Bruce Li fans rejoice! THE MING PATRIOTS, long considered a lost film in Li's filmography, has finally made it to DVD. Even better, the film overflows with excellent action scenes courtesy of the Lau Brothers and allows Li to play a character outside of the shadow of Bruce Lee. Bruce Li fans rejoice again!
The story takes place during the end of the Ming Dynasty. The Emperor has recently died and his Princess daughter, who holds the Emperor's final will as well as the Royal jewels, is trying to flee the wrath of the Chings. Escaping from the city (thanks in part to Carter Wong, who turns in only a cameo), the Princess and her teacher make it to a protective guide service run by Li Ti Lung (Bruce Li). Lung and his partner reluctantly agree to escort the Princess to the Ming armies, picking up Lung's sister (Judy Lee) en route. Hot on the groups trail is small Ching army led by Shao Kang (Chang Yi), a white haired martial arts master.
Featuring great fight scenes, evocative settings and a first-rate cast, THE MING PATRIOTS is easily one of Bruce Li's best efforts. The movie is basically one long chase but depicted as realistically as possible. Our heroes grow weary over the course of their journey and even sport bruises and scars from the many beatings they take. The film doesn't focus on outrageous fight scenes with guys flying around in the air. When someone gets hit, it leaves a mark! The film showcases the rocky and desolate expanses of the country to great effect. At times, it seems almost like a Western (with the stolen western music only helping more). Perhaps the best attribute is the fact that Li (even billed as Ho Chung Tao) portrays a real character and not a Bruce Lee clone. He plays a reluctant hero who does his job not because he wants to but out of a sense of loyalty and civic duty. Li excels in the role, leaving one only to wonder what would have happened if he had been given more chances outside of Bruceplotation roles.
Now for the bad news: while the film itself is fantastic, the DVD presentation is far from stellar. Released as part of the Wu Tang Clan "Hidden Chambers Collection," the DVD is actually a composite of several different prints of the film. The switching between prints is very noticeable due to dissimilar print quality, which is annoying to say the least especially when they switch mid-fight scene. Also, one print used is actually full frame, resorting in loss of the image because the DVD is letterboxed. Regardless of this sub par quality, I would still highly recommend picking the film up. I mean, how often do you get to see Bruce Li sporting a waist length ponytail?
Reviewed by William
Read William's review of the DVD from Ground Zero