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Son of the Dragon (TV)
R1 - America - Genius Products Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (4th December 2007). |
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The Show
 I'm not too sure why David Carradine is still around. He must be pushing 152 by now, which is okay because he's been around forever. He's also been playing the same role for that amount of time. I imagine this is what Steven Seagal will look like in 20 years. Of course Mr. Carradine is not bad, but he's been around so long, he tends to lend credibility to a movie just because he's in it. Nobody questions him anymore, and that's great. In any case, in this television mini-series, Mr. Carradine plays father and caretaker to a mass of orphaned kids. He's not the star in this movie, though, and the kids aren't the main point of the movie. One of the children he found and raised, however, is the main character, and the main plot of the movie revolves around him. This is basically a retelling of 'The Thief of Baghdad', relocated to China because that's probably where the producers were at the time (I'd bet my DVD that this was shot at the same time as 'Marco Polo'). John Reardon, playing a thief brought up by Mr. Carradine, wants to steal a jewel in the royal palace, but ends up going to the four corners of the Earth to find rare treasures so he can marry the princess. Though my memory of 'The Thief or Baghdad' is a little foggy, I believe they followed the plot only barely. The movie has a nasty Mongol prince and a vain Indian prince also competing for the princess, and the adventure is easily guessed. From his first frame on screen, you can guess the Mongol prince will be trouble, no thanks in part to the obvious score, which, by the way has big shades of 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. The obviousness of certain things aside, the movie does hit some things pretty well. Directing everything is filmmaker extraordinaire David Wu, who, honestly, could have chosen a better project. He also edits the piece, and it shows. Together with Philip Kwok's action choreography, the only aspect of the movie that has any real energy in it is the action. The performers, for the most part, let real stuntmen do their job, and the action is well choreographed and pretty exciting. There's also a vague love triangle, and it's fairly well done, but it's nothing original. It's rather simple and nobody really changes throughout the movie. In fact, the level of acting throughout the entire movie never really goes above camp, and your enjoyment of this part of the movie, and the other parts of the movie, for that matter, depends on your level of enjoyment of William Shatner.
Video
1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen. With a nearly-three-hour movie on one disc, it's pretty obvious that the picture won't be perfect, and it isn't. The problems are mostly noticeable in the darker scenes. There's a lot of noise and the black level isn't as deep as it could be. The entire movie also seems a bit too bright, and the colours seem a bit desaturated. In addition, there isn't the level of detail there could be. On the bright side, the movie is free of specks, scratches and edge enhancement. The colours are also pretty accurate, if one takes into account the brightness. The movie should look fine on a tube. The problems come because of the length of the movie. Better compression would have helped, but as it is, it's passable.
Audio
The only audio track is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track and, though it does its job, it could be better. The problem comes with the fact that the mixers seemed to have forgotten the two rears speakers. In a place as busy as an Indian market, this little detail really comes into play. The score also doesn't like to go back there for reasons I can't quite figure out. The front speakers, however, provide a very open sound field and the sound is just fine from that direction. The dialogue is all clean and clear, with no muffling or hissing. The sound effects are clear and the track has no problem handling the action bits. The separation is pretty good, though positions could have been a bit better. Overall, it's a nice track, if you forget the two surround speakers. There are no subtitles.
Extras
Genius put in a few little extras. First is the Epic Stories in a Fabled Land featurette (9:36), whicih talks about the making of th film. Executive producer Robert Halmi, Sr. and actors talk about shooting in China. The sets and international cast and crew are talked about, as well as the action. It's all very fluffy and, if you enjoy EPKs, you'll have your fill with this one. Next is a lot more interesting. Getting Candid with David Carradine (10:50) is an interview with Mr. Carradine. I kind of like the editing and splicing in of film footage in this interview. David Carradine talks of the movie, the action, his fellow actors and his career. He talks about comedy and how nice this movie is in his career. It's a pretty nice interview and, short though it may be, any fan of his will enjoy it. Some Trailers finish things off. There's the movie trailer (2:03) and you can can definitely tell the kind of movie you’re in for. Somehow, the somewhat campy tone shows through. A couple of Start-up Trailers are also here: 'Pandemic' and 'Marco Polo' are here.
Overall
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