CJ7
by Stephen Chow
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DVD details
Actor: Stephen ChowDirector: Stephen Chow
Brand: Sony Pictures
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Chinese (Original Language); English (Dubbed); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.40:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-12
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of CJ7
DVD Review: Maybe Not For Younger Kids?
Summary: 3 Stars
There must be some fairy tale or long time story told in China. I have recently viewed two movies that are so very much the same story, told in very different ways. One, The Secret of the Magic Gourd, is told in all the glossiness you would expect from Disney, or a huge film production. And the other is told all gritty and more visceral, this film CJ7.
Both films are the story of a young boy who is mistreated at school and misunderstood by the world. He is given this magic thing (in this case it's a little sort of dog like creature from outerspace, in the Magic Gourd - it's a gourd). The magic gives the boy pretty much whatever he wants until he becomes exactly like the children that were abusing him in the first place. The magic wears off and the boy is forced to work for what he wants. Once he's worked hard, he is rewarded with one last major magic thing that makes his life wonderful.
Where this film, CJ7, deviates is in the grittiness. Young childern might just want to avoid this, or be warned about some of the events. The boy's father actually dies in a construction site accident - he is pulled down about 5 stories with a welding tank. His body flys to the ground with the thud of the tank. The actual impact is hidden by the big boss in the foreground. There is also a ton of scat humor. At one point the boy goes to the bathroom and tells CJ7 to give him the magic beads. We get to witness the dog grunting and grimmacing to deliver a turd on the boys hand. The boy carries that as a good luck charm duing a test. When he discovers it was just a turd, and he yells at the dog, the dog then machine gun fires little turds all over the boy. He is then hosed down by the janitors in full view of the whole school. There's also some pretty harsh language translated in the subtitles.
Is this film any good? Well, it's pretty typical Asian story telling - foreign to westerners, tons of excruciating details and then huge gaps in the story line. It's a process that is very hard to follow for westerners. The little boy can be very cute sometimes. The little alien dog is kind of cute. The CG effects are blended pretty nicely with "real" puppets and humans. So that all works well. At an hour and a half it is about 20 minutes too long.
There is a wonderful moral the dad repeats over and over - we may be poor, but we never lie, we never fight, and we never take things that don't belong to us. It's a great message. And that alone is worthwhile.
Be careful with younger children with this film. If they can handle the more pshychological terror or drama, wonderful. If they are a bit sensitive, this might be reserved for slightly older children. In theory this is rated PG, although that might be a bit low.
Both The Gourd and CJ7 are interesting films. They are an insight into a culture that westerners don't know very well. As such, they are both equally worth watching.
Description of CJ7
Features include:
?MPAA Rating: UNRATED
?Format: DVD
?Runtime: 88 minutes
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