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Fatal Contact AKA Hak kuen AKA Underground Fist
R1 - America - Genius Products Review written by and copyright: Rob Fields (26th January 2008). |
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The Film
 Back in the late 1980’s, I first discovered that Toledo had in independent channel, WUPW 36. Before they became a FOX affiliate, they used to show a martial arts film every Saturday at noon. The films would usually feature Bruce Lee or some other martial arts star. They were fun to watch for the great stories, the fight scenes, and for how funny it was watching the characters talk. When the lines were finished, the character’s mouths were still moving. Bad dubbing, huh? In time, they stopped showing those movies, so I was forced to do other things to occupy my Saturdays. When I finally got my drivers license and was able to start going to the movies on my own, I was able to catch a few films by an action master named John Woo. The first was “The Replacement Killers” (1998). I would eventually see “Face/Off” (1997) and “Mission: Impossible 2” (2002). VERY good films!! When “The Matrix Trilogy” (1999-2003) came along, that was another chance to see some great storytelling and some fight sequences to go with it. While I’m not always out watching action films, I have to admit that I was rather impressed with what I saw. Backtracking a little bit, I liked watching the “Lethal Weapon” films (1987-1998) when I had access to VHS titles. When I found out that “Lethal Weapon 4” (1998) was coming to theaters, I was excited. Little did I know that Jet Li would be one of the stars of the film. This was his first American movie, and I was definitely impressed with what I saw. Even though he was a bad guy, he still showed promise. I ended up seeing one of his pre-American films, “Black Mask” (1996), on the big screen shortly after. The film was good, but unfortunately it was a dubbed English version. I also ended up seeing a few more of his American-made films: “Romeo Must Die” (2000) and “The One” (2001). On the subject of Li, I’ve got “Fatal Contact” (2006) to review as part of the ‘Dragon Dynasty’ series put out by The Weinstein Company. It features a new and rising action star who’s billed as the next Jet Li. Let’s see if it lives up to both this claim AND to some of these action-packed films that I’ve seen in the past. “Fatal Contact” (1:46:34) features Jacky Wu Jing, who has already appeared in “Kill Zone” (2005). He explodes off the screen in his first lead role as Kong, a kung-fu Olympian recruited to compete in Hong Kong’s most dangerous underground fighting circuit. In the beginning, Kong is reluctant to take part since he knows it’s illegal and runs the risk of being kicked off the Olympic team. Still, his new girlfriend, Siu Tin, (Miki Yeung), has a way of talking him into doing things, not to mention negotiating high dollar amounts for him if he wins each fight. But can she be trusted? As the stakes rise, Kong develops into an unstoppable fighting machine. But can he win his freedom from a deadly criminal underworld? “Fatal Contact” features some of the year’s best fighting sequences and a shocking final showdown. I like that the characters gel so well together. Kong and Siu seem like a mismatched pair in the beginning, but they ended up growing on me quickly. Also, Kong and Captain (Ronald Cheng) end up becoming fast friends. Even though he can be annoying, it works for his character. After all, most movies usually have a wise-cracker or a weasel in the group, don’t they? While Captain tries to con his way into some money or a good meal in some scenes, he is quite harmless. In time he becomes Kong’s eyes and ears in fights. As for the fight sequences themselves, they are definitely high caliber, but they’re nothing I haven’t seen before. Some of the movies that I have mentioned to open this review have similar fights. I liked how the movie had basically the same premise as the ones I used to watch on Saturday afternoons. The movie has a hero character that must fight his / her way through each battle. Each battle gets harder until the hero character has to face a final boss who is capable of destroying him / her. Of course, the odds are always against the hero character. Will the hero character rise to the occasion and win? That’s usually how it is in a nutshell. And as long as the stories can remain interesting and the characters likeable, why fix something that isn’t broken? The downsides? Okay, I understand that Kong’s just trying to get ahead in life, but I thought he was too much of a clean-cut kind of guy to be getting mixed up in an illegal underground circuit. He starts off young and innocent, seemingly naďve in the ways of the world. It’s only when he delved further into the underground that he bang to loose his innocence. He understood what was happening to him but continued on anyway. In one scene, he even asked for more money for winning a fight. Is he able to save himself from losing his innocence completely? I won’t say for sure. Still, there wouldn’t have been a movie if Kong would have just played the straight and narrow, would there? Also, I didn’t like how Siu decided to resolve her betrayal of Kong towards the end of the film and what resulted from it. But, like most genres of films, some have happy endings and some do not. To quote “Saw II” (2005): “Oh yes…There will be blood.”
Video
The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen format (2.35:1 ratio). The colors don’t seem too vibrant compared to some of the other DVD’s I’ve had to review in the past. I don’t blame the company who did the transfer, though. I think it was just the settings themselves. There are some scenes in the dark that are a little grainy, kind of like some of the shows I’ve seen that were on FOX. The grain doesn’t last long and is quickly dismissed. Far from that, the picture itself looks great.
Audio
The film features three audio tracks. The first are two original Cantonese audio tracks in the form of a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track and half-bitrate DTS 5.1 surround track. There are optional English, English HOH, and Spanish subtitles available. Having listened to segments of these two soundtracks, they sound about the same in terms of quality. I would have expected better from a DTS track. Still, you have these two options for the original language. Take your pick. For those of you who do not like reading subtitles (a majority of the U.S. population), there is a dubbed English Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack. I listened to some of this audio track. At least it wasn’t dubbed by American actors, or at least they sounded authentic enough for the characters. The dubbed voices are not heard above all else like in most films I’ve seen with dubbed audio tracks. In fact, they sound like they’re part of the original film itself. Still, while you can still see that the mouth movements do not match word for word, at least it’s not like the Saturday afternoon martial arts movies I used to watch back in the day. If you watch this track with either of the English subtitles provided, the sentences will not match word for word. Still, regardless of which audio track you listen to, you’ll still hear all the bone-crackling, fist-pounding action in each and every fight scene.
Extras
Many of the extras contain spoilers. Do not watch before the film itself. DISC ONE: There is a feature length audio commentary track by director Dennis Law and Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan. The track is in English. There are no subtitles available for this feature. The track is quite technical and full of trivia. You will learn about what it took to make certain scenes work and certain facts about the actors. For one thing, the fight scenes are not so easy to film as they are to watch. There is so much great information packed in, definitely worthy of being part of this ‘Ultimate Edition’. Most enjoyable. Also on this disc are bonus trailers for other ‘Dragon Dynasty’ releases that play before the Main Menu only: - “Dog Bite Dog: 2-Disc Ultimate Edition” which runs for 1 minute 57 seconds. - “The City of Violence: 2-Disc Ultimate Edition” which runs for 1 minute 40 seconds. - “Dragon Heat: Special Collector’s Edition” which runs for 2 minutes 2 seconds. DISC TWO: The extras have optional English subtitles (unless noted otherwise). The first of the featurettes is “A Dragon Rising: A Featurette With Leading Man Wu Jing” runs 21 minutes, 36 seconds. Here, Wu Jing talks about the preparation he had to take on to play his role for this film. He also goes into detail about some of the scenes he was in. Note: He had ten fight scenes that he had to do for the film. It is mostly Wu Jing doing the talking with some brief clips of the film to emphasize what he is discussing. This clip is in Cantonese. The second featurette is “The Ringmaster: An Interview with Director Dennis Law” runs 27 minutes, 9 seconds. Here, the director tells you how the idea for “Fatal Contact” came about, what the original concept for the story was and how he changed the idea into what the film is now. He also talks about some of the technical aspects of the fight scenes. A few behind-the-scenes clips are shown in conjunction. In general, he gives great detail on the movie itself and the cast, things you didn’t hear about in the commentary track. This is well worth watching. This clip is in English. The third featurette is “Working Girl: An Interview with Co-Star Theresa Fu” runs 10 minutes, 5 seconds. Here the actress talks about her character, Chui Chi, and how it went from being just a supporting role to being one of the main characters. She reveals how she and co-star Miki Yeung are friends in real life and discusses some of their scenes together. Some clips are briefly played to emphasize what she is talking about. She also talks about her other two co-stars, Wu Jing and Ronald Cheng. This clip is in Cantonese. The fourth featurette “Young and Dangerous: An Interview with Co-Star Miki Yeung” runs 14 minutes, 35 seconds. Here, Yeung talks about how she had mostly played kind and gentle roles before getting this particular part. Actually, it was her agent who had gotten her the role, because he wanted her to challenge herself with a different kind of role. She goes into compares and contrasts between herself in real life and her character. She goes into detail about working with Ronald Cheng, since she had worked with him before. She also talks about how she likes action films. Finally, she goes into details about her character. This clip is in Cantonese. The final featurette “Life Is a Contact Sport: Behind-the-Scenes of Fatal Contact” runs 31 minutes, 34 seconds. It starts out with star Jacky Wu Jing talking about what’s going on for that day of shooting. From here you see him and some of the cast and crew going to a gym. Once there, Wu Jing and a few of the other fighting actors undergo some training regimens. The director is also there to help out. This featurette you can probably take it or leave it, since it can get boring quickly. Unlike the other featurettes on this disc, which are 16 x 9 enhanced Widescreen, this one is in full screen format. This clip is in Cantonese. The film’s theatrical trailer rounds out the extras on this DVD and runs for 1 minute and 48 seconds. It is in Cantonese with non-removable English subtitles and is in non-anamorphic widescreen.
Packaging
This 2-disc set is packed in an Amaray case, with a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
My final word here would be that if you’re a fighting movie junkie, then this one may prove to be worthy of your collection. Otherwise, it makes for a great rental if you’re in the mood for an action film. Does this movie live up to the claim that Jacky Wu Jing is the next Jet Li? No, not really. I say this because Bruce Lee was a legend in his own time. Yet, it was said that there were other martial artist actors who would become the new Bruce Lee. Yet, these actors would go on to establish their own names. Jet Li had made a name for himself based on his own merits. Chuck Norris did the same, as did Jackie Chan. I believe that Jacky Wu Jing will make his own name based on his own merits. In this, he will make his own legacy, just as the other names listed have done.
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