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This is a companion piece of a kind with my edit of The Shadow, another story predicated upon the very outdated idea of white guys gaining superpowers from Eastern mumbo-jumbo. However, I loved this film as a kid so I decided to give it a fresh coat of paint after someone suggested this movie to me as potentially being ripe for an edit.
Due to the yellowface and our heroes being of a secret death squad answerable only to the President of the United States, this movie is very much a product of its time. That said, the relationship between Remo and Chiun is still great. As outrageously racist as Chiun is, both in the character’s disgust towards any other people on Earth but Koreans and the unfortunate decision to cast a white actor in ‘slanty-eyed’ make-up, Chiun remains adorable.
It’s highly unlikely this film will be given a critical reappraisal but I do think there’s some fun stuff in here, particularly once you strip away a lot of the stuff that doesn’t work–namely, the dull set-up of the underwhelming villains.
The best parts of this film are undeniably the scenes with Remo and Chiun and the always stellar work by Kate Mulgrew as a military officer trying to nail a corrupt weapons manufacturer.
I’d originally played with the idea of speeding up the hilariously slow ‘martial arts’ bits, but decided against it. The lack of believability is part of their charm.
The theatrical cut was 2 hours and change. My cut is about 1 hour and 50 minutes. No English subtitles this time around, but I might make a version with hardcoded subtitles if I receive enough polite requests.
The link is the same as all my other edits but, if you don’t have the link yet, please send me a PM. As always, suggestions are welcome.