6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.1 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
Ti (Stephen Chow) is a poor father who works all day, everyday at a construction site to make sure his son Dicky Chow (Xu Jian) can attend an elite private school. Despite his father's good intentions to give his son the opportunities he never had, Dicky, with his dirty and tattered clothes and none of the "cool" toys stands out from his schoolmates like a sore thumb. Ti can't afford to buy Dicky any expensive toys and goes to the best place he knows to get new stuff for Dicky — the junk yard! While out "shopping" for a new toy for his son, Ti finds a mysterious orb and brings it home for Dicky to play with. To his surprise and disbelief, the orb reveals itself to Dicky as a bizarre "pet" with extraordinary powers. Armed with his "CJ7" Dicky seizes this chance to overcome his poor background and shabby clothes and impress his fellow schoolmates for the first time in his life. But CJ7 has other ideas and when Dicky brings it to class, chaos ensues.
Starring: Stephen Chow, Jiao Xu, Lei Huang, Yuqi Zhang, Tze-Chung LamForeign | 100% |
Family | 31% |
Fantasy | 7% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
French: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Arabic, Indonesian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Every student has their own true love.
If you thought foreign cinema was unapproachable for general audiences, consisting primarily of
highbrow art house films and Hong Kong action extravaganzas, think again. CJ7 is one of
the finer family films to come along in quite some time, a genuinely heartfelt and touching picture
about the importance of family, virtue, integrity, trying hard in all you do, and standing tall to be
recognized for who you are, not what you have. It's a rare combination in film where one finds a
refreshingly honest, simple picture that will make you laugh, make you cry, warm your heart, and
show you what being a good person is all about. With genuine performances, a witty script,
fantastic direction, great music, awesome visuals, and memorable characters, CJ7 is a
remarkable film that should vie for best foreign picture of the year.
So, Dicky, you're actually a girl?
CJ7 is another quality release from Sony. Presented in 1080p and in the film's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio, the disc is often visually stunning. A fabulous transfer from beginning to end, CJ7 looks great in its many settings, including the brightly lit exterior of the school, the poorly lit interior of Ti and Dicky's apartment, and the few nighttime exterior scenes in the film. The image never fails to be deep and richly detailed. Colors are magnificent, and CJ7 often revels in a myriad of natural hues that results in an eye-popping, three dimensional image. The transfer has a very natural appearance with great detail visible in clothing, faces, objects, and places. The construction site reveals every nuance, from the soot and debris to the sweat on the worker's faces. Look at the tree CJ7 hides behind in chapter nine. Its texture and grooves in the bark are strikingly real. Also, the straw hat Ti wears in chapter 13 features a rich texture. Likewise, the various interior shots of their apartment are marvelous. Those are some of the darkest shots of the movie, and while backgrounds are somewhat soft, there is a rich, realistic feel to the lived-in, grimy apartment that comes to life on Blu-ray. Objects are generally sharp and crisp with no soft edges in foreground objects. The various outdoor shots, notably during the montage at school featuring Dicky's super shoes, is a marvel to behold as we're literally "taken to new heights." The movie shows some wondrous scenery that sparkles in high definition. There is a fine layer of grain over the image, one that is sometimes hard to see, and its presence aids rather than hinders the oftentimes breathtaking imagery of CJ7. Finally, the disc offers natural flesh tones and good black levels. CJ7 is a fine family film, and the 1080p image on display will wow your family.
CJ7 lands on Blu-ray with several Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless audio options. The film is available in its original Chinese soundtrack, and there is also a very well done English dub presented in lossless surround sound. Frankly, I found the dub to be one of the best I've heard yet, right up there with Das Boot. English subtitles are available, although they don't always match the English dub. Regardless of which lossless soundtrack you listen to, you'll be in for a treat as the disc features great surround use, well-prioritized dialogue, some great lows, and a generally pleasing and room-filling listening experience. The construction scenes feature excellent use of both the surround speakers and the subwoofer as machinery and workers pound and hammer the building together. Chapter four also features fantastic bass as the UFO takes off from the dump, right in front of Ti's eyes. The soundtrack is an all-immersive one, featuring loud and clear music that plays in every speaker, filling your listening room with sonic bliss. The dance music heard in chapter seven, like the score, fills every speaker with a powerful and completely perfect listen. Sound effects are rendered nicely, too. Dialogue is crisp in both the original Chinese and the dubbed English version with no distracting volume issues. Dicky's screams are high pitched and ear-shattering yet clear with no distortion. The high end throughout the movie sounds as marvelous as the midrange and the lows, and they all work in harmony to make one of the better soundtracks I've heard.
CJ7 arrives on Blu-ray for the U.S. market featuring a wealth of supplemental features,
unlike the bare-bones import version. A
commentary
track with actor/director Stephen Chow, "Fatso" Chung, Shing-Cheung Lee, and writer
Kan-Cheung
Tsang and Lam Fong leads off the supplements. It takes about seven minutes to introduce
everyone. The track delves into
basic commentary track territory, such as the casting process, cut scenes, stories from the set,
the
talent of the cast, and more. The track is in Chinese with English subtitles. 'CJ7:' Mission
Control is a game where we must navigate the Shenzhou 7 into orbit. Players must choose
how much fuel with which to fill the rocket and decide on the proper launch angle. That's it. It's
a
simple game that only differs each time you play by changing the positioning of the launch
window.
The Story of 'CJ7' (480p, 13:41) is a fairly standard making-of piece that intertwines
behind-the-scenes footage with clips from the film. It begins with a some pre-production work
and a discussion about the origins of the story with Stephen Chow and the writers, and moves
into the search for an actor to portray Dicky (and the casting of a girl to play a boy) and the rest
of the child actors. An interesting but ultimately forgettable piece, it's a nice companion to the
movie and worth checking out of you liked the film. 'CJ7' TV Special (480p, 22:05) is
another making-of feature that covers much of the same material we've already learned. It
delves into the creation of the title character for much of the piece but also looks at filming
particular scenes, such as the "Stephen Up High," the shot of the actor/director eating lunch high
atop a construction site. Like the last feature, this one is worth a look of you have extra time on
your hands.
Next is Anatomy of a Scene (480p, 6:40). This feature concentrates on the filming of a
scene between CJ7 and Dicky in a bathroom. How to Bully a Bully (480p, 4:11) is an
English-language feature to help you fight back against bullies. How to Make a Lollipop
(480p, 1:29), again in English, shows you how to make a fake lollipop out of clay. 'CJ7'
Profiles (480p, 6:58) shows select clips from some of the film's characters and what
makes them tick. Next up are a series of 1080p trailers for CJ7, Persepolis, Men In Black, Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, Spider-Man 3, The Water Horse, Surf's Up, Monster House, Open Season, Married Life, The Jane Austen Book
Club, and Sony's Blu-ray promotional montage. CJ7 is also BD-Live (Blu-ray
profile 2.0) compatible and clicking on the icon takes viewers to Sony's page that, at time of
writing, features no additional movie-related features.
CJ7 is a wonderful family film, sincere and simple in its approach, but one that tackles some important issues in an entertaining and heartwarming manner. With its appealing visual style, fantastic acting, solid direction, memorable characters, great writing, and graceful special effects, there is something for everyone to enjoy in CJ7. This release is another winer from Sony. The quality of the release, not to mention the theme of the film, is reminiscent of The Water Horse. CJ7 offers great video and audio qualities as well as a nice selection of bonus materials. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better and more heartwarming title than CJ7. Both this movie and The Water Horse go well together, and CJ7 would look great on your shelf next to that family favorite. Highly recommended!
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