Featuring
Scenes From: “Rumble In The Bronx,” “Blade,” “Fist Of Legend,”
“Snatch,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Scarface,” “Legend Of
Drunken Master, “Crossing The Line,” “The Player’s Club,”
“Gladiator,” “Timecop,” “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” “They
Live,” “Black Mask,” “First Blood,” “The Killer”
Feature
length: 54 minutes
Extras:
Behind The Punches: A How To Featurette On Staging Your Own Fight, Fight
Master’s Behind-The-Scenes Audio Commentary, Audio Commentary By
Producer/Director Tsui Hark, The Ultimate Rumble Party Mix, Name That Frame
Game, Flix Facts – On Screen Trivia, Fight Cards, Programmable Scene
Selections, Theatrical Trailers
DVD-ROM
Features: Downloadable Fight Sounds And Skull Crusher Video Game
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles:
English Captions and French and Spanish Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 18
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Surround Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2002
Home
Video Distributor: Universal Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Following
up on their successful “Boogeymen” DVD from last fall, Universal Home
Entertainment is releasing “Flix Mix: Volume 2: Ultimate Fights From The
Movies” to DVD-Video. Like the previous installment, this offers a compilation
of fight scenes from some of the most popular action films of all time. The
majority of these clips are presented in a full-framed (1.33:1) aspect ratio,
but all features English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround mixes in addition to English
Dolby Surround Sound and English Captions and French and Spanish Language
Subtitles encoded on to the dual layered DVD as options.
The
picture and sound for these clips are for the most part quite good though some
as in the case of “Blade,” contain spoiler elements that may ruin the action
for those who are not familiar with the films. There are three clips though that
looks simply terrible because of the source materials used. These three clips
are from “The Killer,” which looks worse than an EP VHS copy, “First
Blood,” and “Scarface.” The scenes that work the best on the DVD are from
films featuring martial arts like “Rumble In The Bronx,” “Fist Of
Legend,” “Legend Of Drunken Master,” and “Black Mask.”
There
are brief stats for the main fighting characters from each film clip before each
scene and there are key stats describing the fighting style, height, weight, and
what not for each character fight scene as well as optional on-screen movie
trivia and production notes for each scene and scene specific commentary by
Hollywood Fight Master James Lew and a program length audio commentary by Hong
Kong Producer and Director Tsui Hark. Fans as well as aspiring filmmakers will
not doubt find these commentaries worth the price of the DVD alone.
My
favorite element is the “Behind-The-Punches” featurette with James Lew and
Jean Claude Van Damme. With very clear videotaped instruction, Lew demonstrates
how to stage a film fight scene complete with exaggerated moves to sell the
shots, positioning the performers and camera, makeup, sound, and even how the
music all goes together to create the illusion. Van Damme does not participate
in the actual staging of the action or performing under Lew’s direction, but
he does appear in interview segments that basically reinforce what Lew says.
This featurette has a running time of approximately ten minutes.
There
is even an optional music track scored specifically for the fight scenes as they
appear on the DVD and viewers can program their top five provided on this disc
and play them back in the order they want them to be viewed. There are also
biographical and select film credits for the fighters featured in the scenes and
a “Name That Frame” identification game that can be played directly on any
DVD-Video player. Windows based DVD-ROM users also have access to web links,
downloadable fight sounds, trivia, games, and more.
Trailers
for “Scarface,” “Legend Of Drunken Master,” “Crossing The Line,”
“Gladiator,” “Timecop,” “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” “They
Live,” “Black Mask,” “First Blood,” and “The Killer” wrap up the
extra features on this DVD along with DVD preview trailers for “Flix Mix:
Volume 1: Boogeymen,” “American Pie 2,” “The Fast And The Furious,”
“Slapshot 2: Breaking The Ice,” which are all available now on DVD from
Universal, and there is a music video by Puddle of Mud for the song
“Control” too.
“Flix
Mix: Volume 2: Ultimate Fights From The Movies” is a good follow-up in this
series of compilation discs offering more than just a bunch of action scenes by
creating a unique interactive experience any DVD-Video consumer can experience
in the comfort and safety of their homes. Look for it now for pre-order at
retailers on and off line from Universal Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.