Hero (Special Edition) – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

Zhang Yimou’s Hero is a rare type of epic. It acts as China’s origin story, but it forgoes many of the typical conventions of the historical epic, in favor of powerful story telling, and a battle of wits. The film is told from Jet Li’s Nameless, a warrior hellbent on revenge from the tyranny this reclusive emperor has put the various six sections in. Since the emperor is so secluded, there needed to be a way to get close to him, without him knowing. Told in flashbacks as Nameless tells of how he killed the three conspirators against the emperor, with each successful feat getting him closer to the emperor.

For a 93 minute film, there is not an ounce wasted of the running time, as each scene is masterfully crafted, oozing with such beauty, you cannot take your eyes off of the screen. Zhang uses color to enhance not only the set pieces, but the themes as well. When a film features Donny Yen and Jet Li, and you remember certain scenes for its lyrical beauty over those two performers, then we got a special film here. Hero is not only a film for your eyes, as it is for your ears too, featuring a rousing, haunting score by Tan Dun. The score is so complex and engaging, it builds a language unto it’s own, and you can get a sense of the love and tragedy of the characters without reading the subtitles.

You know a film is pretty special when I can use more words on the score, the cinematography, than the action. Hero features some great action choreography, that crafts the fighting with such vigor and intensity, as any previous wuxia, but the shining element to these fights, is the poetic nature of each encounter. There’s such grace, skill, and attention to detail in the fight sequences, I would rather call them a performing art piece, than hand-to-hand combat.

Despite the intense praise I have bestowed upon it already, it should come to no surprise that I regard this film as a masterpiece. An achievement in all areas, it’s rare to see a film who’s center stage isn’t the actors (even though they’re all astounding), but the artistry in each frame, from set design, to fight choreography, to the music, that it’s amazing to hear some of the Chinese criticisms to the film. Some Chinese critics have dismissed its intentions of saying how China was united, by pointing out its subtext of security and national stability, over human rights like freedom. It’s this pro-totalitarian mindset these critics have mentioned, that I find odd coming from a still Communist country, despite the recent Globalization of their economy. I also find these notions rather narrow minded, as a Westerner I found the meaning of what Zhang was aiming for, this mentality of “our land” to have contemporary importance, especially in a post 9/11 world. I think Zhang hit his mark, and this film is a modern masterpiece.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Miramax has taking a lot of heat for this release, with an average high def transfer and a controversial call on the audio. But unlike their other martial art films they’ve released recently, this one is a very good effort all around. Hero is known for its wonderful use of colors, and this is a near gorgeous transfer in that regard. I’ve seen Hero many times whether it was theatrically, DVD, or on TV, and it never had a good looking print, until this high def one. I’ve heard that even the international discs, DVD or Blu-ray, never looked good, so this is a cause of minor celebration for the film’s fans.

Now, while the Original Chinese track is really good, if not great; loud, bass heavy, constant rear speaker activity, Miramax chose to use the old Dolby Digital 5.1 track and gave the English dub a spiffy and quite spectacular new DTS coding. Fans of martial art cinema are particular in their original audio, so this is the controversy. The English dub is also lossless for those with that ability in the receivers.

My take is that while it’s nice to have multiple options on foreign films for audio, either both should have at least got the new DTS treatment, and not just the dub, because the real fans will always listen to the original audio first, if not always. Failure to know your audience, hurts the real potential of this release. At least everything sounds crisp and robust. Casual fans will have nothing to complain about.

All extras are in standard definition.

Hero Defined: This is a longer EPK, with nothing of any importance, sadly.

Inside the Action: This features Jet Li and Tarantino discussing the film’s action. It’s okay, but it was shot during the time he was doing Kill Bill and feels like a commercial. Worth a quick peek, though.

Close-up of a Fight: New to Blu-ray, this is a bit more in-depth about the fantastic fights, but is unused footage from the Tarantino/Li interview.

Storyboards, Soundtrack TV Spot, and a Digital Copy (on disc 2) round out the extras.

Conclusion: This masterpiece is in a home video format that is finally a winner. This is an easy upgrade, if you have the older DVD, but sadly the audio issues, and lack of any good extras hurt Hero‘s first Blu-ray appearance. I still recommend the purchase, though.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating:

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