MGM has released a Special Edition version of “THE BULLETPROOF MONK”.
 Chow Yun Fat is paired up with Sean William Scott, and Scott is also paired up
with love interest/former model Jamie King, in this attempt to mix martial
arts, adventure and comedy.  Fat plays a monk assigned the responsibility of
guarding “The Scroll of the Ultimate”, a text with supernatural powers.  Of
course(borrowing from “Raiders of the Lost Ark)the Nazis have been after it
for some time, and the monk must keep ahead of him.

The film jumps to the present, and the monk runs into Scott, playing a
pickpocket with martial arts skills, named Kar. The monk observes Kar using
his martial arts skills as well as a display of bravery, convincing the monk
that he might just be the one prophesized to be his replacement.
It’s obvious that Kar has a good heart but not much in the brain
department. He’s gotten into trouble with a street gang, and is smitten with
Jade,(Jamie King)a member.

Of course, it’s predictable almost immediately how things will end
up, and that’s the biggest problem with the film.  There’s really nothing new
here! 
All of the fight scenes(there are plenty)seem redundant.  Sure, it’s
kind of fun to see people flying in the air, but if every scene has the same
basic choreography, substituting one guy for another, it gets dull fast.

The film’s based on a comic book and while the animation background
may have looked impressive on the page, it’s less than flattering on screen.
The CGI looks bad, and we mean “HULK” bad!

MGM has preserved the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with 16:9 enhancement. 
While it can get pretty grainy in spots, the colors are generally rich and
vibrant.  Contrast is fine, however blacks and grays aren’t extremely
deep, preventing darker scenes from having the depth of typically superior
MGM releases. Fleshtones appear natural.

MGM has provided a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, and it’s surprisingly far
less aggressive than one would expect for an action film.  While the
musical score is given prominence through all speakers, gunshots and other
action-related effects are typically subdued.  Dialogue is always
intelligible and free from distortion.

MGM has thrown in plenty of extras.  There is a deleted scenes
section offering five deleted scenes, all of which are worthwhile! We
actually preferred the alternate opening sequence included herein.

An optional running commentary with the film’s editor is offered for
the deleted scenes, but it’s pretty dull.

There are two separate audio commentaries here, one with the film’s
director and producers, and another with the film’s writers.  Both try one’s
patience and it’s annoying to find that none of them realized any of the
film’s shortcomings!