REVIEW: ‘Madam City Hunter’ (DVD – World Video)

This World Video print is in bad shape and CAV’s awful packaging doesn’t make it any better. It at least includes the original Cantonese audio track, something Image Entertainment, in their otherwise superior 2007 DVD release cannot claim. While visually superior, Image’s version only comes with a Mandarin-language audio track.

World Video / CAV have not been releasing Asian action films for some time and it’s probably a good thing. Based in California, World Video is, or was, sitting on a large stock of Chinese flicks, most of them shoddy mainland prints with embedded subtitles. As their DVD distributing partner, CAV consistently put out hideous-looking cover art and menus with third-rate disc authoring that almost matches some of the old Ground Zero garbage that was virtually unplayable on some DVD players.

CAV’s release of MADAM CITY HUNTER does not possess the chapter stutters of some of their other releases but the film is cut in half with the counter reset midway through. The main menu actually looks decent as it features the film’s original poster art. But enter the special features section at your own risk. Someone decided to experiment with their font tools. There isn’t much in this section anyway, only a couple original trailers for DEADEND OF BESIEGERS and DEAD TARGET. They also confusingly put the language selections in this section. This is amateur work all the way.

The film print is washed out and colorless. Moderate to heavy print wear and tear is matched by low resolution. Of course, the aspect ratio is not formatted for widescreen displays. Poorly translated embedded Chinese and English subtitles are white and frequently blend in to the background, making it difficult, and at times impossible to read. The print also moves around a bit and subtitles get cut off at the bottom of the screen at one point. Both audio tracks are dubbed but the Cantonese version would be the most appropriate one to listen to. However, the voice recording is not as good as the Mandarin version.

Format: Region 0 NTSC DVD
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen (1:85:1)
Audio: Cantonese (DD 2.0), Mandarin (DD 2.0)
Subtitles: Chinese, English
Length: 88 minutes
Release Date: 2002.02.26