Dragon Tiger Gate (Movie Review) + Deltamac (HK) DVD Review

Dragon Tiger Gate :: Deltamac (HK) :: 2 Disc Edition

Originally posted by: Hussain on Oct 04, 2006 - 12:51 AM

After Sha Po Lang, director Wilson Yip and actor/action director Donnie Yen re-united to picturise the popular HK comic books Dragon Tiger Gate. Does the film top their previous collaboration?

Director: Wilson Yip Wai-sun
Main Stars: Nicolas Tse, Donnie Yen, Shawn Yue, Yuen Wah, Dong Jie, Li Xiaoran
Production Year: 2006
Studio: Deltamac
Packaging: Amaray (in a slipcase)
Extras: On the Set (The Four Main Settings, Pre-production, Shooting Diaries, Making Of...), Interviews, Deleted Scenes, Stills Gallery, Cannes Night & Hong Kong Gala, TV Spots, Trailers, 3 Tatoo Labels included in the package.
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio Tracks: Cantonese Dolby Digital 6.1, Cantonese DTS 6.1, Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary in 2.0
Subtitles: English, simplified and traditional Chinese
Regional Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Running Time: 94 minutes
Rating / Certificate: IIB
Release Date: September 21th 2006

The Film After the success of Sha Po Lang it must have been very hard to meet the expectations of HK action film fans with this new project that is the picturisation of Tony Wong Yuk-long's Dragon Tiger Gate, a HK comic book series that has been popular for over 30 years. The audience has to notice though that although Dragon Tiger Gate has a lot of action scenes, the project has never been about topping the action of Sha Po Lang. Tiger Wong (Nicolas Tse) and Dragon Wong (Donnie Yen) are two half-brothers who were seperated as kids. The younger brother, Tiger, stayed with his uncle (Yuen Wah) at Dragon Tiger Gate, a well known kung fu school, while Dragon went with his mother. As they grew up they never met again until about 20 years later. Tiger finds out that Dragon has become the bodyguard of an infamous triad boss. However, he knows that deep in his heart he still treasures the righteous teachings of Dragon Tiger Gate school. We learn a lot more about the two characters through quite a few over-dramatised flashbacks until we are forced to accept Dragon as a good guy, too. Telling more about his past here would spoil the film though. Instead, let's elaborate on the character played by Shawn Yue. Turbo came to HK from abroad. In Chinatown he was the best fighter and he is now travelling the world in order to learn as many kung fu styles as possible. So it is no coincidence that one day he stands in front of the Dragon Tiger Gate, begging to become a disciple of Master Wong. It might remind you of American Shaolin when he is thrown out of the school and when he starts camping in front of the gate. However, he is soon accepted after he notices his faults. When one night the school is attacked by an underworld lord, Tiger, Turbo and Dragon unite in order to face the villain in his own lair. There are five major action sequences in the film. The one that introduces Nicolas Tse's fighting abilities was rightly positioned at the beginning of the film. I was amazed at how well Donnie Yen turned this non-martial artist into an on-screen fighter. Nicolas Tse's claims that this was his first real action film, while all the films he did before only featured stunts and short fights. He is kind of right in claiming that, because I have never seen him perform so well in terms of physical action. This scene is the definite kicking showreel for Nicolas Tse. Shawn Yue's character's introduction is the second action sequence which has been masterfully shot in my opinion. The setting is a Japanese restaurant which has been built specifically for the shoot as it doesn't have a roof, allowing the camera to show the action scenes from bird's eye view, moving from room to room without a cut. Dozens of bodyguards attack Tiger and his friends during their dinner. In the room next to them is sitting Turbo (Shawn Yue) at the table on the floor. On the table we see a pair of nunchakus. As he is threatened he joins the brawl and that nunchaku choreography is something I haven't seen in quite a while. Applause to Donnie Yen's choreography. I wonder how it would have turned out if Turbo was played by an actor with martial arts background and nunchaku experience. The scene is proof to the fact that Donnie Yen has been training in martial arts since he was 12 years old. The other action scenes are equally well choreographed, with the final showdown being my least favourite one to be honest. The heavy use of CGI is forgiveable as the film remains a comicbook transition to the big screen. The soundtrack was composed by Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell 1 + 2, Seven Swords, Antarctic Journal) and will remind you of some of his previous work, especially of the music during the action scenes of Seven Swords. Still a good score, though. Overall, the action sequences make the film watchable. It is visually stunning, too (ed.: especially due to the long hairstyles of the lead characters and the heavy use of wind machines). The storyline might not appeal to everybody, even those who do know the comic books. But the highly stylised visuals and great action scenes made me want to own it on DVD as Donnie Yen's latest action film.  Action: 4/5 Suspense: 2/5 Story: 2.5/5 Humor: 1/5 Romance: 1/5 Drama Level: 2.5/5 Eroticism: 0.5/5 Music: 3.5/5 Cinematograhy: 4/5 TOTAL This film could appeal to you if you liked: Sha Po Lang or Operation Scorpio The DVD The Deltamac DVD release features awesome video and audio quality. There is a Cantonese DTS and 6.1 track as there is a Mandarin 6.1 dub. Sadly, the commentary is not subtitled, but almost all of the extras on the second disc are. The only extras that aren't subbed are the deleted scenes. Disc 2 has the following extras: On the Set: - The Four Main Settings: Dragon Tiger Gate (2m 34s), Japanese Restaurant (2m 25s), Floating Restaurant (2m 28s), Lousha Gate (2m 36s) - Shooting Diaries: Pre-production (3m 20s), Shooting Diaries 1 (3m 34s), SD 2 (4 minutes), SD 3 (3m 31s) - Making Of (18m 28s) Star Interviews: Donnie Yen (24m 31s), Nicolas Tse (13m 42s), Shawn Yue (13m 13s), Dong Jie (7m 28s), Li Xiaoran (7m 11s), Director Wilson Yip (18m 01s) Deleted Scenes: Total running time of 7m 40s. Photo Gallery: A clip showing production stills. Running time: 4m 47s Cannes Night & Hong Kong Gala: Two video clips showing the premieres at Cannes and Hong Kong. Both clips do not feature English subtitles. Cannes Night runs for 2m 1s & Hong Kong Gala runs for 3m 46s. The rest is a teaser, a trailer and three TV spots. The trailer features English subtitles. What you get overall is a very good 2-disc DVD release of a quality action film. The brilliant picture and sound quality of this DVD are supported by a nice set of special features that are subbed in very good English. What else could one ask for in a HK DVD release? DVD Menus: 3/5 Picture: 4.5/5Audio: 4.5/5Subtitles: 4/5Special Features:4/5