Review of Smart Cavalier, The

Introduction

Let`s look at some of the blurb for this disc:-

"Another kung fu classic from Joseph Kuo"

Well, I`ve not been impressed by any of the previous DVDs of his work.

"The Smart Cavalier has a grandfather and his pretty granddaughter travelling from town to town offering the granddaughter`s hand in marriage to any man who can better her in a fight."

Doesn`t sound great does it?

"An unwitting Ming revolutionary finally claims victory, earning himself a new and unwanted responsibility. Fearing marriage would get in the way of his political activities..."

Marriage doesn`t seem to get in the way of the activities of many politicians nowadays does it?

"Full of impressively choreographed fight sequences interspersed with light comedy, The Smart Cavalier moves at breakneck speed to a dazzling, bone-crunching finale."

Maybe it will be worth watching then? Although the phrase "light comedy" usually fills me with horror…

Video

A 2.35:1 non-anamorphic transfer, which is in a bit of a mess, looking washed out, with colours rather muted. It has a VHS quality about it a lot of the time. There is not so much print damage as you`ll see in other titles in this range, but it`s still not up to scratch when you consider what those nice chaps at Hong Kong Legends can manage to do.

Audio

A naff DD2.0 English dubbed soundtrack. Not only is it a dub (a criminal offence in my book), it`s very poor quality, with lots of really awful sound effects added over the top and no redeeming features. I really don`t like dubbed soundtracks.

Features

Just a trailer for the film and some for other discs.

Conclusion

"Full of impressively choreographed fight sequences interspersed with light comedy."

If that`s true then I`m Yuen Woo Ping. The plot is just garbage, the martial arts action is average and you just end up laughing for all of the wrong reasons yet again. If this "Old Skool Kung Fu" series is supposed to be about classic films, then they`ve messed up again with this one. But if it means naff and laughable films, then its inclusion is spot on. The "light comedy" is awful, I`ve seen better jokes on Last of the Summer Wine.

If you want to see a good film with martial arts in it, get something else like Iron Monkey or a Bruce Lee film. If you want a laughable piece of junk on a budget DVD with well below average picture and sound, this is your thing.

Avoid.