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Blood: The
Last Vampire [Blu-ray]
(aka "Last Blood")
(Chris Nahon, 2009)
Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: East Wing & SAJ
Blu-ray: Asmik Ace Entertainment
Disc:
Region: A
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:30:49.444
Disc Size: 45,507,822,216 bytes
Feature Size: 35,026,624, 456 bytes
Video Bitrate: 30.76 Mbps
Chapters: 13
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: October 6th, 2009
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1959 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1959
kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby TrueHD Audio English 930 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 930 kbps
/ 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby TrueHD Audio Japanese 1046 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1046
kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Subtitles:
English, Japanese, none
Extras:
• Making-of – in HD (36:26)
• Stunts & Training – in HD (8:16)
• Make-up – in HD (2:07)
• Jeon Ji Hyun in Japan Screening Event – in HD (10:18)
• Storyboards
The Film:
The deadliest assassin to stand the test of time. From a
Producer of Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon comes Blood: The Last Vampire, based on
the cult hit anime series. Demons have infested Earth. And
only one warrior stands between the dark and the light: Saya,
a half-human, half-vampire samurai who preys on those who
feast on human blood. Joining forces with the shadowy
society known as the Council, Saya is dispatched to an
American military base, where an intense series of
swordfights leads her to the deadliest vampire of all. And
now after 400 years, Saya's greatest hunt is about to begin.
The Movie: 5
Critics have not been kind to this live action rendering of
the original anime. After watching the movie, I decided to
check out the anime (which clocks in at a mere 49 minutes)
for myself. I could see the resemblance in the main
character, Saya, her brooding glances, and the choreography
of several of the various set pieces. Whatever we might
think of the live action film, however - its juvenile
script, jerky CG effects, lame rubber-suited lizardman,
peculiar plotholes and less than stellar acting by the
supporting characters - at least not every line reading
sounds like an audition for a first year drama class. As for
the original anime, I found it unwatchable in its English
language mix. If there is a Japanese version I haven’t seen
it.
Excerpt of review from Amazon.com located HERE
Image:
9/9
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
The first number indicates a relative level of excellence
compared to other Blu-ray video discs on a ten-point scale.
The second number places this image along the full range of
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
I can’t say I was always convinced by the choice of color
filters - most puzzling are the intense golden hues in some
of the outdoor scenes around the high school – but for the
most part, the richly varied photography and production
design is well served by the transfer. I found no
difficulties in the way of brightening, noise (and there is
plenty of opportunities for both), edge enhancements or DNR.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
US Blu-ray TOP
(available
HERE) vs. Japanese Blu-ray
BOTTOM
Audio & Music:
8/7
The odd or, at least unexpected thing about the live action
movie is that the main language mix is English, despite that
the action takes place in Japan and samurai-type swordplay
abounds. On the Japanese Blu-ray (but not on the North
American Sony) there is also a Japanese language audio mix
in better than passable DolbyTrueHD 5.1 that dubs the
English speaking characters. I felt the voicing here is more
dramatically compelling than the English which, in a way, is
not surprising – they being more accustomed to the idiom.
The main character, Saya, speaks both Japanese and English,
though the actress is not a native Japanese language speaker
– She is in fact Jeon Ji Hyun (aka: Gianna Jun or, simply,
Gianna, as she is billed here) the remarkable Korean star of
My Sassy Girl. In any case, she was hardly the only actor
who had trouble with dramatically compelling English,
including the English speakers. To put the matter another
way: in general, the actors spoke as they were the dubbed
version, even though they weren't.
In purely sonic terms, the main “English” 5.1 DTS-HD MA
(There is also an English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD) audio mix is
very good indeed – demo-worthy, I would say. The Dolby
TrueHD mixes are less dynamic, but serviceable. The movie’s
first important set piece takes place in that most familiar
of audio test environments: the subway. The effects of
screeching wheels and massive iron speeding along the tracks
reverberating along the walls and above our heads as the
train passes over the camera are convincing and
appropriately ominous in the DTS mix, as they should be. In
this and later scenes the steel of every blood curdling
slash of the sword as well as the ache of every body blow
comes through with all the power that modern technology can
provide. The music score blends coherently and effectively
with its environmental soundscape. I would have given a
higher score if the dialogue were mixed in with as much
care.
Operations:
7
When the characters speak in Japanese, the North American
Sony Blu-ray brings up English subs; alas, this is not the
case for the Japanese Asmik Blu-ray, for which we must
activate the English subtitle option, which remains in play
for the English speaking actors as well - Makes a certain
sense given the market for that disc. On the other hand, the
English subtitle option is entirely useful when you access
the Japanese 5.1 DolbyTrueHD Dub. Cool, huh. The menu is in
both English and Japanese. The Extra Features menu is more
obscure, but not that hard to make sense of. Even though
this is a Japanese edition, the extra features are all in
spoken English, regardless of the speaker, for which
Japanese subtitles are available. The cover title for the
Japanese edition is: "Last Blood" though the title card in
the movie remains Blood: The Last Vampire.
Extras:
5
A quick comparison with the North American Sony release
reveals they are the much the same though titled
differently. They include several behind-the-scenes
segments, actor/character interviews, a press conference and
storyboards - all presented in good quality HD (the Sony
extras are in SD) with English dialogue and optional
Japanese subtitles.
Bottom line:
5
The Japanese Asmik disc reveals a shade more texture to the
image and a bit more bite to the audio as compared to the
North American Sony release, and is at times demo worthy.
More important, it has a Japanese dub that, in some ways, is
superior to the default English track. On the other hand,
the Sony includes the anime in HD. I'm going to give this
movie another shot someday to see if rises to the level of
camp. It certainly makes for a good popcorn throwing at the
screen flic.
Leonard Norwitz
January 9th, 2010
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