Once Upon A Time In China 3

The DVD of Once Upon A Time China 3 has been digitally restored and remastered, and has produced a transfer of superb quality.

Extras are a little thin on the ground, as the film suffers from being made in an era where extra footage was normally just thrown away. However, this is balanced by a detailed commentary by Bey Logan, author of Hong Kong Action Cinema, who is eminently qualified, being both a practitioner and writer. His in-depth discourses on the minute detail of the life of Wong Fei-Hung and the culture that surrounded him at the time are essential for any fan of the genre. He describes the historical background, talks about the actors and crew, and provides an insight into the filming - all in a dry, but thorough manner.

The interviews are also worth watching. Tsui Hark, from his study, gives a bit more background to the film, why he considers Wong Fei-Hung to be a Chinese Rambo and even talks about his experiences as an actor. Meanwhile, John Wakefield, who moved to Hong Kong to make films, describes the difficulties faced by an American actor playing a Russian villain who has to converse in Cantonese and Russian - with new lines being given to him as shooting was going on. These interviews are shot in the cheap and cheerful "video camera on a tripod" manner, interspersed with Behind The Scenes footage and some film clips.

It's a shame that clips of previous films made about Wong Fei-Hung from the 1940s aren't on the disc, but this is nitpicking slightly. The rest of the extras consist of trailers, images and a Jet Li biography.

If you're a fan of the genre, its the commentary that makes this Special Collectors Edition worth while.