Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 25, 2018

Because Well Go USA is one of the labels I’m assigned to review, I wade through a rather large amount of Asian cinema, one of the specialties of this particular label, to the point that all sorts of historical films built around China’s fractious past have been part of my review queue over the years. That in turn means that many tend to blend together into a kind of amorphous hole, but one of the distinctive standouts of the past several years was Brotherhood of Blades, a film which managed to weave together a number of rather dense plot strands into an interesting and at least fitfully compelling viewing experience. Brotherhood of Blades reportedly didn’t have the superfluous budget that often attends historical epics, something that perhaps helped to keep its storytelling rather intimate, despite a glut of characters and a really complex tale of subterfuge, shifting allegiances and lots of backstabbing (both figurative and literal, as I mentioned in the Brotherhood of Blades Blu- ray review). Perhaps unexpectedly, then, especially given the ubiquity of this kind of film in the Asian market, Brotherhood of Blades ended up doing surprisingly well at the Chinese box office, which no doubt led to this sequel (which is in fact a prequel) being greenlit. Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield has many of the same elements that made its progenitor so satisfying, with an attention to historical detail (helped by what I assume was at least a somewhat larger budget) and a wending, labyrinthine tale that once again posits shifting allegiances and, yes, more backstabbing (of both varieties, of course) within a story that initially seems to be about a murder investigation, but which leads to all sorts of nefarious scheming that uncovers various conspiracies at play within the waning days of the Ming Dynasty.

One of the interesting things about the first Brotherhood of Blades is that while it definitely exploited any number of traditional wuxia tropes, it seemed more interested in describing a fractured sociopolitical environment than in repeatedly invoking awe with inspiring wire work (and in fact the first film really didn’t have much in that arena at all). That tendency is perhaps even more pronounced in this sequel, and in fact the entire pre-credits vignette would almost seem to be an anti-war screed, as Shen Lian (Chang Chen) literally digs himself out from underneath a pile of dead bodies to survey a vast vista covered for miles with corpses, the sad aftermath of the Battle of Sarhu. Perhaps not wanting to start the film out on too intellectual a level, director Lu Yang has Shen Lian take out several opposing Jin fighters, something that saves the life of Lu Wenzhao (Zhang Yi), a character who of course folds into the main story, which takes place a few years after this carnage.

That main story begins eight years after the battle scene in the opening vignette and finds Shen Lian as a police guard of sorts with the rank of captain investigating the aftermath of what initially appears to be a robbery with several victims. The same layers of subterfuge and competing interests that informed the first Brotherhood of Blades soon becomes evident again when Shen Lian clashes with a lieutenant named Ling, who engages in a bit of a turf war of sorts that might be compared to how federal and state police agencies sometimes battle here in the United States over who should handle any given investigation. But Shen Lian is also trying to corral his own forces, including an underling who goes on a drunken rant which seems to indicate he may have overheard important information concerning a potential assassination attempt. It’s all delivered in the same brisk, no nonsense, style that was a hallmark of the first film, and in fact may invite the same temporary head scratching on the part of some viewers (I personally had to revisit some aspects of this film, much as I did with the first Brotherhood of Blades, to sort everything out).

With all the roiling political intrigue suffusing the film, another potential antagonist is revealed with a mysterious artist whose work may be politically motivated and which threatens the eunuch class which was at the center of the first Brotherhood of Blades. That artist turns out to be Bei Zhai (Yang Mi), and while Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield doesn’t shy away from an expected romantic entanglement between Bei Zhai and Shen Lian, what’s kind of interesting here is how the romance is itself ensnared by an increasingly paranoiac sensibility as various conspiracies threaten to undermine the characters’ very lives, let alone any nascent love angle.

While the storytelling here is as complex and, yes, occasionally confusing as it was in the first film, this second outing benefits from an extremely handsome production design and near ADHD levels in terms of nonstop camera movements. That brisk presentational style helps the film to bridge some narrative hurdles, since everything is careening ahead at such an accelerated pace. Perhaps that’s one reason why the emotional component here may not really end up being as forceful as hoped, even after one of those endings that hints at tragedy, only to have something approaching happily ever after suddenly show up. The film is not shy about setting the table for an already announced third entry, which will reportedly be a true sequel.

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This was digitally captured by a variety of Arri Alexa cameras and finished at a 2K DI (all according to the IMDb), and looks excellent on Blu- ray. This prequel is once again like its progenitor graded rather aggressively quite a bit of the time, with both blue and sepia tones prevailing at various times. Detail levels still tend to be mostly excellent, with only some of the darkest material offering some deficits in fine detail. Director Lu Yang and cinematographer Han Qiming do a number of interesting things in terms of framing, including repeatedly having the "focal" character placed in the background (ironically in deep focus), with out of focus elements (often other characters) in the foreground. Even with this strategy, detail and fine detail on things like the ornate costumes the characters wear pop with some immediacy. While not as frequent or apparent as has been the case with some other Well Go USA releases, there are some brief flirtings with banding.

Update: Member qw0aszx has sent along screenshots from the mainland China release of this film, which bears a 2.66:1 aspect ratio, reportedly the OAR for this film. Some may feel that warrants a lower score for the video aspect of this release, though I certainly noticed no undue framing issues in this presentation.

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield features a fantastic sounding DTS:X mix in Mandarin (an optional DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in English is available, and while it does feature good surround activity, it simply can't match the sometimes overwhelmingly present sonics of the DTS:X option). There are any number of well done sequences throughout the film that offer not just great placement in the side and rear channels, but which seem to waft various effects panning overhead, especially in some of the rather brief fight scenes. A number of outdoor scenes also offer well done immersion offering very lifelike ambient environmental sounds. Dialogue and score are also well rendered and smartly prioritized on this very enjoyable track.

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Scenes (1080i; 4:44) offers some interesting looks at things like the film's production design.


• Trailer (1080p; 1:45)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-rays, the disc has been authored so that the supplements follow each other automatically. After the trailer for this film plays, the disc then automatically moves on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases. Those other trailers also play at disc boot up.

Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Anyone who enjoyed the first Brotherhood of Blades is nearly certain to like this prequel as well, since it shares the first film's dense plotting and layers of subterfuge, along with a nice romantic subplot and an extremely handsome production design. That aforementioned dense plotting means that some aspects may need to be seen more than once to fully understand the subtext, but with a film that is this visually alluring, that's really not that much of a problem. Technical merits are strong, and Brotherhood of Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield comes Recommended.