The Forbidden Kingdom, Blu-ray Digital Copy 2-disc set (2008)
Starring: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Liu Yifei, Li Bing Bing. Michael Angarano
Studio: Lionsgate
Video: 2.40:1 anamorphic/enhanced for 16:9 1080p HD
Audio: English DTS 7.1 HD Master Audio, DTS 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Extras: Picture-in-picture feature; Featurettes on: The Kung Fu Dream Team, Dangerous Beauty, Discovering China, Filming in Chinawood, Monkey King and the Eight Immortals, Previsualization with commentary by Rob Minkoff; Commentary track by Minkoff and John Fusco; Deleted scenes with Minkoff & Fusco; Blooper reel; First “MoLog” feature – allowing user to insert audio, text and graphics in the film to create “blogs” to share with other MoLog users (all extras are in HD); 2nd disc contains a standard-def digital copy of The Forbidden Kingdom for downloading
Length: 104 minutes
Rating: ****
A martial arts spectacular designed primarily for young people. Filmed at China’s largest movie lot, southwest of Shanghai (Chinawood), it has many epic scenes using some of the sets and buildings already existing there which the movie producers could never have afforded to construct from scratch. The film centers around a young man in South Boston who comes into possession of a mystical ancient staff from a Chinese antiques dealer. He must return the staff to its original owner – the Monkey King – who is imprisoned in stone by an evil king in a mythical ancient Chinese kingdom. After his transition to the other dimension, he is befriended by Jackie Chan playing the drunken monk, who he asks to train him in the martial arts. (He also plays the elderly owner of the antique shop.) They pick up two others – the beautiful Sparrow and Jet Li as a monk who has sought the staff half of his life, and all make their way, Wizard of Oz-like, to the Jade King’s Palace high atop a mountain. Along the way, plenty of kung-fu action and flying bodies takes place.
Does the kid succeed against all the evil armies, the white-haired beautiful witch and the evil Jade King? And return to Boston with his newly-learned martial arts wisdom? You’ll have watch the movie to find out. The epic scenes are impressive, the fights well-choreographed (though eventually boring to this viewer), and the transfer to Blu-ray is completely successful, especially along with the immersing DTS lossless surround track. Many of the more expressive body slams and whams were physically transmitted via my vibration transducer. I could have done without Jackie Chan’s lengthy voice-over explaining to the young man the entire story of the Monkey King. I sincerely doubt this is “the best martial arts epic ever made,” as touted by a Pacifica Radio commentator quoted on the back cover, but then I’m far from a martial arts movie expert either.
– John Sunier
