ADDITION: Dragon Dynasty Region FREE - Blu-ray - October 2010: Legend of the Black Scorpion (or 'Banquet') is such a lavish film - it was quite breathtaking to see it in 1080P resolution. The DVD had as marvelous image but the Blu-ray tightens up even further (notable in close-ups) and the visuals now have real depth to them. The bitrate is 4x that of the DVD. In short it looks extremely impressive - almost 'demo' material - as I hope the screen captures below will bear out.

The lossless audio is up to the task equalling the outstanding video. We get a DTS-HD 'monster' 5.1 at 4049 kbps in original Mandarin. The film is rife with effects and deft separations. As mentioned in the film review portion there are five featured soloists and singers on Tan Dun's score sounding crisp and sharp with some nice subtleties peeking thru. This exhibits excellent range. There are subtitle options and my Momitsu has verified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

All the same extras as the DVD (see below) - minus one trailer and the 7-minute Cannes promo.

I enjoyed this film much more on Blu-ray (as often the case). It's a heck of a good looking film with a heck of a good looking cast. I'm surprised it didn't get more recognition but for those keen it should make for an outstanding night in the home theater - an Asian epic of grand proportions... and a great price too!

***

ON THE DVD: This came out with a decent image/audio in Region 3 (actually I believe the disc was region 0) HERE.  I can't speak how that MediaAsia transfer compares but this Dragon Dynasty (Weinstein), also sourced from MediaAsia, is excellent. Colors are bright and rich, detail is exceptional for an SD and contrast is at the very high end. The feature is on a dual-layered, progressive and anamorphic disc in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Kudos to the art direction and cinematography and I only wish I could see this film in the glory of 1080P Blu-ray as I'll wager it would be stunning. As it is, there are no complaints with this SD DVD.

Audio comes in three flavors - Mandarin DTS and 5.1 plus and English 5.1 DUB. I tested the two Mandarin tracks and was very impressed - they exported a lot of depth and clarity. Certainly worthy of the sterling image quality.  There are optional subtitles supporting the dialogue in English (CC), English or Spanish.

The reasonable 2-disc package is loaded with extras. Bey Logan has become an old hand at these Asian film commentaries and seems to improve on each one that I hear. Loaded with valuable, often hidden, information - we give the commentary a thumbs-up if you are at all keen on some of the history associated with the film. Disc 2 (also dual-layered) starts with two interviews. One 20 minute one with director Feng Xiao-gang - and like all supplements in this package - it has optional English or English close-captioned subtitles. A second, slightly longer interview has a one-on-one with actor Daniel Wu. There are two production featurettes - The Making of Legend of the Black Scorpion runs about 15 minutes and is moderately watchable. The second, A Dynasty Uncovered: Behind the Scenes on Legend of the Black Scorpion, goes into more depth with input from cast, crew and performers. It runs almost 45 minutes long. There is a trailer gallery (with 3 separate trailers of the film) and in that section is also a Cannes Promo (almost 7 minutes).

The film? - a bit ponderous at times but the wonderful visuals support the narrative and personally kept me attentive. It's kind of an old-fashioned structure to a certain degree and Ziyi Zhang is as lovely as ever (and nude). In some sense it achieves its 'Hamlet' link goals and fans of modern Asian cinema should definitely have a 'boo' - especially at this price - the package gives very strong value for all that you are getting. Yes, we recommend!   

Gary W. Tooze