2
(nothing substantial)
7
(mild violence and strong language)
3
(see this only if you have a strong interest in an aspect of it)
"The Killer Meteors" (as it’s most commonly called in the States) was a movie Jackie Chan did as a favor for Jimmy Wang Yu. It’s not one of his favorites probably having a lot to do with the fact that he plays a villain.
While it is far from a great movie, it’s not as bad as Jackie makes it out to be in "I Am Jackie Chan." It has an unusual and complex plot, but it’s often unclear with underdeveloped ideas, weak characters, and terrible editing.
Killer Meteor is hired by Immortal Meteor to steal an antidote to the poison that is slowly killing him. Killer has to get through tough Kung Fu bodyguards if he is to succeed. Immortal wants revenge on his wife, the one who poisoned him, but there is a hidden plot that will make survival nearly impossible for Killer. Is he really as invincible as the legend says?
An example of the underdeveloped ideas I'm referring to is the weapon Killer Meteor (Jimmy) uses. We’re never really told what it is, what it does, where it comes from, or why it’s so necessary to keep it concealed unless it’s removed for the purpose of killing someone. It almost sounds like it’s some cosmic thing that an alien dropped out of its sleigh one December. Maybe the people in the culture at the time recognized it, but I’m willing to bet nobody knows what it is supposed to be.
An example of the weak characters is the Meteor -- both of them really (besides Jimmy the Killer Meteor there is Jackie as the Immortal Meteor). Is “Meteor” some kind of designation above master? Have they earned this by proving themselves unbeatable? Are they the only two? It seems to me like the titles are reversed, also: “Immortal Meteor” fits the hero better while “Killer Meteor” sounds like a villain. Some write-ups state that the name comes from the weapon, but that just raises other questions.
As for the editing, it’s common low-budget type stuff: terrible jump-cuts, throwing a dagger then cutting to the blade stuck into the victim, and that sort of thing.
Jimmy is known for his odd ideas. I mean is this guy smoking something? Still there’s some intrigue and unpredictable twists that give a little merit to the plot.
Morality
There isn’t much questionable in this one. There’s some fighting, of course, and some strong language. It's quite mild in all respects, though.
Spirituality
Despite involving an "immortal" meteor, there is nothing supernatural here. This might be the equivalent of a wrestler calling himself "immortal." There's little to nothing worthy of note.
Final Thoughts
It's not punch-someone awful, but you definitely need an appreciation of odd, old Kung Fu flicks if you're going to attempt to watch this one. Don't go in thinking you're going to get a Jackie Chan showcase, either. There is far better out there if that's what you're after.
Buying Guide
"The Killer Meteors" is pretty easy to find on DVD considering it's an old and relatively obscure Chinese flick. You can thank Jackie Chan's superstar status for that.
There are at least 2 DVD's and a double-feature available.
I'll focus on the details of the Simitar DVD in the next section. Sony offers the other DVD. It's still 1.33 pan-&-scan most likely with mono sound, but it does offer the Cantonese language track with English subtitles. The English dub is offered as well. I couldn't find any details about the quality, but being from Sony it's probably not bad. There's no mention of extras.
Shout Factory offers a double-feature with "New Fist of Fury." The specs are the same as the other DVD's. Reviews say that the presentation is improved but still rough thanks to print damage. Audio is said to be fair but offering only an English dub. Extras include trailers but without English translations.
Final Recommendation:
The French get a widescreen print with the original language track. I don't know why none of the English editions offer that. The Sony disc is probably the best bet since it includes the best language options. The others should be acceptable just don't get too excited about the extras offered. You might be able to get slightly better quality out of the Shout Factory print so keep that in mind.
The Platinum Series DVD from Simitar is a single disc.
Video
1.33:
This is a pan-&-scan reformat with some moments of non-anamorphic widescreen. It's been digitally remastered but don't get your hopes up for great quality. The image is muddy, pixelated, soft, dull, trashy, too dark (in the night scenes), and slightly shifty. If it were any worse the movie would be just about unwatchable.
Audio
2.0 Dolby:
The audio track is considerably better than the video though certainly nothing to get excited about. It's clean just not very high quality. It does have a little white noise and some minor distortion. Other than that it's just a an old and weak mix.
The Cantonese audio track is available, but you can't select it from the DVD menu. There are no English subtitles, though so you're better off with the English dub unless you speak the language.
Packaging
The case is standard plastic.
The insert offers a chapters list.
The interface is not laid out very well.
Extras
-Chan Interview (5:46) The Jackie Chan interview is the most notable extra. It’s a good interview, but I would like to have seen them give us a collection of different ones between the different releases. With the 5 movies from this company I got 5 copies of the same interview.
-Film Facts: A few basic details about the movie.
-Jackie Chan: This is a few written pages of bio for Jackie.
-Filmographies: A short list of a few of Jackie's movies.