Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Assembly Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 1, 2008

China, 1948. The Civil War is at its peak. The Nationalist (KMT) and Communist (PLA) forces are massacring each other in the northernmost parts of China. Capt. Gu Zidi (Zhang Hanyu) and his Ninth Company are sent to a strategic battle zone where the enemy is to be warded off for as long as possible. When they arrive, the KMT forces attack and begin exterminating Gu’s men.

Fear sets in quickly. Gu’s men inform him that they’ve heard the assembly bugle and ask for a permission to retreat. He ignores their plea and orders them to get back in the trenches. In a matter of hours, the KMT soldiers, backed by heavy artillery, kill everyone but Gu.

The second half of Assembly follows Gu’s rehabilitation and quest to uncover the remains of his men. Skipping through the Korean War, modern-day Communist China, and the battles from 1948, Assembly uses Gu’s personal journey to paint an unorthodox portrait of a country ruled by a powerful dictator.

Fighting the Nationalists

Revealing obvious similarities with Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998) and Kang Je-gyu’s Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004), Feng Xiaogang’s Assembly is a deceivingly simple-looking film which many western viewers will probably misinterpret. It is flashy, terrifically-lensed and filled with the type of excessive, in-your-face, gore that Hollywood has been successfully selling in recent years to mainstream audiences looking for realistic war films.

Under its flashy wrapper, however, Assembly is very much a film with a strong political agenda. In fact, I dare say, it is an incredibly polarized film entertaining dangerous themes targeting a very specific group of viewers.

The less problematic but intriguing side of Assembly has to do with the surprisingly critical overtones I detected in Gu’s lines during the second half of the film. For example, his meeting with the Party apparatchiks produces a flurry of dismissive comments addressing the political status quo in China in a manner I don’t recall seeing in a film of such magnitude. While a lot of these dismissive comments are conveniently muddled with generic talk about honor and brotherhood, obviously to appease the Chinese censors, it is fairly easy to grasp who and what Gu’s lines target.

The far more serious, and very troubling according to some Asian viewers, side of Assembly has to do with the remarkably stern tone of the film in regard to controversial historic events - Taiwan's severance, the division of the Korean peninsula, etc. It almost feels as if Assembly aspires to deliver a refreshing reminder that what wasn't accomplished in the past is bound to be achieved in the future. Such a read of the film may seem like a long shot to some of you, but there is quite a bit in it that supports precisely such a controversial deconstruction.

Technically, Assembly is a solid and well-polished film that impresses with its emphasis on detail. Cinematographer Lu Yue, who collaborated with John Woo on Red Cliff II (2009), certainly delivers big, particularly with his preference for stylishly dark and gritty colors. Unsurprisingly, even though the film is disturbingly graphic, it is also uncannily beautiful to behold.

Assembly Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC, and granted a 1080i transfer Assembly arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mega Star.

This was one of the first Blu-ray discs Hong Kong-based Mega Star released and there are a few small issues here that I believe deserve to be mentioned in this review. First of all, I noticed quite a few tiny specks that popped up throughout the film. The overwhelming majority of them did not bother me, but they might be a cause for concern for some of you. The specks are easily detectable during the opening 10-15 minutes. Second, there is a bit of edge-enhancement that plagues the picture. A lot of it appears during the daylight scenes where the camera zooms over the snowy countryside. On the positive side, however, I think that the HK release of Assembly boasts a very strong color-scheme with a variety of hues (grays, whites, and blacks are the key colors of choice for cinematographer Lu Yue). Furthermore, clarity and contrast are also pleasing, though you may have a difficult time figuring out precisely what was intended by the director and what wasn't. During some of the truly gritty scenes, where bodies are being ripped apart and shells are flying in all sorts of directions, the picture becomes notably grainy and contrast is certainly affected by the hectic camera moves. At least on my TV set, however, I did not detect any disturbing blurring and, generally speaking, my viewing experience was very pleasant. Finally, I must also note that there is a bit of shimmering that I detected during the second half of the film, but I am most certain most of you won't even notice its presence unless you really set out to look for it. (Note: Even though the back cover for Assembly indicates that this is a Region-A only disc, I did actually test it on a Region-B machine and can confirm that it works just fine).

Assembly Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three different audio tracks on this disc: Mandarin DTS-HD MA 6.1, Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, and Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. This being said, it should be obvious to anyone that Assembly is a film that will sound great on Blu-ray. There are some very serious battle scenes here which, in terms of intensity, rival the cannonade of aggressive sounds Saving Private Ryan boasts. Logically, I opted for the Mandarin DTS-HD MA 6.1 track and for a few hours my home truly felt like a battlefield. With other words, the DTS-HD MA 6.1 track really delivers in a big way – the bass was powerful and punchy, the surround speakers were shaking, and the main two speaker I have felt extremely active. Furthermore, the actual dialog is also impressively clear and very easy to follow. Balance, as strange as it may sound, is actually quite good and I was able to follow the story perfectly well. Finally, I did not detect any foreign hissing, pop-ups, or cracks to report here either. Optional Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and English subtitles are provided for the main feature (the actual subtitles are inside the image frame).

Assembly Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only supplemental materials on this Blu-ray disc are three short episodes of behind the scenes footage gathered under "B-rolls". Though none of these are subtitled in English you really aren't missing much as what you will see in them is simply numerous takes on some of the goriest scenes where bodies are being torn apart, massive explosions occur, etc. In addition, the Blu-ray disc also contains a gallery of trailers for other Mega Star projects.

Assembly Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I enjoyed Feng Xiaogang's Assembly a lot. It is an interesting film with plenty of heart and some great visuals to compliment its story. It is also a very bold film, one that, surprisingly, does not shy away from producing some quite unconventional for Chinese cinema political statements. The Blu-ray disc, courtesy of Mega Star, has a few minor issues that may or may not bother some of you. I personally recommend taking a look at this disc, it is worth it.