THE BLACK MASK features Jet Li as a genetically altered super-soldier who escapes from his squad when it is learned that they are to be exterminated by those that created them. Jet tries to make it in the real world and leave his past behind him. When drug dealers start to be killed off, it is obvious to him that others from his squad must have also escaped. He is inclined to help his policeman friend, Rock, played by Lau Ching-wan, root out his former squad. He doesn't want to lose the identity he worked so hard to build so he wears a black mask.

The BLACK MASK also stars Francoise Yip as Jet's former love interest/squad member and Karen Mok as a librarian who takes a liking to him.

The two versions reviewed here will be the Artisan and Mei Ah. Both have their hits and misses. Artisan has a beautiful picture but it is dubbed in English and reedited. The Mei Ah version has a very dark picture and some violent scenes are cut down.

Neither of these versions are perfect. The Artisan has a longer running time but it doesn't contain some of the scenes that are on the Mei Ah DVD. Unless you really like English dubs and Rap music, I would get the Mei Ah version over the Artisan. The picture is beautiful on the Artisan DVD but the dubbing and rearranging of scenes ruin it for me. The Mei Ah is very dark and is slightly edited but at least you get the original soundtrack. Artisan is as bad as Miramax\Dimension\Buena Vista\Disney.

First, we'll take a look at the Artisan version.

The picture is great. The big plus of a movie getting released to American theaters is that the best print is used. The DVD shows it. The dark scenes had a lot of deep blues that looked perfect. There was no sign of any video distortion at all. I wish the imports of these movies got this much attention. I have DVD's of American films that do not look this good. It probably helped that this movie isn't really all that old.

The sound of this DVD is exactly like it was in the theater. This consists of out of place, loud Rap music that sometimes overpowers the dialogue. The sound is good other than this. The bass was excellent. I just wish I could shut the music off. Of course this is dubbed in English. It wasn't distracting at all even though I wish the original soundtrack was included but this is part of my complaint that I will leave to the end of this review.

The DVD contains a bunch of trailers and a question and answer game based on the movie that shows different scenes when answers are picked. There is also a commercial for the sound track.

Next, we have the Mei Ah version.

The picture quality is fair. The image is fairly dark and the colors are very subdued. The film print that was used isn't too bad. There aren't many specks and defects in the film. Even though dark, this DVD is still watchable. Even by import standards, this is a little below average. There is a lack of reds in the picture. The screen shot of Francoise Yip with the gun is a good example. The Artisan screen shot shows the red highlights in her hair whereas the Mei Ah does not. The picture is also very slightly cropped on the sides.

The sound quality is average. It is Dolby Digital and is mixed pretty evenly. I only noticed the rear speakers being used a couple of times. The mix was evenly done. Meh Ah has the original music, which sounds a little like "Secret Agent Man". Cantonese and Mandarin tracks are included.

The subtitles are times well and mostly easy to read. They are burned on the print and sometimes start off the screen. There are a few spelling and grammatical errors but nothing too distracting.

There is no menu and no extras on this DVD. Some of the violent scenes are edited down a little. Surprisingly, the Artisan version includes the more bloody/gory scenes.