China O’Brien 1 & 2 (1990-91) Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray Review

I only ever had crappy VHS copies of the China O’Brien movies, and I’d been holding out that someday someone would release a remastered Blu-ray or 4K; as always Vinegar Syndrome swooped in to save the day. I just received their new 4K box set of China O’Brien 1 & 2 and it’s one of my favourites that they’ve ever done. The packaging is solid, the movies look and sound brand new and there are enough special features to keep you entertained for hours.

China O’Brien (1990)

 

Plot: Lori “China” O’Brien is a tough as nails big city cop. After having to use her weapon in the line of duty, China decides to give up her career as a police officer and move back to her hometown of Beaver Creek, Utah. Upon returning home, China discovers that her once quiet town is now being overrun by corruption and organized crime. When China’s father – the local Sheriff – is killed, China vows to run for Sheriff herself in order to rid the town of corruption. With the help of her former boyfriend Matt, as well as a mysterious Native American biker named Dakota, China quickly goes into action cleaning up the streets of the town she once loved.

Review: China O’Brien (Cynthia Rothrock) is a cop in the city, but when she shoots and kills a kid she vows to never fire a gun again and heads back to her home town. A lot has changed since she has been gone with a “businessman” called Sommers (Steven Kerby) holding the town in a vice grip of corruption. When her father, the Sheriff is murdered China decides to run for his job and to clean up the town once and for all.

Cynthia Rothrock is one of the all-time greats and this movie was a staple for me growing up; China is such an appealing and wholesome character with an easy smile that you are rooting for her 100%. We also get the added bonus of Richard Norton who plays China’s old boyfriend Matt; he’s a true blue hero who will do anything for China due to his feelings for her. Norton could really move and he gets his share of awesome fight scenes here too as does Keith Cooke who plays Dakota; a young man who wants revenge on Sommers for killing his mother.

At 90 minutes China O’Brien is perfectly paced giving us fight scenes every few minutes and I love these old-school martial arts movies where the camera holds still ad allows the real fights show off their impressive skills.

Sommers and his gang are all hateful white trash, but they are no match for China, Matt and Dakota who fight practically half the town.

I didn’t know this until recently, but Steven Kerby passed away only 4 years after this movie was released; he made for a great antagonist and was only 59 when he passed away.

The film has a cool rock score which works well for the fight scenes and sounds better than ever on this 4K.

In terms of storyline China O’Brien is similar to Road House with someone coming to a small town and facing off against a rich villain.

Overall, China O’Brien is one of my favourite Cynthia Rothrock movies as it is packed with excellent fight scenes and China is such a likeable character that we are invested in the story straight away.

China O’Brien 2 (1991)

Plot: China is forced back into action when her quiet town is once again ravaged by violence. Former drug dealer, Charlie Baskin, escapes from prison and sets his sights on those who helped get him arrested. Wrangling a team of criminals, Baskin arrives in Beaver Creek in order to take revenge on a man named Frank who helped put him away. When Baskin kidnaps Frank’s wife and daughter, China must once again team up with Matt and Dakota in order to rid the town of criminal lowlifes and protect the innocent.

Review: China O’Brien 2 is a bit more violent than the first movie with our original crew of Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke returning to clean up their town again.

This time an escaped convict called Charlie Baskin (Harlow Marks) is out for revenge against Frank (Frank Atkins) for selling him out to the FBI. Charlie ended up in prison and Frank kept the $5 million dollars they had stolen and now Charlie wants it back.

When China finds out about this, she and her deputies try to protect Frank and his family leading to plentiful fight scenes and arguably a higher bodycount than the first film. This time people actually get killed and like the first movie it’s never boring with action every few minutes.

A highlight of this sequel is having Billy Blanks show up towards the end, but I do wish he had a bigger role as he was a little wasted.

Harlow Marks makes for a chilling adversary who is quite merciless; what’s interesting is that he and China never actually have a showdown and although his death was satisfying it was a little anti-climactic that the main protagonist didn’t get to take him down. I did also noticed a few minor moments where the action was sped up a little.

I would love for a third China O’Brien movie with her maybe coming out of retirement as her daughter takes over being Sheriff or something.

Overall, China O’Brien 2 is a fun sequel to the original with a less than 90-minute runtime and plenty of awesome fight scenes; Cynthia, Richard and Keith are as appealing as ever and Charlie Baskin is a nasty villain.

 

Vinegar Syndrome have knocked this one out of the park as both films have never looked better with some of the best remastering I’ve seen on any film. Like I said I’ve only ever seen the VHS copies of these movies, so it’s great to finally have them in HD. The special features are phenomenal with new interviews with Cynthia, Richard and Keith and many more which you can check out below.

• 4K UHD presented in High-Dynamic-Range
• Newly scanned & restored in 4K from their 35mm original camera negatives
• Brand new commentary tracks for each film by martial arts film experts Frank Djeng and John Charles
• “Cynthia Rothrock is China O’Brien” (19 min) – a brand new interview with star Cynthia Rothrock
• “A Worthwhile Journey: The Martial Artists of China O’Brien” (33 min) – a brand new featurette with actors Richard Norton, Keith Cooke and Chris Casamassa
• “Melanie Good is Stripper Assassin” (11 min) – a brand new interview with actress Melanie Good
• “Casting China” (11 min) – a brand new interview with casting director Catrine McGregor
• “Composing China” (11 min) – a brand new featurette with composers David Wheatley and Paul Antonelli
• “The Making of a Martial Arts Movie” (40 min) – an archival making-of documentary on CHINA O’BRIEN featuring interviews with its cast/crew and rare behind-the-scenes footage
• Video interview with Cynthia Rothrock and Richard Norton (26 min) – courtesy of the @CynthiaRothrockChannel on YouTube
• Video interview with Cynthia Rothrock (12 min) – courtesy of the @CynthiaRothrockChannel on YouTube
• Trailers
• Reversible sleeve artwork

 

If you love Cyntia Rothrock movies then you really need to get this set as it will keep you entertained for hours and is a must have.