I love sleeper hits, there is just something very pleasant about watching a movie that isn't widely acknowledged only to find that it is a good slice of kung fu action.
I'll be blunt in saying that this movie doesn't add anything new to the genre, it follows the same generic code as hundreds of kung fu comedy movies but don't let this put you off what is a quite fun little picture.
The story of our hero played by Mark Long revolves around his urge to learn kung fu and when a secret mannual finds it way into his hands he learns the lot and manages to master the secret mantis technique. Problems start when killer Lung Fei arrives and starts taking heads! Our heroes father is killed and he has to team up with the mantis master and his student for revenge.
The movie pans out at a good pace and the slapstick action is performed like most: bennyhill slapstick style, slipping on bannan skins ect. The action is really tight which is what makes this movie worth watching. On a personal level i love to see the use of animal styles and hand to hand trickery, mantis style being one of my favourite forms. This movie provides all of these at a good level.
The end fight see's a master against villian and then later a two on one against the baddy. Throughout it's solid shapes on show all the time. Mark Long puts in a fun performance as the lead and shows his skills in every fight. If light comedy and good fights are what you look for in your kung fu movies then this one most definately delivers on these factors. A solid three star movie.
3 out of 5
The DVD:
the review you just read was of the vengeance video UK release. The movie is uncut running at 88 minutes approx. There is a faults on the dvd, this being that the movie plays for about 100 mintues, with about 12 mintues of black screen after the film is over, as you can imagine though this is not a problem. Acceptable at a budget price tag.
Picture:
The Quality of the picture is nice a clear throughout, with some speckle and scratches. Presented in full screen aspect ratio cropping does become noticalbe at times, but never proves annoying. There is a widescreen copy is cirulation amoungst collectors and i would say that it is worth seeking out.
Sound:
Stereo sound is fine, some background hiss but nothing distracting, sound effects come through strong and clear.
Extras:
This is a budget release so only a fullscreen trailer for the movie is present, still this is a nice addition to the disc.
Over all it is sufficient to say this is an average release for a good movie, vengeance deliver another good disc to the fans for a good price. If it sounds right up your street that is because it is.
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