Μύ Jet Li purists may not be so keen on the CGI angle of this action thriller, but he still packs some typically nifty moves in a film that certainly looks great on DVD.
TECHNICAL FEATURES
Picture The large amount of digital effects in this movie transfer well to disc, as does the unique purple lighting scheme, more of which you can find out about in the director's commentary.
Sound A bass hungry 5.1 mix gets to work on the subwoofer for a somewhat relentless musical and effects-based assault that will please those keen to maximise the noise potential of their audio setup.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary Director James Wong is joined by a few of his crew members for a fairly interesting commentary that starts with a slight swipe at the studio for making them stick a prologue onto the opening of the film. Wong thinks there's nothing wrong in kicking off with a bit of mystery, but had to bow to the preview audiences who were confused. There's plenty of technical information on offer including the dominant use of purple lighting, which the video editors removed because they thought it was a mistake! The look has been restored for this DVD, making it technically more correct than the cinema release.
Jet Li is "The One" We go behind the scenes for a 13-minute typically cheesy look at how the film was made. What makes it interesting, though, is to watch Jet Li in action without all the CGI. He impresses even when just against a green screen with no visible foe to fight. Jason Statham admits: "I was a bit in awe of him". Jet doesn't offer any such comments about Statham, though.
Multiverses Create "The One" James Wong opens this 18-minute look at the special effects by stating he wanted to "stage an amazing fight" as the centrepiece for his movie. In hiring Hong Kong choreographer Corey Yuen, Wong was on the right track, and here we get to see how the fight scenes are 'enhanced' by CGI. Again, watching Li in action you get the feeling that less CGI and better filming would give the scenes the dynamic edge that Wong was looking for.
About Face Jet Li plays a multitude of roles in this film, often battling himself. This five-minute featurette takes us behind the scenes of how they achieved the illusion using stuntmen and creepy 'face replacement'.
The Many Faces of Jet Li This quick two-minute featurette takes us through the 17 personalities Jet plays in the film. Some work quite well, while others bring back painful memories of Val Kilmer in "The Saint" (shudder).
Additional Extra Features Also on the DVD is a trailer gallery of Columbia TriStar titles, cast and crew selected filmographies, and an Animatic Comparison. This short reel is an animated storyboard made using hilarious toy cars and 3D animation.
Region: 2
Chapters: 28
Ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Technical Features: Scene selection, animated menus, multiple languages and subtitles, and English captions for the hearing impaired.
This DVD was reviewed on a JVC XV-S57 DVD player.
