Bulletproof Monk | | Cast : | Yun-Fat Chow, Seann William Scott, Jaime King | | Director : | Paul Hunter | | Studio : | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | April 16, 2003 | | DVD Released Date : | May 04, 2004 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Cantonese Chinese (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 04, 2005 | | Summary | Loved Victoria Smurfit's Nina Character | Content
 | By the end of "Bulletproof Monk", the ancient Tibetan secrets that are supposed to be its focus are less interesting than an acting-for-the-camera mystery.
How can an unknown Irish television actress (Victoria Smurfit), who looks like a pre-implant Patsy Kensit and whose supporting part is relatively small, flat-out steal the movie from the the actors with the four bigger parts?
A related question would be how Smurfit, wearing loose fitting pantsuits, can come across about seven times sexier than former spokesmodel Jaime King? Actually King's character is pretty sexy, but when Smurfit appears midway into the film you forget all about King.
Impressive performance Victoria, you elevate an ordinary formula movie-your scenes alone make it worth watching. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 12, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent Film: Good Concepts, Superb Execution | Content
| The film owes much to the intervention of the producers with a first time director, and the DVD shows just how the film came together, as well as how it potentially have derailed itself.
This film, as an end product, works superbly; it has a conceptual flow, great humour, and some masterful contributors.
The source material is in fact Three comics, with a couple of follow ups... all of which I have never seen( Except in one of the Featurettes), and based on the DVD extras and comments from various sources, I have no wish to see ... mainly because Deepak Chopras son is one of the authors of the text of the original comic which was helmed specifically with a film in mind.
I am not a John Woo fan, but the director does seem to be, and the film succeeds in spite of this handicap.
Bottom line is that this film is a popcorn flic, and any attempts at analysis is going to fall flat. Chow Yun-Fat's humourous delivery, as well as Sean William Scott's skill at humour save this film on many levels.
The commentarys, and both are definitely worth a listen, detail the production as well as the many "cooks" who went in to make this cook to perfection. The writers track show just how far this story could have been derailed, and the featurettes coupled together with the deleted scene, and the alternate ending show what we were saved from.
In my opinion, this is one of the few films that justify the studio intervention process, and the constant flow of test screenings.
Bundles of Trivia abound in the commentaries and the featurettes to make this a rich DVD package, and certainly do make it obvious, that the studio helped guide a talented director from committing to film some major mistakes.
Worth every penny for the film ... and the DVD extras show the behind the scenes changes that help a film gestate and eventually become a very workable and watchable film.
ENJOY |
| Rating | | | Date | May 26, 2005 | | Summary | Surprisingly Good Action Yarn | Content
| I've been trying to watch "Bulletproof Monk" for the last four days. It seems that everytime I would begin to watch it, something would come up that would tear me away from it. The beginning of that film(in fact, the first hour), is very good. It opens with a brilliant battle between Chow Yun-Fat and his mentor, the monk without a name. At the end of this battle, which is really a test, Yun-Fat is christened as the new monk with no name and is given the responsibility of protecting a scroll that holds the key to world domination. Of course, those pesky Nazis have an interest in this artifact and they show up just as our hero takes charge of the scroll. He manages to escape and winds up in New York City....sixty years later. It seems that those who protect the scroll earn the trust of time and do not age. Yun-Fat has come to turn the scroll over to a new protector, whom he thinks is Seann William Scott(Stiffler, of "American Pie" fame). The interaction between the two is great, better than the chemistry between Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. Not long after the duo meet up, Scott runs into a gang of baddies who decide he is crossing their turf. A fight ensues and we are introduced to the character of Jade, played convincingly by Jaime King. Not long after that, I was interrupted on three occasions at roughly the same time during the film.
I finally managed to watch the entire flick last night, and I must say that after the battle with Funktastic, the movie sort of levels off on action and humor. Both are still present, but not of the same caliber as the beginning of the film. Chow Yun-Fat shows us that he can pull off both comedy and drama, though I felt he gave a better performance in "The Replacement Killers." Scott, playing pickpocket Kar, proves that there is something besides Stiffler under his skin. As stated before, the duo have wonderful onscreen chemistry and hopefully we'll get to see them together again.
The action in this flick is fun to watch. Some of the moves are performed in the good ol' kung fu movie vein using wires and a little slo-mo, but they only add to the fun. The best battle is at the beginning of the flick, but the final conflict between Nazis and monks is pretty good. The only weightless "fight" is between King and Scott, with a love/hate battle akin to the "battle" between Elektra and Daredevil in a local park in one of the weakest moments of "Daredevil."
Overall, this is a very watchable and very enjoyable flick. Though it loses some steam after the first hour and the ending is a little subpar, it still deserves a strong three stars.
Recommended to fans of old kung-fu movies, Jacki Chan flicks, and buddy comedies. Language isn't too bad, and the PG-13 rating is more for the violence than anything else, so older children(above thirteen) should be okay watching this flick. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 06, 2005 | | Summary | Four=rather good | Content
| No matrix, but then at times the Matrix isn't even itself. Bullet proof Monk is good but not great. The action is ok, the dialogue isn't bad and the plot was a good idea that just needs some work in spots. Such as Sean William Scott's love interest, she was kinda cool, but i'm afraid I didn't quite sympthasize with her point of views. That and they killed of one of the main characters just a little too quickly, and then took to long on another.I know this sounds like I can't make up my mind, but they needed an equalizer for the deaths of the bad guys.
A decent action thriller with enough romance for the girls, and machoism for the guys. That, everybody comes away from the film feeling as the good guys got the decent reward, even if it seemed to obvious of an outcome. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 19, 2005 | | Summary | The plot's full of holes.... | Content
| ...so obviously this movie doesn't have a BULLETPROOF script. But in the long haul, that doesn't really matter.
Directed by Paul Hunter, Written by Ethan Reiff & Cyrus Varis and based upon the cult comic book of the same name, BULLETPROOF MONK is an entertaining (if predictable) blend of fantasy, martial arts, action and comedy; given more weight by the commanding screen presence of the legendary Chow Yun-Fat.
The film opens in Tibet in 1943, in the Buddhist Temple of Sublime Truth. Held within its confines is an ancient document, The Scroll Of The Ultimate. Anybody who is able to decipher its symbolism and read the scroll in its entirety is able to control the world and use the scrolls power for purposes of good or evil.
As with a lot of comic book movies the "plot" can be written on the inside of a matchbox: The Monk (Yun-Fat) has been given the task of guarding the scroll and as part of this responsibility he has sacrificed his name. In return he has been granted eternal youth.
But predictably, with it being 1943 and all, the Hitler has learned of the scrolls power & of course wants it in his possession to bring him closer to his goal of world domination. Of course, as any movie fan knows, the impotent little twerp couldn't take the Lost Ark Of The Covenant or the Holy Grail from Indiana Jones (RAIDERS and LAST CRUSADE) And bear in mind that Der Fruitcake he has also been mocked by Charlie Chaplin (THE GREAT DICTATOR- brilliant movie), been titillated by Grandpa Simpson in drag as a burlesque dancer & been indecently assaulted with a pineapple by Satan, a.k.a Harvey Keitel (LITTLE NICKY). But alas, alack, he has actually succeeded in murdering The Monk's master, and The Monk cannot rest in peace until he has returned the Scroll to the Temple & avenged his mentors death. Sound simple enough? Not really.
Now we flash forward sixty years later to New York, where The Monk is still on his quest. After a run-in with a young pickpocket named Kar (Seann William Scott), The Monk finds himself reluctantly joining forces with Kar to find the scroll.
Coincidentally also in NYC is the very Nazi who took the scroll from the Monk. Now wheelchair bound, he is still desperate for eternal youth and hungry for world domination; and this is made easier now that he has his hot blond granddaughter (Jaime King) to aid him.
So basically what follows is all quite predictable: Kar keeps trying to rip-off The Monk while lusting after King, The Monk does lots of butt whupping in some spectacular martial arts sequences and adults will be checking the clock counters on their DVD to see how much longer they have to suffer through this while kids will just enjoy all the action and won't give two hoots about it. I gave it three stars because I found it to still be quite entertaining (and also because at times I feel like I'm a kid trapped in a 25 year olds body). Another reason to watch is that the movie's Produced by John Woo; who along with Chow, helps give the movie more energy. Though BULLETPROOF MONK is light years away from reaching the heights of A BETTER TOMMORROW or HARD BOILED, it's still a good time-killing popcorn flick.
DVD Extras include five featurettes, behind the scenes doco "The Monk Unrobed", deleted scenes, trailer and a behind the scenes photo gallery.
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