an anamorphic widescreen version with English subtitles, or a fullscreen version with English dubbed dialogue, so that should satisfy both the purists and those who just want to crash in front of the box with a few lagers and not have to worry about concentrating on the dialogue. Alas, we get neither of these.
The first version has English-dubbed dialogue in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is cropped in an anamorphic 16:9 ratio, following the opening titles which are in their original 2.35:1. The second is non-anamorphic, is slightly-cropped to around 2.10:1, has the original Cantonese dialogue in Dolby Surround, contains burnt-in English subtitles and the closing credits get cut off at the sides.
So, the purists don’t get their correct original ratio, optional subtitles, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, nor an anamorphic picture. The lager-lovers don’t get a fullscreen version so they’ll all be whinging about black bars on their 4:3 TV set. Could be worse though – the Region 1 DVD is cropped to 1.85:1, isn’t anamorphic and only in Dolby Surround with a featurette masquerading as an ‘extra’.
The print itself is pretty terrible. The non-anamorphic one lacks brightness and contrast by comparison and both have scores of print flecks and blotches, plus poor encoding. The average bitrate is a steady 4.40Mb/s, hovering around that mark for the duration of the film.
The sound is better for the Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, but it’s not the one I’d want to watch as there the picture is badly-cropped and is hard to follow at times. Both widescreen formats are treated as separate films so, for example, you can’t select the 2.10:1 widescreen picture with the DD5.1 soundtrack.
Extras :
Two trailers are included, the Hong Kong Trailer, a three-minute one with all the same production values as the aforementioned original language version, plus a longer English Trailer, also non-anamorphic but in 2.35:1 and dubbed into English.
A 25-minute Making-of featurette is included showing Sammo Hung throwing his weight about and giving the cast their orders. Raw work-in-progress footage is blended in with interviews with cast and crew members, with burnt-in subtitles. The exclusive “Behind the Scenes” Still Gallery contains 23 pictures taken on set and there are Cast and Filmmakers’ Biographies for the three main stars and its producer and director.
The Legend of Wong Fei Hung is five pages of production notes, the Official Production Still Gallery shows 10 pages of pictures, each with three on, although each contains one bigger and two tiny images. Finally, the Original Movie Poster is encases as part of the booklet.
There are just 18 chapters to the film, so it could use more and I’ve already discussed the languages and subtitles options, or lack of them. The sub-menus are static and silent, but have 4:3-cropped scenes placed inbetween them, taken from the film, while the main ones are animated and scored. Those which have movement are incredibly juddery.
Overall, hopes were high for this release, but sadly so was the disappointment when I played it. Definitely one to give a miss to.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.