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It does appear that Cine Asia is heading toward the dreaded ‘distributor heaven’ from where Hong Kong Legends came. This time, it is with deep nail-biting pessimism that I can say that the latest report of Showbox Media going into administration demonstrates the true cause of this devastating. There is deep lamentation among the UK fans of martial arts movies, especially with Cine Asia being one of the few distributors around who champion the cause of such cinema in the UK, and Hong Kong Legends and Premier Asia did before it. Not only did Cine Asia carve for itself a respected place in the modern film scene in UK’s far east, but in recent months they had also acquired a significant fraction of the HKL back catalogue. Whilst it is a matter of great delight, they are indeed in the process of putting some of the more controversial titles back into print in the UK films that should never really be out of print, Police Story, Project A and The Bruce Lee movies. It was only after HKL going out of business that I suspects most of my favourite titles went into oblivion, and never made it into DVD. Thank god Cine Asia managed to resurrect some of them. Now it looks like the same thing will happen yet again.
If you are into Asian movies collection, then make sure to check out the titles that are missing in your Cine Asia collection right now. One of the films which I was able to get for the second time with the help of Cine Asia was Wheels on Meals, or at one point, my favorite Jackie Chan film…
David (Yuen Biao) y Thomas (Jackie Chan), son catering de kung fu en Barcelona. Lo de kung fu es solo algo adicional y parte de su regimiento diario de ejercicios. Ellos realmente operan un catering por toda la ciudad, que sirve a locales y turistas, pues se trata de un restaurante movil. Esta habilidad marcial les viene bien cuando tienen que lidiar con algunos pandilleros Hel Angels y otras personas que pasan, pero en realidad no son retados hasta que se encuentran con una atractiva ladrona llamada Sylvia. Moby (Sammo Hung) es un detectove privado; de hacerlo, realmente es un detective privado en formacion, sin embargo, cuando las deudas hacen que su jefe salga de la ciudad sin aviso, Moby se auto-promociona. Y este primer trabajo es sencillo, encontrar a una mujer llamada Gloria y a su niño. Esa nena es, por cierto, Sylvia, pero no es la única que la buscan. Un aristocrata malvado quiere encontrarla y echarles el guante. Estas tres partes son partes en colision.
As with the other audio-visual components, it is to be expected from the Hong Kong cinema, in this instance we are talking about its fair share of eccentricity. The transparent imaging is stable, and one of the most free of distortion mediums. Still, getting the action across is not that hard, and the Barcelona s travelogue is truly engaging. This feature is remarkable for the meticulous treatment given to the set designs and the appropriate use of natives. And speaking of dressing – the eighties are well captured in fashion here. The optical transfer is in this case quite standard – rather soft focused, rather grainy and low scoped which is typical. Nonetheless, the battles, stunts, and fight scenes are expertly brought forth in great detail. And my golly, there are lots of those in this film!
You get the option of an original Cantonese DD 2.0 mono or a DD 5.1 remix of both the English dub which, for the sake of principle, I tend to ignore. It’s good, though not through, which is a nice but rather monotonous arrange. It is, however, the most accurate remiss in which the foward, speech dominated mix is dominated by action and music well overpowered the movie. Subtitles are also present in Dutch language and there is no complaint about the timing or the error free nature of the English ones.
The data set comprises of out of date information that is included in the HKL disc that has been re-labeled. The contact information and websites for both HKL and Premier Asia are incomplete. Furthermore, ‘Winners and Sinners’ and ‘Volcano High’ are some of the twelve films missing from the Further Attractions section of the disc number 1 Logan biography, so do not expect to find them at retail. Those are hard to find, but Cine Asia has done some re-releases.
The discs have been treated with animated menus powerwhelming with information. Sponsored and critiqued by Bey Logan in the audio commentary, disc one of the show stands out the most amongst all others. Its important to not panic as this show is not those movies that need it. The dense, overwhelming and rich commentary allows the viewer to pick and choose a variety of perspectives. This is also the reason as to why the audio commentary is listened to far more than once.
Here they have managed to include a set of pretty fascinating and relevant interviews of Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao wearing on around Wheels on Meals which together add up to 23 minutes. The interview with Stanley Tong does not relate to this, but it is still worth watching as he talks about his career as an HK director and his work with Jackie Chan for about 35 minutes. On the other hand, the 19-minute interview with Brett Ratner is certainly not worth the time as it contains him talking about the Rush Hour films and makes no mention of Wheels on Meals.
Most of the extras are compiled in Fight Club, which includes interviews and other relevant features such as conversations with the primary antagonists of Wheels on Meals, Keith Vitali and Benny “the Jet” Urquidez. Aside from talking about their martial arts schools and ongoing projects, it would be quite entertaining to listen to them recollect filming for Wheels on Meals. The latter interviews last 28 and 35 minutes.
In the Making of Wheels on Meals, there are 2 reels of outtakes on Wheels on Meals which do not appear normally. Such things usually make it to the ending credits of a Jackie Chan movie but do not in this case. The outtakes are 3 minutes long and 1 minute in length.
Some movies lose their value with repeated viewings. Every time you watch it again, it just keeps getting worse. When I viewed Wheels on Meals for the first time as a teenager, I was filled with awe and admiration. It had everything I loved: comedy, action, even a cool yellow van. It was like the Hong Kong Only Fools and Horses! I recorded it during the late-night Jackie Chan special on Channel 4 and for so many years afterwards. I watched that tape so many times. It was hands down the greatest Jackie Chan movie I had ever seen and topped my list even over Police Story, Armour of God, and Project A. Not really anymore.
Let me point out something I am not particularly proud of: I fell asleep during the movie that I was watching yesterday. I did jerk awake but I had already missed the interesting part of the movie. So I guess the movie wasn’t too bad, my tiredness was. The problem is that I need to go through Wheels on Meals once before I get some sleep. The good thing is, I can watch my favorite movies when I’m tired. Although when it comes to the Wilelson family, it seems I have done that too many times. After all, their movies are fascinating. American martial arts comedies have dull humor and action, and I still have trouble sleeping after watching it.
In the same vein as many of the kung fu comedies during these times, it is simply a series of skits and action scenes that are held together by a few strands of plot that are barely connected, and the moment you pull on one of the strands, everything comes undone. The moment Wheels on Meals loses its ‘the best kung fu movie ever’ quality is in the comedy. Not so much in the physical comedy, which is equally brilliant, but rather the verbal and wordplay, the rapid jokes and puns that are generally spoken by Sammo Hung’s Moby. What used to be brilliantly funny now looks very much out of place and childish. I Guess that is a more revealing thing about myself as the audience out there than the film. Nonetheless, this is what shifts my focus to the film and its delicate plot.
In the beginning, it’s essential to know that Wheels on Meals is not an incredibly plot-driven film. The sight gags still deliver, the slapstick is top-notch, and the action scenes are the highlight of this movie.Talking of which, here you have the holy trinity of brothers at the height of their powers, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Sammo Hung. It’s hard to believe how unbelievably good they deliver action during fight scenes, and the best part is, there’s hardly a stuntman, zero special effects, and not one master shot used. The good part about this movie is that Benny ‘The Jet’ Urquidez and Keith Vitali have such skilled antagonists that it looks quite believable that our heroes would have to pause. It isn’t surprising that many fans of kung fu action movies have their favorite scenes from the ultimate fight between Jackie Chan and Urquidez in the ending of this film.
In my eyes, Wheels on Meals will not be at the top of my martial arts action comedy list, but only because I have watched it way too many times. It’s still one of the best and, if you are going to only watch one Cine Asia classic title before they go the same way as HKL, then this should be it. Just do try to avoid watching it that often like I did.
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