Legend Of The Black Scorpion is a Chinese period piece based on Shakespeare’s tragic stage play, Hamlet. Originally called “The Banquet” in China, the story is about a Prince named Wu Luan (Daniel Wu). He falls in love with a strong and vindictive woman, Little Wan (Ziyi Zhang). The problem is that Little Wan is married to Luan’s dad, the emperor. If the situation wasn’t already messed up, the emperor gets killed by his brother and tries to marry Little Wan. Luan plots his revenge against his uncle, while Little Wan also has her own agenda to take over the imperial court.
I’m not big on Chinese period movies but I enjoyed this movie. This is more drama than action but kung fu choreographer legend, Yuen Wo Ping, staged the fight scenes perfectly. Majority of the fight scenes are in the first half but it’s pretty damn impressive. There’s an awesome sequence in the beginning with the assassins’ trying to take out Luan and his bodyguards. It’s mostly wire fu and I’m not a fan of that either but it works in this movie. The fight scenes are exciting because everyone is capable of taking each other out, the henchmen don’t have the Stormtrooper syndrome. The movie gets a little long in the middle but even at that, I couldn’t stop watching because of the great production value. The sets and costumes become a character of their own. The cinematography is breathtaking, especially the forest and snow scenes. Reminded me of Crouching Tiger and Lord Of The Rings.
Since it’s a drama, don’t expect an all out kung fu flick. Some parts are really slow but it adds depth to the movie. After watching it, I was a bit confused but the more I thought about it, the more the movie made sense.
Grade: B+
Video:
I was surprised how great the transfer was for this movie, especially since it’s a Hong Kong flick. Some scenes are demo material – Luan’s assassination attempt and his exile. The colors are rich and vibrant, it makes the picture pop. I love transfers that look natural and this movie succeeded.
Grade: A
Audio:
There’s three tracks, Mandarin DTS-HD 5.1, Mandarin Digital 5.1 and English Dolby 5.1. Of course I opted for the lossless DTS-HD. The sound isn’t as good as the audio. It’s mostly front loaded except for the action scenes. That’s when the track comes alive with arrows whizzing by and swords clashing in your room. The center is equally leveled but I just wished there more detailed ambience sounds, especially in the temple.
Grade: B+
Extras:
Once again, the extras surpassed my expectations. On paper, most look like short featurettes but they’re actually pretty extensive.
– Commentary with Bey Logan – This man knows his Chinese cinema. He talks extensively about the movie as well as other movies the cast and crew have been involved in. He also discusses the questionable ending. I felt like my HK cinema knowledge quadrupled after listening to the commentary.
– Interview with Director Feng Xiaogang – About 20 minutes long with Xiaogang explaining his experience from start to finish. I thought it would be fluff but he’s pretty honest with it.
– Interview with Daniel Wu – Also about 20 minutes long, he talks about his role and his relationship with the cast and crew.
– Dynasty Uncovered: Behind The Scenes On Legends Of the Black Scorpion – This featurette is about 40 minutes longs and shows us what it took to put this epic movie into the big screen. It also has interviews with cast and crew. Very informative.
– Trailer for the movie
Grade: A
Overall:
Weinstein has released a great Blu-Ray in Legend Of The Black Scorpion. I’m glad they paid attention to the video quality because this movie deserves it. You can get this title for around $15 and for the price, it’s a must own. The movie is unique in that it blends the action scenes and drama so well.
Overall Grade: A-
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