DVD Review: Meltdown
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: C+
DVD Special Features: C-

        There's a definite problem with the majority of the Hong Kong films that have been released on DVD in North America during the past couple of years; the dubbing is hysterically awful! It reminds me of the time I watched "A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" in Germany. Whoever dubbed that little beauty had the lead actress sounding like she was 85 years old and Freddy, who's supposed to be mildly scary, speaks as if somebody is using his privates as a slinky. My point? To all the studios out there acquiring rights to foreign films, PLEASE include the original language audio track with some English subtitles. Aside from a dubbing problem, "Meltdown" suffers from one other little minor problem; it's billed as a Jet Li movie when in fact Jet is merely a secondary character.

The film opens at a schoolyard where children are playing outside. A bus drives up and several heavily armed men and their leader, the Doctor, rush out, gather up the kids along with their teacher and put them all on the bus. The military is brought in since the bus has a bomb set to go off underneath it and it's up to Kit Le (Jet Li) to disarm it. Unfortunately, the Doctor outsmarts them and the bomb goes off killing everyone inside of it, including Kit's wife (the teacher).

Flash forward two years later and Kit is now working as a stunt double/bodyguard for martial arts action movie star Frankie Lone (Jacky Cheung). Frankie loves all the attention of the press, the fans and the women and doesn't like taking risks anymore. Kit even falls off of buildings for him while Frankie pops up moments later as if he's done the stunt himself. Talk about a ham! He's also very careful not to hurt his face or get any bruises before a shoot. In short, Frankie is the butt of a number of jokes and the comic relief in the film.

Now, getting on to the meat of the plot. The Doctor is back and out to steal the crown jewels of Russia at a brand new hotel. Among the guests invited to attend a party there is Frankie, so all eyes turn to him when the terrorists show up and take everybody hostage in the penthouse. Instead of taking the bad guys on, he runs and hides, which leaves matters up to Kit to inform the police as to what's going on and get help. If this is starting to sound a bit like "Die Hard," then you're correct, right down to the fiery helicopter crash. There's some pretty nice stunt work in the film and a great sequence with a car racing through the hotel itself while getting shot up and set on fire with a flamethrower. Okay, wait just a second here. What exactly did the terrorists think they were going to do with a flamethrower? I'd also like to know where they got the bag of snakes they used to torture a reporter with. Weird.

Anyway, it's not too difficult to figure out that there's a lot of shooting, ducking, dying, sped up footage and martial arts fighting for the second half of "Meltdown." Instead of the film being about Kit Li, though, it shifts towards Frankie overcoming his movie star persona and finding that inner strength that earned him the reputation as a renowned martial artist. There are a couple of twists at the end of the film that aren't taken from "Die Hard," so I don't want to spoil them for anyone who hasn't seen this yet. Suffice to say that even though Jet Li isn't in it as much as one might like, he does do some terrific work here and earned his paycheck. While I might say that the script was a tad weak, it might be due to whoever translated it and then there's that incredibly poor dubbing job. Ugh!

"Meltdown" is presented in Widescreen and while the picture quality is generally good, there are times when print flaws and scratches are visible. The daytime shots appear muted and overall colors are fairly dull. The audio. Well, I've already stated my feelings on the audio. If it's any consolation, the explosions and bullet noises sound okay. Extras on the disc are kept to some theatrical trailers, cast and director biographies and some film shots with trivia about Jet Li. It's not a special edition by any means, but it's sure priced like one. A list price of $29.95 is pretty high for what you're getting here.

Hong Kong action films are a great deal of fun to watch and they tend to blend many genres all within the same movie. They are dynamic and audiences and collectors are finally being given the opportunity to see how they do it overseas. "Meltdown" isn't the greatest example of this nor is it the worst. As a Jet Li billed film, you may find yourself a bit disappointed. As an action fan, however, you may find yourself sitting back and enjoying what you see. It certainly had its moments.

Kage holds degrees in Creative Writing, as well as Film & Video. He has been featured in a Life Journey Tele-Course, published poems in several national anthologies, been a contributor to The Third Coast Magazine and written several novels. kage@modamag.com