| | | "Blu-Ray Disc, Beyond High Definition."
Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, English, Spanish, Subtitled
Martial arts master Jet Li explodes onto the screen as China's top secret agent, whose latest mission puts him face-to-face with government espionage at the highest level. Falsely accused of murder, he must team up with a seductive call girl (Bridget Fonda) to save himself - and her!
"...a supremely kinetic and amusing guilty pleasure." John Patterson, L.A. Weekly
"...a hard core action film for hard core action junkies." Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
"...professional action, well-staged and filmed with a certain stylistic elegance. Jet Li is the right star for the material..." Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"Not merely a thriller but a shocker." San Francisco Chronicle
"Li's action sequences (light) up the interiors with heat and wreckage." The New York Times
Editor's Note
The writers of THE FIFTH ELEMENT, Luc Besson (who also directed the Bruce Willis film) and Robert Mark Kamen, have teamed up again to deliver Jet Li in the action thriller KISS OF THE DRAGON. Li stars as Liu Jiuan, a Chinese agent so dedicated to his job that he has no friends, no family, no dreams. He is sent to Paris to help the French police capture a Chinese gangster, but France's top cop, Jeanne-Pierre Richard (Tcheky Karyo), has set Liu up to take the fall for a brutal killing he himself carried out. On the run in a strange city, Liu keeps a low profile until he unwillingly becomes friends with an American hooker, Jessica (Bridget Fonda)--who just happens to hold the key to his innocence. But Richard is always one step ahead of them--he has Jessica's daughter. Li and Fonda make a great team; their relationship is at the core of the film, as neither character has ever been able to put his complete trust in another person before. The action scenes, directed by Corey Yuen, are fast and furious and very violent, featuring mesmerizing moves by Li, especially one involving a billiard ball. Chris Nahon, in his directorial debut, makes excellent use of the location, including numerous shots of famous Parisian landmarks as the bad cops try to machine-gun down Liu in the streets and sewers and on the Seine.
| Features | Audio Commentary By Director Chris Nahon, & Actors Jet Li & Bridget Fonda | | Audio: English DTS HD 5.1 Surround Sound | | Audio: Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dubbed: Spanish | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Theatrical Trailer In High Definition | | This Is A Blu-Ray DVD Made For Blue-Laser Format Players Which Produce Higher Quality Picture & Sound |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Foxvideo |
| Release Date: 4/14/2009 |
| Running Time: 98 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2001 | | Catalog ID: 2239587 | | UPC: 00024543395874 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Dubbed | | Available Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Bridget Fonda | | Jet Li | | Max Ryan | | Tcheky Karvo | | Chino XL - Original Music By | | Chris Nahon - Director | | Craig Armstrong - Original Music By | | Jacques Bufnoir - Production Designer | | Jet Li - Based On Story By | | Jet Li, et. al. - Producer | | Luc Besson - Screenplay | | Marco Cave - Editor | | Robert Mark Kamen - Screenplay | | Thierry Arbogast - Cinematographer |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
"...With KISS, the spotlight swivels to Jet Li, a fleet performer with a highly appealing demeanor of patient, quizzical intelligence..." 07/13/2001 p.53-4New York Times
"...Mr. Li and his fisticuffs choreographer, Corey Yuan, have set a new standard for action here....The combat couldn't be better..." 07/06/2001 p.E13 USA Today
"...It's an assortment of kicks, somersaults and Dolby Digital bone-snaps..." 07/06/2001 p.5E Variety
"Boldly kicking ass like no ass has been kicked before, KISS OF THE DRAGON is a slick, straight-ahead action-thriller..." 07/09/2001 p.19-28 Chicago Sun-Times
"...The movie looks great....Well-staged and filmed with a certain stylistic elegance..." 07/06/2001 p.29 ReelViews 8 of 10
Whack! Thworp! Crack! Sometimes, it's fun to sit back and enjoy the spectacle of bad guys getting their heads beaten in. No political correctness. No toning down the violence to obtain the teen-friendly PG-13 classification from the MPAA. These things make a movie like Kiss of the Dragon a pure, if somewhat guilty, summer pleasure. Of course, it helps that the lead actor is Jet Li, a man who oozes equal parts coolness and charisma...even though Kiss of the Dragon was filmed in and takes place in Paris, everyone speaks English. The average movie-goer will think it's just another Hollywood production - which is precisely Besson's goal. But, regardless of how its production background is seen, Kiss of the Dragon stands out as one of the summer's few high-energy action movies that holds an audience's attention for its full running length, rather than losing viewers in a sea of plot contrivances and glitzy special effects. - James Berardinelli
Reel.com 8 of 10
Forget Romeo Must Die. Please forget Lethal Weapon 4. Kiss of the Dragon is the crossover film Jet Li fans have been waiting for. Combining a cool, Ronin-like European setting with the Asian action star's top-notch kung fu, it's a first-rate adventure on par with many of his Hong Kong films. Thankfully, it also doesn't feature the mid-air wire-fu fighting that's quickly starting to become overused. Here, Li street-brawls with a brutality not seen since Fist of Legend, his remake of/tribute to Bruce Lee's Fists of Fury...Using tricks honed directing such Li classics as New Legend of Shaolin and Fong Sai Yuk, [Editor Marco Cave] showcases Jet's ability to simultaneously pummel dozens of opponents. Nowhere does this skill shine more than during the finale, where Li batters an entire Paris police station into pate. After watching this dizzying orgy of hand-to-hand combat, there's no denying this Dragon has got some serious fire. - Tor Thorsen
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