Tai Chi Hero (Blu-ray 3D) (2012)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Martial Arts	Menu Animation & Audio System Setup
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	102:35
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	?
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Stephen Fung
Studio Distributor	Icon Entertainment	Starring	Yuan Xiaochao Qi Shu Tony Leung Ka Fai Angelababy Eddie Peng Daniel Wu
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Mandarin DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Just a month or so ago I reviewed the first film in a planned trilogy of Hong Kong martial arts/comedy/historical action epic films, Tai Chi 0 (Tai Chi Zero). You can find my review of that film here . I described that film as fun to watch, despite its flaws. Unfortunately, this film, Tai Chi Hero only retains the flaws mentioned in that statement, most of the fun has gone.

     This film continues straight on from the end of the previous film (after a confusing first scene which introduces a new character who plays only a small role in the rest of the story). The mysterious stranger who arrives in the village at the end of the first film turns out to be the long lost older brother of Yu Niang (Angelababy), the heroine of the first film. He, Chen Zai Yang (Feng Shaofeng) was sent away from the village in disgrace as a teenager. The family are happy to see him except his father, Master Chen (Tony Leung Ka Fai) who has not forgiven him. He quickly starts trying to turn the village against our hero, Lu Chan (Yuan Xiaochao). The baddie from last time, Feng Zi Jing (Eddie Peng) also makes a return still trying to take revenge on the village, this time with more soldiers.

     The director seems to have used all his visual ideas and interesting situations in the first film because the first hour or more of this film is quite tedious. There is only one really interesting fight scene right at the end of the film. There are some more steam punk elements but none of them are overly interesting. Two other new characters are introduced, Prince Dun (Yuan Wen Kang) who as I mentioned above seems disconnected to the story (maybe it comes together in film 3) and Duke Fleming, an East India Company official (played by Peter Stormare with a very silly accent) who schemes behind the scenes with Feng. The funny sequences are gone as is most of the action and interesting visual ideas from the first film.

     The disc contains both the 2D and 3D versions of the film.

     There is not much to say about this film except that it is tedious and does not bode well for the third film in the trilogy.

Video

     The video quality is very good.

     The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p.

     The picture was very clear and sharp throughout with lots of detail. Shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was very good but was obviously intentionally colour graded.

     There was some mild blocking during motion, which is disappointing for Blu-ray and there was also some shimmer at times.

     There are automatic subtitles in English which are clear but sometimes flash by too quickly and have occasional errors. The subtitles try to translate much of the onscreen Chinese text. The subtitles are for the Chinese dialogue only not for the occasional English sections.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is very good.

     This disc contains a Mandarin/English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1. Most dialogue is in Mandarin however some characters speak in English.

     Dialogue seemed clear and easy to hear and understand.

     The music is a strange mixture of classical music, Chinese rap and Heavy Metal which is another reminder of Quentin Tarantino. The score itself is by Katsunori Ishida. It sounds good on this transfer.

     The surround speakers are used for significant amounts of surround effects and for music and atmosphere. There are some quite obvious effects (probably linked to 3D moments) however there is one scene towards the end of the film where the sound is very impressive (86:30).

     The subwoofer supports the action sequences and the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu included music.

    The US version of this Blu-ray is due for release in July and a Hong Kong version is available but seems very similar to ours. Buy local.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall