2025-01-16, 05:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 2025-01-16, 05:49 AM by The Film Whisperer.)
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Do you want to know about more of my work? Check the link in my bio/signature (the links are to this website only, describing the projects. Obviously you must PM me)
I've been holding back on this project for a while now, but at this point, I don't think any better sources will become available any time soon.
Thankfully, my reconstruction uses the third (and grammatically correct) title.
This 1986 film is the first and only movie Jet Li ever directed. And it's a shame that he hasn't directed anything ever since, because I actually think this movie showed he can be a great director, even if the movie itself isn't a masterpiece.
) goes back home to Qingdao, only to find that it's not the home he once knew. The town now heavily caters to utterly rapacious American soldiers, as orphaned children sell themselves on the street, and many Chinese women prostitute themselves (that last one isn't so bad actually, eh? 
). One day, Jet Li decides that he has had enough of bullying from the American soldiers. He accepts a challenge to fight one of the soldiers: Bailey (played by Paulo Tocha). Although he struggles, Jet defeats him in a boxing match. However, the conflict between the Chinese townspeople and the American soldiers escalate, as Bailey wants revenge for his humiliating defeat. The conflict escalates further when the tall Captain Hans (played by Kurt Roland Peterson) intervenes, hoping to break Jet's spirit (and that of the Chinese). The escalating tit-for-tat conflict eventually leads to destructive and tragic results between Jet, his friends, and the American soldiers.
The fight scenes in this movie are based on real physics. None of that typical "wire-fu" stuff you see in Jet Li's films. And they are VERY well choreographed! Jet Li is in his prime and top shape in this movie. And it's all well-directed too. This is probably the youngest I've ever seen Jet Li in a film.
This martial arts film is another one of those films that Saint Harvey Weinstein (via Miramax) got his hands on back in the day. He created a new dub and made a 5.1 mix. However, at least the Miramax dub keeps the original score and sound effects, but Jet Li's voice is unrealistically deep !
The cuts by Miramax weren't too extensive. I've found that Miramax never butchered Jet Li's films as much as they butchered Jackie Chan's! If you're curious to know more about the cuts and changes, just read this Movie-Censorship article. But I can summarize.
About the film
This movie is known by three different titles- Born to Defense
- Born to Defence
- Born to Defend
Thankfully, my reconstruction uses the third (and grammatically correct) title.This 1986 film is the first and only movie Jet Li ever directed. And it's a shame that he hasn't directed anything ever since, because I actually think this movie showed he can be a great director, even if the movie itself isn't a masterpiece.
Anyways, the plot
After fighting against the Japanese in World War II, "Xiao Jie" (Jet Li...and that's the last time I'm pretending his character has a name ) goes back home to Qingdao, only to find that it's not the home he once knew. The town now heavily caters to utterly rapacious American soldiers, as orphaned children sell themselves on the street, and many Chinese women prostitute themselves (that last one isn't so bad actually, eh? ). One day, Jet Li decides that he has had enough of bullying from the American soldiers. He accepts a challenge to fight one of the soldiers: Bailey (played by Paulo Tocha). Although he struggles, Jet defeats him in a boxing match. However, the conflict between the Chinese townspeople and the American soldiers escalate, as Bailey wants revenge for his humiliating defeat. The conflict escalates further when the tall Captain Hans (played by Kurt Roland Peterson) intervenes, hoping to break Jet's spirit (and that of the Chinese). The escalating tit-for-tat conflict eventually leads to destructive and tragic results between Jet, his friends, and the American soldiers.The fight scenes in this movie are based on real physics. None of that typical "wire-fu" stuff you see in Jet Li's films. And they are VERY well choreographed! Jet Li is in his prime and top shape in this movie. And it's all well-directed too. This is probably the youngest I've ever seen Jet Li in a film.
The Miramax Version
This martial arts film is another one of those films that Saint Harvey Weinstein (via Miramax) got his hands on back in the day. He created a new dub and made a 5.1 mix. However, at least the Miramax dub keeps the original score and sound effects, but Jet Li's voice is unrealistically deep
!The cuts by Miramax weren't too extensive. I've found that Miramax never butchered Jet Li's films as much as they butchered Jackie Chan's! If you're curious to know more about the cuts and changes, just read this Movie-Censorship article. But I can summarize.
- Miramax created a new opening credits sequence using some WWII-inspired artwork (albeit blurry and abstract). The original version of the movie just had a black background with bi-lingual Chinese/English credits
- They also added some ACTUAL scrolling end credits (in English only) on the last shot's freeze frame. Some sources of the uncut version just linger on the freeze-frame for 10 seconds, then cuts to a bi-lingual title card saying "The End". The DVD I used for my reconstruction (more on that later) lingered on the final freeze frame for about a whole minute!
- Cut out a shot of a prostitute's boobies
(but the film still ended up being rated-R anyways with no theatrical release! WTF?!)
- Shortened a scene where Jet Li donates blood for extra cash.
- Deleted a shot of Jet Li peeling a blister from his foot.
- Various scenes involving urine (I think Jet might have a fetish, but who am I to judge )
How did I make the reconstruction?
I found a 720p version of the Miramax cut by "Bluebird" online, although I think it was an upscale of the Dragon Dynasty DVD. Then I found a British R2 DVD (which I think was actually scanned from this VHS) which was uncut and in the OAR.The British DVD's picture isn't great. It's dark and lacks color. Color-correcting it to match the Miramax Version was difficult. However, compared to the Miramax version, it has much more information in each frame. A LOT MORE (see slide #2 in this link for comparison). Also, there are burnt-in English subtitles. In many cases those subs are within the matte, but other times they creep into the frame. Hence why I used a 4:3 pan & scan bootleg version to cover up those subtitles in two different shots (see the explanation slides link). In once instance I had to FRAME-BY-FRAME rotoscoping to cover those subs!
The British DVD version also used the title card which read "Born to Defend" instead of "Defense" or Defence". I recreated the opening credits from scratch with iMovie, but I used that title card from the DVD in my reconstruction. I used Miramax's end credits, because just lingering on that freeze frame for 90 seconds is awkward!
Specs
File size: 11 GBFormat: MKV
Frame rate: 23.978 fps
Audio
- 2.0 LPCM (stereo), Cantonese, Hong Kong laserdisc (excellent quality)**
- 2.0 LPCM (mono), English export dub (from R4 Australian DVD).
- 2.0 LPCM (stereo), Miramax dub with export dub filling in certain parts.
**Disclaimer about my customized Cantonese track**
Before Jet Li's first fight with Captain Hans, he and the Captain exchange words, with the club-owner translating. Captain Hans tells Jet
that if he won't fight him, he must "tuck his tail between his legs and get out." Jet responds by saying "We are Chinese, not dogs!" ('dog' is a big insult many Asian cultures
).In the original Cantonese track, the club owner (who is supposed to be translating) responds by just yelling "We are Chinese!" then the Captain responds by saying "So prove it."
I felt like this exchange was a bit awkward. So for that part of the conversation, I took the bar owner's voice from the Mandarin dub, in which he properly translates Jet's words as "Us Chinese are not dogs", albeit in a much different (and monotonous) voice!
Subtitles
- English for Cantonese track
- English for English dubs (signs and text only)
I included the subtitles I made (an SRT) in a separate file, in case anyone would like to improve the translations. My subs rely mostly on Dragon Dynasty's translation, but also a little bit from the British DVD.
Anything else included?
I converted the R2 DVD into 24fps and speed (not the HD frame rate), if you're curious to check it out and compare it to the Miramax Version.
Does anyone have a decent quality version of the Mandarin dub? Every source I've managed to get of the Mandarin dub is really bad quality! Also, I think statistically-speaking, at around this time (1945-ish), the people of Qingdao were speaking Mandarin instead of Cantonese
.Does anyone have the Dragon Dynasty DVD?
Anyways, ENJOY! Tell me what you think!
