Tai Chi Master & Legend Of Fong Sai Yuk UK Blu Ray Reviews

Cine Asia have recently released these two Jet Li classics onto Blu ray in the UK and below is a small capsule review of both. Both are ALL REGION.

Tai Chi Master stars Jet Li and Chin Siu Ho as two shaolin disciples and friends who grow up in the temple together. After a fight goes wrong both are expelled and they take different paths one as an army general the other a sympathizer to the rebels. When a fearless female freedom-fighter (Michelle Yeoh) is captured and condemned to death, the two men will meet on the battlefield for one last life-or-death confrontation.
Yuen Woo Ping does very well with the action scenes even if there is a lot of wire-work involved. Jet and especially Chin Siu Ho are great in there roles and the film is a satisfying martial arts movie.
The Blu ray is 1080p and the transfer is good if a little grainy in places. Colour are much more pronounced than the dvd and overall its a pretty good transfer.
The sound is given as Cantonese or English dubbed  Dolby Digital 5.1 and it says an original Cantonese mono track. This is clearly not true as this track is just a downmix from the 5.1 with all the annoying added sound fx present. Disappointing. Extras which are in SD are ported over from the dvd release which includes a good audio commentary from Bey Logan and an Interview with Chin Siu Ho.
PICTURE: ***  SOUND: **  EXTRAS: ****
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Legend Of Fong Sai Yuk or just Fong Sai Yuk to give it its original title was made in 1993 and is one of the better kung fu comedy films made in that period.Sai Yuk gets involved with a government official's daughter just as he discovers his family is part of a rebel resistance movement. Now he must battle to save his family from the ruthless officials in a fight to the death. Enjoyable film which uses lots of wire-work and with great performances from Jet Li and Josephine Siao as his mother. Look out for a blistering fight between Jet and the then unknown Chiu Man Chuk who went on to play Wong Fei Hung in the Once Upon A Time In China films after Jet Li left the role.
Again the Blu ray is 1080p but it is a disappointing transfer. it is very grainy and soft although the colours are very well represented especially in close up shots. Audio is Cantonese 2.0 mix and thankfully is not tampered with even though it is very weak. An English 5.1 track is also included. But the bad thing about this release is that it is cut. They have used the original American edit which removes some comedy and a little of the violence. While this does not spoil the film it is sad that they could not have got an uncut print to release.
Extras are again the same as the dvd and in SD. These include another great audio commentary by Bey Logan and interviews with Corey Yuen and Jeff Lau. Overall a good disc just a pity they could not have got an uncut version.
PICTURE: ***  SOUND: *** EXTRAS: ****
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