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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: January 24th, 2023.
Director: Lo Wei, Chen Chi-Hwa, Lo Wei, Chen Chi-Hwa, Lo Wei, Robert Clouse, Jackie Chan
Cast: Jackie Chan, Jimmy Wang Yu, Hsu Feng, Nora Miao, James Tien, Kristine DeBell, José Ferrer, Shirley Yim
Year: 1976/1976/1977/1978/1979/1980/1982
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The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 – Movie Review:
Shout! Factory brings together seven films featuring the legendary Jackie Chan in Volume One of their Jackie Chan Collection.
Disc One - The Killer Meteors:
In an unusual role for him, Jackie Chan is cast against type as a sinister and conniving villain in Lo Wei’s 1976 film, The Killer Meteors, but Chan is only on screen for about ten to fifteen minutes and the real star of the show here is 'Jimmy' Wang Yu (Master of the Flying Guillotine). That isn’t a bad thing, mind you, as Wang Yu is great, but realistic expectations should be set here, since Chan’s face has been all over the cover art for this one in various home video incarnations over the years.
Wang Yu plays Mei Ha, a rogue fighter who goes by the nickname of ‘Killer Meteors,’ named after the weapon he uses, a weapon that makes him more or less undefeatable. It's this weapon, and the fact that he's not afraid to use it, that makes him infamous in the region and even the most nefarious criminals pay him respect out of fear that they should get on his bad side.
After we're introduced to him, we find that ‘Immortal’ Hua Wu Bin (Jackie Chan) wants to enlist his help in assassinating his wife, Lady Tempest, who he claims tried to poison him with some toxic soup. "Killer Meteors" will have to defeat Lady Tempest's four guards, each of whom has a special kung-fu power that makes him an admirable foe.
But once ‘Killer Meteors’ is involved, things take a turn for the worse as he attempts to get an elusive box from Lady Tempest's good friend, Lady Phoenix. This box contains the antidote to the poison and nothing in this scenario is as it seems.
If you go into this expecting a Chan-fest, you'll be sorely disappointed, as he's not really given much to do here and very little screen time to do it in. But if you're a Wang Yu fan, you'll probably enjoy watching him work his way through the strange cast of characters he encounters on his twisted quest. Some good fight scenes and a memorable performance from Wang Yu make The Killer Meteors worth a watch for old school kung-fu fans. Wei Lo directs with a decent amount of style and shows good control over the pacing. The movie is quick in how it allows its story to unfold and the fight choreography is generally pretty solid.
Disc Two - Shaolin Wooden Men:
Directed by Chen Chi-Hwa and also released in 1976, Shaolin Wooden Men stars Jackie Chan as Little Mute, a student at the Shaolin Template who is, as you could have probably figured out on your own, mute. His father was murdered when he was younger, and Little Mute trains hard, hoping that one day he'll be able to get revenge against his father's killers, even if he's picked on and bullied by some of his fellow students.
Little Mute eventually studies under the tutelage of a criminal imprisoned in the temple that he bribes with stolen wine and, after his training is complete, he manages to pass the final test of his martial arts skills by emerging victorious from a challenge wherein he must defeat a series of wooden men. When the man who trained him gets out of his chains and roams free, Little Mute realizes that maybe this guy wasn't the right person to learn kung-fu from in the first place, all while doing his best to find and do away with those men who killed his father.
While Shaolin Wooden Men is a fairly formulaic martial arts period film that doesn’t offer a whole lot of surprises, it does offer an interesting glimpse at a young Jackie Chan in an early starring role just a short little while before his star would really start to rise both in Hong Kong and internationally. While casting Chan as a mute in the film obviously limits what he’s able to do here, his performance is still a pretty solid one. He’s always been a gifted physical actor, his work here proving that to be true even early in his career, and he makes the most of his skills in that department to craft an interesting and sympathetic character.
Even if the storyline doesn’t necessarily take us into any truly unexpected territory, the fight scenes are well done and there are decent production values on display. The sets and costumes look good and the score works well. This doesn’t rise to the level of some of the films that Chan would make in the coming years but it does show off some of the potential that would soon make him a household name around the world. The opening fight scene set in the dark save for a dozen or so lit candles is extremely stylish and just generally cool to watch.
Also, look for none other than Yuen Biao (who also handled some of the fight choreography in the film) in a small role in the restaurant scene.
Disc Three - To Kill With Intrigue:
Directed by Lo Wei in 1977, To Kill With Intrigue is another early entry in Chan's filmography and once again it turns out to be a period/historical movie - those expecting the comedic kung-fu and over the top stunts that launched his career into the stratosphere be forewarned, this is much more of a traditional, by the numbers martial arts movie, but with that said, if it isn't top-tier Chan, it's still worth seeing for his fans.
In the movie, Chan plays a man named Cao Le who is in love with a beautiful woman named Chin Chien. Things get a little sticky when another woman, Chin Chang Yin (Feng Hsu), comes along wanting revenge against Cao Le's father for something he did against her in the past.
Cao Le, knowing that things could get dangerous, uses the bizarre tactic of basically trash talking Chin Chien, who is pregnant at this point, until she gets upset enough to leave him. Shortly after she leaves, Chin Chang Yin shows up with a veritable army of martial artists at her side. These warriors, dubbed The Killer Bees, start massacring anyone that gets in their way, but stop, for reasons never properly explained, before getting to Cao Le.
From here, the bad guys make Cao Le's life Hell as he decides he needs to get Chin Chien back and set things right with her, while also figuring out how to deal with his martial arts woes.
While the plot is more than a little confusing and the movie doesn't give Jackie as much screen time as most would prefer, there are interesting elements at play here. Seeing Chan play the second half of the movie with his face made up to be disfigured is interesting, and some of the fight scenes are pretty decent, even if the wire work in this particular film is over the top and obviously wire work. Chan's character is a bit of a sad sack, moping around and not especially interesting or well-written, but he does handle the more dramatic aspects of the storyline pretty well.
Chin Chang Yin, however, steals pretty much every scene that she's in. From her dramatic entrance wearing a genuinely eerie flower covered mask to her impressive fight scenes, she's got way more enthusiasm than everyone else in the movie and her screen presence is nothing short of impressive. Bonus points for having she and her cronies emerge out of a bunch of coffins before attacking Cao Le’s family!
Disc Four - Snake And Crane Arts Of Shaolin:
Snake & Crane Arts Of Shaolin features a lot less comedy than most of Jackie Chan's better known movies. In the movie, which opens with a seriously cool training sequence where Jackie shows off some of his best moves in front of a dramatic red backdrop, there's a book written by eight masters that details 'The Eight Steps Of The Snake And Crane.' The knowledge contained therein would give anyone some serious kung-fu chops as it details not only the moves, but the training required for pull them off as well. As such, you can see how this book might wind up in high demand.
Well wouldn't you know it, soon enough the book lands in the lap of Su Yin-fong (Jackie Chan), a young martial artist who masters the techniques it holds. When word gets out that he's got the book, it seems like every fighter in the area wants to take it from him, no matter the cost. As members of various clans confront him, he fights them off. It soon comes to light, however, that the real reason Su got the book in the first place was because his master is the only surviving member of the original eight and he wants his help in hunting down the men who killed off his fellow masters…
There are some pacing issues here but Chan is in fine form and the final battle, which features Master Of The Flying Guillotine's Kam Kong, is a lot of fun. The story is very much by the numbers, it really only serves to move the film along from one martial arts set piece to the next, but as the set pieces are decent enough, some won't mind this so much. It doesn't wind up being a particularly deep movie but it features a final battle strong enough to make this one worthwhile, and as an early showcase for Chan's abilities it's very impressive. There are some great hand to hand scenes here as well as some impressive moments where different weapons are used in some fairly creative ways.
Director Chi Chen-hwa paces the movie well and the film is fairly well shot, even if the visuals never really reach the heights you might want them to. The production values don't stand as exceptional or as particularly poor, they are merely average. Widely regarded as a transitional movie for Chan, in that he was perched somewhere between the early serious roles he would be cast in and the more comedic roles that would eventually make him famous, this is worth seeing and quite entertaining if you're not in an especially demanding mood and in the right frame of mind for some light action.
Disc Five - Dragon Fist:
Another Lo Wei directed effort, 1979's Dragon Fist stars Chan as Tong Huo-wan, a martial artist whose master wins the recent martial arts competition that has taken place in town. After his victory, the master is challenged by Chung (Yen Shi-Kwan), and in the ensuing fight, the master is killed leaving Chung the victor.
Understandably, given that this is a kung-fu movie and all, Huo-wan desperately wants revenge, and so he grabs his late master’s sister, Mung-Iaan (Nora Miao) and his widow to head out and find Chung and pay him back in kind.
Chung's home life, however, is not all he'd like it to be. When his wife has finally had enough of his evil ways, she kills herself. When this happens, he cuts off his own leg as an act of self-punishment and goes off in search of redemption and a better life path. He winds up starting a new school of martial arts that he calls The Patience Clan. When Tong Huo-wan finally locates Chung and he and his family see the change in the man, his mother and sister want to just walk away from all of this but Huo-wan winds up in cahoots with a group of local gangsters who have their own reasons for wanting to get rid of Chung.
Dragon Fist, to its credit, takes what starts as a very basic martial arts revenge film and takes it in some very interesting directions with a few clever and unique plot twists. There's quite a bit of solid character development here, especially on the part of Chung and the way that he changes over the span of the movie. Rather than deal in black and white clichés of good versus evil, the story throws some moral quandaries at the audience, resulting in a story where we don't always agree or even sympathize with the lead character and de factor hero.
Chan is pretty good here in a role that is pretty much an entirely serious one. He handles the dramatic aspects of the story pretty well, delivering a pretty believable turn as a morally conflicted character. The supporting cast is solid as well, with lovely Nora Miao doing fine work here and Yen Shi-Kwan doing a really solid job as the film's heavy. Throw in some better than average fight choreography and some memorable scenes of martial arts mayhem and Dragon Fist turns out to be one of the better Lo Wei/Jackie Chan collaborations.
Disc Six - Battle Creek Brawl:
Battle Creek Brawl (also known as The Big Brawl) is an interesting film more because of its significance than for its storytelling. This film marked Jackie Chan’s first North American starring role, years before he’d hit the mainstream with films like Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon. Although he spoke his dialogue in English, it was because he was able to learn his lines phonetically, not because he really knew what he was saying. Directorial chores were handled by Robert Clouse, of Enter The Dragon and Gymkata fame and for once, Jackie did really have much of a role in planning his own fight choreography.
The movie asks us to believe it takes place in the 1920s (it isn’t too convincing in that respect – there’s a lot of bellbottoms on display in this movie!) and it follows the story of Jerry Kwan (Chan) who is approached by a Chicago gang boss to fight for him at a street fighting competition held in Battle Creek, Texas after Kwan is spotted kicking some serious ass in a fight.
Although he’s pretty trepidations about this, Kwan is essentially forced into the competition despite his objections. Complicating things even more for the poor guy is the fact that there’s a competing mob boss that is going to do everything in his power to stop him from competing. Jerry finds out that the rival gang has also kidnapped his soon to be sister-in-law so calls on his cane wielding master, Herbert (Mako), to help him out of a tough spot.
While the plot is pretty simple and at times the movie moves a little slower than those used to Chan’s better known Hong Kong films will be used to, there are a few stand out action scenes that make this a worthwhile fight film. It isn’t surprising that Chan dominates the movie and without any real ‘name’ combatants to square off against he’s obviously not being pushed too far here, but he makes the most of the material, adding his unique comedic touches here and there when he can.
This may not have been the film to break Jackie Chan into the western market like it was planned to be, but it’s pretty decent entertainment nevertheless.
Disc Seven - Dragon Lord:
The last film in the set is 1982's Dragon Lord, a film that Chan not only starred in but also directed and co-wrote with Edward Tang and Barry Wong, both of whom would go on to work with Chan throughout the eighties and into the nineties. Chan had previously made his directorial debut with The Young Master, which was quite the hit in cinemas upon its release.
Jackie stars as a young man named Dragon. The son of a wealthy business mogul, he spends his days hanging out with his goofball friend, Cowboy (Mars), who also happens to be the son of a wealthy man. They're both very into Lai (Sidney Yim), and occasionally beat one another up in an effort to prove who loves her and deserves her more.
As the story evolves, it turns out that Chin's father is working with some local mobsters who are fencing stolen artifacts that he's acquired. Boss (Hwang In-Shik) is the head gangster that he deals with, and when one of his men, Tiger (Michael Wai-Man Chan), tries to leave his team, he frames him and he winds up going on the lam. Of course, while trying to evade the law, he runs into Dragon and Chin and they eventually get pulled into Tiger's plight, eventually finding themselves the subjects of Boss' scorn.
While Dragon Lord failed to hit the box office heights of The Young Master, it’s still a pretty fun movie made all the better from a great performance from Chan. He’s perfectly cast as the carefree, if slightly dim, spoiled character and he and Mars have some great chemistry together. They play this pair of bumbling goofballs perfectly, and are a lot of fun to watch. Of course, when it comes time to throw down, things are also quite impressive. The stunts and fight choreography are really strong here and not only does Chan really shine here, but so too does Hwang In-Shik as the main villain in the film.
The movie hits the right balance of intense action and effective humor, throwing in lots of physical comedy and a few fun plot twists along the way. The movie might not hit the heights of the best that the genre has to offer, but it’s a really solid, entertaining and well-made picture worth checking out, and one that should absolutely please its leading man’s massive fan base.
Note that in this collection Shout! Factory has included the ninety-six minute Hong Kong theatrical cut, the alternate one hundred and three minute cut made for different territories as well as hour and fifty ones minute hybrid cut of the movie that contains all of the footage from both cuts of the film.
The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 – Blu-ray Review:
Shout! Factory brings The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 to region A Blu-ray on seven 50GB discs with each film properly and framed its original widescreen aspect ratio in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. All seven films are framed at 2.35.1 widescreen, their original theatrical aspect ratio. The packaging notes the following details about the transfers:
-Killer Meteors – taken from a “2K Transfer From The Original Film Elements”
-Shaolin Wooden Men – taken from a “2K Transfer Of The Hong Kong Version From The Original Film Elements”
-To Kill With Intrigue – taken from a “2K Restoration From The Original Film Elements”
-Snake And Crane Arts Of Shaolin – taken from a “2K Restoration From The Original Film Elements”
-Dragon Fist – taken from a “2K Restoration From The Original Film Elements”
-Battle Creek Brawl - No info on the source is available
-Dragon Lord – “Two Cuts Of The Film Restored In 2K From The Original Film Elements – The 96-Minute Hong Kong Theatrical Cut And 103-Minute Cut That Was Released In Some Territories With Approximately 15 Minutes Of Extended And Alternate Footage”
Taken from masters supplied by licensor Fortune Star (each movie being with a Fortune Star logo), video quality here is a bit of a mixed bag. While these absolutely look a lot better than the previous DVD editions that these films have received over the years, there’s obvious digital noise reduction obvious on each one of the seven films. This is a lot more noticeable on the first four films than it is on the other three, but either way, it’s there on each transfer. As such, the natural film grain that should be there, really isn’t. This results in some obvious smoothing and slightly waxy looking skin tones. There are positive, however. Detail still surpasses standard definition offerings and while there is some noticeable color fading evident in the earlier movies, the later ones show really strong color reproduction. Compression isn’t really problematic here, there aren’t any obvious artifacts to complain about. These definitely could have looked better, but so too could they have looked worse.
Audio options are surprisingly plentiful across the seven discs in this collection. Options for each film are laid out below, English subtitles are provided for each movie in the set:
-Killer Meteors: Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio with new subtitle translation, Mandarin 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Dub Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, English Dub 5.1 Dolby Digital, Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
-Shaolin Wooden Men: Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio with new subtitle translation, English Dub Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, Alternate Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
-To Kill With Intrigue: Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio with new subtitle translation, Mandarin 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Dub Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, Japanese Theatrical Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
-Snake And Crane Arts Of Shaolin: Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio with new subtitle translation, Cantonese Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio, English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, Japanese Theatrical Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
-Dragon Fist: Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital, Mandarin Mono DTS-HD Master Audio with new subtitle translation, Mandarin Japanese Theatrical audio DTS-HD Master Audio, Mandarin 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Dub Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby Digital
-Battle Creek Brawl: English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, Cantonese Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio, Mandarin Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio with new subtitle translation
-Dragon Lord - Audio (Hong Kong Theatrical Cut): Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio with new subtitle translation, Alternate Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, 1982 English Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, 2003 English 5.1 Dolby Digital
-Dragon Lord - Audio (One Hundred And Three Minute Cut): Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio
Each disc has English subtitles translating the main Chinese language options and an SDH option for the English language tracks. Each of the DTS-HD options is a 24-bit track. While audio quality is generally pretty solid across the board here, there are semi-regular typos in the subtitle tracks that should have been cleaned up. Either way, those who want the 5.1 experience have that option, but most will probably opt for the Mono tracks as they’re how the films were originally presented. Tracks are properly balanced and quite clean and clear throughout. No problems to note here in that department.
Disc One - The Killer Meteors:
Extras for the first movie start off with a new audio commentary with David West, critic and author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction To The Martial Arts Film. This track covers how Chan was at one point groomed to be the next Bruce Lee, details on Lo Wei's career, Chan's status as a villain and secondary role in the movie and plenty of details of Jimmy Wang Yu's career. He also covers who did what behind the scenes, the fight choreography in the movie, influences that worked their way into the movie, Wang Yu's issues with Shaw Brothers and how that led to him working in Taiwan and Japan, Chan's own thoughts on this particular film and working with Wang Yu and lots more.
The disc also includes Dragon Lord, a hybrid cut of the movie made in 1982 that is the feature on the seventh disc in the set. This hybrid cut runs an hour and fifty ones minutes versus two versions included on disc seven, the Hong Kong cut at ninety-six minutes and the one hundred and three minute cut released in other territories. This version features only 24-bit Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio. This was likely included on this first disc instead of disc seven due to space constraints on the seventh disc.
Finishing up the extras on the first disc are an original theatrical trailer, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection options.
Disc Two - Shaolin Wooden Men:
The second disc includes a new audio commentary with James Mudge, a Hong Kong film critic from the EasternKicks website. He covers the different names that the film has been released under over the years and it's scattershot release history, the involvement of Lo Wei Productions in the picture, thoughts on the revenge driven plot and the elements of mystery worked into the storyline, the different fighting styles on display in the movie, how Chan was being proposed by Lo Wei as the next Bruce Lee around this period in his career, details on the different cast and crew members that are credited with working on the movie, the impressiveness of the scene where Chan fights the wooden men and lots more.
Ricky Baker On Shaolin Wooden Men is a nine minute piece where the author and critic breaks down what makes the film interesting and sets it apart from other films made around this period. He praises the choreography and action on display and provides some background detail on the cast, crew and director that made the film.
Finishing up the second disc is an original theatrical trailer for the feature, an English trailer for the feature, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection options.
Disc Three - To Kill With Intrigue:
A new commentary track with David West gets the extra features started off. In this talk, West covers where the movie lies in Chan's filmography, Lo Wei's career behind the camera, the South Korean locations, Chan's career up to this point and his relationship with Lo Wei, details on the costumes and weapons on display in the movie, the rapid pace of filmmaking in Hong Kong during this period, when and where the Hong Kong film industry saw women starring in wuxia movies, the influence of Kung Hu on wuxia films and plenty of other details surrounding the making of the movie.
Intriguingly Jackie – An Interview With Hong Kong Cinema Expert Ricky Baker runs twenty minutes and sees the man discussing witnessing the boom of midnight cinema in the seventies before home video became the big deal that is. He note show the breakthrough of Bruce Lee saw an increase in demand for martial arts films and how a lot of times these movies were double-billed with a 'blue' film like Emmanuelle. From here he goes on to talk about how Chan got on the map in the martial arts movie arena, what set him apart from Bruce Lee, thoughts on Chan's work in this movie, the working conditions he had to deal with, the film's release and more.
Finishing up the extras on this third disc are the film’s original theatrical trailer, a Japanese teaser trailer, a Japanese theatrical trailer, a Japanese TV spot, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection.
Disc Four - Snake And Crane Arts Of Shaolin:
Once again we get a new commentary with David West. In this track, he details the importance of this film to Jackie Chan's career, the quality of the opening spear practice sequence, where themes of patriotism play a part in the movie, shooting the film in South Korea and other important martial arts films that were made there during this period, different martial arts techniques on display, Chen Chi-Hwa's career and how he came to work with Chan and with Lo Wei, the folk story elements of the movie, the quality of the fight choreography and where it hides some of the cast members' inabilities to fight, the influence of Hong Kong's social and political status in movies made during this period and lots more.
Pick Your Poison is a twenty minute interview with Hong Kong cinema expert Ricky Baker, where he notes that when the movie came out, western audiences in the late 70's didn't really know the names of the martial arts stars, how the movie introduced a new way to begin the film with its opening sequence, the importance of the introduction of the eight masters in the film and how the action rarely pauses in the film. He also covers some of the more subtle aspects of the physicality of Chan's performance in the picture, some of the other cast members that appear in the film, Chi Chen-hwa's direction and the importance of his role in shaping Chan's career, Lo Wei's involvement in the film, the film's release history and much more.
Finishing up this disc is a theatrical trailer, a Japanese theatrical trailer, a Japanese TV spot, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection options.
Disc Five - Dragon Fist:
James Mudge returns for an audio commentary on this fifth disc. He talks about how he first came to Jackie Chan films later rather than first run through Hong Kong Legends DVD releases as a teenager, Lo Wei's life and times, the different phases of Jackie Chan's career, key movies from Chan's early career, the different dubs that exist for many of these films, Lo Wei's attempts to turn Jackie Chan into the next Bruce Lee, the similar paths that Chan and Lo Wei's careers went, Lo Wei's directing style, the quality of the cinematography in this picture, how the martial arts genre has changed over the years, the fight choreography in the movie and details on some of the other cast and crew members that participated in the production.
A Dragon Rules is an interview with writer/journalist David West that clocks in at twenty-two minute talks about how Chan's career was in the rise after the success of Snake In Eagle's Shadow, the seriousness of his performance in Dragon Fist, Lo Wie's part in all of this, the influence of films like The Spiritual Boxer on some of Chan's work, how and when the script for Dragon Fist plays with classic genre tropes but at least takes things in unique directions as it evolves, the quality of the supporting cast, where the movie does and does not feel like a period film and how Chan has soiled his own career with some of his recent political views.
Outside of that, look for the original theatrical trailer, a Japanese theatrical trailer, a Japanese TV spot, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection.
Disc Six - Battle Creek Brawl:
James Mudge offers up a commentary track for Battle Creek Brawl wherein he discusses how Chan came to appear in the film, where his career was at this point in time, how the movie establishes Chan's acrobatics skills early in the film, how different this movie is to any of the Hong Kong movies he made up to this point, the martial arts movie tradition of the bumbling master fighter, details on many of the different cast and crew members associated with the movie, where the film has a connection to Fran Drescher and The Nanny, the convoluted elements of the plot, Robert Clouse's penchant for gimmicky and bizarre fight set pieces, some of the odd details in the film like the NRA poster that appears more than once in the background and more.
New to this release is the eighty-five minute The Golden Boy: Harvesting A Major New Martial Arts Maverick documentary that covers this period in Jackie Chan’s career by way of a series of interviews with Chen Chi-Hwa, producer Andre Morgan, actress Kristine DeBell, actor and stunt man Lin Kuang-Yung, film critic Ricky Baker, film scholar Dr. Luke White, Chinese cinema academic Dr. Lin Feng and quite a few others. They discuss Chan's rise to international superstardom, his amazing physical and acrobatic abilities, Chan's relationship with Golden Harvest, the boom years of the martial arts film, the importance of Shaw Brothers' work here, how Golden Harvest rose to prominence when Bruce Lee hit it big, how they tried to make Jackie Chan the next Bruce Lee, how Chan came to carve out his own unique niche in Bruce Lee's wake, what Jackie Chan was like to work with during this part of his career, how Chan and Lo Wei did and didn't always get along or see eye to eye, the importance of his stunt work, when and where people got injured during certain scenes, the formation of Jackie Chan's Stunt Team, how these movies set the stage for the huge popularity that Chan would experience in the years to come and how current events and politics in China have affected Chan’s career recently.
Rumble In The USA: Jackie Chan Takes On America is another interview with Ricky Baker, this one running nineteen minutes. In this piece, Baker talks about the respective careers of Clouse and of Chan, how they came to work together on this movie, how Clouse and the producers hoped to replicate the success of Enter The Dragon, his own thoughts on how the movie turned out and how it compares to other Chan vehicles made around the same time, the difficulties that some Hong Kong stars and directors have had breaking into Hollywood, how Chan manages to hold his own against the western actors in the movie, how Chan going back to Hong Kong after the making of this movie inadvertently led to Chan creating some legitimate masterpieces and where Jackie Chan's career went after his experiences making Battle Creek Brawl.
This disc also includes a new interview with Kristine DeBell titled Kristine In Wonderland that runs for nine minutes. Here the actress speaks about her role in the movie after appearing in things like the X-rated Alice In Wonderland movie that became a surprise hit when cut down for an R-rating, what her experiences working with Jackie Chan on the set were like, her own feelings on how the movie turned out, how sketchy some auditions could be back in the day, doing nudity and appearing in Playboy and thoughts on her career overall.
From there, dig into some archival features starting with an interview with Jackie Chan that runs four minutes. He talks about how the timing wasn't great for this movie, how he was a huge star in Asia when the movie was made but how audiences didn't flock to theaters to see it, how the movie did in Asia compared to Young Master and how American audiences didn't know who he was when the movie was released.
Producer Fred Weintraub talks for twelve minutes about how great Chan was to work with and what a nice guy he was, first meeting him when he was a stuntman on Enter The Dragon, working with Raymond Chow, why they made the film a period piece, getting Ferrer for the movie, working with Robert Clouse, shooting the movie outside of San Antonio, Chan's craziness when it came to doing stunt work, Chan's strengths as a silent screen comedian, how Chan doesn't get enough credit for his martial arts skills and how the movie was made a little too early to really cash in on Chan's skills and popularity.
An archival interview with Kristine DeBell runs five minutes and lets her talk about how she got the part only to then get in a car accident, how the producers were kind enough to wait for her to heal before starting the shoot, not knowing who Jackie Chan was before the movie was made, how warm and charming and funny he is to be around and specific memories from the shoot.
Battle Hardened is an interview with David West running fourteen minutes. It goes over how Clouse came to make the movie, how the film was meant to break Chan into the American market, Chan's own thoughts on how the movie turned out, the interracial romance angle in the movie and how rare that was at the time, how this was the first movie to put Chan in a contemporary setting, how Battle Creek Brawl lacks a truly great villain to its detriment, the chemistry between Chan and DeBell and also between Chan and Mako and what some of the other cast members bring to the movie.
Finishing off the disc is an original theatrical trailer, an alternate The Big Brawl theatrical trailer, alternate The Big Brawl opening titles (tape sourced), a still gallery, menus and chapter selection options.
Disc Seven - Dragon Lord:
David West offers another new audio commentary for this disc over the ninety-six minute Hong Kong theatrical cut where he offers up information on the film's Lunar New Year release event and the significance of that happening, how Chan was very definitely a star at this point in his career, the significance of the game played in the opening sequence with the ball, how Chan's martial arts comedy demythologizes kung-fu heroes like Wong-fai Hung, who did what behind the camera, details on the supporting players in the picture, how difficult it is to figure out what period this film is supposed to be set in, thoughts on some of the action set pieces that highlight the movie, the influence of Korean martial arts like Hapkido in Hong Kong cinema and Whang In-shik's role in that as well as his work in this movie and lots of other details related to the history of the production.
A ten minute interview with actor Louis Sit sees him speak about how he started working with Golden Harvest who wanted some new faces for their stable of actors, what he was responsible for during the making of Dragon Lord, Chan's martial arts style and what he was like to work with, how Golden Harvest got Chan away from being marketed as the next Bruce Lee and how that benefited the production company and the actor, Chan's tendency to go over budget the movies he directed, the different cuts of the movie and some of the other players that worked on the movie.
An interview with Actor Mars, titled The Fall Guy, runs thirty minutes. Here he speaks about his Peking Opera training, what he was able to take away from that and bring to the film industry, how he came to take the stage name of Mars, what it was like working as a stuntman during this period of Hong Kong cinema, how he wound up working with Chan initially on The Young Master, eventually joining The Jackie Chan Stunt Team, memories of shooting some of the more intense and complex set pieces in Dragon Lord, getting along and learning from the different cast members in the movie and how the Hong Kong film industry has changed in the decades since this movie was made.
An interview with actor Whang In-sik spends twelve minutes going over the impact Bruce Lee had on the Hong Kong film industry, training Angela Mao and Sammo Hung in Korean martial arts and then going to Hong Kong to appear in movies there himself. He also talks about what it was like working with Jackie Chan, having to adjust to how movies were made in Hong Kong, dealing with Golden Harvest and Raymond Chow specifically, trying to meet audience expectations and specific memories of shooting some key fight scenes for The Young Master and Dragon Lord.
Closing out the extras on this last disc is an original theatrical trailer, a Cantonese trailer, an English trailer, a Behind-The-Scenes trailer, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection options.
As far as the packaging for this release goes, all seven discs fit inside a Blu-ray flipper-style case, the double sided cover sleeve featuring newly created artwork on one side and tiny one sheet recreations and credits for the seven films on the reverse. This all fits inside a colorful, side-loading cardboard slipcover with that same newly created artwork on the front panel.
The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 - The Final Word:
Shout! Factory’s Blu-ray release of The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 is a solid offering of much of Chan’s earlier material. The transfers leave some room for improvement but do offer decent upgrades over what we’ve had before and each of the seven discs in the set is stacked with a host of really strong supplemental material. Recommended, and bring on Volume 2!
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 Blu-ray screen caps!
