Once Upon a Time in China 2 (DVD, 2001)

I think that this is a must-buy DVD for fans of martial arts films from Hong Kong. This movie delivers, and this DVD also delivers.

First, the DVD. It's great. A lot of people have complained about Hong Kong movie DVDs, and rightly so, but this one delivers the goods. First, the video transfer is VERY good. Usually, they do NOT look this good. The print is sharp and relatively clean. There's an artifact or two on occasion, but by and large, it's a very nice transfer. Much better than a lot of other movies, especially for its age (1992).

The sound is also very good. I noticed that it was in Dolby Digital 5.1 and there was actually some use of the surround channels. Not like some of those other DVDs in Dolby 2.0 or mono!

For the langauges, you get the English dub AND a Cantonese soundtrack with English subtitles. Remember those Jet Li DVDs with only a dub? Well this one isn't like that! And another benefit is that the subtitles are presented extremely well. They are in yellow and in the black bar at the bottom of the screen (it fits since it's 2.35:1). The letters are easy to read since they are large enough, it is a clear sub without spelling errors, and the titles don't move too fast that you can't read them. I've had some really bad experiences with some HK subtitles, but rest assured, this one is good.

So the DVD is of high quality, no question about it. But how's the movie? It's also very good! I've seen my share of HK movies, and this one was definitely one of the better ones. There's some very cool action. A mix of wire and non-wire. Jet Li is great and so is Donnie Yen. It may not be wall-to-wall action, but I felt there was enough and what you do get is really good. Oh, and the film's soundtrack is also good, clearly above average. Heck, even the plot isn't that bad. This movie as a whole certainly blows Part III of this series out of the water.

I'm very happy with this.