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WSR Detailed DVD Review
Once Upon A Time In China II
Genre: Action Adventure

Reviewed In Issue 53 (Oct 2001) Of Widescreen Review®

Stars:
Jet Li, Rosamund Kwan, Max Mok, Donnie Yen, John Chiang & Zhang Tie Lin

WSR Review Scores
WSR Picture Rating: 2
DD Sound Rating: 3
DTS Sound Rating: NA
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Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score: 3
Internet Links
http://www.cthe.com

Special Features
Includes a 112-minute English-dubbed edition, filmographies and bonus trailers.


 DVD General Information

(Studio/Distributor): Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number): 05673
(MPAA Rating): R
(Rating Reason):

(Retail Price): $24.95
(DVD Type): Single Side, Dual Layer (DVD9)
(Widescreen Edition): Yes
(Full Screen Edition): No
(Anamorphic Widescreen): Yes
(Running Time In Minutes): 113
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): Yes
(Regional Coding): 1
(Theatrical Year): 1992
(Theatrical Release): Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release): No
(DVD Release Date): 05/29/01
(THX® Digitally Mastered): No

 Credits Information

(Director): Tsui Hark
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  DVD Picture Information

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  DVD Sound Information

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  WSR Narrative Review
Story Synopsis:
Dr. Wong Fei-hung (Li) returns in Once Upon A Time In China II, still determined to protect during a political war between China and the Europeans. The setting is Canton, China, 1895. The anti-foreign White Lotus Society is revolting against the British in an attempt to preserve ancient Chinese culture, with subtle backing from the government. Joining forces with the brave revolutionary Sun Yat Sen, Wong sets out to help the foreigners in the name of justice. (Suzanne Hodges)

DVD Picture:
Like its predecessor, the anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 DVD picture is unimpressive. Images are soft and smeared throughout, with little detail. Colors are a bit weak, with muted blacks. Aliasing problems and pixelization are occasionally noticed. Low contrast provides limited detail. The picture is further degraded by the appearance of edge enhancement. Source element dirt and artifacts are revealed. (Suzanne Hodges)

Soundtrack:
The Dolby Digital 5.1-channel remastered soundtrack is adequately enveloping and spacious. The Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese versions have been encoded at different dialnorm settings, and the former is lower in terms of overall volume, consistent with the difference in dialnorm offsets. The Mandarin version also sounds somewhat more veiled in sonic character. Otherwise, both delivery amply in the low-end, with active, prominent .1 LFE activity throughout. The sense of spatial coherence isn