Putting all three of these films together in a Blu-ray box set is a bit of bunk. They have very little to do with one another, aside from sharing some stars, themes and a director, in a couple of cases. Oh yeah, and a country of origin. Aside from the lack of relation, the set is also controversial because it’s packaging a celebrated film, new to Blu-ray and much anticipated on the format with two discs that have been available for quite some time.

Both of Zhang Yimou‘s films, Curse of the Golden Flower and House of Flying Daggers were previously released on Blu-ray disc. In fact, Daggers was one of the earliest Blu-ray discs on the market and it shows. It sports a fairly soft, low bitrate transfer and comes off looking like a mildly souped-up DVD. Too bad, really. I think the cinematography might have sold most people on the film of its own merits. Curse, on the other hand, is simply stunning. Beautiful transfer highlighting gorgeous photography by Daggers‘ DP, Xiaoding Zhao. Wonderful story. Fantastic action sequences. Wonderful performances across the board. Wow. I really can’t say enough about the film. But then, you’re probably not reading this review to check out my opinions on old Blu-ray releases, right?

So, let’s get to the new stuff. The reason that most people will be picking up the box set. Ang Lee‘s brilliant Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. This film was announced for release on Blu-ray ages ago but for some reason kept getting pushed back. And now that we finally have it, it’s only available for purchase in a box set with two other films you might already own. I’m here to tell you that the disc itself is worth every penny you need to spend to get it home. This is as good as this film has ever looked and sounded. Mind you, it was shot quite soft, so Tiger isn’t going to be the Blu-ray you pull out to impress your pals. It’s beautiful, just not a demo disc. The supplements are all pulled over from the previously available DVD. Nothing new there.

The item of concern on the disc is the subtitles. Sony has, for whatever reason, decided to go with an alternate translation for their release of Tiger on home video. Director Lee and writer, James Shamus approved a more poetic translation for the theatrical run of the film and there’s been some concern over its exclusion from the DVD and Blu-ray releases. The subs you find on the Blu-ray won’t ruin the film for you. It’s just unfortunate that Sony couldn’t deliver both versions on the disc.

All in all, I think this set is a worthy purchase (especially at Amazon‘s current price of $39.99 – that’s less than $14.00 a film!). All three films are brilliant and if you don’t already own Yimou’s films picking up the box should be a no-brainer. If you’re at all concerned about re-purchasing discs you already own, but are still desperate to get your hands on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon on Blu-ray you can either wait a few months (believe me, Sony will eventually offer this up on its own) or import it from overseas. Amazon.co.uk currently sells the disc for £12.68, around $20.00. Not bad!

For a full list of special features on all three discs, read our article here: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon finally coming to Blu-ray in “Trilogy” Pack

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DVDActive got themselves a copy of the UK disc and gave it a pretty glowing review:

“I was most impressed by the audio-visual elements (particularly the audio), and while the bonus material doesn’t look good on paper, the commentary track is great and the featurettes are more informative than the usual fluff that accompanies most DVD and Blu-ray releases these days.”

Unfortunately, however, it seems that Sony has used the same old, dumbed down subtitles they used on the previous DVD edition. Chris Gould at DVDActive points out,

“The Blu-ray subs are considerably less elegant than the original subs, which were almost poetic at times. Although none of the subs have ever been completely accurate (Yù Jiāolóng has always been mistranslated as Jen Yu), the BD subs take things too far. Governor Yu becomes Chief Yu and May inexplicably becomes Sue, even though both of their names are correct in the credits.”

Seems like Crouching Tiger may have a case of Let The Right One In shitty-subtitle syndrome…

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• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon finally coming to Blu-ray in "Trilogy" Pack (1)
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DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION: Z EDITION
(July 28, 2009, MSRP $39.99)
Video: 1080p 2.35:1 AVC
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio

Special Features Include:

• Eight deleted scenes
• Goku’s Workout: Stunt Work featurette
• Fox Movie Channel Presents: Making a Scene
• Fox Movie channel Presents Life After Film School with Justin Chatwin
• Dragonball gag reel
• Brian Anthony “Worked Up” music video
• Goku’s Quest scavenger hunt game (BD exclusive)
• Digital copy (BD exclusive)
.

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