Blu-ray Review: TAI CHI ZERO (2012)

MOVIE REVIEW: With TAI CHI HERO getting a limited theatrical release this weekend, I wanted to make sure I saw it's predecessor first. Luckily TAI CHI ZERO is relatively cheap on Blu-ray (around ten to twelve bucks), so I bought myself a copy and sat down to watch myself a good ole fashioned kung-fu flick. What I got instead was a crazy martial arts movie chock full of steampunk technology and video game references. It's like a Chinese Scott Pilgrim vs. the World!

The film centers on Yang Lu Chan, a young man who was born with a strange deformity. He has a small horn growing out of his forehead, and whenever it is struck, he goes into "demon mode" and demolishes anyone that stands in his way. Unfortunately for Yang, every time this is done, it gives him a brain aneurism and his little "horn" changes color. If it is struck enough times, his "forehead-pinky" will turn black and he will die.

To cure himself, Yang is told that Chen-style kung-fu will do the trick, so he heads out to the distant and isolated Chen Village to find a teacher. However, Chen-style is not taught to outsiders (for reasons discovered in the next film), but Yang remains determined to learn the forbidden fighting style. Though no one directly teaches him, Yang has the ability to memorize and mimic the movements made by each person he fights. (Kind of like Marvel's "Taskmaster," or the autistic girl from "Chocolate.") With every loss to the common villagers (including women and children), Yang is inadvertently gaining the knowledge he has come for.

Yang's martial arts "training" is soon interrupted when a former resident of Chen village named Fang Zi Jing, arrives to clear a path for an oncoming railroad. Fang attempts to do so peacefully at first, but when he fails, he returns to the gates of Chen Village in a giant steam-powered death machine! Will Fang destroy the village before Yang Lu Chan fully learns the secrets of Chen-style kung-fu? Will someone rise to the occasion and fight off the steampunk invaders? Looks like you'll have to rent or buy it to find out!

TAI CHI ZERO is a surprisingly fun action film that has interesting characters, cool kung-fu battles, full-size steampunk-inspired machines (they actually built "TROY NO. 1" to scale!), romance (got to have something for the ladies), and a great (and rather eclectic) soundtrack. It's a movie that tries to put a fresh spin on all the classic tai chi films that have come before it, and it totally succeeds. It's also funny as hell at times (I particularly like the sequence where Yang tries to repeatedly sneak back into Chen Village after getting booted out) because our hero isn't all that bright, plus his frequent "what the hell?" reactions to the implausible events he witnesses totally mirrors the audience's.

And Yang is a great character because he's one you can root for. He's an idiot to be sure, but he's tenacious and has an unbreakable spirit. He can die at any moment because of his "horn" (referred to as "Three Blossoms on the Crown"), and his mother's dying wish was that he become the best at martial arts, therefore failure is not an option for this guy. And when he finally manages to best one of the villagers using the skills he learned from getting trounced time after time, you feel as vindicated as he does.

Conversely there's Fang, who is only slightly less of a black sheep in the villagers' eyes than Yang is. He grew up in the village, but he never learned Chen-style and has a love for technology and Western culture (and women). Fang's considered a wimp and gets no respect from his peers, which is why he resorts to threats of violence and destruction. But he doesn't truly become a bad guy until his machinations get someone he loves killed. That event flips a switch and makes him the tragic villain of this tale.

I could go on and on about TAI CHI ZERO, but I'll cut myself off here and assure you once again that it's a great movie! I had a blast watching it, and highly recommend it to all you action/kung-fu movie fans out there. TAI CHI ZERO hit all the right notes with me, and though I've already seen it twice, I'm ready and willing to give it another viewing already. I really enjoyed this movie and I'm more than happy to give it:

FOUR 'RADS'

BLU-RAY REVIEW

The Packaging: TAI CHI ZERO comes in a standard Blu-ray case with cardboard slipcover. The cover art (seen above) is OK; definitely more exciting that the majority of the Chinese and international posters that were released for the film.

Audio & Video: TAI CHI ZERO is featured in 1080p HD in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and the movie looks fantastic, which is not a total surprise since it was released last year. The disc offers up Mandarin Chinese and English dubbed audio tracks both available in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio or Dolby Digital 2.0. I watched the film in its original language with English subs, and I have no complaints. I have yet to try out the English dubbed version, which I avoided since I despise most dubbed foreign films. All in all though, the audio and video presentation here is damned near perfect.

The Extras: There's not much to get excited about here. The disc has a handful of cool trailers for the film (rather effective ones too if I may say so; they make me want to watch TAI CHI ZERO again), a music video for a Chinese rap/rock song called "The Stand" (watch it HERE), and a short six-minute behind the scenes featurette.

Final Ruling:  The audio and video presentation of the film is pristine, but the disc is lacking in the extras department. Maybe I'm just super spoiled by companies like Shout!/Scream Factory, but I expected a bit more effort from Well Go USA. A few more in-depth cast & crew interviews, or a few featurettes about the making of the film and the fight choreography would have been very much appreciated. Still, this is a rather inexpensive Blu-ray, and the movie is certainly worth a look, so I suppose I shouldn't judge this disc too harshly, especially since the movie looks and sounds so good. You're getting off easy this time Well Go USA, because I'm giving your TAI CHI HERO Blu-ray:

THREE 'RADS'

TAI CHI ZERO is available on DVD & Blu-ray wherever discs are sold. It's sequel, TAI CHI HERO will be available on DVD & Blu-ray on July 23rd, and is currently playing in select theaters across the country!

ORDER TAI CHI ZERO ON DVD FROM AMAZON.COM!
ORDER TAI CHI ZERO ON BLU-RAY FROM AMAZON.COM!

Blu-ray Review: WOOCHI - THE DEMON SLAYER (2009)

Note: This review is for a screener sent to me by Shout! Factory. "Woochi: The Demon Slayer" hits DVD & Blu-ray on Tuesday, April 9th wherever discs are sold!

MOVIE REVIEW: I am a sucker for Asian cinema, so I was super excited to check out WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER when it arrived in my mailbox a few weeks back! The film is based upon the Korean folktale of Jeon Woochi, a Taoist wizard that is crazy about the ladies and likes to pull tricks on the aristocracy. (He's kind of like Korea's version of Wong Fei-hung.)

After coming across a magical flute that holds the key to defeating a race of goblins, Woochi is framed for the murder of his master and imprisoned within a scroll for 500 years. Eventually Woochi and his human/hound sidekick Chorangyi, are released from their parchment prisons when a "rat goblin" and a "bunny goblin" appear in modern Korea. (Though they sound kind of ridiculous, both CGI monsters actually look pretty cool!)

Though he's freed in order to help capture the monsters, Woochi is more interested in wooing the possible reincarnation of an old flame from centuries ago, and is also enjoying the finer things in modern society. Will he pull himself together and become the hero he needs to be in order to defeat the goblin menace and an old enemy from his past? Well, I suppose it'd be a much shorter movie if he didn't...

WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER is one of South Korea's biggest blockbusters, and offers up some impressive CGI, especially considering that budget for the film was only twelve million dollars or so. The story is interesting, and there are some really fun moments in this movie. (e.g.Woochi "cloning" himself with the aid of his Taoist "amulets," in order to fight two goblins, is probably my favorite sequence in the movie.) However, this film is just way too long and has a really uneven pace.

Every time you think that it's building towards a big battle between Woochi and his foes, the movie kind of fizzles out; it really takes it sweet time in moving things along and lacks any real tension. There's no moment in the film that warrants an "Oh no, he won't succeed and he is sure to die! C'mon Woochi, you can do it!" reaction. It's like the heroes and villains were in no rush to see things through, even during the end when Woochi has his climactic wizard battle against the man who framed him 500 years ago.

And that's my main gripe with WOOCHI because everything else in the film works fairly well. It's an action/fantasy/comedy that contains all of the necessary ingredients of each genre (there are some great stunts and the comedic moments typically hit their mark), but what it really lacks is a "race against time" element to move things along at a brisk pace. Despite that, the film is pretty decent, though there were times I was left scratching my head because I'm not too familiar with the legend of Jeon Woochi. Maybe if I had read the Woochi folktale prior to watching this, or was at least a bit familiar with Taoism (guess it's time to hit Wikipedia), I'd probably have a better comprehension of some of the film's stranger moments. (WHY DO THE WOOCHI CLONES TURN INTO BROOMS WHEN DEFEATED?!)

I wasn't totally impressed with WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER (which is a misleading title because he doesn't slay a single demon over the course of the film), but I had fun watching the special effects and Woochi's interactions with his goofy sidekick. Along with a great soundtrack, and inventive wire-stunts, I enjoyed WOOCHI enough to grant it:

THREE 'RADS'

BLU-RAY REVIEW

The Packaging: The Blu-ray cover (seen above) is generic and a bit misleading (due in part to the flying ninjas in the background) and comes in a standard Blu-ray case with a cardboard slipcover. Actually.. after looking at the original movie posters for the film, the Blu-ray cover is a definite improvement.

Audio & Video: WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER looks great in its 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen HD transfer, particularly since its a recent movie. The disc comes with four audio choices: Korean DTS-HD 5.1, English Dubbed DTS-HD 5.1, Korean Dolby Digital 5.1, an English Dubbed Dolby Digital 5.1. I switched back and forth between the Korean and English DTS-HD audio options, and the dialogue, sound effects, and music all sound great!

My only complaints are minor ones really: While watching the film in its native language, there were a few moments where the subtitles moved a bit too fast. Also, the English dubbed version is atrocious; but then again, I've never been a big fan of dubbed foreign films. (With the exception of Toho's kaiju flicks.)

The Extras: Holy cow! This disc is packed with special features which include: The original theatrical trailer, thirteen minutes of deleted scenes, a "making-of" featurette, the "Newest Korean Style Hero Movie" featurette, cast and director interviews, six production featurettes that cover everything from the training of the film's stars to the lighting and shooting of key scenes, "The Magic of CGI" featurette, and four more featurettes focusing on the CGI effects in the film! The huge amount of behind the scenes material gives you a really comprehensive look at the making of WOOCHI and I'm pretty surprised this much love was given to this movie. The only downside is that all the extras are in standard definition.


Final Ruling: WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER is an OK movie with an above average Blu-ray release. The audio and video presentation is top notch, and the disc is packed to the gills with extras covering every aspect of the film's creation. If you're a fan of Asian cinema, and/or like to get an in-depth look at how films are made, then this Blu-ray disc is worth picking up. I hereby give Shout! Factory's WOOCHI Blu-ray:

FOUR 'RADS'

WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER comes to DVD & Blu-ray on Tuesday, April 9th! If it sounds like something that's up your alley, pre-order it now from Amazon.com:

PRE-ORDER THE BLU-RAY FOR $26.83!
PRE-ORDER THE DVD FOR $17.97!

Blu-ray Review: FUTUREWORLD (1976)

Note: This review is for a screener obtained from Shout! Factory. FUTUREWORLD has been officially released onto Blu-ray as of March 26th. Order your copy from Amazon.com today!

MOVIE REVIEW:
Until just yesterday, I had never seen FUTUREWORLD before, but I have seen its predecessor, WESTWORLD, numerous times. When a copy arrived in the mail from Shout! Factory, I was extremely excited! Finally I could see what happened after the events of the first film. Would the park be opened again, and if so, would everything work correctly this time with no loss of human life?!

Beginning several years after the rampage of a murderous Yul Brenner-bot, FUTUREWORLD follows two reporters, Chuck Browning (Peter Fonda) and Tracy Ballard (Blythe Danner), who are invited to Delos' reopened adult theme park in hopes that they give it the OK and provide a some positive media coverage. Tracy thinks it's all grand, but Chuck, ever the suspicious reporter, believes that there is more going on than meets the eye.

After spending a bit of time in Futureworld (an outer space-themed addition to Delos' park) the two reporters begin to poke around and discover that something diabolical is going on behind the scenes, involving murder, villainous doppelgangers, and one of the most insane attempts at controlling the press I have ever seen!

FUTUREWORLD is a rather dull followup to the totally awesome WESTWORLD but still does enough right to be a worthy sequel. Instead of being a retread of the previous film's events, this movie smartly goes in another direction while staying firmly rooted in the world the first film created. Instead of having robots going insane and murdering Delos' clientele, there's a mystery afoot involving the giant tech company, and a secret that is worth killing over. While this is an interesting spin, the movie waits too long to deliver the big twist, which you'll easily figure out way before it happens.

Though it plods along at a lethargic pace, the film has some really cool moments: Yul Brenner makes a cameo as "The Gunslinger" within Tracy Ballard's really weird and none-too-erotic dream sequence. Though it's cool to see him reprise his role, I was really hoping he'd pop up in the abandoned ruins of Westworld to give our characters a fright! Instead, the only robotic character we get is Clark, a rebuilt automaton without a that emotes better than the majority of the cast. Oddly enough, this background character, who has no lines and only a few brief scenes, proves to be a captivating, and sadly tragic figure. Clark's reaction to the departure of his repairer/friend Harry (a rebellious maintenance worker at the resort) is heartbreaking.

Then there's the final act of the movie, where it becomes a race against time for Chuck and Tracy to escape with their lives! It's like someone shot a huge dose of caffeine into the seemingly sedated film, and we get nothing less than an old-fashioned wild west showdown, and an acrobatic battle around the outside of a space shuttle launch platform! And after all is said and done, after the bad guys think they've pulled off a big win for their (not clearly defined) evil machinations, this happens:

YOU DON'T MESS WITH THE FONDA B*TCHES!

While a far cry from the fantastic WESTWORLD, FUTUREWORLD boasts a great cast, an awesome soundtrack by Fred Karlin (listen to some of it here), and does something different while continuing to build upon the storyline and mythology created by the previous entry. It's slow paced, but hang in there if you watch it because it all builds up to a worthwhile ending!

FUTUREWORLD may be a bit on the dull side, but its definitely worth checking out. I am more than happy to give this WESTWORLD sequel:

THREE 'RADS'

BLU-RAY REVIEW

The Packaging: Nothing special here folks. Typical Blu-ray case with a yellow-tinted version of the original theatrical poster art. (Blu-ray cover art located at top right of this post.)

Audio & Video: FUTUREWORLD is showcased in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio in 1080p HD! Though I haven't seen it prior to its Blu-ray release, I'm sure it is safe to say that this is the best the movie has looked in a long time. The film comes with only one audio option: DTS HD Master Audio 2.0. Fred Karlin's score, the dialogue, and sound effects all come through nice and clearly. There's really nothing to complain about here!

The Extras: This is where the disc totally strikes out. We get a theatrical trailer (featured in 1080i), two short radio spots (together they make up approx. one minute of audio), and a minute-long Still Gallery that features concept art from the film as well as domestic and foreign poster designs. (No behind the scenes photos from the set, or lobby cards, or screenshots from the movie? Tsk tsk, Shout! Factory.)

Final Ruling: Though I was hoping for more special features, overall I can't really complain about this Blu-ray release. The disc is going for under fifteen dollars at most retailers, and the movie looks and sounds great! Plus the cover art actually complements that of the Warner Bros. WESTWORLD Blu-ray that came out on March 5th. It's a serviceable Blu-ray disc for an oft-overlooked sci-fi classic that isn't overpriced, therefore I'm content to let it slide and give it:

THREE 'RADS'

As stated earlier, Shout! Factory's FUTUREWORLD Blu-ray is now available wherever DVDs and Blu-rays are sold. Currently it is going for just under fourteen dollars on Amazon.com, as is Warner Home Video's WESTWORLD release. You can order one or both of them from the following links.

ORDER FUTUREWORLD ON BLU-RAY FOR $13.86!
ORDER WESTWORLD ON BLU-RAY FOR $13.86!

On the fence about buying it? Then give the trailer a quick look:

Blu-ray Review: Police Story / Police Story 2 Double Feature

Note: This is a pre-release review for a screener obtained from Shout! Factory. This double feature Blu-ray will not be available until April 16th, 2013!

MOVIE REVIEW(S):
Though retired from doing his own stunts in recent years, Jackie Chan's past efforts are still spectacular and unmatched to this day. (Though admittedly, many of the young new action stars coming out of Thailand in the past decade could have given Jackie a run for his money in his prime.) Case in point, Jackie Chan's POLICE STORY features the martial artist's amazing physical prowess while providing an engaging storyline and some kick-ass action sequences.

In this film, Chan plays officer Chan Ka Kui, a young detective that makes a name for himself after single-handedly nabbing a drug baron named Mr. Chu Tao, during a botched police raid that reduces an entire shantytown to rubble! (This scene was later cribbed by Michael Bay for Bad Boys 2.) Chan becomes the poster boy (literally) for the police department and is given the cushy job of protecting a witness named Selina Fong (Brigitte Lin), but things go awry and a vengeful Mr. Chu is soon back out on the streets.

Eventually Selina comes to her senses (after Chu's thugs attempt to frame Jackie and kill her), so she hacks in to Chu's computer and gets proof of his dirty dealings. She is quickly accosted by Chu's kung-fu henchmen, but is luckily rescued when an insanely angry Chan Ka Kui arrives on the scene, and starts pummeling Chu's men in a series of awesomely choreographed fights! The climactic battle between Jackie and the baddies is fantastic, with tons of glass displays, windows, lighting fixtures, and bodies being broken throughout a mall. It's probably one of my all-time favorite Jackie Chan battles; give it a look below. The action starts at the 9:05 mark!


POLICE STORY 2 takes place right after the events of the first movie. Chan Ka Kui is getting rebuked by his superiors for all the damage he caused in the first film, but dammit.... HE GETS RESULTS! After being demoted to a traffic cop and sort of out of the limelight, Chan and his girlfriend May (Maggie Cheung, with a much larger role) try to relax. But between Chu's men making constant idle threats, and the cops needing Jackie's assistance all the time, it seems like things just won't work out for the two lovebirds.

Then disaster strikes as a group of terrorists begin a campaign of terror in order to extort money from a wealthy businessman. Chan and a group of young detectives are on the case, but just can't seem to capture the criminals. That is until May is kidnapped. With his woman in the hands of dangerous crooks, Chan Ka Kui springs into action and battles the quartet of bombermen (in a fireworks factory no less), which leads up to a tremendously explosive ending. (Pun intended.)

POLICE STORY is an awesome Jackie Chan flick with some highly memorable action scenes (e.g. the police raid in the opening; Jackie rescuing Serina; the throwdown in the mall during the big climax), several silly (but funny) slapstick moments, and a serious dramatic turn in the final act. It all culminates into one of the best Hong Kong action flicks you'll ever lay eyes on, and is rightfully considered a classic! For making me laugh, cheer, and wince (man, some of these stunts must have hurt) I award this film:

FOUR 'RADS'

POLICE STORY 2 is fun, but a far cry from it's predecessor. The story gets a bit convoluted, with Jackie's exploits focusing far too long on his rivalry with Chu. (Who is on his deathbed at this point.) Most of the fight scenes involve Chan beating up on Chu's annoying henchmen, leaving the final act to Jackie's big showdown with the film's real villains. Speaking of which, the bombers are sort of boring bad guys, with only one of them turning out to be awesome. The "weakest link" of their group is a scrawny little dude that's a deaf-mute, but he's agile, feisty, and throws a variety of incendiaries at Jackie during their brawl.

In the end, the movie runs a bit too long and doesn't have enough action to fill up the running time in my opinion. (Though the fight scene in the playground is pretty awesome!) And the bad guys just didn't rock my world aside from the weird little mute guy. Still, there's a lot of great stunts by the Chan-man here, and I love his interactions with his superiors this time around as they are mainly played for laughs.

Though it's a half hour too long, and one fight scene short, I still enjoyed POLICE STORY 2 and gladly give it:

THREE 'RADS'

BLU-RAY REVIEW

The Packaging: Both films come on one Blu-ray disc in a standard Blu-ray case. The over art, which you can check out at the top of the post, isn't anything fancy.

Audio & Video: Each film has four audio choices: ENGLISH DUBBED 5.1 DTS-MASTER HD, ENGLISH DUBBED 2.0 DTS-MASTER HD, CANTONESE 5.1 DTS-MASTER HD, and CANTONESE 2.0 DTS-MASTER HD. I watched both films with 5.1 English dubbing and was more than happy with it, though sometimes it seemed that the dialogue was a bit too low at times in POLICE STORY 2. Naturally I cranked up the surround sound to hear better, which resulted in some much louder-than-anticipated explosions and gunshots at times.

The video quality of both films is good, though POLICE STORY 2 proves to be the better-looking of the two. It has a much cleaner video presentation with far less grain than POLICE STORY. I'm guessing that this is the best Shout! Factory could do with the film elements that were provided for their use? Come to think of it... I actually own POLICE STORY on DVD (the Dragon Dynasty Special Edition) and may pop it in at some point to compare the picture quality. Even if it's not as good or at least on par, I may keep it because it has more extra features.

The Extras: On the back of the Blu-ray cover, it states that the only extras are "Outtakes" and "Theatrical Trailers." This is mostly true as there are a few other goodies hiding on the disc. POLICE STORY has the original Hong Kong trailer, the U.S. trailer, Outtakes, Deleted Scenes (most of which run only a few seconds), an extended opening sequence, and an "alternate ending." The video quality of most of these extras is not very good (the gents at Bluray.com seem to believe that it was sourced from a video transfer) and are oddly shown in a "windowbox" format.

POLICE STORY 2 fares a bit better (some of the extras are actually in HD!) and boasts outtakes, the international trailer, the original Hong Kong trailer, and alternate outtakes.

Final Ruling: For fifteen bucks, you really can't complain about this double feature Blu-ray. You get two cool Jackie Chan flicks with a better than average video presentation and good audio. On top of that, you get a handful of extras and cool menus that blare the franchise's theme song, HERO STORY, as sung by Jackie Chan himself. Speaking of which......


It's not a perfect release, but it's probably the best we can expect for these two Jackie Chan classics. I'm more than content with the presentation of the films, and though I'm not a fan of the windowboxing on the bulk of the extra features, I think this double feature release is worth picking up and worthy of:

THREE 'RADS'

Shout! Factory's POLICE STORY/POLICE STORY 2 DOUBLE FEATURE comes out on DVD & Blu-ray on April 16th and can be pre-ordered relatively cheaply on Amazon.com:

PRE-ORDER THE DVD FOR $9.99!
PRE-ORDER THE BLU-RAY FOR $14.99!