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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: June 14th, 2016.
Director: Teddy Chan
Cast: Tony Leung Ka Fei, Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Zueqi Wang, Nicholas Tse, Simon Yam
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
Set in 1905, Teddy Chan's 2009 epic Bodyguards And Assassins tells the story of… some bodyguards and some assassins. There's more to it than that though, but the title more or less cuts to the chase and lets you know what this movie is all about. At any rate, the film is set before the corrupt Qing Dynasty is overthrown, while Hong Kong, under British rule, is in a bit of turmoil. A man named Sun Yat Sun, a political philosopher of sorts, preaches the merits of democracy and while this doesn't exactly go unnoticed by the authorities who are known too happy with his ideas, his words do seem to click with a certain segment of the population.
Within this segment is a young man named Chung Guang (Wang Bo Chieh) and his father, Li Yu Tang (Wang Xueqi), a wealthy businessman who is quietly trying to help rally support for Dr. Sun's ideas in conjunction with his friend, Chen Shao Bai (Tony Leung Ka Fai). When Chung Guang gets a little too involved with the impending revolution for his father's liking, things get tense but eventually they, as well as a few other like minded individuals - a lovelorn policeman named Sum Chung-yang (Donnie Yen), a giant tofu maker named Wang Fu-ming (Mongolian basketball player Mengke Bateer), a beggar named Liu Yubai (Leon Lai) and a teenage girl named Fang Hong (Yuchun Li) out to avenge the death of her father (Simon Yam) - find themselves having to guard him as he's transported across town. The government, however, doesn't want Dr. Sun to make it and so they've hired groups of assassins to lay in waiting along their route.
Supposedly (very loosely) based on a true story, Bodyguards And Assassins really takes its time to get to the action so those looking for a hardcore martial arts punch'em up will probably take serious issue with the pacing here - BUT the film absolutely redeems itself in the last hour. The first half of the film is all set up, which means, aside from a few bits and pieces, it's pretty much all talk. This does, however, let us get to know the characters and appreciate them and their plight before it all hits the fan for the big finale. If the script gets heavy handed and wears its patriotism on its sleeve, so be it, but regardless of where your political sympathies lie you could find yourself checking your watch.
The action definitely comes front and center in the later part of the picture, however, and the movie does shine in this department. Donnie Yen gets the best fight of the movie when he goes up against the main bad guy (MMA fighter Cung Le) in what you'd expect to be the film's finale. It's an intense and very well choreographed fight and the stand out set piece in the film. Not to be outdone, however, there are quite a few other 'big fights' that'll keep you interested, with honorable mention going to Mengke Bateer, whose character takes a serious beating, and to Leon Lai, who is not surprisingly a complete bad ass, something the audience knows early on even if the characters in the film don't seem to realize it. The production values are top notch, the costumes impressive and detailed and the score sufficiently emotional - all of this helps us to overlook the pacing issues that plague the first half of the movie. Look at this one as more of drama than the balls out action movie it's been marketed as and you won't walk away disappointed at all.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Bodyguards And Assassins looks pretty good in this AVC encoded 2.35.1 widescreen 1080p high definition transfer. Colors are nice and bold, well defined throughout, while black levels generally stay pretty strong. Detail and texture are frequently pretty impressive and the image is clean, free of any debris or obvious damage. Shadow detail is a little iffy in a couple of the darker scenes but otherwise, there's nothing to complain about here. This offers a very nice and noticeable upgrade over the DVD release that came out domestically in 2011.
The audio options are handled by a Mandarin DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track, though an optional English language DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo mix is also included along with a Mandarin DTS-HD 2.0 Stereo track. Subs are provided in English only. The 5.1 track is fairly active, with some good directional effects and nice use made of the surrounds for both the sound effects and the score.
In terms of extra features, things start off with a thirty-three minute long Behind The Scenes piece that's loaded up with plenty of footage shot on set during the production as well as the requisite cast and crew interviews. It's well put together and pretty interesting.
we get five featurettes, the first of which is a twenty-one minute look at the characters in the film by way of some cast interviews. These are fairly interesting and all involved seem pretty hyped to be involved with the movie and we also get a good look behind the scenes of Yen's fight sequence, the stand out action set piece in the film. After that we get a quick three minute look at the set design work employed in the film, and then a quick two minute look at the costume design work - both of which are admittedly quite impressive. There's also a two minute piece on the makeup work, and the final featurette gives us a five minute look at how the action sequences were staged and how some of the stunt work was accomplished.
There are also four interviews included, basically extended versions of the interviews seen in the section on the characters, that includes further input (and repeated clips) from Leon Lai, Wang Xueqi, Tony Leung Ka Fei and Peter Chan. Animated menus, chapter stops and a trailer for the feature round out the extras nicely.
The Final Word:
Though it takes a while to get going Bodyguards And Assassins absolutely redeems itself in the last half where the character development starts to pay off and the action starts to kick in. Once that happens, the movie really fires on all cylinders, so stick with it - it's worth it. The extras on the disc are solid and this Blu-ray release offers a substantial upgrade in audio and video quality compared to the previously release DVD version.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
