6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The sensitive swordsman Cho Yi-Hang is tired of his life. He is the unwilling successor to the Wu-Tang clan throne and the unsure commander of the clan's forces in a war against foreign tribes and an evil cult. One day, he meets the beautiful Lien, a killer for the evil cult who is equally unsatisfied with her situation, but their love angers both the Wu-Tang clan and the evil cult.
Starring: Brigitte Lin, Leslie Cheung, Francis Ng, Elaine Lui, Yammie Kit-Ying LamForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 20% |
Fantasy | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Cantonese: LPCM 2.0
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: LPCM 2.0
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Ronny Yu's "The Bride with White Hair" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include new interviews with composer Richard Yuen, actor Joe Tay, and screenwriter Jason Lam Kee-To; new audio commentary by critic Frank Djeng; and more. Also included with the release is a limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver. In Cantonese or Mandarin, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Doomed lovers
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 and granted a 1080p transfer, The Bride with White Hair arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
The release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration, which according to the press materials I was sent was exclusively color graded by the folks at Eureka Entertainment with the approval of director Ronny Yu. I don't have older releases of this film in my library and cannot offer any meaningful comments on the grading job, but I was quite impressed by what I saw on my system. The color scheme looks very nicely balanced and the variety of supporting nuances work really well with its period ambience. By the way, this isn't as simple and easy as it may sound because very large portions of the film are quite dark, so to have these types of nuances is actually a rather tricky business. There are a few sequences where particular stylistic choices overemphasize light and/or shadow and can even crate color crushing, but I assume that they are recreated accurately. (You can see an example in screencapture #17). There are no traces of problematic digital adjustments. Some density fluctuations are present so grain could appear over/underexposed, but the visuals have a strong organic appearance. Image stability is excellent. Lastly, there are no distracting age-related imperfections to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There are four standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese: LPCM 2.0, Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: LPCM 2.0
and Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
I wish to quickly address the subtitles that were created for this release. They are outstanding. A lot of boutique labels use different types of subtitles for their releases and I routinely find them disappointing. Not only are they too small, but the saturation levels of the white text is problematic. I used my projector to view this release and the subtitles could not have been any better -- the size and saturation levels were perfect. I hope they will become the standard on all future Eureka Entertainment releases.
I used the Cantonese LPCM 2.0 track and did not test the remaining audio tracks. I did not feel the need to do it because I thought the quality of the audio was simply superb. Clarity, sharpness, depth, and balance were as good as expected them to be, at times even better. Indeed, there is quite a bit of interesting action throughout the film so there isn't a shortage of material where the audio can impress. If you can, plan to see the film when you can turn up the volume of your system quite a bit more than usual. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.
The Bride with White Hair was a big and risky experiment for Ronny Yu because it was his first foray into the world of period action cinema. In an archival audio commentary that is included on this release, the director mentions that at the time he wanted the film to look very different but resemble an opera. I think that this is pretty much what he and his team delivered -- the film does have a very stylish operatic period appearance and overflows with old-fashioned melodramatic overtones. But it also has plenty of very stylish action, and whether the director realizes it or not, in terms of quality it is extremely similar to what Tsui Hark does in his period action extravaganzas. On the other hand, it is the special connection between Brigitte Lin and Leslie Cheung that gives the film its identity, not the action. The two look simply terrific together and ultimately make the film work as intended. Eureka Entertainment's release is sourced from a very beautiful new 4K master. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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