Review of Dreadnaught

Introduction

It`s another classic kung fu disc from Hong Kong Legends. They still come out with a degree of regularity, despite the fact that most of the major titles are out there now. However, even the less mainstream titles harbour rare gems worthy of a place in a DVD collection or two. Dreadnaught isn`t the kind of movie title I usually associate with Hong Kong movies, but when I looked up the details on IMDB, three details stuck in my mind. First, it`s a Golden Harvest film, second it was made in 1981, right in the middle of that classic golden age of kung fu movies, and third it stars Yuen Biao. With all that taken into consideration, I was positively looking forward to this film.

Mousy is a timid sort of a chap. He runs a laundry service with his feistier sister, but has trouble working up the confidence simply to collect the money due, let alone actually stand up for himself. He has something working in his favour though, best friend Foon is a martial artist who tries to give him a little confidence, and Foon`s sifu is the legendary Wong Fei-Hung. Now if only Mousy could work up the courage to ask to become his student. Trouble is heading their way though, as notorious criminal White Tiger is looking for a place to hide from the authorities, and he takes refuge with the local Opera troupe. Soon corpses are piling up, and Mousy will be called on to find that hidden courage within. Years of working with laundry have given him some unexpected skills though.

Video

Dreadnaught gets a typically splendid transfer from those people at Hong Kong Legends and Fortune Star. The image is clear and colourful, with no trace of print damage. There may be some grain and some of the scenes seem out of focus, but I assume that`s down to the original source material. For an example of how good this film looks on this disc, it`s worth comparing it to the original theatrical trailer.

Audio

You get the usual HKL collection of soundtracks, DD 5.1 Cantonese and English, as well as DD 2.0 mono Cantonese. As usual I eschewed the dub for the original language track. The surround feels really just a glorified mono track, with the music and dialogue firmly rooted to the centre speaker, while the surrounds are put to use for the sound effects. It`s actually quite startling when in the first fight sequence you hear something crashing behind you. I sampled the English dub, and found it to be actually more accomplished as a surround track, despite the usual painful dialogue. It`s worth noting that the English dub actually has a different music soundtrack to the original film. You get English and Dutch subtitles with the film.

Features

The day of copious extras seems to be behind HKL, or maybe I`m just missing the Bey Logan commentaries. Dreadnaught gets the usual trailers featuring Further Attractions from HKL. There are also the UK and Original Theatrical Trailers for Dreadnaught.

Who is Wong Fei-Hung is a 5-minute trailer/featurette that presents a text biography of the legendary figure, with clips from all the other Wong-Fei Hung films in HKL`s back catalogue.

Interview with Lily Li lasts 21 minutes, and the actress talks about her career and her films, including Dreadnaught of course.

Conclusion

On the surface Dreadnaught bears a passing resemblance to the Jackie Chan film, Young Master. Both films have a lion dance, a violent escaped criminal on the loose, and a young hero in over his head. Dreadnaught manages much more thematically however, and quickly differentiates itself. It`s by parts comedy, action movie, psychological thriller, and even has a hint of the supernatural about it. What`s impressive is that it manages to get all this to work together.

Yuen Biao impresses as the cowardly Mousy, and in a similar way to Jackie Chan`s reluctant hero, it`s interesting to see a hero who would rather avoid confrontation and runs from a fight. Of course when the chips are down there has to be some serious kung fu. The main villain of the piece is an interesting character. White Tiger`s introduction is very much in the style of a Spaghetti Western, and that theme continues for the character, as he remains a man of few words in this film. His introduction also sows the seeds of his psychosis. You can understand why he is a serial killer, what sets him off, and why he hides behind a painted face. It is a depth of characterisation that goes beyond what I have typically seen in this genre of film. Yuen Woo-Ping of the Matrix fame directs, and as you would expect, the action scenes are excellent, with not a wire to be seen. This film comes from that era when action scenes were carefully choreographed with tens of moves in a cut. It`s truly a pleasure to watch.

In many ways Dreadnaught is a typical film of the period, with slapstick comedy combined with drama to entertaining effect. But a little more thought has gone into the film to make it more than the sum of its parts. It`s never going to inspire philosophical debate, but there is enough under the bonnet to give something to think about after the credits have rolled. It`s also a typical HKL disc, with a splendid visual transfer backed up by acceptable audio. The extras are perfunctory, but this is definitely a film worth considering.