The Prodigal Son Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Prodigal Son Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 12, 2023

Arrow Video released Warriors Two some months ago, and is now following the somewhat comical theatrical release history of that film and this film by offering The Prodigal Son as the perceived follow up effort, even if fans will know that The Prodigal Son is a more or less, kinda sorta, prequel to Warriors Two. My Warriors Two Blu-ray review gives a bit of context for both wing chun, the martial art at the center of this story, as well as practitioner Leung Tsan (Yuen Biao). As much as co-writer and director Sammo Hung provided a lot of the on screen comic relief in Warriors Two, the entire ambience of The Prodigal Son is arguably even more suffused with humor, and that perhaps unexpectedly makes this the rare effort in a perceived franchise to escape the dreaded curse of the so-called sophomore slump.

I've joked for years that there have been so many Ip Man movies, many of which have offered absolutely preposterous versions of his history and early life, that we're soon going to be getting something like Ip Man: In Utero, and in a way, if not quite that extreme, The Prodigal Son wants to provide an "origin story" of sorts for Leung Tsan. Whereas Warriors Two offered the hero as a veritable fait accompli, at least in terms of his martial arts skills, this film provides some (probably highly questionable) "history", with the character finding out early in this story that his "winning ways" in fights have been bought and paid for by his wealthy parents. That sets him out on a hero's quest to actually master wing chun.

The film provides a showcase of sorts from Lam Ching-Ying as a character named Leung Yee-Tai, an itinerant member of a traveling opera group who ends up teaching Leung Tsan the ropes (and/or weapons of choice). Nefarious forces are at work, of course, but there's never really any question as to whom will end up prevailing. The film offers some spectacularly staged fight sequences and it in fact won the Best Action Choreography Award at the inaugural Hong Kong Film Awards held in 1982.

The Prodigal Son Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Prodigal Son is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

The Prodigal Son is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio [sic] with its original Cantonese, Mandarin and English monoaural soundtracks. It was restored in 2K resolution from original film elements by Fortune Star, who supplied this master to Arrow Video for this Blu-ray release. Further materials were kindly supplied for this release by Eureka Entertainment, originally produced for their UK edition.

The film is presented in two versions: the original Hong Kong Theatrical Release Presentation, in which each actor is given their own personal credit throughout he film along with one stylized "word bubble" moment, and the Home Release Presentation that foregoes the aforementioned on screen texts to represent how the film was typically been presented on past home release versions of the film (VHS, laserdisc, DVD, etc).

As I mentioned in the assessment of the video on Warriors Two Blu-ray review, I often wonder what "original film elements" means, and that's once again the case here, specifically with regard to the use of a plural elements, since this is a pretty highly variable looking presentation. At its best, which is quite a bit if not all of the time, it pops really beautifully, with a nicely suffused palette, crisp detail levels and a tightly resolved grain field. There are passing moments, however, where for some immediately discernable reason grain can spike and clarity can falter, and even on a couple of occasions densities can waver slightly.

The Prodigal Son Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Prodigal Son offers Cantonese, Mandarin and English options all presented via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. While "toggling" per se isn't permitted due to how the disc was authored, I kept my Pop Up Menu active at several times during my viewing experience, and switched between the tracks that way, and really can't point to any huge differences between the three other than the languages being spoken. If pressed, I'd probably argue that the Mandarin is just a bit brighter, which is both a benefit in terms of clarity but also perhaps a deficit in terms of things like hiss, while the English has a better overall midrange. Dialogue, effects and music are all rendered without any major issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Prodigal Son Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Theatrical Release and Home Video Version are accessible under the Choose Version option on the Main Menu.


• Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert "Bobby" Samuels


• Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema


• Wing Chun 101 (HD; 30:01) is a fun interview of Wing Chun sifu Alex Richter, conducted By Frank Djeng in 2021.


• The Heroic Trio (HD*; 26:54) is an archival featurette from 2002 with Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao and Frankie Chan. In English.


• Life Imitating Art (HD*; 27:14) is another archival featurette from 2002 with Wing Chun instructor and producer Guy Lai, with demonstrations by Sifu Austin Goh and Jude Poyer.


• Alternate English Credits (HD; 1:46)


• Trailer Gallery

  Theatrical Trailer (Cantonese) (HD*; 4:38)

  
  

  Theatrical Trailer (English) (HD*; 2:15)

  
  

  US Home Video Trailer (HD; 1:48)

• Image Gallery (HD)

*720

Additionally, this Limited Edition features a reversible sleeve and a double sided fold out poster. Arrow's traditionally well appointed insert booklet is also included, and packaging features a slipcover.

The Prodigal Son Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Prodigal Son is the rare sophomore outing that may in fact top its progenitor. Arrow provides a release with generally solid technical merits and some very enjoyable supplements. Recommended.