On September 15, 2009 Miramax and Dimension released four classic martial arts films on blu-ray for the first time. They can be purchased together as one four-pack of blu-rays or separately. All of them got brand new 1080p transfers, which in general an upgrades over previous standard DVD releases, but there are no new extras, But perhaps the biggest crime of this release is that they give us brand new lossless DTS-HD master audio tracks ON THE ENGLISH DUB of ALL FOUR FILMS!. So when you hear the much improved fight scenes, sound effects, and music, all of that high definition bliss is interrupted with some half-baked, poorly translated mockery of the film.

Most of the blu-rays do have thankfully, a 5.1 Dolby Digital track to fall back on in the original language, EXCEPT Legend of Drunken Master. Ernie Estrella has written full reviews of all four blu-rays accessed below. Each would be recommended as rentals unless you’ve never see any of them. Not because they’re not good enough movies to own outright, but they are not definitive editions by any means, and their leap to high definition should be taken with a grain of salt, or is that a grain of rice. Anywho, on to the reviews.

Full Legend of Drunken Master Blu-Ray Review (1994)

Full Hero Blu-Ray Review (2002)

Full Iron Monkey Blu-Ray Review (1993)

Full Zatoichi Blu-Ray Review (2003)

Year: 1993
Running Time: 86 minutes
Rated: PG-13
SRP:$ 39.99
Studio(s): Miramax
Release Date: September 2009

Film/Feature: B+

Iron Monkey is a twist on the Robin Hood/Zorro story where they were able to cram a younger version of Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei Hung into this relative cookie cutter martial arts film that does have some significance for HK Cinema and Martial Arts fans. First it’s directed by legendary fight choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping. Next it’s produced by Tsui Hark who has gone on to direct his own brand of HK action films. And most of all it stars a young Donnie Yen who carved out his own slice of the Martial Arts genre and took the mantle after Jet Li began to age. It’s a fun film that’s welcoming to MA novices and the story is a simple one where the government is trying to take advantage of the poor people. The Iron Monkey (Yu Rong-Guang) robs from the government and spreads the wealth to the needy and the poor.

The government force Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) to track down the Iron Monkey or else they will hold his son, Wong Fei-Hong (Sze-Man Tsang) as ransom in exchange of bringing their elusive adversary to justice. The rest of the townspeople will not do it because they’re obviously benefitting from Iron Monkey’s efforts. Kei-Ying plays detective and discovers what the Iron Monkey is doing and enlists his aid to help free his son. What the government doesn’t know though is the fighting skill of the pint-sized Wong Fei-Hong.

Iron Monkey and films that feature Yen, tend to toe the line of the Jackie Chan and Jet Li films had in that the action is top notch, obviously with Woo-Ping at control, but they’re also not so epic that you nod off waiting for the fights. It could be argued that this did not elevate MA films to another level, but they simply don’t make films this fun, and this enjoyable very often anymore.

Video: B+

Iron Monkey gets a new 1080p encoded transfer in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Out of the four blu-rays released in Miamax’s Ultimate Force of Four series, this is one of the better video transfers. Color, detail, and blacks are all improved over the previous DVD transfer. There is still the random fleck of noise and dirt that’s still seen when looked at closely. It doesn’t take away from the overall experience, and this is by far a step up from what current DVD owners are used to but I say all this to temper the HD critical eyes out there who compare this with the average modern blu-ray.

Audio: C

If you’ve read any of my other reviews from Miramax’s Ultimate Force of Four pack, then you know where this is section is headed. If not, then Iron Monkey boasts the same boisterous upgrade of a 5.1 DTS-HD audio track as the other three in the Force of Four Pack, sadly for only the ENGLISH DUB!? I’m not going to beat a point in the ground, well, anymore than I did in my Hero blu-ray review but there is a 5.1 Dolby Digital Chinese soundtrack. It’s not nearly as spectacular as the English dub, but that insult of a dub track is just terrible and I dare you to watch Iron Monkey straight-faced when the actors are speaking. Talk about ruining the moment. The other option is a 2.0 Dolby Digital Spanish track and subtitles are available English SDH and Spanish.

Extras: D+

We get two scintillating interviews. Well no, not really, but there are two stock interviews carried over from the previous DVD release. Neither of them are memorable enough to speak well enough about them to help give the blu-ray some other attraction than the high definition transfer.

Quentin Tarantino Interview SD (9:00) gives the famous filmmaker/film geek an opportunity to share his knowledge of the genre and speak about where Iron Monkey fits into the big picture. I have to admit that I would have never discovered this film originally on VHS if it wasn’t for Tarantino’s pull to get this to the American market, I just wish it was handled with more care.

Donnie Yen Interview SD (6:00) talks about where Iron Monkey fit into his life at the time and how much martial arts were a part of his life at an early age.

Overall Shock Value: C+

For martial arts novices, Iron Monkey is a great introduction to a younger Donnie Yen who really went upward and onward from here. The story is light enough and crazy enough to grow its fan base larger than what it already is today and you could find much worse than this blu-ray release. Is it the definitive version? No. But it will do for now.