The Divine Fury Blu-ray Review

"The Divine Fury" presents a striking visual experience on Blu-ray, utilizing an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Shot using Arri Alexa digital cameras and finished at 2K, this lavish and heavily stylized production showcases deep purples, reds, and blues that add to the film's atmospheric intensity. The detail rendered is impressive, especially in closely shot scenes and backgrounds, such as a car in Seoul or the brightly lit opening between Yong-hoo and his father. However, some CGI elements, particularly lighting effects around Yong-hoo's hand, can appear soft.

Brightly lit sequences, like the opening vignette, provide a natural looking palette and are a stark contrast to the occasionally mild banding in darker scenes. While the blood and gore effects appear quite natural and realistic for an Asian film production, there are noticeable deficits in shadow detail during the darkest scenes. Despite these minor imperfections, the overall quality of the encode is highly satisfactory, offering viewers a rich visual presentation that aligns well with the cinematic intentions.

The Blu-ray audio presentation of "The Divine Fury" comes equipped with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mixes both in the original Korean and a lackluster English dub. It is advisable to stick with the Korean language track unless subtitles pose a significant inconvenience. The audio tracks deliver a punchy, immersive experience, utilizing a lot of surround activity to enhance the film’s eerie atmosphere. The shrieking of demons and the deep, rumbling bass contribute to the film's haunting ambiance, providing a visceral experience throughout its two-hour runtime.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks showcase excellent surround activity, accentuating crowd scenes, such as during the MMA bout, with a consistent level of immersion. Various showdowns with demonic entities demonstrate effective discrete channel usage, delivering clean and clear dialogue, score, and effects. The sound design's fidelity and prioritization are commendable, making for an encompassing auditory experience that complements the movie’s tense exorcisms and supernatural encounters. The pronounced bass and well-rendered effects heighten the thrill and intensity of key scenes, ensuring that the audience remains engaged and engulfed in the narrative.

The Blu-ray extras for "The Divine Fury" present a thoroughly engaging and technically informative look behind the scenes. The Making Of section offers a sequential series of insightful featurettes that cover various aspects of the film's production, following automatically for a seamless viewing experience. Noteworthy highlights include in-depth commentary on props, an exploration of special effects, and an interview with artist James Jean. Theatrical trailers for the film provide both domestic and international promotional perspectives, while the inclusion of Well Go USA trailers rounds out a comprehensive extras package.

Extras included in this disc:

• Making Of: Compilation of behind-the-scenes featurettes.
• Special Effects: Focus on visual effects.
• Item Commentary: Insights into props.
• Production Documentary: Overview of production processes.
• The World of Evil: Exploration of the film's thematic elements.
• Interview with James Jean: Artist's perspectives and contributions.
• Theatrical Trailers: Original promotional trailers.
• Well Go USA Trailers: Additional trailers from the distributor.

"The Divine Fury" presents an intriguing blend of supernatural horror and martial arts, following the journey of Yong-hoo (Park Seo-Joon), an MMA fighter turned exorcist through a mysterious stigmata. The narrative kicks off with a tragic backdrop, depicting Yong-hoo's life-altering loss of his father to demonic forces, which spirals him into a faith crisis. As an adult, he channels his anguish into the fighting ring until the newfound stigmata thrusts him into the spiritual warfare realm. Assisted by Father Ahn (Ahn Sung-ki), a determined Vatican-approved exorcist, Yong-hoo battles a surge of demonic entities plaguing Korea, primarily orchestrated by the sinister Black Bishop (Do-Hwan Woo).

The film oscillates between riveting MMA combat sequences and atmospheric exorcisms. However, despite an initially gripping setup, "The Divine Fury" struggles to maintain a genuinely terrifying ambiance, often veering more towards supernatural action. The tone takes a pivotal shift around the 35-minute mark, borrowing heavily from "The Exorcist," yet lacks the sustained intensity associated with classic horror exorcism narratives. While the hand-to-hand combat scenes, augmented by Yong-hoo's fiery stigmata, provide intermittent thrills, they occasionally verge on the absurd.

Technically, "The Divine Fury" is visually stylish with adept use of effects to convey the eerie and supernatural elements. Nonetheless, the predictability of its plot and absence of substantial scares might leave hardcore horror fans wanting more. The buddy dynamics between Yong-hoo and Father Ahn add an engaging layer but do not sufficiently elevate the film's tension. Despite these shortcomings, the movie remains an unconventional blend that entertains through its irreverent combination of exorcism and martial arts, paving the way for what promises to be an anticipated sequel.

"The Divine Fury" merges several cinematic elements to create a unique viewing experience. It starts as an exploration of a man's struggle with rage and grief following his father's death, incorporating supernatural influences. This quickly transitions into an exorcist horror film and later evolves into a superhero tale reminiscent of "Underworld" and "I, Frankenstein." The narrative culminates in a martial arts showdown featuring angelic and demonic powers. Despite the engaging premise and creative CGI, the film suffers from a lack of genuine scares, which diminishes its potential impact.

From a technical standpoint, "The Divine Fury" is well-executed with a 2.39:1 AVC aspect ratio and offers both DTS-HD MA 5.1 and DD 2.0 audio options in English and Korean, accompanied by English subtitles. The Blu-ray release by Well Go USA ensures a high-quality visual and auditory experience, supporting the film's stylish aesthetic and dynamic action scenes. The cast led by Seo-joon Park, along with the direction and writing by Joo-hwan Kim, delivers commendable performances, though the film's ambitious narrative sometimes undermines its coherence.

In conclusion, "The Divine Fury" is a fascinating blend of genres that, while lacking in consistent scares, offers a visually appealing and entertaining ride for viewers. Its originality and robust technical merits make it worth considering as an intriguing rental for those interested in a novel cinematic experience.