Mulan: Legendary Warrior Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Mulan: Legendary Warrior Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 15, 2010

Jingle Ma's "Hua Mulan" a.k.a "Mulan" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Showbox Media. The supplemental features on the disc include making of; cast and crew interviews; behind the scenes featurette; and the film's original theatrical trailer. In Mandarin, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Brothers in Arms

Jingle Ma’s Mulan rehashes most everything that we know about the legendary Chinese girl (Vicky Zhao, Red Cliff) who became a powerful general after she enlisted in the army in order to protect her sick father - she was brave, intelligent and incredibly loyal. Her soldiers respected her. Her enemies feared her. She apparently lived around 450AD.

Ma’s film also insists that Mulan was an excellent tactician. When the Rouran tribes united and then attacked the Wei nation, she drew a plan that allowed her soldiers to defeat the enemy despite being outnumbered in weapons and men. That is how the legend of Mulan was born.

The rest of Ma’s Mulan is made of protracted subplots that have been added mostly for flavor. One is about a brave warrior, Wentai (Chen Kun, Painted Skin), who steals Mulan’s heart and then fakes his death so that she could grow stronger and become the leader he senses she is destined to be. Another involves Modu (Hu Jun, Everlasting Regret), also a brave warrior, who discovers that Mulan is a girl, and after she nearly loses her mind when she is told that Wentai is killed, helps her get back on her feet; and another that involves the aging leader of the Rouran tribes and his son, who decides to confront his father after he advises his men to give up on Mulan and go back to their homes.

If all of the above creates the impressions that Ma’s Mulan is something of a mixed bag…well, it is because it is something of a mixed bag. There are parts of it that work quite well; the film never evolves into a soapy melodrama, and for the most part the large battle scenes are actually very well done. Then, there are parts of Mulan that are incredibly difficult to swallow. And they all involve Vicky Zhao, who simply does not look like someone you would mistake for a man. She is beautiful, elegant and charming. With other words, she simply looks like a woman.

Some viewers may find Zhao’s presence in Mulan unproblematic, but for me it was a major distraction. Her angry outbursts, passionate speeches and words of wisdom are terribly unconvincing. Just listen to her voice when she addresses her soldiers before the final battle with the Rouran tribes and tell me she does not sound like a woman. Then there are all those close-ups of her beautiful hands. I don’t know, I could immediately tell that they belonged to a sophisticated woman, not a soldier.

On the other hand, I really liked the fact that the creators of Mulan did not infuse it with that tasteless humor other recent Asian period films have been plagued with (Teddy Chan’s Bodyguards and Assassins quickly comes to mind). As a result, Mulan mostly looks and feels like a respectable period film, not a big budget parody.

Tony Cheung’s (Eye in the Sky) lensing is convincing. Kwon Chi-Leung’s (A Battle of Wits) editing, however, isn’t. The pacing is very uneven, especially during the second half of the film.

The special effects, however, are top-notch. Many of the massive battle scenes look very strong; some are as good as those seen in John Woo’s Red Cliff. Though lasting only a couple of seconds, the giant sandstorm that hits Mulan’s army also looks terrific.

Earlier this year, Mulan was nominated for Best Actress (Vicky Zhao) and Best Original Song (Song Li Si/Sun Yanzi) at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Mulan: Legendary Warrior Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jingle Ma's Mulan arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Showbox Media.

This is a strong high-definition transfer. As far as I can tell, its basics are identical to those of the HK high-definition transfer Panorama used for their Blu-ray release of Mulan. Interestingly enough, some of the mild background flicker that I noticed on the HK high-definition transfer is missing here. The color-schemes of the two high-definition transfers, however, look identical.

The mild edge-enhancement and minor noise corrections I noticed on the HK high-definition transfer are present on the UK high-definition transfer. Macrobloking, however, is not an issue of concern. There are no stability issues to report in this review either. Finally, I did not detect any big marks, stains, dirt, or debris. All in all, I like this Blu-ray release of Mulan slightly better than Panorama's. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Mulan: Legendary Warrior Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Mandarin Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Showbox Media have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is very good. The bass is potent and punchy, the rear channels effectively used throughout the entire film, and the high-frequencies not overdone. Many of the numerous battle scenes will likely test the muscles of your audio system. Furthermore, the dialog is crisp, clean, stable and easy to follow. There are no balance issues with the epic score either. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hissings to report in this review.

I tested only a couple of scenes with the Mandarin Dolby Digital 2.0 track. There are no specific technical issues with it, but, as expected, it is fairly flat and ineffective.

Mulan: Legendary Warrior Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Some of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC, or a TV set capable of receiving native PAL data, in order to view them.

Interview gallery - two episodes with cast and crew interviews during which Vicky Zhao, Jingle Ma, Chen Kun, Hu Jun and Jaycee Chan discuss their characters, the message of the film, the legend that inspired it, etc. There is also a bonus interview with the young Jiao Xu, who plays the young Hua Mulan. In Mandarin, with optional English subtitles. (approximately 85 min, PAL).

Making of - a standard featurette containing raw footage from the shooting of the film and comments from various cast and crew members. In Mandarin, with optional English subtitles. (15 min, PAL).

Behind the Scenes - additional footage from the shooting of the film broken into five episodes. In Mandarin, with optional English subtitles. (29 min, PAL).

Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for the film. In Mandarin, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).

Trailers - a gallery of trailers for other Showbox Media releases.

Mulan: Legendary Warrior Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My opinion of Jingle Ma's Mulan remains unchanged - it should appeal primarily to those of you who like lavish period Asian productions. This being said, I actually like this Blu-ray release, courtesy of British distributors Showbox Media, slightly better than the HK Blu-ray release by Panorama. RECOMMENDED.