Kung Pow: Enter The Fist

Starring: Steve Oedekerk, Jennifer Tung, et al.
Director: Steve Oedekerk

Rating: PG-13

Review Posted: 7.31.02

By John Teves

In order to avenge his family's death, a legendary warrior named "The Chosen One" (Oedekerk) wanders the countryside in search of the murderous Master Pain… also known as Betty. Filled with fist-flying action, incredible special effects, and outrageous kung foolishness, this martial arts mockery delivers knockout laughs from beginning to end!

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist has some of the most boisterously entertaining moments I’ve seen in awhile. It’s the breed of film that is deliberately made to be wrong. Oedekerk is a talented visionary; you can’t help but laugh at the films particular outrageous and senseless Kung Fu parodies. I thought this film was the most original and mercilessly funny film I've seen in awhile. There are going to be a lot of people that don't get this film, but who cares, Kung Pow - in it’s own right, is a sad excuse for a comedy and a disgrace -  that’s what makes it so notable.

>Read Stephen's Film Review!

Kung Pow appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Now this film is going to be hard to analyze in regards to talking about picture quality. Director Oedekerk used actual scenes from the film Tiger & Crane Fists and incorporated it into his own film. So at times you’ll see a solid picture and then you’ll get a not so solid picture due to the dubbing. I will review this picture quality based on the non-dubbing scenes. With that said, Kung Pow looked absolutely terrific; I saw almost no concerns whatsoever aside from the intentionally altered dubbing effects; sharpness appeared immaculate throughout the movie. The film consistently seemed crisp and detailed.

Colors always looked wonderfully bright and vivid. To fit the stylized form of photography, Kung Pow often featured somewhat exaggerated tones, and the DVD replicated them nicely; hues were very solid and never showed signs of bleeding or noise. Black levels seemed deep and rich, and shadow detail was appropriately heavy but not excessively thick. All in all, Kung Pow provided a strong visual experience.

Kung Pow is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The sound field offered an active experience that added a lot of spark to the film. The front channels presented a broad presence; effects blended together well and moved accurately around all speakers. Dialogue always sounded crisp and natural with no edginess or problems related to clarity. Effects were clean and realistic and showed no signs of distortion; they seemed well defined and clear. Kung Pow boasted some excellent bass through much of the film and offered a fine auditory experience.

Extras:

• Full-Length Commentary by Steve Oedekerk

• 2 Full-Length Alternate Audio Tracks

• 6 Alternate Takes and 14 Deleted Scenes

• Before-and-After Visual Effects Comparisons

• Cow Animatic

• Making Of Featurette

• Theatrical Trailer and Promo Spots

Overall, Kung Pow offered enough buffoonery to keep me occupied. The DVD provides very strong picture and sound as well as a reasonably good table of supplements. Kung Pow seems unlikely to go down as a comedy classic, but if you like your humor low-minded and disgraceful, it might give you a swift kick in the butt. Highly Recommended.

TOP