Jet Li’s The Enforcer (1995/Genius/Dragon Dynasty DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Film: C+
NOTE: This edition has no original
Cantonese/Chinese track or any DTS sound like DVDs in this series usually do.
One of
the earlier films that brought Jet Li attention in the U.S., Cory Yuen’s crime
actioner The Enforcer (1995)
actually gives Li more of a character than usual to play before the bullets and
karate chops start flying. This was
considered a landmark for its fights and is one of the reasons Li is the most
successful martial arts star since Bruce Lee to make this genre of film.
Of
course, the storyline overall is still a bit thin and outside of the fights, wears
thin quickly, but Li is giving one of his better current time performances with
little pretension and that is why it is still talked about. However, the film is far from a classic
outside of its genre and what was fresh then seems somewhat played out after
being imitated and duplicated so often since, but fans will be happy, save the
missing original audio track
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.85 X 1 image looks like it is form a new print, yet the image is
softer than usual, flat and something is wrong with this transfer. The Dragon Dynasty transfers are usually so
good, but this definitely falls short.
The dark scenes suffer more than the light ones. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is an English dub
and not very impressive. You’d think it
would be if the original audio was not available, but it also disappoints. Extras include yet another feature length
audio commentary by Bey Logan – an expert on these films and three on-camera
interviews: Producer Wong Ling, former child star Tse Miu and actor Ken Lo.
- Nicholas Sheffo
