|
|
 |
Hero
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (12th October 2009). |
|
The Film
 Wow... simply fantastic, "Hero" is a truly wonderful film and I can't watch it enough. Every time I see this film it manages to take my breath away in a whole new way. The first impressions are the gorgeous cinematography of the raw and stunning Chinese landscapes, you can see the majesty of the country in this epic scale production and sets the tone of the film perfectly. The choreography of the action scenes are sweeping, grand and impeccably put together, the performances are all well executed and finally the film's score is about as moving as they can come. Like all good things everything works together to create the perfect balance. "Hero" is a film that must be seen, and if you've got an aversion to subtitles, then get over it, because you're missing one of the best films to come out of China... full stop. "Hero" takes place in ancient China, the land has been divided into seven warring kingdoms. In the province of Qin, the King (Daoming Chen) has fortified himself in his palace as he is under constant threat of assassination. When an unknown warrior (Jet Li) travels to the kingdom to deliver the weapons of the fallen assassins; Broken Sword (Tony Leung), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) and Sky (Donnie Yen) claiming to have slain them all. He begins to tell his tale of how he defeated the King's adversaries. As I mentioned before, the first impression is the stunning photography by Hong Kong veteran Christopher Doyle, who delivers the most gorgeous images. Each location is given a unique treatment that brings out the best in each landscape, the golden hues of the deserts, the lush greens of the forest and lakes, the stunning yellows, reds and oranges of the autumn trees, the striking blue cold of Qin's kingdom. The film's look is luscious, grand and is in every way epic. If you're expecting an all out martial arts bonanza then look elsewhere, this film, while includes some magnificent fight scenes, is much more dramatically centered than you're usual Hong Kong martial arts flick. Compared to the usual fare this film can be considered gentle, but the scenes are so visually arresting they simply compel the viewer. Utilizing the wire techniques the filmmakers have created fight scenes that a more akin to a violent dance, it's beautiful. The lake top fight is among the most incredibly choreographed action scenes the genre has to offer, director Yimou Zhang took three weeks to shoot this scenes as the lake surface had to be completely still and mirror-like, the result is entirely worth it. Matching the visuals and action, is the compelling story, which weaves a multi-layered tale that comes to a well plotted conclusion. It would be easy to get lost in a convoluted story line but the director has a decent grasp of the story, characters and where it's all going, leading viewers through a film which is masterfully constructed. I was also impressed with Jet Li, once again he delivers and shows off his acting chops in something that's not another in a line of forgettable Hollywood action films, I'm pleased he's returned to his Hong Kong roots and fans have not only been rewarded with films like "Hero" but also "Fearless" (2006), too bad he's no longer making these epic martial arts films anymore. Fans will likely also get a kick out of his pairing with Donnie Yen, this marks the first time the pair have worked together since "Once Upon a Time in China Part II" (1992) and the fight scene they share in the rain gives fans something to smile about. I can't really see any fault in this film, in the opinion of this reviewer it's simply marvelous, and if it sounds like I'm gushing it's because I am, if you haven't already seen "Hero" then I highly recommend it, I only wish this were the longer Chinese edit which runs some 8 minutes longer...
Video
Presented in a widescreen ratio of 2.35:1 in high-definition 1080p 24/fps and mastered using AVC MPEG-4 compression codec. The film has had a rough time on home video, I've seen some terrible transfers, and the previous DVD from Buena Vista was also limited in terms of detail, but this HD image is the best I've seen this film look. There are some flaws still present but compared to other editions I've seen they are passable. The image is lush and vibrant, displaying the arresting colors with accuracy and a boldness that's reserved for films shot in full HD. The crisp image features some nice detail in its close-ups, however for the most part it's a little soft and murky in its detail, especially some backgrounds. Skin tones are natural, blacks are a little noisy but not too distracting. I noticed some artifacting and DNR was used as well, these are never welcome. Overall it's a good image, solid in places but occasionally inconsistent but as far as it goes this transfer is easily the best the film has ever looked.
Audio
Five audio tracks are featured here in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, as well as French Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and an English Descriptive Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track. Much like the previous Hong Kong titles released by Buena Vista we are disappointingly given an HD audio track in the English dub and not in the film's original Mandarin language. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its Mandarin soundtrack instead of the English dub. The standard audio track is pretty good, but nowhere near as impacting as an HD audio mix. Dialogue is cleanly delivered, action scenes and music make decent use of the surrounds but overall we're lacking the depth that HD audio tracks possess to truly take advantage of this format. There are subtitles available in English, English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Buena Vista has released this film with a small collection of extras that include three featurettes, a collection of storyboard comparisons, a soundtrack spot and a digital copy of the film. DISC ONE: First up we've got "Hero Defined" a fairly standard production featurette that runs for 24 minutes 2 seconds, produced to help promote the film's US release in 2004, it covers the usual production trivia, interviews key players and features some behind-the-scenes footage. It's slightly better than the usual fluff, but in the end it's an EPK clip and nothing more, I wish the disc producers could have included something meatier here. "Inside the Action: A Conversation with Quentin Tarantino and Jet Li" is the next featurette and runs for 13 minutes 56 seconds, Tarantino helped bring this film to screens in 2004, and to the surprise of many opened at #1, a rare occurrence for a foreign film and this clip the two talk about the film and the genre among other things. Tarantino blathers away in his usual hectic talking style that can make one dizzy, while Li is more calm an interesting dynamic in this cut-together interview feature. "Close-Up of a Fight Scene" is an all new featurette exclusive to this Blu-ray disc and runs for 9 minutes 19 seconds, this briefly covers the incredible action scenes of the film, particularly the golden forest scene, the chess house fight scene and the lake scene. it's all to short and really leaves a lot to be desired but includes some near behind-the-scenes footage. There are 4 storyboard comparisons, in these we get a look at the boards and the final scene, the clips are worth checking out but could have used a commentary with the director to explain his process, the comparisons included are for the following scenes: - "Golden Forest" which runs for 55 seconds. - "Library" which runs for 16 seconds. - "Ring of Iron" which runs for 1 minute 20 seconds. - "Lake" which runs for 2 minutes 49 seconds. The disc also features a short soundtrack spot that runs for 39 seconds. The disc also features D-Box motion code for those with the appropriate equipment. DISC TWO: This is a digital copy of the film.
Packaging
This 2-disc set is packaged in a Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
|
|||||
|