Legendary Amazons Blu-ray Review

The Blu-ray presentation of "Legendary Amazons," offered by Well Go USA, showcases an AVC encoded 1080p transfer framed at 2.34:1, originally shot on a Red One camera. The resulting video quality largely impresses with vibrant and well-balanced colors, showcasing impressive depth and clarity. The grand exterior locations truly shine, capturing fine object details even in wide shots. The close-up scenes are particularly noteworthy for their exceptional detail, allowing viewers to appreciate every intricate element of the elaborate costumes and sets. The film's color palette remains lush and accurate, providing a consistently strong contrast throughout the movie.

However, the Blu-ray transfer also reveals certain imperfections, particularly in the CGI and green screen effects. These elements appear somewhat mediocre, softened, and undetailed compared to the rest of the pristine footage. In some cases, it appears that these effects may not have been rendered at the same resolution as the live-action photography, resulting in visible artifacting and aliasing. These issues, while detracting from the overall visual experience, do not overshadow the high-quality transfer that captures the film's rich aesthetic without excessive color grading.

The audio presentation of the "Legendary Amazons" Blu-ray is robust, offering both Mandarin and English tracks in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 formats. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix stands out with its aggressive surround activity and bombastic LFE presence, delivering a house-shaking experience. Battle scenes are filled with detailed foley effects while quieter scenes are enriched with articulate background noise, maintaining a lively audio landscape. Dynamic range is commendable, with crystal clear dialogue across varying intensities.

However, there is a notable flaw in the Mandarin tracks, which exhibit persistent digital distortion absent in the English tracks. This distortion, likely embedded in the Mandarin mix itself, negatively impacts the otherwise stellar audio experience. Despite this, the English dub tracks mirror the directionality and clarity of the original audio, though at the cost of subpar voice performances. Given that the Mandarin track is the native language of the film, this issue proves to be a significant disappointment for purists.

In summary, while the audio details and effects on this Blu-ray are top-notch—particularly for action sequences—the digital distortion in the Mandarin tracks detracts from its overall quality. Nonetheless, the English tracks present a viable alternative, maintaining auditory fidelity despite lackluster vocal acting.

The extras included in the Blu-ray release of "Legendary Amazons" provide a mixed experience in terms of video and audio quality, with the "Behind the Scenes" featurette offering useful insight but requiring viewers to adjust their expectations. Despite a disclaimer warning about subpar video and audio quality, the behind-the-scenes footage is fairly decent visually but marred by frequent audio cutouts and volume inconsistencies. The feature struggles with the coherence of its interviews, which remain uninformative and overly enthusiastic. Conversely, the theatrical trailer is presented in high definition and serves as an effective, albeit brief, glimpse into the film's core aesthetics.

Extras included in this disc:

• Behind the Scenes: An hour of random footage interspersed with cast and crew interviews.
• Theatrical Trailer: A short, high-definition preview of the film.

"Legendary Amazons," produced by Jackie Chan and directed by Frankie Chan, is a reimagining of the classic tale of the Yang Clan, focusing on its fearless women warriors. While the film is visually lavish, showcasing elaborate period costumes and massive action set pieces, it ultimately falls short of being a cohesive epic. The narrative centers around Mu Guiying (Cecilia Cheung) who steps up after believing her husband, General Yang Zongbao (Richie Jen), has fallen in battle. She rallies her son Wenguang (Xiao Mingyu) and other female fighters to continue the fight, delivering a series of hyperbolic wire work and intense swordplay that offer some visceral thrills.

However, despite its impressive visual elements, the film’s execution suffers from several faults. The CGI is particularly problematic; the visual effects are amateurish, often distracting from the overall experience rather than enhancing it. This issue is compounded by the manic camerawork, which fails to distinguish between dialogue scenes and high-octane battle sequences, leading to a disjointed viewing experience. Additionally, the film introduces a large number of characters in rapid succession, often through brief on-screen subtitles, making it difficult to keep track of who's who, let alone establish a deeper emotional connection with any of them.

The storytelling in "Legendary Amazons" is hindered by an overabundance of exposition and a convoluted plot that fails to engage. The excessive dialogue in the initial acts attempts to set up the backstory but largely serves to slow the pace, making the film feel more talky than necessary for an action-centric narrative. The overacting by the cast, aiming perhaps for dramatic intensity, instead often veers into melodrama. While the action elements provide some entertainment, the lackluster CGI and muddled story ultimately undermine the film's potential.

"Legendary Amazons" is a film filled with ambitions but falls short in execution. The production design is impressive with intricately detailed sets and costumes that truly capture the eye. However, the experience is hindered by subpar CGI that detracts from the visual appeal, highlighting moments of forced and unrealistic digital environments. The film also struggles with an excess of characters, leading to convoluted storytelling that impedes audience engagement. Furthermore, the performances often veer into excessive melodrama, undermining the narrative's intended gravitas.

The video transfer of this Blu-ray release generally excels, presenting a sharp and vibrant picture quality that faithfully reproduces the film's rich color palette. Yet, the problematic CGI blemishes these otherwise high standards. On the audio front, the mix is commendably aggressive, offering an enveloping soundscape that enhances the viewing experience. However, there is a subtle but noticeable digital distortion in the Mandarin tracks, which slightly diminishes the overall audio quality. The soundtrack's dynamic range stands out, especially in action sequences where every clang and clash resonates powerfully.

If your expectations are appropriately set to the middling level, "Legendary Amazons" is actually a lot of fun. It's a throwback to the Shaw Brothers ethos, though it would have been manifestly better had it stuck to the Shaw's tendency toward lo-fi thrills with a minimum of exposition. "Legendary Amazons" is a more ambitious film, but unfortunately those ambitions aren't completely realized, and the effort to flesh out what are in essence cartoon characters simply seems like a massive waste of time. The best thing about the film is its impressive production design (minus the clunky CGI), and there's no denying that "Legendary Amazons," no matter what its dramatic shortcomings, is an eyeful and a half. Every so often all of us needs a little mindless entertainment, and that is more or less exactly what "Legendary Amazons" provides, even if it tries to pretend it's offering something deeper.