Kingdom of War Part I & Part II Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Kingdom of War Part I & Part II Blu-ray Movie Review

A Thai epic taken straight from the history books.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater June 15, 2011

Between Ong Bak 2 and 3, The Legend of the Tsunami Warrior, and others too numerous to list, it’s clear that Thailand has a thing for the epic period piece action film genre. The biggest—and longest—of these is Kingdom of War, known in Thailand, more specifically, as The Legend of King Naresuan. Clocking in at over eight hours total and broken into three parts, the trilogy charts the childhood, rise, and rule of Naresuan the Great, a revered historical figure who freed Siam from Burmese rule in the 16th century, and who’s as well known to Thai people as George Washington is to Americans. The first two parts debuted in Thailand in 2007, and Magnolia Home Entertainment has opted to release them concurrently on Blu-ray now, rather than waiting to put out the complete trilogy. (The third installment just hit Thai theaters in March of this year.) You can buy the two films as individual releases, but if you’re interested at all in Kingdom of War, you’d be better off picking up this 2-disc set —which includes both Part 1 and Part 2—as it’s cheaper than buying them separately. I imagine Magnolia will bring the third part stateside later this year, so you might want to hold out for a possible trilogy box set, but before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s ask the key question: Is Kingdom of War worth the considerable time investment it asks of its audience?

A lesson in warfare...

Yes and no, is my vague answer. There’s a lot to admire about these two films—namely, how much epic grandeur they conjure up on a budget that’s paltry by Hollywood standards—but they’re also tediously slow, with actual battle sequences taking a backseat to far too many scenes of dull and long-winded political maneuvering. That is, the characters tend to say much more than they do, and what they say often leaves you with a feeling of okay, come on, let’s get on with it. The other big problem is that, unless you’re knowledgeable about the intricacies of Thai history—the endless broken and reforged alliances, the conquered fiefdoms and long litany of kings and lords familiar to Thai audiences but completely unknown to westerners—you’re likely to feel more than a little lost for most of the duration. And considering the duration of Parts 1 and 2 runs just shy of six hours, that’s a lot of time to feel bewildered. The films need their own 101-style primer course in the genealogy and geography of 16th century Thai politics. Even by the end, there are characters that will leave you asking, wait, who is he/she to whom? It doesn’t help that Thai names—personal names and place names—are epically long, which sometimes makes it hard to keep track of the various whos and wheres.

I’ll try to break it down in the simplest form possible, but you’ll quickly see that it isn’t so simple. Part 1 opens in 1563 C.E. as the new power- hungry King of Pegu, Bayinnong (Sompob Benjathikul), wages war against King Thamaracha for control of Phitsanulok. Thamaracha’s one-time ally, King Chakkraphat of Ayutthaya, has sent word that he’s not going to send soldiers to help fight off Bayinnong’s armies, so Thamaracha decides to concede defeat and ally his kingdom with Bayinnong against Chakkraphat. (Lost yet?) To make sure the alliance holds, Bayinnong makes a harsh demand: Thamaracha’s son, Prince Naresuan (Pratcha Sananvatananont)—who, confusingly, is also called Ong Dam—must be sent to Pegu to live as a royal hostage. Bayinnong promises to protect and raise the prince as one of his own sons, and this stage of Naresuan’s life—growing up in Pegu—forms the basis for Part 1.

Naresuan is a plucky, insolent kid who refuses to bow to his surrogate father when they first meet, but he eventually becomes something of a favorite son to Bayinnong, who even takes him along when the king goes to war with Ayutthaya, the kingdom Naresuan will one day inherit. Later, he’s sent to train with the wise monk Khan Shong, along with his squire-of-sorts, Bunthing, a young homeless pickpocket Naresuan saved from execution. Their coming-of-age exploits are fairly boring—the most exciting thing that happens here is a court-sponsored cockfight—but their adventures are positively thrilling compared to the tedious political maneuvering and warmongering that takes place behind the scenes. We get snippets of war action, but there are a lot of long, overscripted scenes of kings sitting in their opulent throne rooms, giving dry speeches and doling out directives to underlings. It often feels like director Chatrichalerm Yukol was following a musty history book instead of a shooting script, as there’s been little effort to finely sculpt all this lumpy historical material into something resembling a dramatic story.

Part 2, thankfully, picks up considerably. Set several years later, adult Naresuan—played here by first-time actor Wanchana Sawatdee, a former Thai Air Force captain with a macho mustache—is now the military commander of Ayutthaya’s army. When King Bayinnong passes away, Naresuan journeys to his old stomping grounds of Pegu for the funeral. By this time, Bayinnong has taken over numerous territories, and all the lords of these conquered kingdoms have gathered to pay their respects and show allegiance to the new king, Bayinnong’s son, Nandabayin. All but one, that is. Feeling slighted, Nandabayin sets out to destroy the hilltop city ruled by the rebellious King Khang, who feels his alliance with Bayinnong is now moot. This city is the stage for an impressive battle sequence that has Nandabayin’s forces attempting to forge their way up a narrow road while Khang’s men dump rocks on them from the cliffs overhead. There’s really only two other things you need to know about Part 2’s plot: 1.) Naresuan proves himself as a badass general in battle, and 2.) Nandabayin, Naresuan’s rival since childhood, doesn’t trust him at all and wants him dead.

Though the political dillydallying still pads the runtime with lots of expository chatter, there’s much more action this time around, which cuts down on the tedium. The war scenes are huge in scope, involving hundreds—if not thousands—of extras, and the film’s 16th century time period means that the soldiers are fighting with a crazy combination of swords and guns, bows and cannons. At one point, Naresuan pulls out the longest rifle I’ve ever seen—so long the barrel has to rest on a monopod—and uses it to put an end to a battle with one strategically placed shot. Those hoping for Tony Jaa-style elbow drops and other Muay Thai staples may be disappointed, as the film is light on martial artistry, but if you’re looking for cannon- blasting, trebuchet-scaling action, you won’t be disappointed. Just temper your expectations. Kingdom of War delivers on the promise of being an epic historical action/drama with detailed sets and enormous battles, but it has its drawbacks, including an all-too epic length—each film could easily stand to lose at least thirty minutes—and storytelling that’s unfocused and uninspired. We never really feel there’s anything at stake for Naresuan or any of the other characters, and we rarely get a glimpse into their private, emotional lives. They’re stoic and remote, more like historical figures than living, breathing humans.

Kingdom of War Part I & Part II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kingdom of War may not have a huge budget by glossy Hollywood standards, but the picture quality on these two discs is excellent, with strong 1080p/AVC-encoded transfers from Magnolia Home Entertainment. (For the record, there's no substantial visual difference between the two films, as they were shot at the same time.) Like many Thai productions, the visual aesthetic here is somewhat stylized, with lightly pushed contrast and colors that are selectively boosted or desaturated. Reds and golds are particularly vibrant, and skin tones have a mostly consistent bronze cast. Black levels can be a bit wishy-washy during darker sequences, but never detrimentally so. Where the transfers really impress is in the degree of clarity that's visible in nearly every frame. Suits of armor display crisp outlines and individually visible links of chain mail. Every flourish of the ornately gilded throne rooms is sharply represented. Cloth shows fine texture and the actors' faces reveal wrinkles, stubble, and pores. The prints themselves are very clean—you'll notice only a few small white specks, and no major debris—and the thin, natural grain structure has been preserved, with no evidence of DNR or excessive edge enhancement. Likewise, there are no major compression problems. I doubt we could ask for much better.

Kingdom of War Part I & Part II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Thai DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround tracks that accompany these two films are excellent in most regards but slightly flawed when it comes to dialogue reproduction. Let's get the bad—which isn't really that bad—out of the way first. At various points in both films, voices can sound a bit muffled, peaky, or clipped. It's never a huge issue—and besides, unless you speak Thai, you'll be focused on the subtitles, primarily—but this stands out compared to the general thoughtfulness, clarity, and power of the rest of the sound design. As you'd expect from a film about medieval Asian warfare, there are more than a few scenes of kickass aural intensity. The battle sequences come alive with LFE-rumbling cannonfire. Swords clang with metal-on- metal heft. Arrows criss-cross the soundfield and gunshots peel off in the rears. Even the quieter sequences are often filled with immersive ambient sound, like wind, rain, and various outdoorsy noises. Richard Harvey's score leaves little impression, but the music is at least clear and dynamically rich. One really bad choice? The song that plays over the end credits. It's sung in English for the first film—for some reason—and in Thai for the second, but either way it sounds terrible. Both discs include optional English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles in easy-to-read lettering.

Kingdom of War Part I & Part II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Considering the epic scope of the two films, Magnolia's offering of supplements seems puny in comparison, but I get the feeling you'll be so drained after watching six hours of politicking—interrupted by occasional battles—that you won't have much interest in bonus features for the film(s) anyway. Do note that the discs included here are identical to the standalone releases; there are no exclusive bonus features.

Disc One

• Behind the Scenes of Kingdom of War (SD, 8:07): A short piece about the historical research that went into the making of the film.
• Royal Lineage and Characters (SD, 11:22): A brief history lesson that explains the relationships between all the characters. You might want to watch this before the film itself.
• International Trailer (SD, 2:46)
• Also From Magnolia Home Entertainment (1080p, 7:42)

Disc Two

• The Making of Kingdom of War (SD, 8:18): A typical "making-of" featurette, with some insight into the set construction and a few interviews with the director and screenwriter.
• Behind the Scenes (SD, 2:09): A few more short behind-the-scenes clips and interviews. Nothing particularly revelatory here.
• Music Video (SD, 4:21): If, by "music video," you mean clips from the film set to a really awful song, then yes, this is, I suppose, a music video.
• Trailer (SD, 1:28)
• Also From Magnolia Home Entertainment Blu-ray (1080p, 7:42)

Kingdom of War Part I & Part II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Can you look past vast stretches of stilted, expository dialogue? Do you appreciate big-budget action over character development? Can you sit still for nigh- unto six hours? If the answer is yes to all three, you'll do okay with Kingdom of War, a two-part historical epic that's too long for its own good. Those with low expectations may find enjoyment in the spectacular costumes, big battles, and immense scope, but I suspect most viewers will find their patience tested, more than anything. Magnolia's Blu-ray release boasts excellent picture and audio quality, but I'd suggest a rental first for anyone considering a purchase.