| DVD Released by : 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment/Fortune Star | ||
| Player reviewed with : Malata 520 | ||
| Receiver reviewed with : Sony 925 | ||
| Features: | ||
| Cantonese and English Soundtracks | ||
| English and Chinese Subtitles | ||
| Enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs | ||
| Running Time : 88 mins. | ||
| Region 1 | ||
A man named Hu (Eddy Ko Hung) requires a special mission to deliver boxes to Zhao Long, a bandit that controls a very strategic area. When money alone doesn't work, Hu holds Yao Jin's sisters hostage. Yao Jin outs together a team to take the boxes which he is told are gifts for Zhao's birthday. This team comprises a courier named Ma (Leung Kar Yan), and explosives expert (Fan Mei Sheng), and a con man gambler, Fu Jun (Chow Yun Fat). The relatively simple task is not so simple as the group is attacked by various groups on the way. Unbeknownst to the team, Hu is using them to draw out his enemies.
While billed as such, THE POSTMAN FIGHTS BACK is not so much a Chow Yun Fat film. He is a supporting player and even does a little Kung Fu, which he never really did much of at the time. Sure, he steals every scene he is in but he's not a major player. Yuen Yat Choh plays Yao Jin and you may recognize him from movies like Taoism Drunkard and In the Line of Duty IV. This guy always takes a licking and keeps fighting back in every movie I've seen him in. Eddy Ko Hung is the bad guy in this movie. He has also been an a bunch of movies including, Heroes Shed No Tears, Bride With White Hair, and The Mission. Not only is he a conniving bastard in this movie, he is also a Ninja! Leung Kar Yan has also been in several movies including Knockabout, Dreadnought, and Tiger Cage. While he is more wooden then the other actors, he displays some great moves in the action sequences. Last but not least is Fan Mei Sheng who has been in movie such as Magnificent Butcher and Story of Ricky. As much as I like the other actors in this movie, Fan Mei Sheng steals the movie.
THE POSTMAN FIGHTS BACK has some great action scenes but is still more of a slow moving drama. The action sequences are rather inventive and are enough to recommend the movie on.
Like the other DVD's in this series, there are very few extras. That doesn't bother me at all. It's great to see these movies getting a decent release in Region 1. This DVD also includes the original mono track. The subtitles are also not the same as the spoken English dub. I haven't seen other DVD's of this movie so I can't compare it to them.
The image quality is good. THE POSTMAN FIGHTS BACK is a little grainy at times and there is sometimes flickering in the image. For the most part, the print shows little if any damage. A few times I did notice what looks like a slight distortion in the image. I have not seen this movie before so I don't know if all prints demonstrate this effect at the same times. It only happens a couple of times but it is odd. The image looks acceptable on the 47 inch screen. It has the same good detail as the other Fox releases but the overall quality isn't as good as the others in this wave of releases.
The sound options include the original mono soundtrack as well as Dolby 5.1 and DTS mixes. The mono mix is mixed well with the vocals never being drowned out by the music and sound effects. It is also in sync with the action. The 5.1 and DTS mixes are also tastefully done. There is also a dubbed English track that is available in Dolby 5.1 or DTS. These remixes typically have added sound effects that aren't in the original mixes.
The subtitles are easy to read and are free of misspellings and grammatical errors. The subtitles are also well timed with what is being said. These subtitles do not match the English dub.
The extras consist of trailers for this wave of Fox's martial arts releases.
THE POSTMAN FIGHTS BACK may not appeal to everybody but it does have it's moments. Those expecting Chow Yun Fat to be a main character will be disappointed. I wouldn't recommend a blind purchase of this movie but it would be a good rental.
While not as impressive as the other DVD's in this wave of Fox releases, THE POSTMAN FIGHTS BACK is still a decent effort. The movie shows it's age but this is the best it will be seen in region 1.
Reviewed 09/03/2004
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