China Salesman Blu Ray Review (Cleopatra Entertainment)
China Salesman (aKa Deadly Contract) is a 2017 action film co-written & directed by Tan Bing. It’s based off a true story. It was produced by China’s Wanda Corporation. The budget was an estimated $20 million & it only made $1.5 million at the box office. It’s about the dangerous & epic adventure to Africa where a Chinese engineer/salesman named Yan Jian (played by: Dong-xue Li from 1911, Brotherhood of Blades, & On His Majesty’s Secret Service) comes face to face with a corrupt competitor over the contract for the first African mobile telecom technology. Susanna (played by: Janicke Askevold from The Full House, My Way, & The Smurfs 2) & Michael (played by: Clovis Fouin from Inferno d’August Strindberg, Chocolat, & Au service de la France) get caught up in crossfires of this dangerous situation. No one can be trusted in this chaos. Greed is taking over & everyone wants to be a winner. Local tribesman Kabbah (played by: Mike Tyson from The Hangover franchise, Kickboxer: Retaliation, Ip Man 3, & Rocky Balboa) & mercenary Lauder (played by: Steven Seagal from Above the Law, Under Siege 1/2, Hard to Kill, Marked for Death, & Out for Justice) get drawn into the conflict in a classic brutal hand to hand fight while the entire country faces civil war battles
China Salesman is LOTS of FUN & it keeps you entertained the whole time! This might be the only time you get to witness action legend Steven Seagal go against one of the best boxers & heavyweight champions of all time “Iron” Mike Tyson! I never thought I’d see that combination on screen together so naturally I got excited when this project was announced. Seagal isn’t the same presence that he used to be & Tyson isn’t going to be ever nominated for an Oscar when it comes to acting. He might win a Razzie someday but that’s about it. This is the biggest role I’ve ever seen him play. Usually, he has a quick cameo or a very small part in stuff. It honestly works between these two completely different people & it’s awesome to seen them battle. I was very impressed with the action & fighting in this. It’s loaded when it comes to that department. That’s the basic thing you expect when watching something like this & it definitely delivers! The visual effects & score were also way better than expected. If you go into China Salesman expecting a mindless action flick then you will probably be pretty happy with the end result. If you are looking for more with this feature then you better prepare to be disappointed. The story & concept actually tries to be more ambitious than your typical film of this popular genre.
It just doesn’t work here, it’s all over the place. It has an identity crisis when it comes to what it wants to be. The languages damn near change every few scenes for a decent amount which can be confusing for a casual viewer. Most of the cast & the performances were pretty bad in this. I thought the characters tried too hard & came off way too over the top! Usually that would fit something like this perfect but it just doesn’t sit right & comes across more annoying than a fun gimmick. As you know, two iconic names are promoted as the leads in this for most promotional material but the lead actor is actually Dong-xue Li. He struggles to carry this movie & it hurts the overall production. I know some of that sounds really bad & I am not trying to be completely negative with this because like I said it’s a very entertaining & fun action experience. The best advice when it comes to China Salesman is to turn off your brain for a little bit & enjoy it for it is. If you are into 80s material then you will probably have a blast with this! This could easily fall into the so bad it’s good category. Why do we watch films? The answer is simple, it’s to be distracted from stress that happens during real life for awhile & this achieves that. Recommended for fans of Steven Seagal, Mike Tyson, Dong-xue Li, & action flicks!!!!
Let’s talk about the high definition presentation & special features from Cleopatra Entertainment! This 1080p (2.35:1) transfer is very impressive. It looks like they got all their production value & more out of their budget! That’s one thing without any hesitation that I can say about China Salesman. The visuals are above quality & all the action scenes look amazing on this blu ray disc. The English 5.1 Dolby Digital track is just as goods as the picture quality here. The dialogue is very clean, the music sounds great, & all the explosive scenes really roar in your home system! My lone complaint is that the dialogue changes up from English to subtitles so much for about half the production. I am not talking about every few scenes, it’s goes back & forth for awhile. I love foreign films but usually you have multiple options for a certain language & this one doesn’t know what it wants to be until the half way point which can be a little frustrating at times. I think two completely different tracks would have made this experience better. Besides that, it delivers what you would want for an action flick when it comes to sound!!!! It has a little over 2 minute “Slideshow”. It also has an almost 2 minute “Promotional Video” that basically resembles a trailer. Last but not least, it has trailers for Diamond Cartel, 8 Assassins, Tam Cam, The Rift, Blood & Glory, & a one for this film. It’s an all region disc so it can be played on any blu ray player worldwide. It’s available everywhere right now, check it out!!!!
