Human Weapon: The Complete Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Human Weapon: The Complete Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Part travelogue, part combat manifesto, 'Human Weapon' is an odd, but oddly engaging, series from the History Channel.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 26, 2010

In a world where warfare has become akin to a videogame, a high tech pursuit watched by millions on television, given its own nightly news theme music and delivered with the breathless alacrity that only perfectly coiffed news anchors can muster, it’s comforting in an odd sort of way to see that certain people and cultures still “celebrate” up close and personal, hand to hand combat. What’s just as amazing is the incredible variety of techniques of pummeling, punching, kicking and otherwise inflicting damage which different cultures have established through countless millennia. While everything can be boiled down to punches, kicks, and the like, there’s a really astounding variety to different approaches that various nationalities and ethnic groups have taken as they’ve developed ways to defend themselves. In many cultures, these techniques have taken on an aura of almost mystical religious ritual, and fights become in a very odd sort of way a sort of “church going” experience for both participants and voyeurs. The History Channel had a rather unusual offering on its schedule a few years ago called Human Weapon, where two pretty regular American guys with some fighting experience in their background took off on a whirlwind trip around the world exploring various fighting techniques that had developed in such far flung places as Thailand, Israel, the Philippines, Cambodia and Malaysia (to name just a few). These two hosts, Jason Chambers, a mixed martial artist, and Bill Duff, a former NFL and NFL Europe defensive tackle, traveled the globe and gave Human Weapon a fun and engaging pair of hosts who were as interested in seeing the sights and getting to know the backgrounds of various cultures as they were in learning the individual fighting techniques those cultures had developed. And while each episode of Human Weapon ended with one of the hosts stepping into the ring with an expert practitioner of any given technique, the show itself really was more than “just” a glorified version of Ultimate Cage Fighting. What makes this new four BD set from History Channel a little perplexing is that the network cancelled the series several years ago, so this set’s Complete Season One moniker is a little misleading. It really should be The Complete Only Season.

Human Weapon does follow a rather pat formula, but within the confines of that set up the show is surprisingly interesting, no doubt due to the wide variety of locales it visits. Chambers and Duff typically start out each episode with a brief overview of the focal fighting technique, but what soon develops is a quick summation of local history and culture, usually at the street level where Chambers and Duff often watch the unwashed masses practicing any given martial art or other fighting approach. Many of these street fights reveal a rather vicious but strangely friendly combat between friends. No one gives in, but as in many ritual outings, there is decorum to be followed and there amazingly seem to be few hard feelings even after some bloody interchanges.

It may strike some who read my reviews that I’ve actually become a fan (at least when my wife isn’t around to inform me I need to change the channel) of UFC bouts. The sheer brutality and variety of approaches these athletes display is an adrenalin rush, to be sure. And while that’s no doubt part of Human Weapon’s appeal, this show is strangely as much about seeing the sights as it is about learning any individual technique. Is this show a travelogue? Or a compendium of various fighting methods? The short answer is, both. As Chambers and Duff globetrot from one engaging location to the next, the viewer is offered a series of sometimes breathtaking views, including everything from the classical structures of ancient Greece to the even more ancient temple ruins of Israel.

Typically the bulk of each episode is made up of the boys learning how to practice the focal method, which almost always entails working with an expert in the field. This element can be really interesting, including the Krav Maga episode where a lot of the Israeli Special Forces members’ faces are blurred so as not to reveal their identities to potential terrorists, or, on the opposite side of the spectrum, the MMA (mixed martial arts) episode which features a guest star turn by none other than Randy Couture. Once the hosts feel they’ve got the basics down, they either draw lots or decide between themselves which one of them will actually enter into a supposedly real battle in the given technique. There’s little doubt that punches are probably pulled (who wants a dead host on your hands?), but the fights are often heart pounding and to be fair, both guys walk away with the occasional wound to show for their efforts. Each episode also features some CGI elements where the moves of the technique are broken down bit by bit.

Human Weapon might find a new audience with this nice looking Blu-ray set, and stranger things have happened than for a series to return after a multi-year hiatus once a home video release takes off (Futurama, anyone?). This series is an odd amalgamation of two elements one wouldn’t initially think were compatible: getting to know a foreign culture, and then attempting to beat the hell out of one of the natives. Duff and Chambers make for a very appealing and easy to take pair of hosts, a pair which is often awestruck both by the fighting methods they have to learn as by the incredible sights they’re getting to see. That sense of wonder is easily transmitted to the audience, making this series one of the more oddly enjoyable outings that History has ever offered.

This four BD set includes these episodes:

Muay Thai: Ultimate Striking
Eskrima Stickfighting
Karate
Savate Streetfighting
Judo: Samurai Legacy
Pankration: The Original Martial Art
Krav Maga of the Israeli Commandoes
Marine Corps Martial Arts
MMA: America's Extreme Fighting
Kung Fu
Sambo: Russia's Extreme Fighting
Cambodian Blood Sport
Silat: Martial Art of Malaysia
Passport to Pain
Ninjutsu
Taekwondo

Human Weapon: The Complete Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Human Weapon punches its way onto Blu-ray with a very good looking AVC encoded transfer, in 1080i and 1.78:1. This is really an unusually colorful and picturesque series, and this four BD set really makes the most of the often exotic locations to which Chambers and Duff travel. Colors are vivid and exceptionally well saturated, sharpness is really superb, and there are few if any interlacing artifacts, other than some very, very minor aliasing on some usual suspects like close together parallel lines found in a fence, and the like. Otherwise this is one of the better looking releases we've seen from History, with an abundance of fine detail and, in the outdoor shots, some amazing depth of field. Contrast and black levels are excellent throughout the four discs.

Human Weapon: The Complete Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Though there's really not a lot to write home about with this soundtrack, History has stepped up to the plate and delivered a nice sounding lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. Some of the fight sequences, where the combatants are typically surrounded by cheering throngs, could have benefited from a surround mix, but otherwise this is a solid and engaging track, albeit in a very narrow soundfield. Best of all, there's some thundering low end despite it only pumping out over two channels, with both some great sound effects and some blistering "real life" thunks as fist or foot meets flesh. Dialogue is crisp and clear and there are embedded subtitles for the harder to understand foreign participants.

Human Weapon: The Complete Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered.

Human Weapon: The Complete Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I hadn't caught much of Human Weapon when it initially aired, though my older son, a high school wrestler, had told me about it. I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging this weird combination of fights and scenery was, mostly due to the really affable presence of Duff and Chambers. Make no mistake about it, this is an often violent show. But it's also serenely picturesque and manages to pack a good deal of history and information into the segments leading up to the big fight. Recommended.