Meltdown on DVD

Description

Jet Li can always be relied upon when it comes to action movies, and Meltdown is no exception. No surprises with the story line: Kit Li witnesses his wife blown up in a gangster attack masterminded by the nefarious Doctor, only to be confronted by the same "no risk, no reward" gangster two years later, now aiming to steal the Russian crown jewels from a hotel complex. The shadow of Die Hard falls heavily across the action, with its skyscraper stunts and marauding helicopter, given an appropriate twist by the high-velocity martial-arts sequences and director Wong Jing's stylish take on the high-tech metropolis that is Hong Kong. Jackie Cheung adds a comic element as Frankie Lane, the action-movie star seemingly past his sell-by date, and Kwan Sau Mei's Doctor is the epitome of suave nastiness. On the DVD: Meltdown on disc has a 1.85:1 widescreen picture that reproduces the plethora of monochrome conference rooms and exploding glass panels with dizzying clarity. This release comes ready dubbed into English--don't check the synchronisation too often and you'll hardly notice--with subtitles in 12 languages. The photo gallery is enlivened with Jet Li trivia, while the filmographies are unusually frank about the commercial nature of the Hong Kong film industry in general and Wong Jing's contribution in particular. But done with this degree of panache, films such as Meltdown are never less than 110# entertainment. It's a martial arts battle of the masters when red hot action superstar Jet Li returns to take revenge! After failing to save his wife from the evil 'Doctor', Kit Li (Jet Li: Romeo Must Die, The Black Mask) takes a job working as a bodyguard for the world famous actor Frankie Lane. But history repeats itself and Kit is forced to confront his past when The Doctor and his gang take over a luxury hotel in an attempt to steal the Crown Jewels of Russia on exhibition there. Surrounded by the ruthless gangsters and with only his bare hands to protect him and the hostages, Kit must seek his own brand of vengeance.