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The Ultimate Force of Four Blu-ray Box set (Hero, Iron Monkey, The Legend of Drunken Master, Zatoichi) Review

By brenden ⋅ September 17, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

THE ULTIMATE FORCE OF FOUR (HERO, IRON MONKEY, THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER, THE BLIND SWORDSMAN: ZATOICHI) (2002, 1993, 1994/2000, 2003) Blu-ray Box and individual discs released September 15, 2009 - MSRP Box $109.99, Individual $44.99-$39.99)

When the Ultimate Force of Four Blu-ray set arrived at my door, I was already familiar with two of the films - Zhang Yimou’s gorgeous 2002 opus, Hero and Jackie Chan’s astounding The Legend of Drunken Master, originally released in China as Drunken Master II in 1994, edited and released in North America in 2000. I wasn’t expecting much from Iron Monkey and wasn’t sure what Zatoichi would be like. I can happily say, after spending hours with the set over the last few days, that all four of these films are gems. What an amazing surprise! I just wish I had been half as enamoured with their presentation on Blu-ray disc.

These are four very, very different films in style, tone and origin. Three are from China, two are from the 90s, and only one plays out as a straight drama, with a little bit of action on the side. It seems like a mixed bag but with all four films featuring some of the finest martial arts set pieces and action choreography ever filmed (seriously - check out the last battle scene in Drunken Master. Your mind will be blown!) you’re bound to be dazzled by every disc. This set is anything but boring!

Here’s how the press release describes the four films:

• Hero tells the unforgettable story of a fearless warrior who embarks on a dangerous mission of revenge against the fearsome army that massacred his people. Directed by acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Yimou Zhang (Curse of the Golden Flower, House of Flying Daggers), it features superb performances from Maggie Cheung (Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Inglourious Basterds), Tony Leung Chiu Wai (Lust, Caution) and Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Hailed by critics as a masterpiece of the Kung-Fu genre, Hero was nominated for an Oscar® and Golden Globe® Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
• Rediscover the high-flying Kung-Fu thrills of Iron Monkey, now in glorious Blu-ray! In a desperate and unjust land, where government corruption rules the day, one man had the courage to challenge the system and fight back…his name was Iron Monkey. Presented by Quentin Tarantino, Iron Monkey was directed by famed action choreographer Woo-ping Yuen, who helped create the now legendary action sequences of The Matrix to Kill Bill.
• Action legend Jackie Chan (Shanghai Noon, Rush Hour) soars to new Kung-Fu cinema heights in The Legend of Drunken Master. It’s a thrilling action adventure about a man who uses a uniquely outlandish style of martial arts – Drunken Boxing – to retrieve stolen Chinese artifacts from the British government. It was directed by Chia-Liang Liu, who won the Hong Kong film award for Best Action Choreography for his work on the film, and costars Hong Kong cinema greats Ti Lung (A Better Tomorrow) as Jackie’s father and Anita Mui (Rumble in the Bronx) as his fun-loving mother.
• Directed by Takeshi Kitano (winner of Venice Film Festival’s 2003 Special Director’s Award), Zatoichi is the film the Chicago Tribune called “a masterpiece of wry violence and stylish mayhem.” In an empire ruled by fear, the people’s only hope is the ultimate weapon: Zatoichi a blind, nomadic samurai whose sword has made him a hero and whose courage has made him a legend. Zatoichi was written and directed by Japanese cinema legend Takeshi Kitano (Battle Royale), who also stars as Japanese folk hero Zatoichi. Praised by critics, Zatoichi won the coveted People’s Choice Award at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival and four awards (including the Audience Award) at the 2003 Venice Film Festival.

Awesome. I wish I could tell you which I think is best but seriously, they are all just that good, and for drastically different reasons. Now, if we begin to talk about disc quality, I feel I can be more comparatively critical.

The Ultimate Force of Four boxset is one of the greatest missed opportunities in Blu-ray discs short history (aside from the recent release of Gladiator...sigh…) Fans around the world have been desperate for definitive versions of most of these films for ages. This was a chance to really hit a home run and give the people what they’ve been waiting for - great transfers of original cuts with lossless soundtracks of dialogue in the original language. Miramax (Disney) sadly dropped the ball. Each film is presented solely in the version that was released to North American theatres. In the case of the older films, Iron Monkey and Drunken Master, we get heavily edited and re-imagined cuts of the films. It may be the case that these versions are all Miramax has available to them. The only ones they have the rights to release in North America. While I’m sure that’s not the case, we’re stuck with these truncated edits of those two films. Hero and Zatoichi are both newer films, are presented in their original forms and with the best transfers either film has ever seen! Hero in particular finally receives the video love it’s been craving. Neither film is as sharp and detailed as big budget Hollywood fare but they certainly hold their own in 1080p. The two older films, also looking the best they ever have, are uneven, murky and not much better then an average DVD. Still, almost everything here looks as good as it ever has to this point.

The audio is perhaps the greatest fumble in the set. Every disc features a lossless audio track that ranges from really good to superb. The problem with them is that they’re all English dub tracks! It’s hard to believe that anyone at a studio in this day and age looks at a film and decides that what collectors (and lets face it here, most of the audience for this set is of the rabid collector variety) would appreciate most is a lossless dub track, relegating the original audio to the realm of compressed Dolby Digital 5.1. Massive, massive mistake here, Miramax. Clearly someone in the Blu-ray division over there is a holdout from the old Weinstein-Americanization-of-foreign-films days. If these were bargain priced, fast and cheap releases this would almost be excusable. But when a disc is set at a premium price, we expect more.

The bonus features in the box set are also a mixed bag. They’re all sourced from previously available DVD editions and presented in standard def. Zatoichi and Hero have the most extensive featurettes, both sporting satisfying (if a bit EPK for my tastes) making-of docs and inteviews. Hero goes further with Close-Up of a Fight Scene, Storyboards and a way-too-brief look at Tan Dun’s beautiful soundtrack. Iron Monkey and Drunken Master simply offer some brief vintage interviews.

I wouldn’t recommend picking these films up individually in these Blu-ray editions (Well, if you have to grab one on its own, you won’t go wrong with Hero. Even Zatoichi is pretty nice in this presentation. Ok, I take it back. Just don’t waste your money on the two older films alone!) But if you can find The Ultimate Force of Four boxset at a great price (like Amazon’s current $73.99 - less than $20 a film!) you won’t be disappointed. Every one of these films is a great time. I can’t wait to watch them again. Seriously! I really loved them THAT much!

Tags: China, Disney, Hero, Iron Monkey, Japan, Jet Li, Kung Fu, Martial Arts, Miramax, Takeshi Kitano, The Legend of Drunken Master, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Zatoichi, Zhang Yimou, Zhang Ziyi