Protector and Magnificent Bodyguards. HKL A quick look.

[David G Rees]

Had a look at the latest 2 dvd releases from Hong Kong Legends and there both poor im afraid.
First The Protector.
Its the US version of the film, not the superior HK edit.
The transfer is good and it is the unrated version, with some extra violence not seen in the original R rated release.
Sound is DD 5.1 and stereo.
No extras to speak of except a few trailers for other releases not even a trailer for the film itself.
HKL have really let fans down with this release, no mention at all of the superior HK edit of the film, no deleted or alternate scenes....nothing...a release for JC completists only i think. Lets hope theres a superior Joy Sales DVD in HK soon.
Magnificent Bodyguards is one of Jackie's worst Lo Wei produced films in my opinion and another viewing after many years just confirms it.
HKL presentation is basic, anamorphic widescreen 2.35-1 with a very washed out print with poor contrast, although this is probably bacause of the 3D filming process originally used.
It has a DD 5.1 sound mix together with mono (downmix i think), both cantonese (wasnt this originally a mandarin film?), also an english dub.
No extras apart from an audio commentary from Andrew Staton which i turned off after 5 minutes. Again not even an original trailer.
Lets hope future HKL releases are better than these two poor efforts.

[killer meteor]

Magnificent Bodyguards should be Mandarin anyway. Is the English dub the original? And did it have the Star Wars music?

[thundered mantis]

MB is at least a step above the rest editions being anamorphic and OAR, isn´t it? I´ll wait for it to be around 5 quid to get it... (loved the Star Wars tune, and always felt the cropping in my fullsc VHS was particularly bad)

[killer meteor]

I'm a fan of MB. Wait for Joy Sales and Dragon Dynasty's versions before buying.

[chen lung]

I've told them about downmixes and the language issue for 'Magnificent Bodyguards'. Maybe a reissue will follow, but I doubt it.

[luckystars]

Unlikely tho. I was ready to order this too... :(

[killer meteor]

I've told them about downmixes and the language issue for 'Magnificent Bodyguards'. Maybe a reissue will follow, but I doubt it.

Since when has HKL reissued corrected versions of anything?

[David G Rees]

Yes the Star Wars music is on there...not sure if its original dub, will check and let you know.

[Markgway]

I think The Protector maybe remixed also, but as I don't have the Warner release I can't be sure. Sounds like new foley for gunfire and explosions. The "original stereo" is neither original nor stereo. It's a mono downmix, with the occasional stereofied explosion. I would presume Warners use the correct 2.0 track. On the plus side, the HKL image is improved, IMO.

[The Running Man]

Is the HKL Magnificent Bodyguards release sourced from a FS print?

And are the subtitles on it of the usual high standard they do?

[David G Rees]

Yes it seems to be a Fortune Star print, although as i mentioned pretty poor by there standards. Subtitles are fine as far as i can tell.
HKL are planning to release New Fist Of Fury, Spiritual Kung Fu and Dragon Fist (what about Shaolin Wooden Men, one of my favourites?) around May or June time, lets hope these releases are better than this one.

[killer meteor]

If they just use the standard FS masters, New Fist Of Fury is going to be cut by 40min+

I'm still waiting to hear if the HKL Fearless Hyena has the full ending or not.

[Chinatown Kid]

I don't think Magnificent Bodyguards was a film worthy of the HKL's treatment, I wish they would have chose a film like Mystery of Chessboxing because that's one film I would love to see remastered in w/s. I guess they can only put out titles they have the rights to though and maybe Chessboxing isn't one of them. :\ I thought most of Jackie's films he did with Lo Wei sucked except for Dragon Fist and Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin.

[killer meteor]

I quite like the JC/Lo Wei films. Some of them are terrific

Dragon DVD released the full frame version of Chess boxing on DVD. I wonder if the theatrical print that exists can be licensed for say, Rarescope

And you must remember HKL is on autopilot now, doing the bare mininum on the Fortune Star back catalogue and not even succeding with that at times

[Markgway]

Korean movie My Wife is a Gangster has just come out with only an audio commentary to its name. I remember when this was mooted as a 2-disc set a couple of years back! How the mighty have fallen...

[Chinatown Kid]

Yes it has, I remember a time when HKL's was THE premier Kung Fu DVD company with the most extras and best pic quality. I wonder what happened?

[killer meteor]

Simple. Brian White left and no-one took his place. Then again, since he left, the picture quality has improved. Pity there's no quality control with regard to sound

[Chinatown Kid]

The last HKL's discs I bought were Wheels On Meals and Hapkido and the extra's were quite nice for those. Since then they haven't really released any titles I was interested in, I'm definately not interested in a film like Magnificent Bodyguards. I also got tired of all their re-releases of all their BL films(Platnium Edition, etc.) as it seemed they were just milking fans for more money. I know they really goofed up the Warriors Two sound as I own that disc as well. It was definately a loss when Bey Logan stopped doing commentary for them too. I just wish they would start putting out more interesting titles and cram them with extra's like they once did. At one time they were the Royalty of HK martial arts films on DVD. Some titles I'd like to see them put out are Tiger Cage 2, Mystery of Chessboxing, Call Me Dragon, Innocent Interloper, License to Steal, Enter the Fat Dragon, Fearless Young Boxer, Tournament, and When Taekwondo Strikes. Like I said before though, I know there is a rights issue. Do they still have a deal with Media Asia?

[ginistheman]

Can anyone confirm if MB has the original english dub? Similarly, do Fearless Hyena and Hand of Death have orginal english dubs, or are they all new ones?

Thanks in advance.

[ironfistedmonk2003]

Its got the original dub but with that 5.1 remixing bollox, no mono.