The Rebel (2007)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action	Featurette-Making Of
Rating
Year Of Production	2007
Running Time	99:52
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Truc 'Charlie' Nguyen
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Johnny Nguyen Thanh Van Ngo Dustin Nguyen Stephane Gauger
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	Christopher Wong

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Vietnamese Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Vietnamese Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Vietnamese produced films are pretty few and far between, certainly on DVDs released here in Australia. This one was released as part of Roadshow's Dragon Dynasty series a couple of years ago and had completely flown under my radar until now. I have read that this was the biggest budget film made in Vietnam to that point ($3 million) and it is certainly a good quality product both as a martial arts action film and as a story in itself. The film is called The Rebel in English and was produced by Johnny Tri Nguyen who also stars as Cuong and directed the action scenes (which are very impressive indeed).

     The story is set in a similar time to Indochine, 1920s Vietnam, and has quite similar themes in many ways. Cuong is a native Vietnamese but also works for the Colonial power as a secret policeman, hunting down rebels against the French regime. During an assassination attempt against a French official, Cuong and his boss, the seemingly indestructible Sy (Dustin Tri Nguyen), capture a young rebel woman, Thuy (Ngo Thanh Van). They realise that she is the daughter of the rebel leader and torture her trying to get her to tell them where her father is hiding. Cuong has become disillusioned with the regime and helps Thuy to escape and they join forces to escape from Cuong's colleagues and join up with Thuy's father.

     Despite having somewhat low production values and a script which could have used some more work to add clarity, there is a lot to like about this film, especially for martial arts buffs. It is full of well staged, easy to follow and very physical action scenes, featuring all three of the lead actors and many extras. Those who detest wire work will love the action scenes on show here. As well as being a quality action film, it is also quite a good melodrama about the situation in Vietnam under the French. The three leads show good acting chops as well as martial arts skills.

     I enjoyed this film and would recommend it for martial arts fans looking for something a little different.

Video

     The video quality is good. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio or close to it.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp but was affected by some MPEG artefacts (such as at 84:56) and quite grainy backgrounds in some scenes (e.g., 46:20).The shadow detail was good. The colour is a bit dull and lifeless possibly as a result of a sepia filter and naturalistic lighting being used. There were no other artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English which were clear and easy to read but burned into the picture.

     The layer change causes a very minor pause.

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 Vietnamese and French Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s and a 2.0 track at 224 Kb/s.

     Dialogue seemed clear and easy to hear but my Vietnamese is a bit rusty. The music by Christopher Wong is very suitable to the material adding appropriate tension and melodrama. The surround speakers were well used for action scenes, atmosphere and music. The subwoofer was used mostly for music support plus some thumps and thuds.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

     The menu was still, silent and easy to use.

Making Of (37:26)

     A long behind the scenes featurette showing the filming of various scenes and special effects. The video quality is poor and the presentation is unimpressive.

    The Region 1 release of this film is a two disc set with significantly more extras including a commentary, deleted scenes are more. Region 1 is definitely the go.

    The video quality is good. The audio quality is very good. The extra is OK.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall