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Escape from the 21st Century AKA Shi Ji an Quan Che Li (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Signature Entertainment Review written by and copyright: (14th March 2025). |
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The Film
 Prepare to step in and out of time with three friends as they discover they have the power to travel back and forth through the fabric of time with a sneeze. However, the lives they hoped to have in the future are not as promising as they had anticipated and with that, they need to take on the responsibility of taking over the world.
Video
Fairly incoherent but always interesting visually this time travel comedy from China is well worth a look. The film is essentially 2.39:1, but the ratio within that Scope frame changes: 1.55:1 (past scenes), 2.00:1 (one scene) and 2.39:1, 2.76:1 & 3.60:1 (some scenes). It's good gimmicky fun for those who can follow it. Were I 19 again, I'd embrace this more but being 58 soon means I find it all a bit hard to take in with one viewing. The quick cutting, shifting aspect ratios and lightening quick editing and pace defeated me somewhat. The one overwhelming successful aspect of this film is that it has wonderful contrast range with deep dark blacks, none of that bled of colour digital correction so beloved in much western filmmaking. Colours are rich and well delineated; check out the chemicals in the water that enable our three young heroes to time travel with a sneeze, a riot of psychedelic colours that sear the eyes. The encode handles all this very well, helped by dual layering and a high bitrate for the format (mostly in the 30-40Mbps range). Flesh tones are warm and colour values throughout are incredible, just how I like my cinema. There are also periodic flashes of animated overlays that also feature yet more vivid colours. Obviously all this could be improved by 4K UHD BD and HDR / Dolby Vision, but for 1080p24 BD .this is demo level visuals and presentation ('A+'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 2.39:1 / 98:00
Audio
Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit) Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo (48kHz, 16-bit) Subtitles: English (optional, automatically activated and they have no menu presence but can be switched off via the remote) As with the image this is a top drawer presentation. Subwoofer activity is there in all the right spots and surround presence is continuous. This isn't as constantly overwhelmingly active as a modern Hollywood SPFX blockbuster but when it needs to be it is. Ambiance is consistent, the score moves around the sound stage nicely and dialogue is always clear and well delineated. It's a mystery that this wasn't blessed with a Dolby Atmos track which would've kicked this already powerhouse soundtrack up a notch or two. The optional English subtitles seem comprehensive but nit being a Mandarin speaker, I have no real insight on that ('A').
Extras
Startup Trailer: - Boy Kills World (2:29) - Into the Deep (2:07) Standard HD promos for other Signature Entertainment releases.
Packaging
Standard blue BD Keepcase.
Overall
A barebones release for this endearingly loopy and mildly incoherent Chinese sci-fi action fantasy. Stunning image and sound quality could only be improved by UHD 4K and Dolby Atmos. For a BD release, this is state of the art but sadly no extras beyond startup trailers ('B-').
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