Review by Leonard Norwitz
Studio:
Theatrical: Jing's Production Ltd.
Blu-ray: MegaStar (Hong Kong)
Disc:
Region: FREE!
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:31:37.041
Disc Size: 23,972,553,440 bytes
Feature Size: 21,160,679,424 bytes
Video Bitrate: 23.82 Mbps
Chapters: 20
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: April 23rd, 2009
Video:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p / 24 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
Dolby TrueHD Audio English 2372 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 2372
kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Chinese 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Subtitles:
English, Chinese (traditional and simplified), none
Extras:
• Making of – in SD (23:14) in English
• Trailer
The Film:
Imagine my surprise when “Naked Weapon”, a movie written by
Jing Wong, the man behind such lackluster fare as “The Duel”
and “High Risk”, turned out to be one of the more
entertaining films I’ve seen in a long while. The movie,
about young girls abducted (some lured by promises of
wealth) into the training camp of one Madame M to be her
next elite international assassin, is a Chicks Kick Ass
flick in the vein of “Charlie’s Angels”, but with the
sensibility of a Playboy Wet and Wild video, and the balls
of Hong Kong action films like Tsui Hark’s “Time and Tide.”
“Naked Weapon” is half exploitation and half balls-out
action. Director Siu-Tung Ching handles both angles
exceptionally well.
Excerpt of review from Beyond Hollywood located HERE
The Movie: 5
I'd like you to imagine yourself a rich international
terrorist, with enough money to finance some fairly
extravagant operations with a view to the long term. Like
most rich people, you are careful with your investments and
don't squander your money on mere adventures just for the
sake of being cool. So you decide you are going to fund a
project that would kidnap pubescent girls from all over the
world – girls who have shown a certain talent for martial
arts – and take them to a secret island to be trained over a
period of six or seven years to become the best assassins in
the world. You can imagine an army of Nikitas and the
payoffs from contractors. Big money, eh!
Now, your director of operations has just had to kill an
agent who was seriously hurt in an otherwise successful
assassination, lest she fall into the hands of the
authorities and blow her cover. The director needs new blood
and so more kidnappings. After another half dozen years she
gets it into her head to narrow the field of trainees by
having them kill one another off in a sort of Battle Royale
so that only the best will be left standing. So, I ask you,
if you were the money behind this whole scheme, what would
you have to say about your director at this point, realizing
that you will only have one assassin to show for the your
half dozen years of funding, and keeping in mind the last
one didn't live so long?
Did you say: "Off her head?" I should bloody well hope so.
But not in Naked Weapon where the money flows like wine and
the laws of economics don't apply. It isn't entirely clear,
but the director of this operation, a certain "Madame M" (Almen
Wong) may be financing this scheme entirely on her own, and
the assassin she had to terminate may not have been the
result of an earlier set of kidnappings and trainings, but
this doesn't change the basic economics and probabilities of
the thing.
This nonsense behind us and things settle down to an
interesting drama with lots of kick-ass action and some
gorgeous images of Charlene (Maggie Q), Katt (Anya) and Jing
(Jewell Lee) . After all, some of these girls have mothers,
and they're still alive. Meanwhile CIA agent Jack Chen
(Daniel Wu) has been following the disappearance of many of
these girls from six years ago and believes a connection
with the sudden increase of high profile gangster
assassinations.
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.
MegaStar offers Naked Weapon the high gloss image it
deserves. Colors pop, though not unnaturally. Blacks are
deep and solid. Shadows offer plenty of detail (this isn't a
mystery, after all). Sharpness and resolution is very good,
in fact the impression is that both are better than they
actually are due to lighting and contrast. I found no nasty
artifacts, DNR or edge enhancement and, except for one
curious thin scratch in a night scene over the harbor, I
found no blemishes either. The actual presented aspect ratio
is closer to 1.80:1.
CLICK EACH
BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio & Music:
6/6
The Chinese track appears to be the dub, rather than the
other way around. In fact, the major players are all more
than competent English speakers, having been raised in
English speaking countries. In any case, the audio is
otherwise much the same, accounting for the difference in
spoken language and compressed vs. uncompressed mix. The
music, when it appears, seems hell bent on making certain we
are unclear whether or not the surrounds are engaged in
proper ambient work, though some crowd and traffic noise
leaks through. Occasional locational cues are evident,
especially during the action scenes. The dialogue,
especially on the Dolby TrueHD track, is crystal clear.
Operations:
8
MegaStar offers a menu design that is simple, easy to read
and access its various windows.
Extras:
3
Besides a trailer there is only a clearly presented
making-of featurette that, while it plays like a promo,
touches on all the major production points. We get to see
and hear the actors in English interviews, settling that
question.
Bottom line:
6
Naked Weapon is what we call a "guilty pleasure". The basic
premise borders on idiotic, but the story that follows, once
that aspect of the story plays itself out, isn't nearly as
insulting and offers several gorgeous women in suitable
outfits performing some credible martial arts, creatively
choreographed. A very good Blu-ray image makes this title
all the more attractive.
Leonard Norwitz
February 7th, 2010
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