5.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Set in China during the Han dynasty (206-220 AD), Dragon Blade follows Huo An, an official framed and enslaved for a crime he didn't commit. Soon thereafter, however, he meets a legion of defected Roman soldiers led by General Lucius and the pair begin to form an unlikely alliance.
Starring: Jackie Chan, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, Choi Siwon, Peng LinAction | 100% |
Adventure | 48% |
Martial arts | 30% |
Foreign | 27% |
History | 7% |
War | 5% |
Thriller | 1% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Spartacus may be one of the all time uncontested classics of cinema, but for certain curmudgeons (ahem) Tony Curtis just never seemed to quite fit in to the film’s pre-Christian ambience, what with his late 50s pompadour and (especially) his Brooklyn tinged patois. Some may feel similarly ill disposed toward John Cusack in Dragon Blade, for there’s something undeniably contemporary about the actor, even as he’s weighted down under what looks like pounds of Roman costuming regalia. And in fact there's a decidedly modern ambience to Cusack's co-stars in Dragon Blade, Jackie Chan and Adrien Brody, both of whom are asked to spout 21st century dialogue in what is supposedly a 50 BC time setting. Dragon Blade touts the fact that it's based on actual historical facts, but the film comes off as rather far fetched, with a tendency to devolve into silly one liners that recall jokey Chan efforts of yesteryear rather than any actual yesteryear. The film is impressively mounted, even if its over reliance on CGI casts much of the imagery in a rather soft look, but it feels like huge swaths of material were left on the cutting room floor, leading to a lurching quality in the narrative that the film is never able to completely overcome.
Dragon Blade is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitally utilizing Red Epic cameras, the film boasts an impressively sharp and well detailed image—at least when not considering some pretty soft looking CGI and/or green screen material. Several wide vistas seem to be entirely computer generated, and very rarely have more than baseline detail evident. Even worse, a number of relative close-ups show telltale signs of having been shot in front of a green screen, with backgrounds assuming almost Impressionistic ambiences at times. That anomaly aside, the rest of this presentation is often quite impressive, with fine detail popping on elements like the fur adorning Brody's neck or some of the filigreed work on the body armor. While sequences have been put through the color grading mill (once again yellow and blue—are no other tones available?), in terms of how many historical epics and/or action adventure films tend to look these days, the palette is actually relatively natural looking most of the time, helping detail to pop even better. Contrast and black levels are both consistent and admirable, and there are no issues with image instability.
While Dragon Blade's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is identified as being in both Mandarin and English on the Blu-ray menu, for all intents and purposes this is an English language film, with only a very few elements (including a sweet song sung by the kids) being offered in Mandarin. The soundtrack is awash in impressive LFE from the get go, and the huge action sequences offer abundant opportunity for immersion, with some very well done sound effects when bones crunch or steel meets steel in sword fights. Dialogue is well rendered, and the film's enjoyable score by Henry Lai also sounds precise and clear. Dynamic range is very wide on this problem free track.
Dragon Blade has an admirable thesis in its depiction of two potential warrior classes working together to overcome a common enemy, but the film seems to have been almost clumsily edited at times, leaving gaping holes in the narrative arc, and some confusion in the wake as a result. Chan is refreshingly restrained here, as frankly is Cusack, but Brody simply glowers his way through his role without ever creating a believable character. The film is often a eyeful, and the action sequences are superbly staged. Technical merits are first rate for those considering a purchase.
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