Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

Iceman Blu-ray Movie Review

This 'Iceman' goeth.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 14, 2014

Habitues of Blu-ray.com may recognize “Iceman” as the internet moniker of one of the guys who helps to make all the magic happen on this site, but sadly there’s very little magic to be had in Iceman, a fairly lame exercise that combines martial arts with time travel and other fantasy elements in an uneasy stew that is at times baffling and (perhaps even worse) boring in about equal measure. At one point early in the film, a distressed elderly Chinese man, reacting to a cryogenic chamber that suddenly bursts open to reveal a Ming Dynasty warrior now resurrected in the 21st century, shouts out, “What is this? Freaking Terminator?” Unfortunately, Iceman is in both content and tone probably more similar to Highlander, what with its cross-epochal warriors trying to blend into a modern world while carrying out ancient grudges. Iceman tends to lurch forward and backward rather uneasily, doling out a series of flashbacks that attempt to explicate the character of He Ying (Donnie Yen), a Ming Dynasty warrior and imperial guard whose life back in the 17th century devolved into a series of tragedies, and that was before he was put into a veritable deep freeze, only to be defrosted (unwittingly, of course) in current times. Inexplicably wasting (at least for the most part) the supreme athleticism of Donnie Yen and trundling through too many sidebars for its already rickety foundation to sustain, this home video release doesn’t even offer what was ostensibly the theatrical exhibition’s biggest calling card, a 3D presentation.

Iceman begins with a patently silly sequence that sees a convoy of sorts traipsing through Hong Kong, where a truck driver’s infatuation with his sandwich leads to calamity. That’s when a giant cryogenic pod is deposited on top of a ramshackle building and the elderly man makes the Terminator crack. When He Ying emerges from his deep freeze, he does what any guy waking up from a long sleep does—he engages in a epic pee, something that’s rather graphically portrayed here and which immediately sets the film up as a farce. Unfortunately, that is not a tone that director Wing-cheong Law either wanted to or was able to sustain, for the film soon starts wallowing in more soap operatic fare, especially once Ying’s background starts getting revealed in a series of flashbacks which, while interesting enough, continually hobble the narrative flow of the film.

In his life back in his own actual epoch, He Ying’s duties with the Imperial family take him on a quest to far off India to obtain a magical time travel device which comes in the form of male genitalia, in this case supposedly belonging to the god Shiva. When inserted in a cosmic wheel, this crystal member allows for time travel, though in a plot device that is neither explained nor ever developed fully, there are a limited number of trips any explorer can take. Ultimately, however, He Ying falls prey to various conspiracies, and finds his life torn asunder when he’s accused of treason and both his professional and personal lives are dealt tragic blows.

This backstory would be fine if taken on its own, but instead Iceman continually ping pongs back and forth between these flashbacks and the current day story, with the result being a rather inconsistent hodgepodge of styles and even content. There’s a slightly more whimsical element to the present day offerings (as evidenced by that epic pee), even after it turns out that He Ying has some fellow (time) travellers chasing after him, courtesy of the deep freeze that encased all of them centuries previously.

There are a number of simultaneously unfolding subplots (in two timeframes, no less) that at least give Iceman a bit of variety, even if it's often confounding variety. The sway of the modern world on the three Ming warriors is played alternately for laughs or pathos, and there’s a somewhat annoying “love interest” for He Ying who is adept at running scams in order to support her aging grandmother.

What could have saved Iceman, or at least made it viscerally more exciting, would have been some completely over the top action sequences. Instead Wing-cheong Law stages things haphazardly at best, with an uneasy balance between Jackie Chan-esque buffoonery and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon inspired wire work hyperbole. Also hobbling the overall feel of the film is some fairly lackluster CGI that makes certain sequences play like even more of a cartoon than is already in evidence.

Iceman, even in its 3D incarnation overseas, evidently did not do very well at the boxoffice, a perhaps surprising situation given Donnie Yen’s star power and ability to “open” a film in his native markets. This is supposedly planned as a franchise of sorts, with a second part promised soon. Reportedly beset with manifest production problems throughout a long and labored shoot, Iceman had better solidify its story and structure before everything melts away in the warm light of day.

Iceman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Iceman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Shot digitally with the Red Epic, Iceman is largely bathed in two highly filtered palettes, a kind of cool blue for the contemporary sequences, and a warmer but occasionally sickly looking yellow for the Ming era scenes. Perhaps surprisingly, detail and fine detail are not significantly inhibited by either of these color grading choices, and indeed close-ups can often provide excellent fine detail (see screenshot 1). The yellow tinged Ming sequences often have a somewhat soft look to them, at least relatively speaking, something exacerbated by some of the CGI utilized for these scenes. When not color graded to within an inch of their lives, scenes in the contemporary portions of the film can pop with really excellently vivid and accurate looking color (see screenshot 2). Contrast and black levels are both solid and consistent and there are no issues with compression artifacts.

Iceman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While this release of Iceman does include an English dub in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, all but the most subtitle averse will want to stick with the original language version, also available in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. (Interestingly, this is the rare Well Go USA release with some other languages, including Spanish and French, perhaps indicative of the film's marketing efforts to position this piece globally based on Yen's star power.) The original language mix offers some excellent surround activity from the first chaotic scene which includes everything from a truck smashing over a bridge to the whoosh of a long sealed cryogenic tube opening to discharge its former occupant. The action sequences are filled with great sound effects as well, all of which typically zing through the side channels as fists and feet fly. Dialogue is very cleanly presented, and there are no problems of any kind to report.

Iceman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (1080i; 20:13) is an assemblage of various short featurettes (accessible individually if preferred) that cover a bunch of the different set pieces in the film. Interestingly, these are all branded with the Iceman 3D title.


• Trailer (1080p; 1:42)

Iceman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even Donnie Yen's ardent fan base may be largely bored by the frenetic but rarely involving Iceman. While having absolutely no connection whatsoever to Eugene O'Neill's play, Iceman is actually a remake of a much more exciting film called The Iceman Cometh. This version evidently thought gussying things up with lots of (middling) CGI and 3D effects might help to overcome its lumbering structure and oddly staged action elements. The results are too inconsistent to ever really resonate, unfortunately. Fans of the film will be pleased to know technical merits are very strong on this release.