The Last Emperor Blu-ray Review

Back when I was a university student studying a course in the Far East we learned the term 'Heaven's Mandate'. It was said that when one dynasty overthrew another, the mandate from powers above to rule China had been lost and a new mandate was given to the winners. It was a self fulfilling idea because if the Mings went out and the Manchus went in it was because the Manchus now had the Mandate. The Last Emperor is the story of Young emperor Pu Yi who was the last Manchu Emperor, crowned at the age of 3 in 1908 and removed in 1911 during the revolution. Pu Yi spent half the rest of his life trying to gain that back and the other half trying to roll with the punches for making some very bad choices in trying for the former. By that time if you want to extend the idea, the mandate now fell to Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese Communists. Still very few people had as colorful, as tumultuous, and as epic a life as Pu Yi as portrayed by Chinese actor John Lone. Whatever else Pu Yi was, he was a survivor and maybe if he hasn't got Heaven's mandate any more, he's at least got a heavenly place. From 1911 until he was kicked out, the young Emperor was still permitted to run a kind of fairyland kingdom in the Forbidden City area of Peking which was the exclusive domain of the Chinese Emperors for centuries. During that time he had an English tutor in Peter O'Toole, the one major occidental player in The Last Emperor. The relationship here is similar to the one shown in Seven Years In Tibet between Brad Pitt as Heinrich Harrer and the young Dalai Lama. Here though the emphasis is on the pupil not the tutor. The Last Emperor is an epic international achievement, not possible during the years of Mao Tse-tung's rule. As a film it received great international respect winning nine Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director for Bernardo Bertolucci. That's quite a mandate in and of itself. Though the film is more than two and half hours long I guarantee your interest will not flag. And it really is worth it to see at the very end the elderly Emperor's meeting with the new Red Guards of Mao's Cultural Revolution and that bit of symbolism with the cricket. Absolutely priceless, just as the film is.
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Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" (1987) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment. The disc contains the Theatrical Version of the film (164 min) as well as the longer TV Version (218 min). The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary with Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screen-writer Mark Peploe, and composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamato; an in-depth documentary about the making of the film; "Postcard from China", with optional commentary by Bernardo Bertolucci; and the film's original theatrical trailer. Without optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
At the age of 3, Pu Yi (John Lone, War) is taken away from his mother, sent to the Forbidden City and crowned Emperor of China. He is not allowed to interact with the outside world. As time goes by, Pu Yi becomes more and more frustrated with the cannons he is expected to respect. Outside of the Forbidden City the world is quickly changing. The Japanese Army invades China and Manchuria; then Mao's forces take over. In the beginning, Pu Yi is spared from the political turmoil, but he is eventually sucked into it. A British mentor (Peter O'Toole, Lawrence of Arabia) arrives to the Forbidden City and inspires the Emperor to begin searching for a new identity. Pu Yi also marries a beautiful girl (Joan Chen, Golden Gate). Pu Yi abdicates in 1912. Later on he returns to Manchuria, hoping to be an Emperor again, but is tricked by the Japanese invaders and consequently, after WW2 comes to an end, captured by the Red Army. The last Emperor is then transferred to a Chinese prison where the communists begin to question his history with the Japanese. The Last Emperor is Bernardo Bertolucci's most highly-decorated picture. Visually, it is a stunning tour de force, which few of its contemporaries, if any, could rival. It is also Bertolucci's - a passionate Marxist - most elegant yet uncompromising critique of absolute power. Despite of the fact that The Last Emperor chronicles an incredibly dramatic story, referencing to a number of key political events from the beginning of the century, its tone is notably intimate. In fact, Pu Yi's struggle to adapt to the world he has been kept away from, and consequently change it according to his vision, seems uncannily subdued. Not surprisingly, The Last Emperor is filled with a number of protracted close-ups where Pu Yi's face is examined - pain, joy, disappointment and elation are captured by Bertolucci without resorting to high-powered lines. Still, even though Bertolucci spends an enormous amount of time on Pu Yi and his maturation as a leader, his persona remains a perplexing enigma. There are controversial decisions the Emperor produces while juggling with the colonial interests of the Japanese, and later on Mao's communists, that are difficult to fully comprehend. Logically, Bertolucci's quiet but thorough examination of Pu Yi's history enhances even more the divisive elements in his legacy.The Last Emperor has been shown to audiences around the world in two different versions – a shorter version (165 min), also referred to as the Theatrical Cut, and a longer version (218 min), which was reconstructed for Italian TV. I've seen both and frankly have a difficult time deciding which is the more compelling one. The theatrical cut maintains a steady tempo, which given the story's episodic structure is probably the preferred way to see this film. I would also say that it links a lot of the political events I mentioned earlier without dramatically widening the gap between Pu Yi's political and personal lives. On the other hand, the TV version adds substantially more, particularly in regard to Pu Yi's childhood years. However, here Bertolucci also elaborates on a lot of the political intrigues from the second half of The Last Emperor. As a result, the intimate tone of the story I mentioned earlier is substantially weakened. Nevertheless, The Last Emperor remains a poignant account of a historic figure whose rise and fall at a time of great political turmoil are unquestionably fascinating to behold. Furthermore, the film effectively dispels a number of myths about absolute power that, somewhat ironically, are still alive and well in the Emperor's homeland. Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.02:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Optimum Home Entertainment.There is nothing on the cover of this Blu-ray release indicating that it contains the same, supervised and approved by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, high-definition transfer, which Criterion used for their Blu-ray release awhile ago. As far as I am concerned, however, this high-definition transfer is practically identical to Criterion's.As I noted in our review for the Criterion Blu-ray release of The Last Emperor, despite the controversy surrounding Mr. Storaro's decision to have the film re-framed in 2.02:1, I think that the presentation is very strong. Fine object detail is pleasing, clarity very good and contrast levels convincing. The color-scheme, however, is what impresses the most. Yellows, blues, greens, reds, browns and blacks look fabulous. Furthermore, as it was the case with the Criterion release, here I was also able to spot some mild color softness during specific scenes. A good examples are the scene where the Emperor is seen playing tennis and the scene where he is greeted by the Japanese officials in Manchuria. Some mild edge-enhancement is also noticeable. Macroblocking, however, is never a serious issue of concern. Selected noise corrections have been applied, but the film's grain structure is intact. Finally, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. To sum it all up, if you reside in a Region-B territory and could not take advantage of Criterion's Region-A "locked" release of The Last Emperor, I strongly recommend that you consider adding this Blu-ray disc to your library. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

some analysis and photo - blu-ray.com

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Modern and mythical worlds collide in this thunderous fantasy-adventure starring Pierce Brosnan, Kevin McKidd and Uma Thurman as you've never seen them before! Percy Jackson is no ordinary teenager...he's just learned he's the son of Poseidon and is accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt - the most powerful weapon ever created! With storm clouds brewing, Percy embarks on an incredible cross-country journey to prove his innocence, recover the bolt and prevent a war amongst the gods that could destroy our world! It's the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson's Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they're not happy: Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy's mother. As Percy finds himself caught between angry and battling gods, he and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy's mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves

10 Extended and Deleted Scenes
The Museum – Grover Photographs Aphrodite
BD Exclusive: The Infirmary – Percy Meets Annabeth
BD Exclusive: Aphrodite’s Daughters – Grover Jumps Into Spa
BD Exclusive: Int. Bus – Percy Looks At The Map
BD Exclusive: Auntie Em’s – Medusa Chases Percy
Int. Pickup Truck – Grover Talks About Zeus’ daughter
Lotus Land Casino – Grover Dances
BD Exclusive: Lotus Land Casino – Percy Meets 50’s Guy
Lotus Land Casino – Percy, Annabeth and Grover Fight The Guards
Hades’ Mansion – Hades Talks To Percy
BD Exclusive: Secrets of the Gods
Discover Your Powers Quiz
The Book Comes To Life
BD Exclusive: Inside Camp Half-Blood
BD Exclusive: On Set With Brandon T. Jackson
BD Exclusive: Meet The Demigods

-If you enjoyed the book at all, more than likely you'll hate the movie. One of the worst adaptations of a book, if not the worst, I've ever seen. With that being said, even if I hadn't read the book I wouldn't have liked this movie. The acting is not good and the effects are sub G.I. Joe. I definitely think anyone should rent this before buying.

Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray

VideoVideo codec: Video resolution: 1080pAspect ratio: 1.78:1Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1French: Dolby Digital 5.1Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1French: Dolby Digital 5.1Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (less) Subtitles
French, Spanish
French, Spanish (less) DiscsBlu-ray DiscThree-disc set (1 BD, 2 DVDs)Digital copy (on disc)DVD copyBD-Live
After a lukewarm reception to its latest 3D movie, Disney has revealed specs of the upcoming Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray, and it will not have a 3D presentation.
Disney's remake of the classic animated film from over 50 years ago will be coming out on Blu-ray later this year. As the first major 3D release from the studio since the explosion of home 3D entertainment, it is interesting to see that there is no planned 3D content on the disc. The 3D Blu-ray Disc that everyone is talking about is, of course, Avatar. People are flocking to the stores for that movie, but the initial BD release does not contain 3D functionality. That will come with a later release. Unlike Avatar, however, Disney has announced no plans to create a different Blu-ray version of Alice in Wonderland with 3D. Although the film has done quite well at the box office, Alice was greeted with mediocre reviews and even worse comments about the 3D effects, which were added after the movie was shot and not part of the original production plan. The Alice Blu-ray that was announced is not a bare-bones release either. It is a three-disc combo pack with tons of extra goodies, so a later 3D release seems unlikely, at least at this point. It brings up questions about the viability of 3D in the home market. Consumers are sitting out there with a brand new 3D TV and no 3D content to watch. If other studios become as discerning as Disney, it could stifle consumer adoption

According to a recent article in the Daily Mail, the new Alice in Wonderland (2010) will be coming to DVD and BluRay approximately 3 months after it's release in theaters.Apparently, some theaters in the UK are up in arms and refusing to show it."But despite all this nurturing of Burton's vision, his movie is under threat of being smothered at birth. Quite extraordinarily, the UK's three largest cinema chains - Odeon, Vue and Cineworld - are threatening not to show it. They account for 65 per cent of the UK's cinemas, and 90 per cent of the 3-D screens, so the threat is a serious one. Given that the premiere is next Thursday and the movie opens on March 5, it's a disaster. The cause of the angst is that Disney wants to release the film on DVD and Blu-ray only three months after it opens at the cinema, rather than the standard 17 weeks. It wants to get the DVD into the shops before the midsummer doldrums, and to capitalise on the marketing of the movie while it is still fresh in people's minds. But the cinemas are afraid that people will just wait to buy the film on DVD rather than spend money on going to the pictures. They aren't alone: four big cinema chains in Holland are boycotting the film and the Italians are rebelling, too."

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Monsters vs. Aliens 3D Blu-ray Review

It's fitting that DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens is the first 3D Blu-ray out of the gate; its March 2009 theatrical release ushered in a new era of sorts, the movie the first ever feature to be generated in stereoscopic 3D from the start rather than filmed or, as the case may be in the digital realm, rendered in a traditional 2D landscape and only after the fact tweaked for 3D viewing. It's with much excitement that this disc is finally here, and while the 1080p 3D HD presentation is excellent, the overall package does suffer from a few shortcomings that are likely to only help in swaying many away from 3D for the time being, chief among them the simple lack of availability of this -- or any -- title on the market for a reasonable price. Negatives aside but certainly to be discussed further down in the review, Monsters vs. Aliens delivers an intense and altogether fun 3D viewing experience; considering that this is the first disc on the market and was enjoyed on a first-generation 3D-enabled television set (more info on Panasonic's wonderful 50" 3D HDTV plasma display here), the future looks very bright for 3D Blu-ray considering how good this video presentation proves to be, and on the very first try at that. This review will deviate from the norm, focusing on the total 3D experience rather than providing an analysis of the movie itself, which may still be found -- and still applies -- under the review of the original 2D Blu-ray release of Monsters vs. Aliens. As the availability of titles widens, and releases are granted a 3D transfer from the get-go, future 3D reviews will follow the more traditional Blu-ray.com review format, but the importance of the title and the novelty of the technology, in this case, supersedes an analysis of the film, particularly given that it's already been covered and is about the only major component that has gone unchanged between the 2D and 3D releases. It's also important to note that the Monsters vs. Aliens 3D Blu-ray reviewed herein was watched on the above-referenced Panasonic TC-P50VT20 3D TV, and not any of Samsung's currently-available LED 3D HDTV televisions with which this disc is bundled as an "exclusive," yet still available for purchase with two pair of 3D glasses that operate only in conjunction with Samsung's 3D sets. Unfortunately, a direct comparison as to how the title fares on each manufacture's displays -- in the same environment -- is not possible at this time, but the purpose of this review is to provide an overview of what home 3D viewing is capable of, regardless of the display. DreamWorks' 3D Blu-ray release of Monsters vs. Aliens may be viewed in either 2D or 3D modes; Panasonic's DMP-BDT300 3D Blu-ray player allows for users to choose whether to immediately play all inserted 3D discs in 3D, or to select either version via a pop-up screen before playback begins. Both versions on this disc offer identical audio and supplemental features through a uniform menu screen (which is also displayed in 3D when the 3D version is selected). The disc was also inserted into a PlayStation 3 system running the latest firmware (v. 3.21) to see if it would play the 2D version; the system simply failed to read the disc. The 3D experience begins with the menu screen; it's a nifty addition to see the menu options seemingly floating in front of the television screen, but the fun really starts once the movie begins. Monsters vs. Aliens opens with an establishing shot of a planet that's orbited by a rocky ring formation that seems to float and protrude from the set, followed by a static shot of a planet that seems to literally be hovering in the middle of the screen, offset by a static star-clustered backdrop that seems far distant from the planet, the combination delivering an exceptional sense of depth. That's the strong point of 3D encapsulated, right at the beginning of the movie; it's a seemingly minor visual, but the format's ability to give it such a sense of space -- even something as simple as an immobile round object set against an unchanging background -- makes for an all-new way to experience the environments within movies. It also opens a brand new field of technical appreciation for the work and artistry that goes into making these 3D movies look so fantastic, right down to the most ordinary of shots that offer breathtaking visuals even through the most routine of elements. Fortunately, Monsters vs. Aliens provides quite a bit more than just dimensional static imagery. There are plenty of highlights -- 94 minutes worth, to be exact -- but the movie's opening minutes prove enough to provide some solid examples of what both the movie and the 3D format have to offer. Snowflakes as seen in the first on-Earth shot appear to swirl not only on the screen but through it; even these tiny objects seem to occupy a real space that allows for a very natural-looking shot, no matter the size of the flakes or the density of the snowfall. Following that is one of the few obvious "gimmick" scenes in the movie, a paddleball that seems to shoot straight out of the screen. The effect is impressive to say the least; this was one area where older "anaglyph" 3D movies worked fairly well, and it translates superbly to full HD 3D, too, though it is understandably overshadowed by the far stronger sense of depth and generally clean lines that are a result of the relative absence of "ghosting." A shot inside a wedding chapel in chapter three that looks down the isle towards the altar and subsequently back towards Susan as she walks forward proves, perhaps, the best in the movie; it positively places the viewer in the church, and never before for home viewing has a location appeared so real (even though it's animated) as it does here. These shots give new meaning to "being there," and they engender a desire to watch something similar that's been filmed in the real world to see how it would stack up to what is arguably the best series of shots in the movie. Even the film's title cards, which appear prior to the wedding scene, impress; they seem to simply hover in front of the screen, and they're sharp as a tack, too. Though there's never really any doubt as to how good the sense of depth is throughout the movie, it's worth hitting the "status" button on the Panasonic remote to really see just how good the 3D HD material looks. Pressing that button twice on Panasonic's 3D Blu-ray player's remote brings up a graphic across the top of the screen the provides information on the chapter number, time played, and time remaining. It's a flat graphic (provided that the player's "pop-out" level is set to "0;" if it is set to any of the ranges between "1" and "4," the player's graphical interfaces, including the status bar, will appear in 3D during 3D playback) and one that's not influenced by the 3D material; though it obscures anything it sits on top of, the material that's still visible below it only appears accentuated in the way it seems to settle off the front of the screen and move back deep within its bowels, with the graphic a marker of sorts that delineates where 2D imagery begins and ends under "normal" viewing conditions. For as good as Monsters vs. Aliens looks, there are some minor issues with both the encode and the physical act of viewing the material, though such problems are few and far between. Though more suited for discussion in the "video" portion of the review, it's worth noting now that, yes, there are some infrequent instances of clearly-visible "ghosting," but such is definitely the exception to the rule, at least on Panasonic's 3D TV. Additionally, Panasonic's glasses are far bulkier than Samsung's, and while eye strain proved a non-issue during the 94-minute film, the weight of the glasses -- most of which settles onto the nose -- can become an annoyance and, sometimes, a frustration. Overall, however, the quality of the 3D viewing experience is heretofore unparalleled in the home; it's practically seamless, in fact, compared to the old and grossly inconsistent anaglyph 3D presentations, even those on Blu-ray (see, for instance, The Polar Express, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and My Bloody Valentine). Better colors, sharper images, and significantly less ghosting more than make up for the hassle of having to wear the heavy glasses, and for anyone with the means to do so, whether in the home or in-store, it's worth comparing this new 3D technology and anaglyph 3D back-to-back -- preferably with the same material such as the short film B.O.B.'s Big Break which appears in full 1080p 3D on this disc and in anaglyph 3D on the old 2D Blu-ray disc -- simply to marvel at the drastic increase in every single area of the viewing experience. Simply put, Monsters vs. Aliens' 3D Blu-ray presentation looks just as good as its 2D Blu-ray counterpart in terms of color, detail, sharpness, and all the other major factors that contribute to a more "traditional" top-quality Blu-ray release, with the added bonus of a practically seamless high This Monsters vs. Aliens 3D release will be remembered as the first full-length, 3D HD Blu-ray movie out there, but it's unfortunately not available for sale to the general public, at least not at a reasonable price. DreamWorks has delivered a capable, good-looking, nearly impeccable 3D experience out of the gate, but the goodness stops with the visual presentation. Hampered by the absence of a lossless soundtrack and coming up well short of the original release in terms of extra content, the disc itself is, frankly, something of a disappointment outside of the 3D presentation, which in all honesty, is the major selling point here. Hopefully the off-the-shelf retail version -- whenever that may become available -- will offer a more robust Blu-ray presentation. Currently, the only way for 3D early adopters that purchased Panasonic's 3D HDTV and 3D Blu-ray player to own Monsters vs. Aliens is to purchase Samsung's $350 bundle that also includes two pair of 3D glasses that only work with their branded gear. Is Monsters vs. Aliens worth almost as much as the 3D Blu-ray player? Maybe for the super-wealthy, but for the average consumer, the answer is "no." Would it be worth $20 or even, maybe, a premium of about $30 as-is, with no lossless soundtrack and few extras? Probably, even for those that already own the 2D Blu-ray. On that note, there simply needs to be more 3D content made available now to push the format. It makes no sense for the gear to be out there -- and it's been over a month already -- with no movies available for off-the-shelf sale at a reasonable price. At the beginning of the format's life, it's one thing to have a title or two as manufacturer or retailer exclusives provided there is something else out there to watch, but the absence of more -- yea any -- titles is a major hindrance to the promotion and adoption of the technology. There is currently nothing but rumor and speculation as to when more 3D Blu-ray titles will be available for sale in the U.S., and most official overseas announcements are still coming in the form of bundled packageswith electronics manufacturers. The rumored titles -- Coraline , Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs -- are all animated movies and with relatively short runtimes geared towards children, and how the studios handle the audio and special features on these titles, available at retail or not, will prove just as interesting as any pending firm release dates and price structures. It will also be interesting to see how longer movies -- Avatar and its 166-minute theatrical version runtime comes to mind -- not only look and sound in 3D, but how the studios will implement special features; they'll likely have to be included on a separate disc, if at all. Nevertheless, Monsters vs. Aliens -- warts and all -- proves a winner where it counts the most as the very first Blu-ray 3D title on the market; once the studios begin releasing titles on a regular basis and manufacturer exclusives become a thing of the past, there's no doubt as to the viability of 3D Blu-ray; it's off to a solid start -- minus the lack of titles -- and can only improve in the coming months.

from - blu-ray.com

Avatar Already Top-selling Blu-ray Ever

VideoVideo codec: MPEG-4 AVCVideo resolution: 1080pAspect ratio: 1.78:1Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1English: Dolby Digital 5.1English: Dolby Digital 2.0Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1... (English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1English: Dolby Digital 5.1English: Dolby Digital 2.0Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1French: Dolby Digital 5.1Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 (lesSubtitles
English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese
English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese (less)Discs50GB Blu-ray DiscTwo-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)DVD copy

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment has announced that the Blu-ray edition of James Cameron's Avatar had sold 2.7 million units by Sunday afternoon, thus surpassing in four days the lifetime sales of the previous top-selling Blu-ray, The Dark Knight, which took over a year to sell 2.5 million units. Overall, Avatar has sold 6.7 million copies on packaged media. The title has similarly smashed sales records in France, Germany and Japan, where around 60% of sales were for the Blu-ray. Keith Feldman, general manager and exec VP of international for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, said: "The overwhelming day one sales in key international markets — such as France and Germany — confirm the strength and vibrancy of the market, as well as the overseas appetite for high-definition product in the home." According to the studio, Avatar has sold more copies in a single day in grocery and drug stores than The Dark Knight did in those outlets over its entire lifetime. The title is driving the sale of Blu-ray players at Best Buy.

As for those that say it sold just for the eye candy and special effects...speak for yourself. I happen to love Avatars story much more than the Dark Knights. That movie got a boost because of Heath Ledgers death. Its a good super hero movie its not that stellar imo though and has no more substance than Avatar. I watched TDK twice and was getting bored the second time. I have watched Avatar 3 times and not bored at all, cant wait for the 3D blu.

-No wonder though. I didn't like the movie, but even I want this on Blu-Ray to experience just how good it looks and sounds. I watched it in a local 2D theater with a rather crappy screen and sound, so I get better experiences in my own home. It's pretty amazing though how fast it has sold, but that was to be expected. You don't gross 2.8 Billion Dollars or so in theaters and then sell underwhelmingly on DVD & BD. Gotta give credit to Cameron though...he first makes the biggest grossing movie of all time based upon a doomed ship nothing could sink, and sure enough, Titanic still didn't sink until the day when he returned to the theaters 12 years later and sinks it. There's something to be said about a guy who can make the two biggest grossing movies of all time like he did with Titanic and Avatar. Impressive enough on it's own, but when you look at how he first made history with Titanic, and nothing in 12 years could beat it, and then he comes back and with one movie, completely obliterates the box-office.. Can't help but be impressed even if I actually didn't like Titanic or Avatar. (My favorites are easily Terminator 2 and Aliens)

-This is very cool. but Blu-ray is also more popular now and has a larger install base then when The Dark Knight came out, so this is not really a fair comparison. Not to mention, The Dark Knight is loved for substance and story telling. Avatar is loved for eye candy and special effects, nothing more.

from -blu-ray.com

Red Cliff Part I & II Blu-ray

For fans of John Woo's Hong Kong films of the late 1980sA China Film Group Corp. (in China)/Avex Entertainment (in Japan)/CMC Entertainment, 20th Century Fox (in Taiwan)/Showbox (in South Korea) release of a China Film Group, Chengtian Entertainment Intl. Holdings (China)/Avex Entertainment (Japan)/CMC Entertainment (Taiwan)/Showbox (South Korea)/John Woo presentation of a Lion Rock production. (International sales: Summit Entertainment, Los Angeles.) Produced by Terence Chang, Woo. Executive producers, Han Sanping, Masato Matsuura, Wu Kebo, Ryuhei Chiba, Dennis Wu, Ryu Jeong-hun, Woo. Co-producers, Anne Woo, Zhang Daxing, Yeh Ru-feng, David Tang, Wang Wei, Cheri Yeung. Directed by John Woo. Screenplay, Woo, Khan Chan, Kuo Cheng, Sheng Heyu. and early 90s, enamored with the choreographed "gun-fu" of A Better Tomorrow and The Killer, the director's subsequent career in the U.S. has been, if not outright disappointing, at least underwhelming. Sure, Face/Off was fun and Mission: Impossible II had its share of ridiculously over-the-top action set pieces, but Mr. Woo's Hollywood output in general has seemed disinterested, unoriginal, and even tame. Need I mention Paycheck, perhaps the most aptly titled film in the director's commercial canon? Well, ladies and gentlemen, after nearly twenty years of slumming it through dull actioners for the big Los Angeles studios, John Woo has returned to China to make his best film since 1992's Hard Boiled. Strictly speaking, Red Cliff isn't exactly a return to form—there's no frenetic gangster vs. cop gunplay in Hong Kong's seedy underbelly—but it is a return to passionate filmmaking and turning toward a new form for Woo: the historical wuxia epic, China's answer to the sword 'n' sandal genre. Released in two parts, the nearly five-hour Red Cliff was the highest budgeted and highest grossing Chinese film ever, even box-office besting Titanic and The Dark Knight in several Asian territories. A truncated version of the film, edited down to two and a half hours for U.S. audiences, also appeared stateside in selected cities, generating strong reviews. Magnolia Home Entertainment has seen fit to release both cuts on Blu-ray—we'll have a review of the single-disc U.S. theatrical edition up shortly—but this two-disc "Original International Version" is the one you'll want.The battle of Red Cliff is as well known to Chinese audiences as Gettysburg is in the U.S., but let's stop the comparison right there. For one, we're talking about warfare on a scale that's almost unimaginable, and two, it all happened nearly 2,000 years ago. Part one opens in 208 AD, as Chancellor Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) leads the imperial army on a search and destroy outing to quell the rebel southern warlords Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). As in Star Wars, the rebels are the good guys here, and Cao Cao—a friendless, vindictive, and overly ambitious upstart—is on the warpath to further his own power-hungry agenda. Liu Bei sends his smart-as-a-whip military advisor, Zhu-ge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro, House of Flying Daggers) to reluctant leader Sun Quan's court to request an alliance, and under the leadership of Viceroy Zhou Yu (Tony Leung, In the Mood for Love)—getting overwhelmed with names yet?—Liu Bei and Sun Quan's small armies amass at Red Cliff, on the bank of the Yangtze River, prepared to repel Cao Cao's 800,000 soldiers. After a massive land battle filled with tactical trickery and enough arterial bloodletting to overflow several Olympic-sized pools, part one comes to a cliffhanger conclusion as Cao Cao readies his navy and Sun Quan's spunky tomboy sister (Zhao Wei) sneaks into the enemy encampment on a self-ordered spy mission.With all the whos, whats, and whys established, part two progresses toward the end-game in a series of increasingly clever chess moves by strategist Zhu-ge Liang, who is so attuned with nature that he can forecast an incoming fog bank by feeling for the sweat on the underside of a turtle. (Move over, Al Roker.) As a whole, the film is like watching a cinematic version of a game of Risk—at almost five hours, it's just as long—between a good player and a great player. Cao Cao's brawn-over-brains attacks are no match for Zhu-ge Liang's preternatural intuition, and John Woo devises several satisfying comeuppance sequences that are as smart as they are brutal. Shields with mirrored backsides are used to blind incoming cavalry charges, the supposedly outdated "tortoise" formation becomes a mousetrap for Cao Cao's minions, and a fiery naval battle turns on Liang's predicted change in the wind. In his most brilliantly outsmarting maneuver, Liang figures out a way for the undersupplied rebel alliance to "harvest" arrows from the enemy, using little more than some sly, military sleight of hand. The frequent battle scenes are frenetic and sometimes a little overwhelming, but unlike other directors, who might've given the material the overused, shakey-cam, I can barely tell what the hell is going on approach, Woo stages the action with his characteristic gracefulness, a blood ballet where we can make sense of the dancers' moves. It's not a faultless presentation, as I've yet to see one of these epic warfare films that doesn't succumb to what I like to call "Braveheart Syndrome"—extras waving their swords around willy-nilly in the background—but if you can suspend your disbelief, Woo and his 100,000 soldiers on loan from the present-day Chinese army will have you thinking you're in the middle of a truly epic ancient conflict.While he can't quite muster the poetry and pathos of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or House of Flying Daggers—he's working with way too many characters—John Woo knows that in a film of this scale, the human drama has to be just as important as the action. To this end, he has Cao Cao motivated by an obsession over Viceroy Zhou Yu's tender and beautiful wife Xiao Qiao (Lin Chi-ling), who easily bests Helen of Troy with a face that launches over 2,000 ships. Our modern sensibilities tell us that it's completely insane for countless foot soldiers to die over one man's desire to steal another man's wife—stealing another country's oil is a whole different matter—but we're in the realm of the epic romance here, and it doesn't play as falsely as you might think. Woo also convincingly brews the friendships that develop between the characters, especially the mutual respect and admiration shared by Zhou Yu and Zhu-ge Liang. Though they were the dual protagonists of Wong Kar-Wai's Chungking Express, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung didn't share any real screentime, so it's good to see them leading the cast and formulating tactics together in Red Cliff. Both actors play off of one another marvelously, giving subtle and commanding performances that draw on reserves of quiet power. Even at a hefty 288 minutes, Red Cliff rarely sags, buoyed by some of the most massive action scenes ever set to celluloid and a David vs. Goliath drama with relatable themes of honor and courage. Woo frames the battle's conclusion in a Simply the second half of an almost five-hour movie rather than a self-contained pic in its own right, John Woo's costume actioner "Red Cliff II" delivers in spades for auds left hungry for more by last summer's first seg. With characters already established, this half is expectedly heavier on action, though nimble editing and charismatic perfs still pack beaucoup human interest prior to the final hour's barnstorming battle. Pic opened bracingly in China Jan. 7 and fans out this month through major Asian markets (with Japan in April), where biz should rank with that of "Red Cliff."
Given the success of Woo's high-stakes undertaking -- at $80 million, the most expensive Chinese-language movie ever -- it remains a crying shame that the two films may never be seen outside Asia on the bigscreen. (For hardcore buffs, the first pic is already available on DVD in Asia.) Non-Asian auds are meant to be content with a planned 2ฝ-hour "international version," which cannot hope to replicate the impressive detail and sheer epic sweep of the 280-minute original.
Rapid, two-minute recap of "Red Cliff" (beneath the main titles) serves more to get auds' pulses racing again than to educate newcomers. The year is 208 A.D., near the end of the 400-year-old Han Dynasty, and the opposing forces of prime-minister-cum-general Cao Cao (mainland vet Zhang Fengyi), repping the Emperor in the north, and a relatively small coalition led by Zhou Yu (Hong Kong idol Tony Leung Chiu-wai), repping "rebellious" southern warlords, are about to face off in a decisive battle at Red Cliff on the Yangtze River."there's no victor in war" message, but it's clear that with the famed director back in top form, we, the audience, are the real winners.

Wonderful World Blu-ray Review

The Man is a ball buster and a back breaker. From the balcony of his penthouse suite in a steel and glass tower, he throws bricks of misfortune down at schmucks like us, cackling all the while like an overweight oil baron and smoking a cigar made of $100 bills. We're the replaceable cogs in his corporate machine, the serfs in his feudal consumerist kingdom. His grip on us is like a Chinese finger trap—the more we struggle, the tighter it gets. He's a white-collar pickpocket, a black-suited extortionist, and we're all basically paying with our lives for the honor of shining his $3,000 patent leather shoes. To belabor the point with one more metaphor, The Man has our souls to his grindstone, and he's…slowly…wearing…us…down. That's one view, anyway. The other would be that The Man is just a scapegoat, an excuse for our unhappiness and lack of ambition, a made-up justification for our regrets, the falsified pretext for our tar-black cynicism. Wonderful World, a little redemption fable of a film by first-time director Joshua Goldin, is all about examining both sides of the coin. Even the title is a kind of litmus test. Is it Wonderful World, or "Wonderful" World?

Matthew Broderick plays Ben Singer, a perhaps too aptly named former children's folk singer who put away his guitar for good eight years ago after his record company royally screwed him over. Since then, he's been slumming through a dead-end job as a legal proofreader—"At least I don't delude myself with hopes and dreams," he says, too tired to sneer—and he's developed a ceaselessly misanthropic attitude. He's the very definition of a sad sack, an embittered ex-artist who had his passion squelched by a culture of corporate greed. At night, his brain fogged with marijuana smoke, he carries on Socratic, hallucinated conversations with The Man himself, personified here by Philip Baker Hall. Ben is divorced from his wife, he rarely sees his precocious young daughter (Jodelle Ferland), and his only real friend is his roommate Ibou (The Wire's Michael K. Williams), a dangerously diabetic Senegalese immigrant. When Ibou falls into a coma because Ben can't get him to the hospital on time—conveniently for the plot, a city tow truck hauls Ben's car away right when Ibou starts to feel faint—his sister Khadi (Sanaa Lathan) arrives from Africa to pull the dark-tinted glasses off of Ben's worldview. What follows is a jumble of romance and misread intentions, as Ben grapples with his own cynicism even as he begins to fall in love.For all of Ben's weary sarcasm and defeatist quips, Wonderful World is an almost painfully earnest film, the kind of well-intentioned indie drama that isn't out to make a buck or garner awards, but rather, seems content to tell its small story with a totally unassuming tone. No matter what its faults may be—and we'll get to those in a second—this isn't the sort of film that you can endlessly rag on or passionately hate. It's like that super friendly but ultimately uninteresting guy who lived on your floor in college, the one whose name you can't remember. He might not have been the kind of person you'd necessarily want to be friends with, but he was impossible to dislike. That's Wonderful World, a good-natured low-budget film that doesn't quite accomplish what it sets out to do, but tries with such honest modesty that its failures seem almost gracious. The main malfunction here is director Joshua Goldin's scatterbrained script, which lunges off on narrative tangents but often double back before taking them to gratifying conclusions. Case in point, Ben's lawsuit against the city for "depraved indifference," a sequence that garbs itself in such flamboyant courtroom clich้s that it almost seems self-parodying. Even Ben's railings against The Man, consumerism, and the power of positive thinking sound tired, not because of the lie down and die point he's trying to make, but because we've heard it all before. At its best, Wonderful World is tender and mildly triumphant, but at its worst—in Ben's conversations with The Man, for instance—it's baldly didactic, preachier than a Sunday sermon.The plot also swings on a worn-out thematic hinge. How many times have we seen a white Westerner find redemption with the help of a soulful African who's monetarily poor but rich in spirit? When played too pointedly, as it is here, the trope comes off as more than a little condescending, a narrative leftover of post-colonialist guilt. But I don't think that's director Joshua Goldin's intent. He really does find simple, unadulterated joy in Khadi shaking her hips in a sensuous Senegalese dance or fixing Ben a meal of Wolof soul food. The relationship that develops between the two is never entirely convincing, but you do get an insuppressible satisfaction in seeing Ben finally crack a smile, the structural integrity of his self-imposed fortress of solitude compromised at last. Broderick is nicely cast here—his baby face covered in a five o'clock shadow of complete social indifference—and he manages to find that balance of being just flawed enough as a character to need redemption, but not so unlikable as not to deserve it. His fellow cast members do what they can—Sanaa Lathan alternately glows and glowers, and Michael K. Williams plays Ibou as both wise and na๏ve—but the affected accents and the clumsiness of the dialogue certainly don't work in anyone's favor. The film falters under stereotypes and a message that's a little too obvious, but it's hard to be too cynical about Wonderful World.