Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Aftershock Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 10, 2011

Selected to represent China at the Oscars, Feng Xiaogang's "Aftershock" (2010) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors MegaStar. The supplemental features on the disc include cast and crew interviews; raw footage from the shooting of the film; deleted scenes; and the film's original theatrical trailer. In Mandarin, with optional English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

After the earthquake

On July 28th, 1976, a powerful earthquake destroyed the city of Tangshan, north-east of Beijing, China, and killed more than 240,000 people. Director Feng Xiaogang’s Aftershock recreates the tragic event and the years of painful recovery that followed it.

The opening twenty minutes of Aftershock are terrifying - buildings collapse, people die, and an entire region gets devastated in a remarkably realistic fashion. Amidst the rubble, a mother (Xu Fan) is told by a group of rescue workers that her two twins, daughter Fang Deng (Zhang Zi-feng/Zhang Jingchu) and son Fang Da (Zhang Jiajun/Li Chen), are trapped at the bottom of a half-demolished building. Because only one can be saved before the building collapses, the mother is asked to quickly choose which will live. She chooses her son.

The boy is pulled out of the ruble moments before the remains of the building come tumbling down. His sister is later on uncovered and placed next to hundreds of other victims. The shocked mother and her injured son walk away.

It begins raining and the little girl moves. Then she slowly gets up and looks around. A soldier grabs her and tells her that he will find her family. The girl has survived - but she has also heard her mother telling the rescue workers to save her brother.

The girl is adopted by Wang (Chen Daoming) and his wife (Jin Chen), both members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). She spends the next thirty-two years with her new family and never once attempts to find out where her mother and brother are. Eventually, however, fate reunites them.

Based on the novel by Zhang Ling, Aftershock is a moving film about an incredible tragedy that never evolves into a disaster spectacle. The focus of attention is clearly on the traumatic effect the Tangshan earthquake had on hundreds of thousands of people, and to a certain extent the socio-political climate in China during the 80s and 90s.

Like Han Sanping and Huang Jianxin's The Founding of a Republic, however, Aftershock houses a good dose of red propaganda - various carefully planted positive statements about Mao’s regime appear throughout the entire film - most likely to please the Chinese censors.

The main characters are well developed - they are believable and their personal dilemmas easy to understand. Given the epic proportions of the event the film chronicles, things could have easily gotten out of control, but the melodrama is kept in check and sentimentalism at bay.

The production values are excellent, from Lu Yue's (Red Cliff and Red Cliff II) striking lensing to the stunning special effects - partially done by Korean and French teams assisted by New Zealand’s Weta Workshop (the wizards behind the special effects in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy) - to Wang Li-guang’s memorable score.

Note: Aftershock is China’s official submission to the 83rd Academy Awards. Last year, the film also won the Best Feature Film and Best Performance by Actor (Chen Daoming) awards at the 4th annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards.

Aftershock Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Feng Xiaogang's Aftershock arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors MegaStar.

Quite predictably, China's official submission to the 83rd Academy Awards has received the type of treatment it rightfully deserves - fine object detail is impressive, clarity pleasing, and contrast levels consistent. The special effects are expertly done and well balanced with the authentic footage; the various color manipulations are also effective. Edge-enhancement is never a serious issue of concern. I also did not see any traces of excessive noise reduction. There are no serious banding issues either. During the final third of the film, however, there are a few scenes conveying small compression artifacts; none are overly distracting, but the larger one's screen is, the easier it will be for one to spot them. Lastly, there are absolutely no stability issues to report in this review whatsoever. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Aftershock Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are five audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Mandarin Dolby TrueHD 7.1, Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1, Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1, and Cantonese (Audio Descriptive) Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, MegaStar have provided optional English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese subtitles for the main feature.

The Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track is outstanding, and to be honest, I cannot possibly imagine Aftershock sounding any better. During the earthquake for instance the bass is incredibly potent and the rear channels very effective. There is one specific scene in particular where a giant crane collapses and destroys a large building that will certainly test the limits of your audio system. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and very easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Wang Li-guang's music score either. Finally, I did not detect any annoying pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review. The English translation contains a few minor grammatical errors, but it is nevertheless quite good.

Aftershock Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Aftershock. In Mandarin, with optional English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

• Interviews - a collection of interviews with cast in crew members. In Mandarin, with optional Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles.
  
  -- Chen Daoming (3 min, 480/60i).
  -- Zhang Guoqiang (4 min, 480/60i).
  -- Li Chen (2 min, 480/60i).
  -- Zhang Zi-feng (2 min, 480/60i).
  -- Zhang Jiajun (1 min, 480/60i).
  -- Wang Zhonglei (5 min, 480/60i).
  -- Chen Kuofu (8 min, 480/60i).
  -- Lv Yue (2 min, 480/60i).
  -- Hu Xiaofeng (3 min, 480/60i).
  -- Xu Fan (4 min, 480/60i).
  -- Zhang Jiangchu (7 min, 480/60i).

• B-Roll - raw footage from the shooting of the film. In Mandarin, not subtitled. (22 min, 480/60i).

• Deleted Scenes - in Mandarin, with optional Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles. (6 min, 480/60i).

Aftershock Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Feng Xiaogang's Aftershock is a deeply moving, powerful film recreating a tragic event from China's recent history. The film arrives on Blu-ray with a handsome high-definition transfer courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors MegaStar. If you reside in a Region-B territory but wish to see Aftershock, please keep in mind that this is a Region-A "locked" release. RECOMMENDED.