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Magnificent ButcherRating:
Release Date: 30 December, 2003 Retail Price: $9.98 OUR Price: $9.98 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (10 total) |
Magnificent Butcher Reviews
The Word "Magnificent" Could Not Be Used Any Better
Wow! You will find yourself thinking this quite often as you watch this great movie. I bought this without having seen it before based on some of these reviews and seeing it on some listmania lists as a great kung fu film. This was also the first Sammo Hung movie I had ever seen. I could not be more satisfied. I admit I was a bit skeptical, but after the first half hour I was thinking of how I had really scored with this one.
First off, Sammo Hung blew me away! I had no idea how quick, agile, and fast he was. His kung fu is flawless. Well, Yuen Woo-Ping doing the choreography certainly helps. Sammo does around six different styles himself and the other actors throw in about six more. Some unique ones are monkey pole and wild cat styles. There are plenty of fight scenes to keep the pace of the film high and always moving (probably one every ten minutes, sometimes even sooner). This movie also has good comedy for an old kung fu flick, not just silliness. The story of the movie is basic but still good. It is about how butcher Wing(Sammo Hung) gets into trouble when his master, Wong Fei Hung, is away and he must deal with it on his own. He is framed for a crime and must prove his innocence while trying to constantly defend himself from attempts on his life.
Well, the movie has no flaws so how about the DVD itself you ask. It's perfect. This is an extremely good digital transfer of the film. I am speaking of the Fox/Fortune Star version. I do not know about the HK version. The sound is excellent, Dolby 5.1 with no background noise at all(the english dubbed version that is). The voices for the dubbing are still the old original ones but they have a high sound quality. And contrary to another reviewer's statement, the picture IS in anamorphic widescreen(enhanced). Maybe they were referring to the original chinese DVD. Nearly all of Fox/Fortune Star DVDs are in anamorphic widescreen. Some other Fortune Star recommendations are Jackie Chan's The Young Master, The Prodigal Son or Knockabout both starring Yuen Biao, In The Line Of Duty 4 starring Donnie Yen and Cynthia Khan, and The Duel to the Death.
If you are still questioning yourself whether to buy this or not I will help you out, Buy Magnificent Butcher, It Is Awesome!
Wow. Aren't you a big pussycat?
This is a fantastic movie. I am not a big Sammo Hung fan in terms of martial arts, but I do enjoy the energy he brings to the screen. He is also very under rated in terms of being funny on the screen, at least compared to Jackie Chan.
Woo-ping Yuen directs this masterpiece. As you would expect the story is pretty good (but very strait line), the characters are well developed, but what you came to see (the chorography) is fabulous. Usually in martial arts movies the bad guys martial arts skills aren't a main focus. When you watch a Woo-ping Yuen film, which is not the case.
Woo-ping Yuen utilizes two great martial artist as villains in Fat Chung (Deadful Melody, Mr. Vampire 2, Prodigal Son, and The Victim) who plays Cat, one of the best villains ever, along w/Ching-Ying Lam (Mr. Vampire I, II, III, IV, V, The Victim, and Bruce Lee's Game of Death). Ching-Ying Lam has a fabulous fan fight scene; it is done to perfection, and couldn't have been choreographed any better.
Yuen Biao (Prodigal Son, Deadful Melody and Once Upon a Time in China) is also involved in a great fight scene that includes Ching-Ying Lam. I was disappointed his character was not better utilized, or at least more involved. However, his character did not figure prominent in the story, so he was only in one main fight sequence.
Wong Fei-Hong (the character from the Once Upon a Time in China series, along w/the kid from Iron Monkey character) is the master of Butcher. He is very serious in this movie, and strict. His training takes you back to Drunken Master (also Wong Fei-Hong). Once again, the scene w/the blind guy, talk about laugh out loud hysterics.
This movie is a must have in your DVD collection. I liked 7 Grandmasters better, but Magnificient Butcher is definitely a top 10 martial arts movie. Don't be foolish and leave this out of your collection.
Grade: A-
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