The Grandmaster of Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 27, 2023

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu answers the perhaps unnecessary question, "What do you do when you run out of ways to make a movie about Ip Man?" That question in and of itself may provoke a few giggles from folks who have slogged through innumerable films about Ip Man, some of which strayed considerably from the historical record and at least a couple of which were patently ridiculous in that regard (i.e., sticking to what actually happened). There have been so many Ip Man movies that I've actually mentioned the sheer glut of them in several previous reviews, but we have a new if arguably unimproved diversion in this film, which I have a strong feeling will probably be just the first of a once again interminable series. What's kind of comical about this whole situation is that the focal character of this film, a real life martial arts legend named Huo Yuanjia (Du Yuhang AKA Dennis To) has (kind of like Ip Man himself) already been portrayed in countless television and film entries, including perhaps most memorably for Western audience by Jet Li in Fearless. Well Go USA's release calendar has been stuffed to the gills for years with Ip Man properties, and courtesy of their streaming service Hi-Yah!, which evidently has been offering The Grandmaster of Kung Fu, my hunch is the label will be mining a new vein of product, so to speak.

Huo predated Ip Man by about a quarter of a century, birth wise, but he did not live to the venerable age that Ip Man did, a death that may have been due to nefarious activities on the part of enemies (I sense a sequel already). But that time frame issue aside, you could pretty much plop either Huo down into any given Ip Man property, or vice versa, with The Grandmaster of Kung Fu traversing any number of martial arts movies tropes that many audience members will be more than familiar with. Once again the long running dispute between Japan and China enters the fray, as does the "battle" (both figurative and literal) to determine which nation has the best fighting techniques.

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu can't quite escape its "made for TV" (and/or streaming service) feel, but it does feature some nicely staged fight scenes, and there's actually a bit of honest human emotion with regard to Huo and his sweet family. A lot of the rest of the film plays like leftovers from, well, Ip Man movies or any number of other "underdog hero" efforts, without much subtlety in the writing or characterizations. The film also arguably questionably follows the "Ip Man movie tradition" of tweaking facts and time lines. Huo was born in 1868, and this story seems to be taking place when he's in his thirties at the oldest, and yet the production design is full of elements including relatively "modern" automobiles, that might suggest a little time traveling has been going on.

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is one of the very few times in my reviewing career when not only have I not been able to find any technical information on the shoot, there doesn't even appear to be an IMDb listing for the film as of the writing of this review (unless it's been listed under some alternate title, perhaps in Mandarin). One way or the other, this is a nicely sharp and well detailed digital capture that I'm assuming had a 2K DI. A lot of the film has been graded toward buttery yellow tones, which can give a somewhat jaundiced look to the proceedings, but some of the outdoor material in particular pops extremely well and offers secure fine detail levels. There's still a somewhat flat and dimensionless look at times that perhaps unavoidably offers a "DTV" aesthetic, but some of the stylistic directorial flourishes in the fight scenes in particular may help to offset that perception.

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in the original Mandarin. As should probably be expected, the best surround activity occurs in the fight scenes, where a whirlwind of smacks, crunches and other sounds of pummeling regularly dot the side and rear channels. With a subtext of simmering political unrest, several scenes also feature large groups of people, sometimes in protest mode, which also offer good engagement of the surround channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. As with most Well Go USA releases, a Dolby Digital 2.0 track is also offered. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (HD; 1:17)

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.

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's been years since I watched Fearless, and I may have actually done a bit of background research at time on Huo which I admittedly may have forgotten in the interim, but in returning to the actual real life character's story in preparation for writing this review, one of the kind of funny things that struck me is Huo evidently made something of a career out of fighting some unexpected nationalities, like people from Russia and Ireland, which makes this film's emphasis on the "old standby villain" of Japan maybe a little disappointing. That said, this very aspect obviously may provide grist for what I'm assuming is going to be a sequel mill stretching into the foreseeable (and maybe unforeseeable) future. The Grandmaster of Kung Fu has some well staged fight choreography and a nice lead performance from Du Yuhang, but the story here has been told innumerable times before, not necessarily with Huo at the center. Technical merits are generally solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.