Review by Michael Den Boer
Studio:
Theatrical: Shaw Brothers
Blu-ray: Well Go Usa
Disc:
Region: 'A'
(as verified by the
Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 2:01:00.953
Disc Size: 22,974,184,152 bytes
Feature Size: 21,676,413,440 bytes
Video Bitrate: 19.21 Mbps
Chapters: 10
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: April 27th, 2010
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution:
1080i
/ 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps /
16-bit
LPCM Audio Chinese 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps /
16-bit
Subtitles:
English, Chinese, none
Extras:
• Trailers for Two Champions of Shaolin
(1:03; Letterboxed Widescreen), Brothers
Five (1:16; Letterboxed Widescreen), Heroes
Shed no Tears (1:01; Letterboxed Widescreen)
The Film:
Chu Wen a power hungry ambassador to the
emperor Tang, pits Li Ke Yung the king of
the Sha To province against a rebel general.
The Heroic Ones is an epic tale about
loyalty and betrayal that was directed by
Cheh Chang one of the Shaw Brothers most
influential directors during the late 1960’s
and 1970’s. His most notable films as a
director include
The One-Armed Swordsman,
Golden Swallow,
Crippled Avengers and
Five
Deadly Venoms. Visually The Heroic Ones
perfectly combines melodrama with awe
inspiring sword fights. This is an action
film first and foremost with the film’s only
weakness being that there are too many lead
characters that never fully get time to
blossom.
The story as a whole is very satisfying as
alliances are broken and no one is safe even
from family from betrayal. One of the film
back-stories is about two of Li Ke Yung’s
sons Li Tsun Hsin and Li Kang Chun who are
jealous of their younger brother Li Tsun
Hsiao who gets the approval they so
desperately want from their father. This sub
plot also leads to the film's most
disturbing moment was when Li Tsun Hsin and
Li Kang Chun dismember their younger Li Tsun
Hsiao. The real villain of the story is
ambassador Chu Wen whose scheming for
personal gain is what sets forth Li Tsun
Hsin and Li Kang Chun betraying of their
family. The way the film ends leaves Chu
Wen’s fate unresolved.
The cast are all very good all around with
the standout performance coming from David
Chiang as Li Tsun Hsiao. Also in Bolo Yeung
in one of his first roles appears as General
Meng. The score for the film features a
music cue from the James Bond film On Her
Majesty’s Secret Service. Ultimately The
Heroic Ones makes up for its underdeveloped
characters with its exceptional action
sequences.
Excerpt of review from 10kbullets located
HERE
Image:
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
This transfer like all of Well Go USA's
other Shaw Brothers DVD and Blu-ray releases
is interlaced. The interlaced image has some
issues with 'combing' which is more
pronounced during horizontal pan action sequences. When
comparing this transfer with the Well Go USA DVD release of
The
Heroic Ones, the colors, flesh tones and
black levels fare 'slightly' richer as does
detail and contrast.
Audio & Music:
This release comes with two audio options, a
Dolby Digital stereo mix in Mandarin and a
Dolby Digital stereo mix in English.
Removable English and Chinese subtitles have
been included. The audio mixes sound clean
and clear throughout. The English subtitles
don't appear to be 'Dub' titles. Once again
I noticed a few instances few grammatical
errors in the English subtitle track.
Extras:
Extras are limited to three trailer Two
Champions of Shaolin, Brothers Five and
Heroes Shed no Tears . All three trailers
are presented in a letterboxed widescreen,
in Mandarin with no English subtitles and
in standard definition.
Bottom line:
Another missed opportunity from Well Go USA,
who release yet another sub-par Blu-ray that
has many of the same problems which also
plagued their DVD release of The Heroic
Ones.
Michael Den Boer
May 2nd, 2010