Dragon Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
It is 1917 Yunnan and Liu Jinxi lives a quiet life with his wife Yu and their two young sons Xiaotian and Fangzheng. Liu runs a paper mill and the village prospers. One day, two fugitives arrive demanding money and after a long fight with Liu, end up dead. The bigger one is identified as an especially powerful fighter. Liu becomes a local hero but detective Xu Baijiu, an expert in physiology and pressure points, is puzzled how a seemingly ordinary man like Liu was able to defeat two hardened fugitives...
Dragon makes one heck of a good movie out of some old plot standbys, chiefly the "bad-guy-turned-family-man-cannot-escape-from-his-past"
element that's handled remarkably well in what is a beautifully mesmerizing, highly stylish, and fairly violent film about a small Chinese village rocked
by the doings of one of its newest residents and the realities that follow him when a zealous detective pieces together the truth about who he is, where
he comes from, and what he's done in a rather dark past that he'd prefer to leave behind. Writer Oi Wah Lam
(The Warlords) and Director Peter Chan (Perhaps Love) craft a movie that's equal parts smart, stylishly alluring,
emotionally troubling, and mentally challenging. It's a rare picture that manages to blend conventional plot elements with fairly novel pieces that
accentuate the best things about the old style stories while covering up the fact that, at the core, there's simply not much new going on.
Dragon finds that balance in every frame, yielding an oftentimes breathless edge-of-seat picture that brings together intense character drama
and plenty of action as told through a very well developed character roster that shapes one of the best films to come out of China in recent years.
Come no further.
The year is 1917. Liu Jinxi (Donnie Yen) lives a quiet, unassuming life in a small Southwestern Chinese paper making village with his wife and
children. Their idyllic harmony is one day turned upside down when two thugs enter town and demand money. They are brutal and relentless,
and Liu finds himself in a deadly scrap with them. He ultimately earns the upper hand and kills one of them with a severe blow to the head using
only his fist as a weapon. The incident brings the arrival of a police inspector named Xu Baijiu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a thorough sort who will stop at
literally nothing to uncover the truth and prove his deductions right or wrong. Xu himself has lived through a close brush with death and controls
his
overactive sense of empathy through the art of self acupuncture. Xu is shocked to learn that one of the dead men is none other than a very
dangerous wanted
criminal. He's more surprised to discover that Liu killed the man with his bare hands. He comes to believe that Liu is not who he says he is, that a
man of such physical skill and with such an intimate knowledge of the human body -- and how to terminate life with a single blow -- cannot possibly
be a mere
paper man from a small village. As Xu digs deeper into Liu's past, he learns a secret that could place himself, Liu, Liu's family, and the entire village
in danger at the hands of a ruthless clan of highly skilled warriors.
Dragon transitions from good-to-great thanks largely to the work of Takeshi Kaneshiro as Xu, the learned police detective who unravels the
meat of the case. Takeshi Kaneshiro absolutely lives his part, capturing the essence of an old throwback noir detective but adding his own flavor,
defining the character not just by the way he so naturally wears the hat and glasses but through his detailed mannerisms, the exactness of his
procedure, and his
transition to reluctant hero. His backstory is simple but satisfying and ultimately integral to the plot, just as one expects it to be when it's
introduced
fairly
early in the film. There's something cool, yet sort of tragically so, about the character, a dichotomy in his involvement in the case that begins
professionally but morphs into something deeper and more involved the further he digs towards the truth. His is an excellent performance of a very
well-written character that would be the envy of any of the generic alphabet soup American crime scene procedurals that are dwarfed by the style
and story of
Dragon. The rest of the cast is excellent as well, with Donnie Yen dominating the lead part and Jimmy Wang offering an imposing and
detailed
performance as "The Master."
Dragon proves a success well beyond its fine character roster and supporting performances. The picture cobbles together a number of styles
and elements and molds them into a singularly cohesive achievement. The picture works in various plot twists and character revelations that range
from intimate to heartbreaking, from lightly mischievous to terribly dark and frightening. It's a film that traverses the entire range of emotions and
incorporates a number of styles -- from noir detective influences to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-lite action styles. It all blends together
remarkably well; there's a captivating flow to the entire experience, one that has the audience wanting to sort out the truth but in some ways and
at
the same time afraid to dig that deeply. It's a film seen through the eyes of the detective protagonist more so than the family man with a haunted
past, which opens up an outside perspective and allows all of the information to unravel in time rather than all at once, in clumps, or only at the
end. The dramatic posturing is equaled by some incredible photography that's involved but not at the expense of narrative structure and cohesion.
Director Peter Chan pulls the
audience deep inside the world with his camera, but never so far as to overwhelm or in any way obscure the story. His slow-motion action scenes
are incredible,
particularly when they're part of Xu's investigative recreations that insert him into the action after the fact. The film is externally defined by some
gorgeous environments and wardrobe choices that help bring the entire tale to unmistakably rich life.
Dragon's high definition presentation suffers through occasionally purply, overly bright black levels but otherwise proves largely handsome and
cinematic. Anchor Bay's transfer provides consistent, even details that bring the small Chinese town to vivid life. Whether the smallest nuanced accents
on clothes or bedsheets or the heavier, more readily evident textures of stone work, bricks, tree trunks, and grasses, viewers will appreciate the clarity
and consistency on display in nearly every frame. Facial textures, too, are nicely complex and full of life, be they fresh or bloody, sweaty, and
battle-weary. Colors are quite splendid, particularly under bright outdoor conditions where brilliant greens truly sparkle. Much of the rest of the palette
favors a slightly darker, earthier sort of tone, but at every opportunity all hues are presented with a lifelike shading. The image suffers from no
perceptible banding, blockiness, or edge haloing. Aside from the spoiled black levels, this is very good, sometimes stunning high definition presentation
from Anchor Bay.
Dragon features a rich and satisfying Chinese original language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack (optional English, English SDH, and
Spanish subtitles are included). At film's open, listeners are presented with a smooth, nicely spaced, and well-defined sound presentation. Music gently
immerses the listener, playing with seamless front-side spacing and just the right bit of surround information. Such qualities remain through the rest of
the film. The track also provides a good, balanced general environmental atmosphere. Buzzing flies, playing children in the background, and casual
woodland/jungle ambiance is presented with a natural seamlessness around the stage. There's a fairly good, but not quite full, low end presence to
raging waters heard midway through the film, and soon thereafter bass grows substantially to the point that it nearly hurts the ears at reference levels.
Otherwise, most action-oriented effects come through robustly, such that listeners find themselves in the midst of the action. Dialogue is generally
clearly presented, but there's a slight shallowness to the spoken word in a few scenes. Nevertheless, and a despite a few flaws and annoyances, this
rates highly as a strong, well-rounded lossless soundtrack.
Dragon contains three extras, two of which branch out to reveal multiple pieces.
The Making of Dragon (SD, 22:27): This eight-part Documentary chronicles the making of the picture in short, digestible spurts.
Included are Risks and Rewards (3:14), a look at the on-set and on-location dangers; Framing the Action (2:08), an examination of the
use of the 500 frames-per-second Phantom camera; Choosing Jimmy Wang Yu (3:39), a closer look at casting the role of "The Master;" A
Different Role for Takeshi Kaneshiro (3:48), a glimpse into the qualities the actor brought to the role and the film with focus on his unique dialect
used in the picture; The Ins and Outs of Acupuncture (1:45), a short study of the technique's role in the film; Family Dynamics (2:50),
a look at the family depicted in the film; Tang Wei in the Countryside (1:50), a brief glimpse into the actress' work in the film; and Wai
Ying Hung on Working with Donnie Yen (3:10), a look at another actress' work in the film. With English subtitles.
Featurettes with Donnie Yen (SD, 5:40): A three-part affair that contains the following segments: Staging the Action (2:43), a
piece that focuses on emphasizing realism in several action scenes; Influences and Inspiration (1:59), a discussion of past films and styles that
shaped this film;
and On Set, On Location (0:56), a short look at shooting locales and real villager extras. In English.
Dragon is easily one of the best movies to come out of the Eastern hemisphere in the past few years. It puts some new twists on an old style
but does so in seamless,
accessible fashion. It's fun and dark both, lightly humorous at times but also terribly violent at others. It crafts a very good story populated by several
strongly developed characters, accentuated by fantastic photography, great acting, and superb art direction. It's a complete movie and one that's not to
be missed. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray is a little short in extras but does deliver solid video and audio. Highly recommended.
Anchor Bay Entertainment and RADiUS-TWC have officially announced the Blu-ray release of director Peter Ho-Sun Chan's Dragon, which stars Donnie Yen (Ip Man), Takeshi Kaneshiro (Red Cliff) and Wei Tang (Lust, Caution). The Chinese action drama streets on April ...
