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Blu-ray Review Let the Bullets Fly Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Citizen87645

Reviewer
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Cameron Yee

Its clever word play gets mostly lost in translation, making the Chinese action-comedy “Let the Bullets Fly” a tough one to sit through for those needing subtitles. However, a strong Blu-ray audio and video presentation make the title worth a look for those able to follow the movie’s fast-paced Mandarin Chinese dialogue.



 

Let the Bullets Fly

Release Date: April 24, 2012

Studio: Well Go USA Entertainment

Packaging/Materials: Two-disc Blu-ray case with slipcover

Year: 2010

Rating: R

Running Time: 2:12:25

MSRP: $29.98

 

THE FEATURE

SPECIAL FEATURES

Video

AVC: 1080p high definition 2.35:1

High definition

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio: Mandarin 5.1, English 5.1 Dolby Digital: Mandarin 2.0, English 2.0

Stereo

Subtitles

English

English


The Feature: 3/5

In 1920s China, train robbers led by the irascible Pocky Zhang (Jiang Wen) intercept an administrative official, his wife (Carina Lau), and his aide (Ge You) en route to a new governorship. With the official inadvertently killed in the train crash engineered by the bandits, the surviving aide and the wife help Pocky to impersonate the governor in order to steal money from the town where they were headed. But impersonating a Chinese official isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when Pocky has to contend with a local crime boss (Chow Yun Fat) who holds the real keys to the city. The inevitable confrontation between the two headstrong men will be anything but pleasant, but it might finally give the town the kind of leader it’s been looking for.

The Chinese action-comedy “Let the Bullets Fly” made me realize how boring “Pulp Fiction” must be for those who don’t understand the English language. Like Quentin Tarantino’s incisive crime movie, “Bullets” includes copious amounts of clever dialogue and word play, but the English subtitling never manages to do the Chinese language justice.

The issue wouldn’t have dawned on me if not for an early scene involving two characters sitting around a table, trying to negotiate...something. It seemed to take forever, but it had an undeniable rhythm propelling the constant banter. Finally I turned to my Mandarin-speaking fiancée (now my wife) and asked her if there was anything particularly sly or witty going on in the exchange. She said there was, and that it was actually quite funny. At first I felt pretty smart for realizing there was something more going on than just a lot of talking, but then ultimately kind of dumb for not understanding one bit of it (I’m working on that though).

Consequently, “Bullets” has a pretty limited appeal for those whose native language isn’t Chinese. The nuances of the script will tend to get lost in the subtitle translations, leaving the viewer in the dark, if not a bit frustrated. The action set pieces and slapstick humor offer some respite with their more universal, physical language, but they’re not likely to sustain one’s attention for the film’s over two-hour run time.


Video Quality: 4/5

The 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer is framed at 2.35:1 and features inky blacks, strong contrast, and impressive detail and sharpness. The color palette is often limited to earth tones and blacks and whites, but scenes in the more affluent environments, like the crime boss’s home, give the transfer a chance to display the depth of its color rendering. Digital compression artifacts are kept to a minimum, but a couple instances of posterization and banding will stand out to the more observant. However, there aren't any obvious signs of excessive digital sharpening or noise reduction.


Audio Quality: 4/5

Dialogue in the Mandarin language 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is consistently crisp and clear. Surround effects can be quite aggressive but also nicely balanced and rendered. Low frequency effects are significant, giving weight to the various crashes, gun fights and kung fu battles.


Special Features: 1/5


Original Trailer (3:46, HD)


Teaser (2:42, HD)


Trailer (1:48, HD)


Previews: Pre-menu-loading trailers include "Warriors of the Rainbow: Saadiq Baalé" (2:14, HD), "War of the Arrows" (1:38, HD), "The Front Line" (1:51, HD), and "Blade of Kings" (1:31, HD).


DVD: The disc includes the main feature presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic video and Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 tracks for both Mandarin and English languages. Special features mirror those on the Blu-ray disc.


Recap

The Feature: 3/5

Video Quality: 4/5

Audio Quality: 4/5

Special Features: 1/5

Overall Score (not an average): 3/5


Well Go USA delivers a solid presentation for the Chinese action-comedy “Let the Bullets Fly,” a film that will ultimately play best with those not needing to rely on subtitles. The special features are meager, unfortunately, lacking any glimpses behind the

scenes. Still, the title is worth a look for those who can follow the film’s original language dialogue.


 

SeanAx

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Sean Axmaker
I really enjoyed this film. I was a big fan of the Hong Kong action movie heyday of the 1980s and while this doesn't have nearly that level of action, it has the attitude, the flippant comic relief, the crazy plot twists, the exaggerated characters, and especially the shifting balance of power in the battle of wits. I loved the nesting doll quality of the identities, the way the characters would pose as one person playing another, and how those identities (real and false alike) would play into the schemes.

The wordplay is, I'm sure, largely lost on me, but I enjoy watching Chow Yun-fat and Jiang Wen play each other in the negotiation scenes, with Chow playing large than life, flamboyant and physical, in contrast to the stillness of Jiang and his poker face smile, the calm at the center of the hurricane.

Which is not to proclaim it a masterpiece, merely a very entertaining piece of distinctively Hong Kong filmmaking in mainland China. Having watched a lot of the old Hong Kong action cinema, I'm probably more attuned to these details than someone coming in cold, so its quite possible that others won't get the same enjoyment of the humor as I do. But for me, it's fun to see how the old Hong Kong industry is influencing mainland popular filmmaking. It clearly is working for them, for this is currently the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time.
 

Martin Teller

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Martin Teller
As I said in another thread, it's an entertaining film but nowhere near the quality of Jiang Wen's three previous movies. I'm tempted to buy this just because more sales might increase the likelihood of Blu-Ray releases for In the Heat of the Sun, Devils on the Doorstep and The Sun Also Rises.
 

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