Ip Man 3 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Ip Man 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 12, 2016

You know, someone really ought to make a movie about venerable martial artist Ip Man (sometimes also transliterated as Yip Man) training the acolyte who became arguably his most famous protégé, Bruce Lee. At this point there have been no fewer than six feature films devoted to Ip Man, including two starring Donnie Yen as Ip Man which are linked with this particular outing, Ip Man and Ip Man 2, as well as three other non-linked features, The Legend Is Born: Ip Man, Ip Man: The Final Fight and The Grandmaster. As anyone who has seen at least some of these films (especially the ones starring Yen) can avow, the character of Bruce Lee does appear, albeit pretty fitfully at times, as he in fact once again does in Ip Man 3. What’s a little odd about all of this is that evidently the whole idea for an Ip Man film was sparked by the desire to depict the relationship between a relatively less known teacher and his ultimately globally renowned student. A bit of online sleuthing turned up a whole host of rights issues which have apparently thrown at least a few obstacles in the way of some of these filmmakers, with various people and/or entities claiming possession of Lee’s image and/or representation as a character, and that may account at least in part for the lack of a really in depth portrayal of this historical and probably quite fascinating interaction. What’s a little annoying about the continuing glut of Ip Man cinematic vehicles, though, is their outright fictionalization of various elements of Ip Man’s remarkable life and achievements. Part of this may be due to the near mythologizing accrual of supposed aspects of Ip Man’s life which admittedly arose even before the first film came out, but some cynical types may be prone to thinking that truth might not only be stranger than fiction, but ultimately more satisfying as well.

While Bruce Lee (played by Danny Chan, though evidently CGI rendering was at one point considered) does waft in and out of this particular story, Ip Man 3 goes the fictionalized route with a fairly silly story involving a gangster type who also is a real estate developer. The fact that this character, who goes by the name Frank, is played by Mike Tyson may give some indication of the general tenor of this particular outing. Frank has several irons in various fires, including tangential relationships to a kind of black market “fight club” that involves Cheung Tin-chi (Zhang Jin), another highly skilled martial artist whose son attends school with Ip Man’s younger son. The two boys get into a scuffle trying to prove they have superior fighting skills, a conflict which is then mirrored in a competition between their fathers as the film progresses.

While that set of relationships is unfolding, Frank’s nefarious efforts to gain control of the very property where the boys’ school is provides sufficient conflict for some of the film’s set pieces, when Ip Man decides to protect the location from the threats Frank’s triad forces regularly make. A number of patently melodramatic subplots begin accruing, one of which predictably pits Cheung Tin-chi against Ip Man. In one of the film’s passing flirtations with actual history, Ip Man’s home life with his wife Cheung Ying-sing (Lynn Hung) encounters potential tragedy, an element which is utilized to generate some emotion which is otherwise largely lacking from this entry in the ever expanding Ip Man franchise.

If Ip Man 3 is accepted on its own kind of chop socky B-movie merits, it provides more than enough bone crunching action to satisfy most martial arts aficionados. Yen, who famously stated he would never play Ip Man again after Ip Man 2, has again indicated that not only will this time be his “honest to goodness” last crack (so to speak) at the role, it may be his last action film generally. Yen acquits himself as remarkably as ever in the film’s big set pieces, which see him battling not just with his fists and feet but with a variety of accoutrements, especially in the hyperbolic climactic showdown with Cheung Tin- chi. The various representatives claiming control of Bruce Lee’s likeness may have successfully prevented a decent depiction of the relationship between master and student, necessitating several trips to a fictional well as various Ip Man films have been released, but the fact remains that there is still a compelling tale to be told in this regard. Perhaps the genesis needs to come from the Lee side of the equation (so to speak), at which point the representatives of Ip Man’s legacy will probably raise their own objections to the potential project.

Ip Man 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ip Man 3 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Shot digitally with Arri Alexa cameras, Ip Man 3 was evidently released in some overseas markets in 3D, and there are several scenes in the film which expoit "in your face" framings which (not to put too fine a point on it) largely fall "flat" in this 2D rendering. The image is typically sharp and well defined, with some excellent fine detail in close-ups revealing the finery of some of the nice costumes or elements like the roughhewn handles of a rickshaw. There's not a lot of truly aggressive color grading going on in this presentation, but there are noticeably yellow and/or blue tinged sequences on display, some of which are due to actual lighting regimens rather than to any post-production tweaks. Some fun slow motion sequences offer great views of things like a wash of water dissolving into innumerable droplets (after a healthy kick), with some appealing resolution of fine elements. There is occasional murk in some dimly lit interior scenes, especially those that skew toward the blue side of things. Overall, though, the palette looks robust and natural, and the imagery is sharp and precise, with no stability issues or compression anomalies.

Ip Man 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ip Man 3 features a blisteringly effective Cantonese DTS:X track, the first time in my recollection that a Well Go USA release has offered this audio option. There are numerous instances of panning effects at play in various action sequences, as well as some clear overhead wafting of sonic information. Some of the sound effects are extremely visceral, including the whack of wooden poles or the silvery sound of blades hitting each other. It goes without saying that the sound of flesh meeting flesh also provides great opportunity for some fun (if wince inducing) sound effects. Directionality is extremely well handled, with nice attention paid to where various combatants are in the frame. Dialogue is also very cleanly rendered and is always well prioritized on this problem free track.

Ip Man 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of

  Story (1080i; 2:29)

  Action (1080i; 2:52)

• Interviews

  Donnie Yen (1080p; 6:04)

  Mike Tyson (1080i; 7:27)

  Donnie Yen and Mike Tyson on Ip Man Press Day (1080i; 5:27)

  Wilson Yip, Director (1080i; 9:05)

• Behind the Scenes (1080p; 2:19)


• Teaser (1080p; 1:19)


• Trailer (1080p; 2:07)


• International Trailer (1080p; 1:03)

Ip Man 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As a wise man, or at least I, was saying, there's a great film waiting to be made about Ip Man and Bruce Lee. All three of the Yen Ip Man outings have at least hinted at this relationship, but evidently rights issues have prevented a further exploration. Maybe Ip Man 4 or at least Bruce Lee 1 can get this thorny problem solved. As it stands, Ip Man 3 presents a needlessly melodramatic tale that is a bit on the campy side at times (at least when Mike Tyson lumbers into view), but which provides Yen ample opportunity to flex his martial arts charisma for what may be the last time. Technical merits are very strong and help raise this otherwise somewhat predictable entry's rating to Recommended.