Video: The video quality of this Dragon Dynasty DVD release is excellent and as one would expect anamorphically enhanced. Working most likely from a PAL source (at least at some point in the process) Dragon Dynasty did an excellent job transferring the film as I did not notice any ghosting or problems that typically plague PAL to NTSC transfers. The colors were vibrant and not oversaturated. There is grain in some scenes, but I strongly suspect that they were the original intention of the director or DP to give the film a gritty look at times.
Check out the screenshots:
http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/04/born-to-fight-dragon-dynasty-screencaps.html
Audio: The Dragon Dynasty disc comes with four audio tracks. A Thai 5.1 and English 5.1 Dolby Digital Mix. The English dub is surprisingly decent and was most likely made in the United States and not sourced from a local studio in either Thailand or Hong Kong. Both mixes sound clean and free of hiss. They were well mixed and powerful fitting a modern day action film. The dialogue is never overpowered by the music and sound effects or vice-versa. There is a Thai DTS track (which I think is a first for Dragon Dynasty), but as I do not have a DTS sound setup on my TV I was unable to fully test it. I did sample it on my PC and it sounded very nice and I’m sure will be enjoyed by those who have a system capable of playing DTS. There is also a Bey Logan audio commentary.
Subtitles: While I cannot verify the accuracy of the subtitles, I can say they are free of any grammar or spelling errors. For the main movie there is also a set of Spanish subtitles.
Extras: Dragon Dynasty goes all out giving us a two disc ultimate edition of Born to Fight loaded with extras. The first disc contains the only extra unique to this edition (the others are from the Thai DVD) with an audio commentary by Bey Logan. Bey earns extra points for referencing Gymkata numerous times and making legit comparisons to the use of gymnasts in martial arts films. Although his knowledge of Thai films is nowhere near as large as his information on Hong Kong cinema, its not bad by any means. Bey gives good background info on the background of the film, its actors, the stunts, and Thai culture (and Thai Red Bull). On the second disc we have two trailers, the original Thai (which was not anamorhpically enhanced and looks a little rough) and is subtitled, along with a US promotional trailer. The main extras are two behind the scenes features one is a short electronic press kit that was used to promote the movie in Thailand. The video quality is not great, but that is mostly likely, because it was meant for airings on TV and the internet. The main feature is a 60+ minute behind the scenes documentary that was made for the Thai DVD and that has interviews with the stars and crew and behind the scenes footage of making the movie. The video quality was excellent on this feature. All features come with optional English subtitles.
Overall: Dragon Dynasty offers a solid package for Born to Fight. If you do not own the film yet, then have no fear this is the perfect release for you to pick up. It also retails for far cheaper than its British or Australia counterparts making it the perfect choice for people who cannot play PAL DVDs or do not necessarily want to spend a lot of money. Excellent video and audio quality combined with some serious extras make this an attractive purchase for those interested in the film (and it is quite an enjoyable film). We were very happy with this DVD and cannot wait to see more of the excellent work that Dragon Dynasty has to offer in the future especially with Above The Law and Shanghai Express coming out in May and several Shaw Brother films in June.
Born to Fight Dragon Dynasty DVD Review
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