Review for Tai Chi Master

Introduction

Cine Asia's partnership with Dragon Dynasty continues apace as another back catalogue title is resurrected for UK martial arts movie fans. It's another Jet Li classic that gets an airing here, and just as Fist of Legend made a return to UK shores a couple of months ago, this time it is Tai Chi Master, which was originally released here as Twin Warriors by Buena Vista, in dub only form. Now Cine Asia give it the treatment it deserves, offering a more complete version of the film, with the original Cantonese soundtrack, and with added extra features to boot. Starring Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh, and directed by action supremo Yuen Woo-ping, surely Tai Chi Master can't put a foot wrong…


Tian Bao and Jun Bao were friends since they met as orphans at the Shaolin temple. They grew up together, learnt kung fu together, competed against each other and protected each other. When they entered a tournament to succeed to the next stage of kung fu mastery, they wound up being expelled. Their master had few concerns about Jun Bao, who was a gentle and kindly soul, but seeing the ambition and desire for power in Tian Bao, he tried to temper him by giving him a book that would calm his soul. With just that book, the two were cast into the wide world, a world that was a whole lot harsher than the confines of the temple, where the Imperial overseers crushed the populace with their iron-fisted rule, and sifted out the wealth with exorbitant taxes. Jun Bao's sympathies were with the victims of this harsh regime, but Tian Bao decided that he wanted to be one of those wearing the jackboots instead of being crushed by them. The two friends travelling different paths would eventually have to confront each other, but the only solace, the only hope that Jun Bao would have would be in that book that their master gave Tian Bao, a book that Tian Bao never read.

Picture

Tai Chi Master gets a pretty fair 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. It's grainy, it prone to a little flicker, and certain scenes lack detail, but the production values are evident in the locations, the costumes, the size of the cast and the epic period feel of the film. There is a smidge of print damage, but not enough to denigrate the film, but the source material has seen better days. It may be this reason why Tai Chi Master is coming out on DVD only, not Blu-ray.

Sound

You have a choice between DD 5.1 English and Cantonese, as well as the original 2.0 mono Cantonese track. As usual I steered clear of the English dub and its re-scored music, preferring the original language as always. Actually, the original language track isn't too hot either when it comes to lip sync, most of these films were shot silently and dubbed afterwards, and it looks like someone had a go at the script in between the shooting and the ADR, as dialogue often takes precedence over lip movements. The 5.1 track wasn't all that expressive a surround track, and I found little to recommend it over the mono. In fact the 5.1 audio tracks cut out some 30 seconds from the end during the credit roll, the mono has music running all the way to the end. English subtitles are provided as required.

Extras

Tai Chi Master gets some nicely animated menus, and trailers for other Cine Asia product, Kill Zone, and Fist of Legend.

On the disc you'll find an ultra-informative Bey Logan commentary, so that's the money you spent on this disc justified.

You'll also find a 20-minute interview with Chin Siu Ho, who played Tian Bao in the film. It's pretty similar to the piece he recorded for the Fist of Legend DVD, in fact it may be the same interview re-edited. Connie Wong takes us on a 15-minute tour of Chen Village, The Birthplace of Tai Chi, which is a nice introduction to this martial art.

Meditations on the Master has director Brett Ratner and critic Elvis Mitchell waxing lyrical for 15 minutes (and in the case of Ratner waxing profane) about Yuen Woo-ping. They return for Twin Warriors, which sees them discussing the talents of Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.

The Original Home Video Trailer rounds off the disc.

Conclusion

It all boils down to how you feel about wire-fu. As you can tell from the brevity of this review, I'm not a fan, and I didn't care for Tai Chi Master. I accept that wire-fu has its place, indeed it's essential in small doses in enhancing an action scene, and even a fair amount of wirework can be acceptable if applied with style and attention to detail. When an action film becomes all about the wires, with characters flip-flopping around like human sized fleas, then my attention begins to drift to the off switch. If you are going to have wire work to that extent, then at least have the decency of putting your character in a cape, with an S on his chest, or setting the story inside the artificial reality of a computer mainframe. At the very least give me a reason why your characters now float like butterflies and sting like jellyfish. Normal people shouldn't have their own personal low gravity fields. If nothing else, make an effort to hide the bloody wires!


My patience with Tai Chi Master ran out when Jet Li went from a standing position to a headstand on the chest of one of his enemies, his bald cranium crushing his foe to death, and he then hopped, still in a headstand, and without touching the floor with any other part of his body, to the chest of his next enemy, similarly dispatching him with his iron plated noggin. I seriously thought about ejecting the disc, but my duties as a reviewer remain clear, and I sat through the remainder of this film, continuing to be underwhelmed by impossible feats of human aerobatics, waiting for Captain Hook to turn up and provide a suitable foe to these kung fu Peter Pans.


It's a shame really, as the story is a good one, that of two friends, brothers really, taking different paths through life, and winding up bitter foes. It screams Greek Tragedy all over, but it's balanced with some truly inspired comic moments, with Jet Li showing some exquisite timing, just clicking with his co-stars. Also the action, when a passing volcanic ash cloud grounds it, is amazingly well choreographed, fast paced, intense and entertaining. Then JR Hartley comes along with his fishing rod and hooks a martial artist or two and pulls them out of their natural environment and the film descends into absurdity.


For me anyway, that is. I freely admit that I am not a fan of wirework, and this particular aspect of martial arts movies has always left me cold, left me wondering what all the fuss about films like Crouching Tiger, and Hero was. But where I vacillate, there is a ready audience that laps this stuff up, and it's to you that this film is aimed. Ignore my personal opinion, as even I can tell a well constructed film with strong performances and high production values when I see one, even if the subject matter leaves me cold. Tai Chi Master is ideal if you like to see your action stars strung up!