Way of the Dragon: Platinum Edition (Meng Long Guojiang) (1972)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Introduction-Robert Lee Audio Commentary-Bey Logan Introduction-Bey Logan (Disc 2) Featurette-Double Edged Sword: Interview With Bob Wall Featurette-Memories Of The Master: Interview With Pat Johnson Featurette-Warrior Immortal: Interview With Master Hwang In-Sik Featurette-A Dragon Remembered: Interview With Robert Lee Theatrical Trailer Teaser Trailer TV Spots Trailer-Fist Of Fury, Armour Of God, Once Upon A Time In China Trailer-Police Story, Iron Monkey Gallery-Photo-Production Photos Production Notes Featurette-Dragon Rising: Bruce Lee Screen Test Biographies-Cast Featurette-Inside 'Way Of The Dragon': Interview With Chaplin Chang Featurette-Artist & Warrior, Inside Way Of The Dragon: Louis Sit
Rating
Year Of Production	1972
Running Time	94:30 (Case: 85)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (55:22) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Bruce Lee
Studio Distributor	Fortune Star Universal Pictures Home Video	Starring	Bruce Lee Nora Miao Chuck Norris Ping-Ao Wei Chung-Hsin Huang Robert Wall Ing-Sik Whang Lau Wing
Case	?
RPI	$34.95	Music	Joseph Koo John Barry Ennio Morricone

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    If there is a more iconic scene in the history of martial arts cinema than the duel between Chuck Norris & Bruce Lee in the Colosseum, which concludes this film, I'm not sure what it would be. The only other scene which would come close would probably be the mirror room scene in Enter the Dragon. Although I have seen the Colosseum scene previously, I have not had the opportunity to see the complete and uncut version of this film. This was the third film Bruce Lee made as an adult star and it was his first as director. It was, oddly enough, originally to be called Enter The Dragon but an agreement was made for that title to be used for the American produced film. It was also know as Return of the Dragon, Fury of the Dragon & Revenge of the Dragon depending upon where you saw it. Interestingly, the commentary on the disc by Bey Logan goes into quite a bit of detail about what the Cantonese title actually means.

    Way of the Dragon or Meng Long Goujiang was the third of four films completed by Bruce Lee as an adult before his untimely death, although it was not actually released in the US until after Enter The Dragon, hence the Return of... title used. When it was released in the States it was made out to be a sequel to the other film, however it is quite obvious that the characters played by Bruce Lee are quite different. It was also cut quite significantly to remove the scene involving Bruce's visit to a prostitute and a lot of the early scenes which were humoruous and designed for Asian audiences. The film was also cut in the UK on initial release the remove Nunchaku and Rice Flails. This version is uncut and includes the slightly bizarre opening scenes involving Bruce trying to order some food but struggling to be understood by the English-speaking (!!) waitress at Rome airport. Obviously being one of only four films completed by the most famous martial artist ever makes this film of significant historic importance regardless of its quality. I suppose the quality of this film can be measured by two different methods; the quality of the movie including such things as plot and entertainment value and the quality of the martial arts action scenes which it is a vehicle for.

    Let's start by discussing the movie itself. The plot involves a young man from the New Territories in Hong Kong, Tang Lung (Bruce Lee) being sent to assist relatives of his who have set up a chinese restaurant in Rome. They are having trouble with the local organised crime boss (John Ben), as he wants to take over their restaurant and he sends his offsider, Mr Ho (Wei Ping Ao) to tell them he wants them out. The family Tang comes to assist include an attractive young lady, Ching-Hua Chen (Bruce Lee's regular leading lady, Nora Miao) and Uncle Wang (Wang Chung Hsin). The restaurant is staffed by a group of young chinese men who are learning Karate. These are played by various friends of Bruce including Lau Wing or Tony Lau who appears in all four of Bruce's adult films. The gangsters continue to raise the stakes by trying to force them to sell and reasonably Tang Lung fights back. When it becomes obvious that they will not defeat Tang Lung by normal methods, the boss (who is never named) calls in three foreign martial arts experts to fight Tang Lung. They are Fred (Robert Wall), a Japanese fighter (Whang Ing Sik who is actually Korean) and Colt (Chuck Norris). There is nothing overly complex about the plot but it moves forward at a reasonable pace and is punctuated by some great action scenes. Some people may find the start a little slow, however, this is a device used by Bruce to slowly build the audience's anticipation of when he will let loose. There is a minor twist at the end of the film, however, it doesn't change the outcome in any way. As a movie this film is not as strong as Enter the Dragon, but it was Bruce's first film as writer, director and producer. It should be noted that this was one of the first asian martial arts films partially shot in Europe, although the action scenes were shot in Hong Kong.

    So, what about the action scenes? To my mind this film includes some of the greatest martial arts action scenes committed to celluloid, certainly in terms of this style of martial arts film. It could be argued that films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero have scenes which are more spectacular or grand, however, if you are looking for straight fight scenes this is definitely one of the best I have seen. Personally, I prefer the scene involving Bruce, Robert Wall and Whang Ing Sik to the final fight scene in the colosseum from a straight action perspective but many will not agree. Both scenes are excellent as is the nunchaku scene in the alley behind the restaurant. This film is a must for all serious fans of martial arts cinema in terms of the action scenes.

    This release is the Hong Kong Legends - Platinum Edition as previously released in Region 2. The film itself is introduced by Robert Lee, Bruce's younger brother.

    A must own film for fans of martial arts cinema.

Video

    The video quality is not spectacular, however most of the issues can be blamed on the source material. Having said that there is a version available in Region 3 which, at least according to reports I have read, is significantly better in terms of video quality.

    The feature is presented in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced which is close to the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Auto Pan & Scan information is also included if you really need to get rid of the black bars.

    The picture was variable in terms of its clarity and sharpness and there was one incident of low level noise at 57:23. The shadow detail is pretty good, especially for a low budget film of this age. A section of the film starting at approximately the three minute mark was quite soft indeed. This runs for approximately 3 or 4 minutes. It would seem to be a source material problem, possibly related to the focus of the original camera work. There is also some degree of grain. Comparisons of  the general sharpness that I have seen show others versions to be significantly better, although still not spectacular. For details, refer to the Region comparison section below.

    The colour was reasonable but somewhat dull and the apperance of overexposure at times. Again, colour comparisons to other releases reveal that better versions are available.

    There were very few film artefacts in terms of specks or lines, however there were some jumps (such as that seen at 10:01), and some areas where the exposure seemed to change suddenly such as at 65:50 and 77:42. From a film-to-video artefact perspective there was some telecine wobble on show at 43:50 and other places. There is some edge enhancement and quite a bit of aliasing, such as during the opening credits, the roof at 2:20, beads at 11:40, couch at 12:22, shutters at 24:35, lights at 39:26, car grille at 71:33 and other examples. I did not notice any significant MPEG artefacts which reflects the high bitrate of the transfer.

    There are subtitles in English & English for the Hearing Impaired. The English subtitles are clear and easy to read.

    The layer change occurs at 55:22 and caused a slight pause.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is quite good, however this disc contains only a Cantonese dub and an English dub, neither of which is in the original mono. It should be noted that when this film was shot no on set voices or sounds where recorded, with all languages being dubbed subsequently. Accordingly, I personally find it hard to get excited about this disc not including a Mandarin version. Other comparisons I have read of the various regional releases indicate that this is a major flaw.

    This DVD contains two audio options, a Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, both encoded at 448 Kb/s. The Cantonese soundtrack is only in Cantonese for the Chinese actors, with other voices being in English (some of them supposedly dubbed by Bruce Lee himself). I would guess this is not the version shown in Hong Kong cinemas, but I'm only guessing. The English dubbed version is different and the dubbing of the Cantonese actors differs significantly from  the subtitles in the Cantonese version. It is my understanding that this release is the only one to include an English dub for the entire uncut version of the film. The dub is not too bad, compared to some, but its still a dub and I personally preferred the Cantonese version even though a fair amount is in English anyway.

    Dialogue was quite clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The score of this film is credited to Joseph Koo and I have read that this was the first Hong Kong action movie to have a purpose written score. Having said that, I have also read that bits of the score used in this film are taken directly from scores by John Barry and Ennio Morricone. However, this may apply just to the English dubbed version released in the US. In any regard, I enjoyed the music especially the opening credits.

    The surround speakers really only added some atmosphere and spread some of the music around. There were no obvious directional effects.

     The subwoofer did not really seem to get much use.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    This is the strength of this version of Way of the Dragon. None of the other region releases have much in the way of extras unless you buy the R3 box set of all Bruce's films which has an extra disc of extras. There is quite a bit of interesting stuff here, although it is a bit too interview focussed. Different types of extras would have helped mix it up, but regardless the extras presented here are generally of very good quality. All of the interviews include some footage from the films, however they are mostly just a subject talking directly to camera. Nearly all of the extras are 16x9 enhanced.

Menu

    The menu included an intro, motion, music, and the ability to select scenes, languages and subtitles. Generally, a classy menu, without anything that particularly stands out. One point of annoyance is the excessive number and length of the studio promos which you must sit through as the disc loads and before you are allowed to watch the film. There are three that run for approxomately 30 seconds.

Disc 1

Commentary - Bey Logan, Hong Kong Film Geek

    A truly excellent commentary. Bey Logan talks non-stop and covers a wide variety of incredibly detailed and interesting trivia and information about the film. About 40 minutes in he is joined by John Ben, the actor who played the boss in the film. Bey discusses the meaning of the title in Cantonese, the development of the project and how it relates to Enter the Dragon, how this film influenced Hong Kong cinema generally, casting, technical information and the fight scenes. There are also interesting anecdotes about Bruce and his relationship with Raymond Chow and much more. John Ben is also interesting and he discusses his relationship with Bruce and his role. Why can't there be more commentaries like this and less boring studio controlled ones??!!

Disc 2

Introduction to the Disc (3:54)

    Bey Logan introduces the film sitting in the Queen's cinema in Hong Kong. This is the cinema where the film originally premiered. He discusses the film's importance and Bruce's plans to remake it for Western audiences.

Interview Gallery

    This section includes four interviews as follows:

• Bob Wall  - Double-Edged Sword   (34:04)    Bob Wall, who plays Fred in this film (although Chuck Norris's character refers to him as Bob at one point) and also appeared in Enter The Dragon, and he gives a long and interesting interview here. He discusses specifics about working on this film, various anecdotes about how he helped the production, the characters and plot, reminiscences of Bruce and Chuck, doing fight scenes with Bruce and taking real hits and that there were other fight scenes shot which are not included in the film.

• Pat Johnson -  Memories of the Master   (27:11)   Bruce Lee's friend and training partner. This interview is interesting in a more general way and does not really talk specifically about this film to any great degree. It includes some interesting anecdotes about Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Steve McQueen. He also discusses Bruce's desire to be a film star and his technical knowledge about making films and how he obtained it. Certainly of interest to fans of Bruce Lee.

• Hwang In-Sik - Warrior Immortal   (15:23)   I am sure this guy would be more interesting if you could understand what he is saying. He plays the Japanese fighter in this film and is a renowned martial artist especially in the Korean forms. He talks about growing up in Korea, learning martial arts and then muses wistfully about what Bruce might have achieved if he did not die. This interview definitely needs subtitles but does not have any.

• Robert Lee - A Dragon Remembered   (18:37)   Bruce's younger brother, Robert discusses growing up with Bruce, Bruce's move to the US, how he reacted to seeing Bruce on television, the impact of Bruce's films and his personal views about them. He also tells some personal anecdotes. Interesting stuff.

Promotional Archive

    This section includes various items of promotional material as follows:

• Trailers
  • Original Theatrical Trailer (4:29) An interesting trailer which includes English and Chinese text over scenes from the film..
  • UK Campaign Trailer (1:27) A promo trailer for the DVD. 
  • Original UK Theatrical Campaign 1974 - This includes rare trailer used to promote the film on original release in the UK. A set of text screens introduces the material which is a trailer (2:37) and a teaser and TV Spot (0:41).
  • HKL TV Spot (0:36) DVD TV Spot.
  • Other Trailers - Trailers for Fist of Fury, Armour of God, Once Upon A Time in China, Police Story & Iron Monkey
• Production Photo Gallery - 37 mostly B&W stills from on-set and other sources. Interesting.

Information Library

    This section includes various text based essays and one featurette as follows:

• Film Notes - 30 or so text pages of interesting information about Bruce and the making of this film.
• Bruce Lee Film Test (7:59) A film test of Bruce Lee from 1964 which most fans have probably seen before. I certainly had.
• Biographies - Incredibly detailed text bios for Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Bob Wall & Nora Miao. The one for Bruce covers about 40 pages and the others about 10 or so. Well worth reading.

The Hong Kong Connection

    This section includes three interviews as follows:

• Chaplin Chang - Inside Way of the Dragon   (25:26)   Another interesting interview this time with the Production Manager on Way of the Dragon. He discusses his original meeting with Bruce Lee, details of the production, Bruce's incredible control, anecdotes about extras challenging Bruce, shooting in Rome, and various facets of Bruce's personality such as anger and generosity. He also talks about Bruce's death and relationship to Raymond Chow. Interesting Stuff.

• Lau Wing - Artist and Warrior   (44:41)   A long and interesting interview with Lau Wing (AKA Tony Lau) who appears in all four of Bruce Lee 's completed films as an adult. He discusses all four films they made together, how he first met Bruce, martial arts in general, challenges from stuntmen, Bruce's acting ability, how his films changed the style of fighting in movies, personal reminiscences, Bruce's perfectionism, use of nunchaku, doing fight scenes with Bruce, how Bruce trained and anecdotes about Bruce's death. Very interesting. In Cantonese with subtitles.

• Louis Sit - Inside Way of the Dragon   (11:08)   Louis Sit is an executive from Golden Harvest, Raymond Chow's film company whom was the studio manager at the Hong Kong studio where the fight scenes in Way of the Dragon were filmed. He discusses his fear of Bruce, the philosophy of Gung Ku, Bruce's skills as a director, his relationship with Raymond Chow and how Bruce Lee affected Hong Kong. Not spectacularly interesting but still worth a look.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    As usual with Hong Kong films, there are many different choices available for this film in different regions. The Region 1 release can be discounted immediately as it is the cut version of the film.There are a number of other version around although the mostly have no extras. The only other one which is worth considering is the Region 3 IVL/Fortune Star edition, which is included in a seven disc box set, and does not seem to be available separately. This should not be confused with the Region 3 Korean Box Set by Spectrum. The Fortune Star version misses out on the following

• All the extras included here
• An English dubbed soundtrack

    This version of this disc misses out on;

• The significantly better video quality on the IVL disc. A comparison of the video quality and other features can be found here .
• Mandarin DTS & Dolby Digital soundtracks
• Cantonese DTS Soundtrack
• Cantonese Mono Soundtrack

    So it comes down to whether you want the best video quality or the extras included here. A consideration is also that the IVL disc does not seem to be available separately from the box set. Considering this I will give the nod to this Region 4 version with the acceptance that the video quality is not optimal. Obviously, the choice of what to buy is up to you.

    The video quality is decent but is not the best available.

    The audio quality is good.

    The set has a large collection of extras, mostly of excellent quality.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall