ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY TAO (DVD - MTI Home Video)

For a low budget DTV release, this is an impressive DVD package that comes with a robust and professionally produced collection of bonus material including audio commentary with writer-director Kenn Scott, a “Making Of” featurette, deleted scenes, alternate opening fight scene, music video, and trailers. For more on the film itself see our ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY TAO review, otherwise read on for a breakdown of the disc’s bonus material.

Audio Commentary with Kenn Scott – Excellent commentary from writer-director Kenn Scott reveals this truly was his passion project. He covers the film in detail with exactly the sort of inside knowledge audiences and aspiring filmmakers would want to hear from production challenges and gaffes to enlightening information on cast, crew and shooting locations. Scott also explains his contribution to the score and the underlying Taoist philosophies he tried to convey in the film. He discusses some of the film’s fight work and the actors and stuntmen involved. In short, if you enjoyed watching ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY TAO and want to know more about the production from any angle then listening to this commentary is mandatory.

Adventure in the Making: The Making Of Adventures of Johnny Tao: (9 minutes) – Concise and informative behind-the-scenes look at the film with interviews from cast and crew including director Kenn Scott, DP Matt Sohn, stunt choreographer Marcus Young, actress Chris Yen, and actor Kelly Perine. Scott discusses the film’s conception and Young explains succinctly how he approached the action choreography. Also shown, is behind-the-scenes footage of the three leads, which along with testimonials from Scott and Young, prove they’re all skilled fighters without editing and wires.

Deleted Scenes (2 minutes) – Contains three short deleted scenes, none with action.

Original Fight Scene (4 minutes) – This is an alternate, earlier version of the duel that opens the film. It was filmed three years before production began as a teaser to shop to potential investors. According to Scott, the original sequence had to be discarded because it had been filmed on 16mm and the actual production was on HD. The costumes and props are less flashy, there are no post-production effects and wires have yet to be erased. Yet this early version easily beats the final one. From the choreography to the camera placement and editing, it looks like a near perfect copy of a classic Corey Yuen or Yuen Woo-ping sequence from the 1990s. The newer version used in the film lacks the same kinetic, Hong Kong-style punch and looks more rushed although an obvious attempt to try and replicate the original was made.

Music Video (3 minutes) – One of the rockabilly songs from the film is set to more behind-the-scenes footage.

Trailers – Trailers for FORBIDDEN WARRIOR, 48 ANGELS, ALWAYS WILL, and ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY TAO.

Format: Region 1 NTSC DVD
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English 2.0, English 5.1
Subtitles: Spanish
Length: 86 minutes
Release Date: July 29, 2008

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  • dninja616

    threee and a half stars for this, and 1 and a half for Invisible Target?….BS!!

  • http://www.kungfucinema.com Mark Pollard

    You're comparing the DVD score for ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY TAO to the film score for INVISIBLE TARGET. The score for ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY TAO is 3.0. I expect that still may seem wrong to you. The reason for scores like these is that I review movies on a curve to balance low-budget films with more mainstream ones. In the most simple terms, my review scores reflect how well I believe a filmmaker used available resources to create a movie and how entertaining I found the results to be. I don't expect everyone to agree with my assessments but I strive to remain consistent in whatever bias I may bring into the review process. You ultimately need to look beyond the scores to figure out where I stand on issues like Nicky Li's choreography or a particular performance from Nicholas Tse.