Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15760 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: Cantonese Chinese
• Subtitled in: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 310 minutes

Synopsis
The first three chapters in Tsui Hark's spectacular saga of ancient China, starring Jet Li as folk hero doctor Wong Fei-Hong, are including in this box set. See individual titles for more details.

Customer Reviews

Light-hearted kung fu romp
Scoring over many other kung fu stories due to its genuine historical context, the Once Upon A Time In China trilogy is a good mix of stylish Chinese theatre action, gentle humour, subtle romance and Cantonese dialogue (with English sub-titles, or course). Just a shame the option of English dubbing is actually in American, and the post-production team have never watched a single episode of The Water Margin. If you don't what I mean, watch the Water Margin to hear how much better the English dubbing is compared to this Trilogy.

Great Stuff
set in 19th century China, at a time when the West was coming into contact or interferring as some locals thought), these films star the hero Wong Fei-Hung and his companions trying to stop the conflict etc.

If you're a fan of martial arts films, you will love these. If not, you might just see it as "too much fighting". They are good though, as is Iron Monkey, a kind of prequel to these films.

Top Level Kung Fu
It's one small flying kick for Jet Li, one giant leap for kung fu cinema. When the traditional kung fu flick had been dead for a decade, Tsui Hark (Once dubbed 'the Spielberg of the East') resurrected it by marrying art and commerce in a way that preceded 'Crouching Tiger' by a decade. The OUATIC films are entertaining yet intelligent. They are dominated by social themes that have lost none of the relevance. The performances are wonderful, the cinematography and score work with the sets and costumes to add to this rich tapestry of cinema. And the fights... Wires are used to enhance rather than replace the skills of the performers. The choreography is sublime. No self respecting kung fu fan could do without the first two OUTIC movies. Those with no time for kung fu cinema would do well to seek this out too. Some people like the third film - I didn't. But there's no excuse not to buy this box set. The DVDs contain the Original Cantonese version, a terrible dubbed version, and informative commentary by Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan. Stick on the subtitled version, turn out the lights and watch the finest that martial arts cinema has to offer.