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

By brenden ⋅ September 17, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

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. …Continued…

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon / Curse of the Golden Flower / House of Flying Daggers ‘Trilogy’ Blu-ray Disc Review

By brenden ⋅ July 26, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

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. …Continued…