cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- Bruce Lee: Tracking the Dragon (2016) Review
- Extremely rare ‘The Big Boss Part II’ finally heading to DVD?
- Lionsgate to release 2015’s ‘Who Am I?’ remake as ‘Amnesia’
- No Seagal or Statham for ‘Viy 2’ – Jackie Chan and Arnie in?
| Bruce Lee: Tracking the Dragon (2016) Review Posted: 25 Oct 2016 04:52 AM PDT  “Tracking the Dragon” DVD urover Director: John Little By Jeff Bona Back in 2013, I reviewed a documentary titled In Pursuit of the Dragon, by noted Bruce Lee historian, John Little (A Warrior’s Journey). Unlike the most of the endless, oversaturated list of Bruce Lee documentaries – many of which featured the same tired footage, usual interview clips and other useless "talking heads” – I found Little’s In Pursuit of the Dragon to be refreshing because of its one-of-a-kind premise, which focused on the actual filming locations of Bruce Lee’s four completed films. To quote my review: Using footage from the actual movies to coincide with the ‘what the locations look like today’ is simply magical. Basically, I loved every minute of it. When it was announced that MVD Visual was releasing Tracking the Dragon, another Bruce Lee-related project by John Little, I jumped at the opportunity to obtain an advanced copy. But when I finally got my hands on the DVD, I found its official description curiously familiar: “Bruce Lee expert John Little tracks down the actual locations of some of Bruce Lee’s most iconic action scenes. Many of these sites remain largely unchanged nearly half a century later. At monasteries, ice factories, and on urban streets, Little explores the real life settings of Lee’s legendary career.” After reading the above, I thought to myself: “This must be a repacked, retitled, double-dipped version of In Pursuit of the Dragon that’s being marketed as a “new” film to suck every last drop of profit from a product that’s over 3 years old.” And boy was I right… Tracking the Dragon IS a repacked, retitled and double-dipped version of In Pursuit of the Dragon. However, I can honestly say that it has been repacked, retitled and double-dipped in the most positive way possible. Here’s a list of the key differences between In Pursuit of the Dragon and Tracking the Dragon. Keep in mind that I didn’t watch them both simultaneously, but I did skim through In Pursuit of the Dragon moments after watching Tracking the Dragon, so think of the following as the most noticeable distinctions between the two:
The bottom line: A better title for Tracking the Dragon would be In Pursuit of the Dragon 2.0. Sure, I can understand if some people will dismiss it as a double-dipper, but it all depends on how much you value newly added footage, as well as upgrades all across the board. Considering Little and his team traveled all around the world to capture all this footage, a new and improved, longer, remastered version of an already-awesome project is worth $20 bucks to me. Besides, it’s probably time for you to re-watch In Pursuit of the Dragon anyways – and if you do, you’ll want to watch it in the form of Tracking the Dragon to get the most out of your re-watching pleasure. If you haven’t seen either, then picking up Tracking the Dragon is a no-brainer. Jeff Bona‘s Rating: 9/10
Read our In Pursuit of the Dragon review for more information. |
| Extremely rare ‘The Big Boss Part II’ finally heading to DVD? Posted: 25 Oct 2016 02:00 AM PDT  “The Big Boss Part II” Chinese Theatrical Poster The search for Lo Lieh’s 1976 cult classic, The Big Boss Part II – an unofficial sequel to the 1971 Bruce Lee classic, The Big Boss – may finally be over. Back in 2014, the film had a one-night-only showing at Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, but unless you lived in the area, news of this limited engagement was nothing but a lost opportunity for the rest of world. But now, The Big Boss Part II, one of the most sought after kung fu titles ever, will be getting an official DVD release next year, at least according to a solid source at the SC36 forum. In addition to Lo Lieh (Five Fingers of Death), this “lost classic” also stars Bruce Le (Clones of Bruce Lee), Michael Chan Wai Man (The Handcuff), Krung Srivilai (H-Bomb) and Wong Ping (Vengeance!). Interestingly enough, The Big Boss Part II was directed by Chan Chue, who played the surviving manager in the original (the guy who says “No profit in ice, but dope, plenty”). The Big Boss Part II practically picks up on location in Thailand where original The Big Boss left off. Le takes over the role of Cheng Chiu On (Bruce Lee), who is now in jail for the events portrayed in the first film. Lieh, who plays his brother, is the center character who gets heavily involved involved with another breed of local baddies. Of course, The Big Boss Part II shouldn’t be confused with Dragon Lee’s similarly-titled The Big Boss 2, which wasa re-title of Dragon Lee Fights Again, a movie that has no connection with the original. If anything, it was more of a Fist of Fury copycat. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more. For now, we leave you with the trailer for The Big Boss Part II, as well as the film’s first 10 minutes, which has been lingering on youtube since 2013. We’ll be the first to admit that it looks god awful, which is the very reason we want to see it so bad! |
| Lionsgate to release 2015’s ‘Who Am I?’ remake as ‘Amnesia’ Posted: 24 Oct 2016 06:01 AM PDT  Amnesia | DVD (Lionsgate) On January 3, 2017, Lionsgate is releasing the DVD for Song Xi-Yin’s Amnesia (its full marketing title is Jackie Chan Presents Amnesia, since Chan serves as producer). It’s also known as Who Am I: 2015, which is a more fitting title, considering it’s a loose remake of Chan’s 1998 classic, Who Am I? Finding himself at a murder scene, bike courier Li Ziwei tries to escape, but the culprits force him off a bridge. The amnesia from his head injuries means he can't recognize the faces of his enemies, who have framed him for the crime. Now, carrying the parcel that's his only clue, and with the help of sassy hitchhiker Tong Xin, Li Ziwei must outrun killers and cops while racing to clear his name of the mysterious murder. Amnesia stars newcomers Ocean Wang, Anna Yao, Zhang Lan-Xin (Kung Fu Jungle), Ken Lo (Special ID) and Yu Rong Guang (New Police Story) The original Who Am I?, which was directed by Benny Chan (Shaolin), had Chan playing a secret agent who loses his memory after falling from a crashing helicopter. He is then chased by a number of other agency operatives, but he has no idea why. Stay tuned for pre-order information. Watch the film’s trailer below: For coolest dog clothes and hip pet fashion, visit Frank and Beanz. |
| No Seagal or Statham for ‘Viy 2’ – Jackie Chan and Arnie in? Posted: 24 Oct 2016 12:00 AM PDT  “Dragon Blade” Japanese DVD Cover There was some early discussion that Jackie Chan (Dragon Blade) and Steven Seagal (Above the Law) would be teaming up with Jason Statham (Blitz) for a period project titled Viy 2: A Journey to China, a sequel to 2014’s Viy, the highest grossing Russian film of all-time. It would have marked the first time the three action icons would share the screen together. We now have word from SCB that Chan may not be appearing in Viy 2: “Sadly it seems that the production had to be happy with working with JC Stunt Team and never managed to finalize an agreement for Jackie to be in the movie as well.” According to the same source, Chan visited the set on the last day of shooting. But hold on… According to some recent information from the industry-connected Mike Leeder (Pound of Flesh), Viy 2 hasn't finished shooting in China: “There's a big sequence set to be shot for the next month or so, that’s set in a prison and Chan is still attached to the project; supposedly Chan will be back and fourth between this and Bleeding Steel. Statham was attached, but schedule delays lead to clash with Meg, the giant shark movie. Seagal was briefly attached and then Stallone's name was discussed, but supposedly now it will be the former governator himself, Arnie, playing the prison warden,” says Leeder. To give you a little background information about Viy 2, here’s some news that was originally reported by AAG (during a time when Seagal was still attached): The original Viy, directed by Oleg Stepchenko, is a dark fantasy/adventure film set in the early 18th century starring Jason Flemyng. Despite mixed reviews and a troubled production, the film was a major commercial success. The film caught the eye of Chinese producers who wanted a wuxia inspired sequel. Steven Seagal will also star in the film which is big news for action fans as this will mark the first time Jackie Chan and Steven Seagal are involved in the same movie. Actress Yao Xingtong who previously co-starred with Chan in the 2012 reboot of CZ12 is said to have a major leading role in the movie. Information on this movie is still very dodgy, but we’ll see what happens… Updates: A photo (see below) has emerged online (via Paul Bramhall) of Jackie Chan and arnold Schwarzenegger on the set, which confirms that the two make an appearance.
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