Polar Rescue Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		2.5

Polar Rescue Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 26, 2024

It may be salient to note that Polar Rescue was evidently originally released overseas as Please Come Home, but perhaps to emphasize Donnie Yen's action film bona fides, or alternatively maybe to make the film's basic plot more instantly accessible to us bone headed Westerners, it was rebranded for this Blu-ray release. Yen is on hand as De, who along with his wife Xuan (Cecilia Han) and two children forge into the wintry countryside for a vacation. When young son Lele (Yuan Jinhui) misbehaves, martinet dad De decides to teach the kid a lesson by taking off in the family SUV, abandoning the boy in a snowy mountain pass. Great fathering, eh? When De returns a few minutes later, expecting Lele to have learned his lesson, De of course finds out Lele has disappeared, setting the film into the rest of its frankly patently ridiculous plot machinations, where De and a team of search and rescue personnel try to find the little boy.

Suffice it to say that unlike another father desperately in search of a missing child, De does not have a "particular set of skills", though that doesn't keep him from darting off every few minutes to try to find Lele, resulting in any number of calamities. And in fact this screenplay is literally chock full of bizarre decisions by any number of characters (including Xuan), with the story repeatedly wandering off (kind of like Lele, in fact) for an ultimately really frustrating series of detours, including some "kitchen sink" flashbacks documenting the sometimes fractious relationships in De's family. It's all completely predictable, down to and including the bittersweet finale, which may suggest that there's a certain karmic comeuppance for Dads who discipline their kids by leaving them abandoned in snowy environments.

Polar Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Polar Rescue is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. I haven't been able to track down any authoritative technical information on the shoot, and as of the writing of this review the IMDb has virtually nothing, but this is a nicely detailed digital capture that tends to falter mostly only in some momentary CGI deficits, as in a climactic avalanche that is just one of several obstacles keeping De and the search and rescue team from finding Lele. Otherwise, though, all of the practical sets and costumes, as well as the vast majority of location shots, look really beautifully detailed and commendably tend not to be graded to within an inch of their lives. The result is, yes, glossy and kind of flat looking at times, but still rather impressive in terms of the consistent levels of fine detail.

Polar Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Polar Rescue features a nicely immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Mandarin. Probably unsurprisingly, the surround channels are most noticeably engaged in the many outdoor scenes, where a variety of whistling winds, babbling (?) brooks and, yes, thunderous avalanches regularly fill the side and rear channels with believable effects. Nicolas Errèra's score is also well presented and offers good immersive moments. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Polar Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:50)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Polar Rescue Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Polar Rescue and/or Come Back Home evidently did not set the Chinese box office on fire, which may suggest that audiences might have preferred it if just one of several ridiculous conceits in this film, namely kidnappers marauding through wintry mountains, had offered ninjas instead so that Donnie Yen might have exercised some of his undeniable "particular set of skills". Instead, De comes off as a kind of unrepentant bully, both in terms of how he initially treats Lele and then later with any number of officials trying to help him. Flashbacks tend to support the feeling that De has had some serious comeuppance due for quite some time. Even diehard Yen fans may find this a bit of a slog, but technical merits are solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.