6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
Ancient China - the Imperial Court. The emperor dies mysteriously. His death starts a journey of loyalty and betrayal, conspiracy and slaughter, and love and hatred a la Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Starring: You Ge, Daniel Wu, Xun Zhou, Jingwu Ma, Xiaoming HuangForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 68% |
Action | 38% |
Drama | 25% |
History | 23% |
War | 17% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.46:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Mandarin: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
When Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon took the movie going world by storm in 2000, suddenly it was if the floodgates had been opened, and we were suddenly awash in films about feudal Asian times filled with wire dancing martial artists. Many, if not most, of these films usually get lumped together under the wuxia rubric, the Chinese fiction idiom dealing with martial arts, though a close reading of that term would really probably eliminate at least some of them. But anyone who’s seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or any of the many films which followed in its wake, pretty much knows what to expect going into one of these endeavors, whether or not it really fits into a strict definition of wuxia. Heroes and villains are more often than not extremely broadly drawn, sets (and set pieces) are often grandiose, and there is usually a very evocative use of location shooting in authentically Chinese locales like bamboo forests. And, of course, there’s the amazing fight choreography, with antagonists leaping, flying and otherwise defying gravity in a sort of giddy martial arts version of the dance sequences that used to litter classic Hollywood musicals. Legend of the Black Scorpion was originally titled The Banquet when it was released in 2006, and that in fact is probably a better title for it. Scorpion may have been retitled to trade on the popularity of its sort of sibling film, Curse of the Golden Dragon, a film which was actually released a couple of months after The Banquet, but which, for reasons probably best attributed to the vagaries of popular culture, took off stateside more than The Banquet initially did. (It’s interesting to note that Hong Kong submitted The Banquet as its nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film for the 2006 Oscars, while “mainland” China did the same for Golden Flower, but neither film ended up in the five finalist positions).
While Curse of the Golden Flower may have the slight edge over The Banquet in sheer audacity of its production design, it's not much of an edge, and this Blu-ray's brilliant AVC encoded 1080p transfer (in 2.46:1) really exploits the mammoth ambitions of the filmmakers. From the arresting opening "mime" sequence in the bamboo forest, to the shadowy interiors of the Royal Palace, The Banquet is astoundingly colorful, but brushed with a sort of film analog to chiaroschuro, where the darks are very dark indeed, and the bright colors are mind bogglingly saturated. While this transfer may just be a tad softer than Golden Flower, close-ups reveal a wealth of extremely sharp detail. This is, along with Golden Flower, one of the most stupendous physical productions in recent Chinese film history, and the Blu-ray shows every glistening aspect of both sets and costumes. Contrast and black levels are exceptional, and fine detail is also excellent. The best part of this transfer is the lack of any significant artifacting, especially notable since usual suspects like chainmail and heavily leafed trees don't ever devolve into aliasing, shimmer or moire.
Despite the odd choice by Dragon Dynasty to have this Blu-ray default to a lossy Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, rest assured there is indeed a lossless Mandarin track delivered in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and quite an excellent lossless track it is. There are so many great little (and huge) moments in this track it's difficult to select just a few, but during the title sequence listen to the really fun little "pit a pat" of scampering scorpion feet, which clearly pan and are just so hilariously delicate, as the CGI beast makes its way from right to left and then stings a silk screen of a banquet. As might be expected, the fight scenes are a whirwind of surround activity, with the quicksilver high frequency of metal meeting metal zinging around the soundfield. Spears flung from unseen assailants whiz from side channel to side channel, piercing bamboo stalks with a nice sonic crush. Dialogue is very crisp and clear and there's precious little of the dubbing anomalies that seem to hamper a lot of the Dragon Dynasty releases. Tan Dun's evocative score is also brilliantly well mixed into the proceedings. Fidelity and dynamic range are spot on throughout.
Once again, the Commentary by Bey Logan is the best thing on this Dragon Dynasty Blu-ray in terms of the supplements. Logan is invariably interesting and informative, and this outing is no exception. Aside from Logan, two lengthy, but less interesting, Interviews are included: Master of Ceremonies: An Exclusive Interview with Director Feng Xiaogang (SD; 20:17), and Warrior Prince: An Exclusive Interview with Leading Man Daniel Wu (SD; 23:29). A Dynasty Uncovered: Behind the Scenes on 'Legend of the Black Scorpion' (SD; 41:40) has some great footage of fight scenes being staged, as well as a nice look at the mammoth sets the film employed. Two Theatrical Trailers round out the supplements.
The Banquet is a fascinating feudal Chinese take on Hamlet, with enough changes to Shakespeare's basic outline to confound even those who know the Bard's version backwards and forwards. Filled with some stupendous set pieces, not to mention stupendous sets (and costumes), this film is anchored by a brilliant performance by Ziyi Zhang in one of the most complex female roles to ever make it into a quasi-wuxia offering. Highly recommended.
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