I hadn't even planned on reviewing Sterling's PATH OF THE DRAGON disc. I picked it up from the bargin bin at good old Wal-Mart. It wasn't until watching the disc and being apalled by the so called "special features" that I decided something needed to be done to warn the Bruceploitation DVD viewing and buying public about this montrosity.
Picture quality
PATH OF THE DRAGON is an Australian made for TV documentary, so it's presented 1:1.33 full screen. It's from 1998 and all the new interview footage is of good quality. Some old clips and phots show their age, but it's nothing too bad. Basically, it's mostly talking heads, so widescreen isn't really necessary.
Sound quality
It's all interviewees or the narrator talking, so the Dolby 2.0 does the job nicely.
Menus & Extras
The special features listed on the DVD are a Bruce Lee Biography, Bruce Lee Filmography, Scene Access, and Interactive Menus. First of all scene access and menus are NOT special features, they are standard and are on every DVD. If you don't include them on your DVD, then don't ever bother. Also the menus aren't that interactive unless by interactive they means you select something it'll actually take you there, then yeah I guess they are interactive. They could've thrown in some background music or something, then I would've bought that they are interactive.
The real problem lies in the Bruce Lee biography and filmography. The are so innaccurate and just that's it's not even funny. I don't know who wrote them, but they obviously didn't even give a damn about the material and it really shows. The biography is basically three paragraphs long. In the second paragraph it mentions he got married, but it doesn't even say to who. Also, the biography doesn't say anything about him dying! The last paragraph mentions Brandon starting a movie career and being killed making THE CROW. If you'd like to read the entire biography click to see the screen shots...Page 1...Page 2...Page 3. See what I mean??
The filmography lists Bruce's early films like THE ORPAN and GOLDEN GATE GIRL, but also lists crap like BRUCE'S DEADLY FINGERS and THE LAST DAYS OF BRUCE LEE which he wasn't even in! They even include stuff like FIST OF FEAR, TOUCH OF DEATH and THE REAL BRUCE LEE which I guess technically he is in, but they aren't Bruce Lee films.
Now you don't need to know anything about Bruce Lee to write a decent biography and filmography. Ten minutes spent searching the internet will give more then enough information to write something that is a hundred times better than what Sterling Entertainment provided on this disc. Hell, they should've hired an elementary shcool student to write it for them.
Now if you can't even provide the simple basics as an accurate biography and filmography on Bruce Lee for your Bruce Lee DVD then you got serious problems. The absolutely lazy and horrible offerings here are unforgivable...FOR SHAME!
Packaging
Nothing fancy, picture of Bruce Lee with the "special features" listed on the front of the case as well as the back. They're pushing them as a selling point?! NOOOO!! The mediocre cover looks right at home in the Wal-Mart discount bin.
Conclusion (or something)
Good video and audio quality on an enjoyable program almost make this DVD worth the money. Unfortunately, I was so put off by the lack of any effort put into the special features, that I'm recommending that nobody buy this disc! After some online research I found that there is an Australian 2 disc special edition of PATH OF THE DRAGON on DVD. That company actually did their homework and gathered 120 minutes of more content (a UK version has some of these features as well) such as artist profiles, (more) interviews and alternate movie scenes. Now that is what I wish I had gotten!
"Review" by Keith.
