Wheels On Meals (Kwai Tsan Tseh) (DVD)

Title: Wheels on Meals
Year Released: 1987
Running Time: 104 min approx
Certificate: 15
Discs: 2
Special Features:
• Disc 1:
• Digitally restored and remastered, created from a High Definition master
• Audio commentary from Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan
• Disc 2:
• 'On Giants' Shoulders': an exclusive interview with director/star Sammo Hung
...parts 1 and 2 but Wheels on Meals is a firm favourite.

Right from the off we see Chan and Yuen in their Spanish apartment and an inspired visual joke in the bedroom. This is essentially a showcase for all three's martial arts skills and acrobatics which are displayed to great effect all through the film.

Yuen Biao is often seen as the lesser of the 3 and is certainly the least well known after Chan's Hollywood career ... more

Title: Wheels on Meals
Year Released: 1987
Running Time: 104 min approx
Certificate: 15
Discs: 2
Special Features:
• Disc 1:
• Digitally restored and remastered, created from a High Definition master
• Audio commentary from Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan
• Disc 2:
• 'On Giants' Shoulders': an exclusive interview with director/star Sammo Hung
• Rare outtakes
• 'Born To Fight' featurette with Yuen Biao
• 'Rush And Roll': an exclusive interview with Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2 director Brett Ratner
• 'The Inside Track' featurette with regular Jackie Chan & Sammo Hung collaborator Stanley Tong
• 'Jet Fighter': an interview and teaching seminar with Benny 'The Jet' Urquidez
• 'King Of The Ring' featurette with Black Belt Hall Of Fame Karate champion Keith Vitali
• Trailer gallery
• Bey Logan biography

Character Descriptions:
Moby(Sammo Hung) is a classic bumbling detective who's heart is in the right place, but only if he's paid enough. Also fences with the best of them

Thomas(Jackie Chan) is an expert martial artist who makes his living running a fast food van. He's not afraid to fight and stand up for himself

David(Yuen Biao) is Thomas's best friend and co-worker in the food van. His father is in a mental hospital and is romantically involved with the mother of...

Sylvia(Lola Forner) Is the beautiful daughter of a dead count who had to fend for herself in life by stealing from amorous men

Plot Synopsis:

Best friends Thomas(Jackie Chan) and David(Yuen Biao) run a Chinese fast food vehicle in Barcelona, Spain. They meet the beautiful Sylvia() through David's father, who met Sylvia's mother while they were both in a mental hospital. It becomes apparent that Sylvia is not all she seems as the 2 friends witness her stealing from men, and themselves.

Moby(Sammo Hung) is the newly appointed head of Matt's Detective Agency and he is hired to track down the illegitimate daughter of a recently deceased count so she can be bequeathed with his fortune. Sylvia happens to be that daughter. Unfortunately, another party seek to kidnap her in order so that the count's brother can inherit the fortune. Moby has to enlist the help of his old friends Thomas and David to stop the Count's nefarious brother achieving his goals by kidnapping Sylvia.

Unfortunately, Sylvia is kidnapped and the three comrades must launch a full frontal assault on the Count's brother and his bodyguards if they are to succeed.

Film Review:

I saw this on a tape recorded off the television at the age of 6 and have since been a huge fan of Jackie Chan and especially his "Three Dragons" work. I hugely enjoyed Project A parts 1 and 2 but Wheels on Meals is a firm favourite.

Right from the off we see Chan and Yuen in their Spanish apartment and an inspired visual joke in the bedroom. This is essentially a showcase for all three's martial arts skills and acrobatics which are displayed to great effect all through the film.

Yuen Biao is often seen as the lesser of the 3 and is certainly the least well known after Chan's Hollywood career and Martial Law for Hung but from an acting standpoint, Biao outshines the other 2 with his slightly geeky charm. Hung is there generally for the comic relief but as with most of these films, the comedy comes from the superbly choreographed action sequences. The initial skateboarding scene is one of the most original I've seen and there are many moments like this in the film, such as spraying mayonnaise from a moving vehicle to block a car's windscreen and putting oil on the road to make the cars skid, this must have been straight from a comic book or something similar but never-the-less works brilliantly.

The film is also directed by Sammo Hung and it is clear that each scene has been meticulously planned by both him and the actors which leads to a smoother and slicker film. Some of the stunts are almost mind boggling when you consider that they were insane enough to actually attempt them(e.g. Yuen Biao jumping from a balcony and landing on his posterior) but we can see how their Hong Kong theatre background helped them enormously in this respect.

I suppose if I were to fault the film it would be on the plot front. Entertaining though it is, it is plain to see how it is contrived to simply link fight to stunt set-piece to fight etc. The dialogue works well enough and viewers can either watch it dubbed or with subtitles(I always prefer subtitles as you can get a better idea of the expressions that the actors are portraying). An interesting point is that some of the subtitled dialogu was different from when I originally watched it from TV. Whether it is correct now or was right in the TV version, I will never know without learning Cantonese.

Disc Review:

This is described as a "Platinum Edition" and I was actually a little disappointed with the features. This was mainly because although there were 6 interviews, there was not one with Jackie Chan, who apparently did not see fit to grace the DVD with his presence. We are forced to make do with an interview with Brett Ratner (director of the Rush Hour franchise), which I see as a little out of context as he spends most of the time gushing about how brilliant Chan really is.

My favourite interview was surprisingly with Keith Vitali, who plays the baddie that Biao fights near the end. He gave an entertaining insight into his experiences on set and off and was a breath of fresh air after the insufferably arrogant Benny "The Jet" Urquidez(Chan's baddie). Sure he can fight, but he's still a bit of a prat.
The so called "Rare outtakes" are rather an anti climax as they simply give you a few fluffed stunts and clock in at under 5 minutes, thoroughly disappointing. There was also a selection of similar titles from Hong Kong Legends and Premier Asia with trailers so I can now plan my next few purchases from the range.

All in all, a great film with an adequate package, not worth the £15 that Play.com charge but if you can get it for under a tenner (I got mine from an eBay shop) then it is well worth a look as it is one of Chan's very best. 

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