Barnes & Noble

If you can’t get enough of martial-arts superstar Jet Li, this imaginative, supercharged, futuristic thriller should be just what you need. The One takes a new look at an old science-fiction premise -- that hundreds of parallel universes coexist simultaneously in different dimensions. One of these is home to a villainous Li, who discovers that every time he kills his double on an alternate Earth, he absorbs the equivalent’s life force and grows stronger. Nearly unstoppable, he gets unexpected and spirited resistance from one of his last remaining counterparts, an idealistic sheriff’s deputy accused of crimes committed by his evil duplicate. Director James Wong (Final Destination) employs state-of-the-art special effects to convince viewers that Li is fighting himself in several intricately staged confrontations and surrounds his histrionically challenged star with top-flight performers. These include Delroy Lindo, who is first-rate as the relentless, unflappable pursuer of the evil Li; and Carla Gugino, very affecting as the good Li’s love interest, whose faith in her sweetheart is severely shaken by seemingly incontrovertible evidence that he’s gone berserk. Implausibilities aside (and there are many), The One remains a sturdily produced star vehicle that supplies all the dynamic action and visceral thrills Li’s fans expect. Wong and co-scriptwriter Glen Morgan provide a feature-length commentary for the DVD, which also includes a making-of featurette, trailers, cast filmographies, and before-and-after comparisons of the computer-generated effects used in the fight scenes. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Former X-Files writer James Wong makes his sophomore feature as a director at the helm of this science fiction thriller that's reminiscent of Timecop (1994). In the near future, a technology called "quantum tunneling" allows human beings to travel between parallel universes. The abuse of this ability by criminal elements has led to the formation of the Multi-Verse Authorities or "MVA," an agency of quantum traveling cops who apprehend violators of inter-dimensional laws. The MVA faces its greatest crisis when a former agent named Gabriel Yulaw (Jet Li) goes renegade, traveling between one universe and the next, murdering his own parallel selves and gaining enormous power with each slaying. It is believed that when Yulaw has become "the one," the only version of himself to exist, he will be omnipotent, but the final Gabriel Yulaw exists in our plane of existence (the "magna universe") and is also becoming stronger, though he doesn't understand why. Hot on the evil Yulaw's trail are his former partner Harry Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Harry's new colleague Evan Funsch (Jason Statham). Created with Wong's longtime writing and producing partner Glen Morgan, The One (2001) co-stars Carla Gugino. Karl Williams

San Francisco Examiner

I'm happy to report that Jet Li's fourth American film crosses the finish line as far and away the best of them. Jeffrey M. Anderson

Product Details

• UPC: 043396012295
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen, Superbit digital transfer
• Sound: Dolby Digital, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 1:27:00
• Sales Rank: 58,880

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• One / 6th Day
• One / Meltdown

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