Directors - Sammo Hung and Corey Yuen
Dragon Forever (1988)
DVD Released by : Universe
Player reviewed with : Malata DVD-N996
Receiver reviewed with : Sony 925

Features:

Letterbox
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Trailer
Trailers for The Young Master, Wheels on

Meals, Winners & Sinners, and Heart of Dragon

Scene Access
Star's Files
English, Chinese, and Bahasa (Indonesia),Bahasa
(Malaysia), Thai, Korean, and Vietnamese Subtitles
Cantonese and Mandarin Soundtracks
Running Time - 94 min.

DRAGON FOREVER features Jackie Chan as a lawyer who is representing a factory owner who is being sued. The woman suing him contests that waste from the factory is destroying her fish pond. Jackie enlists the help of Sammo Hung to move in next door and get friendly with the woman. He also asks Yuen Baio to bug the house. What Jackie doesn't plan on is falling in love the woman's witness. Jackie bows out of the case do to conflicting interests and discovers that the factory is really manufacturing drugs.

A classic collaboration of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Baio, this is not to be missed. The action scenes are fast and tight. When the three are fighting each, the timing is incredible. I only wish the outtakes were shown at the end during the credits.

The picture quality is average. The print shows it's age and there are some minor flaws. Sometimes the picture is a little faded and the colors aren't as saturated as they could be but overall it isn't bad. I didn't notice any artifacts and the darker scenes held up well. When I played this DVD on my computer, the picture didn't look as good as it did on my TV. The screenshots displayed are unaltered to give the best presentation of the picture.

The sound is a 5.1 remix. Most of the sound comes from the front speakers but some music and ambient sound can be heard from the rear. Sometimes the rear sounds can be a little jarring because they come out of nowhere. There are times when the vocals sound like there is a little noise in the track but overall not too distracting. The original mono track would have been preferred but the remix is acceptable if that's all there is.

The subtitles are easy to read and stay on the screen a comfortable amount of time. There are a few misspelling and grammatical errors but nothing too distracting. The subtitles are viewable throughout the movie and aren't obstructed by the background.

The extras consist of several trailers for movies featuring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Baio. These include The Young Master, Wheels on Meals, Winners & Sinners, and Heart of Dragon. There are also Star's files included as an extra.

DRAGON FOREVER is a good movie and this DVD is worth picking up if you are a fan of any of the stars. The overall quality of the DVD is about average when compared to other of the earlier imports. One important note is that this is the Hong Kong print of the film and is slightly shorter than the international version. With that said, if you are a fan of this movie, the DVD shouldn't disappoint you.