Tai Chi Master (1993)

To me, this is one of the best Jet Li movies. Or, may as well call it one of the best movies. It has a lot of humor and wisdom in it. However, as someone jokes that dubbing is the eighth sin, the dubbing in this movie, possibly to match the lip movement, has the script modified. The humor was lost, as well as the wisdom. I compared an Asian release with the US release: the script as well as the English subtitle are modified in the US release. I highly recommend this movie to you, except that it may be best to find the Asian release. I also checked that my Asian release has the English subtitle which is very close to what the actors and actresses say in Chinese. Also one thing about the US release is that the song is taken out from the movie. We usually accept a French song or Italian song in a foreign movie. How come we don't accept a Chinese song in a Chinese movie? The original Chinese song is very suited to the events of the movie. My advice remains: the Asian release of this movie probably can give you more enjoyment than the modified one.

If at all possible, get the original Chinese/subtitled version of this film under the name, Tai Chi Master. The U.S. edit version, Twin Warriors, cuts out some short but apt scenes that lend extra continuity and humor to an already fine story. The dubbed dialogue also dulls the storyline, foregoes some subtle humor and stunts some of the character development. O.K., so the English subtitles often lay waste proper (English) grammar, spelling and word useage, but that's part of the charm of this type of movie. (Why don't Chinese producers hire proficient, English-as-a-first-language editors to do a final review of the subtitles? I would be willing to do it part-time, for a modest stipend and free copies of the DVDs. :)

This film plays the classic elements of revenge, loyalty, betrayal, and the clearly emerging delineation, and struggle, between Good and Evil, quite well. Admittedly, some of the wire-work is fantastic, but it adds to, not detracts from, the epic scale of the story. Jet Li portrays the "good guy" extremely well, with Michelle Yeoh in a very good supporting role and contributing one of the movie's best one-on-one fight scenes.

I saw this film at the theaters almost ten years ago, when it was first released, and it is still on my personal, "top 10" list of the best kung-fu movies I've ever seen.

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This movie is good. The fights and unrealistic and stylish, and the story is good. But there is no excuse for what happened to this movie. We live in America. We are one of the most diverse nations in the world. The localizers of this movie seem to think that Americans don't know anything about, and don't care about, Chinese language and culture. As a result all the original language and music has been cut, and there is only a spoken English version. This is inexcusable, especially for a DVD release. I have no problem with a dub, but on a DVD you MUST include both. It is a good movie, but on principle I will not give it a passing grade on this element alone. I bought a DVD player so I would not have any problems getting the subtitled version of a movie, and then they pull this crap! Please do not support dub only releases. Please go to ... the auctions amazon and find a DVD of Tai Chi Master. This is the Chinese version of this film. It will have English subtitles. The image quality is worse, but to have the true language and the real voice of Jet Li, it is worth it.

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This is a classic Jet Li film, and I was happy to finally get my hands on it--I mean it's got Michelle Yeoh too!! The problem I have is---Dimension Films is finally releasing these great martial arts films by Jet Li and Jackie Chan, great--but they are keeping no integrity. The names of the films are changed, they're dubbed, packaged and sent out. Why not take care, and use the DVD format--so people can have the option to watch the film with subtitles. It seems the companies are more interested in cashing in on the work of these great stars, than the films themselves. It's unfortunate that the Western buying market is considered that ignorant. The movie itself has some fantastic fight sequences and the story is pretty good. Has to be ranked high in Li's catalog of films. It is in the category of "Once Upon a Time in China" opposed to his less fantastical movies like, "My Father is a Hero" or "Romeo Must Die."

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Do not waste your money on this blu-ray if you already have the dvd. The improvement in the picture quality is marginal at best and indiscernible at worst. This is a complete rip off; it seems no effort was made to remaster this disc and present it in true high definition.

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