L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties - DVD Review

[Michael Scott]

L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I’m a huge HUGE fantasy buff, and have been ever since I was introduced to Tolkien at the tender age of 9. Hearing that Jingming Guo’s fantasy novels were coming to film, I was HUGELY eager to check it out. I was a little frustrated that the 3D film that was released in China was coming to America in DVD only form, AND with an English dub, but was willing to work with it, as something like L.O.R.D: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties (henceforth called LORD for ease of typing) is not something easily brought to the U.S., except maybe by Lionsgate or Well Go USA. The film is labeled as being the first 100% CGI animated film to come from China, and the movie (as well as the animation) is nothing but a 100% mess of a project that just vomits video game cut scenes all over the place with impunity.

You might say that there is some sort of cultural disparity that happens when you try to translate a novel from one culture to the other, and that is true to an extent. It’s hard to get every cultural nuance over from one language to the other, especially when the other culture is not exactly congruent with the first. However, that isn’t the problem with LORD. Jingming Guo’s attempts at directing a film regarding his fantasy novels (which have sold over 6 million copies worldwide) is a horror show that just leaves the viewer left staring at the screen with their jaw hanging down to their knees. According to this dub, Qi Ling is a busboy at a medieval Chinese restaurant when he sees a “Duke” and his disciple (basically apprentice) come and visit his village to hunt a spirit beast. It seems that spirit beasts are mystical beings that exist in beast form, and Duke’s are the spirit powered lackey’s of the high LORDS of the realm. When Qi Ling is killed by a beast, he is brought back to life as the disciple of a Duke named Silver.

As Silver and Qi Ling bond and create their magical union it becomes obvious that not everything is right among the LORDS (powerful beings who spend their times locked behind crystal doors), and the Duke’s are being fed differing information. Soon Qi Ling, Silver and the rest of the Dukes are embroiled within a plot to capture Duke #5 as a traitor. A goal that turns out to be duplicitous as there is another reason behind the hit order on one of their own. The balance of power in the magical world that they live in is about to be upset, as Silver, Qi Ling and the rest of the Dukes form alliances and choose sides in a war that will ravage the world.

That description is nothing but A VERY short glossing over of a 2 hour film. A summary that can only be described as “superficial” as the movie is just cram packed with about 18,000 different plot lines and sub plots that intersect each other and random intervals. To say that the film is overstuffed is an understatement, and the end result is something that can only be described as confusing and akin to an ADHD kid on a sugar high. Scenes are edited so poorly that characters literally shift from one location and time to another, and then coalesce back together somewhere else, leaving the viewer to put the puzzle pieces together and hopefully gain a glimpse into what the movie is all about. The first hour and 25 minutes is a bit weird, as the movie sets itself up for an epic reveal, but then Jingming Guo just crams an ENTIRE movie’s worth of exposition and explanation into the last 25 minutes, ending the film with the sickening realization that this was nothing but an expository event for later stories.

At this point I was left starting at the screen almost yelling at an inanimate object for just wasting 2 hours of my life. What makes it infinitely more sad is the fact that the L.O.R.D. novels are actually really good. What happens is that Jingming Guo just crams everything and anything from his novels into the movie in such a haphazard way that you’re left more confused leaving the film than when you went in. The last 20-25 minutes is so rushed and filled with information that you start to see the puzzle pieces coming together, but it’s a little bit too late to actually make a difference. Not to mention the fact that the mechanics of the universe are so hilariously bad that you can’t help but giggle (Just watch as Silver tells Qi Ling how the spirit power manifests itself in the buttocks, and Qi Ling has to “fart” out his spirit animal. It will leave you feeling like you’re watching a bad comedy).




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

LORD comes to DVD with a passable looking transfer, but one that is hampered by some digital artifacting and the fact that the CGI animation style really looks like a Final Fantasy video game cut scene for 2 hours. The DVD is a bit compressed, and I noticed softness and lack of detail with the CGI at times. The backgrounds of the forest when Silver and Qi Ling meet are incredible, and later on some of the battles look great, but you can see artifacts in motion, and macroblocking popping up here nad there. When the battles get thick and heavy the detail levels drop as the budget just doesn’t allow for THAT much fine detail to be present on screen. Colors are bright and silvery at times, and other times bathed in blue and black all around. It’s a good looking transfer, but one that really doesn’t stand out, even on DVD.






Audio:

The English 5.1 Dolby Digital track fares a bit better, as the fantasy and action heavy track gets wild and crazy. Dialog is strong and clean (although I did notice a few times, such as the battle at the island, where some of the voices got drowned out by the action and the score), and the surrounds get a TON of activity throughout the movie. Crunching footsteps in the forest, whistling arrows through the air, and all sorts of other fantasy inspired scenarios makes for an enveloping sound track. The LFE response is quite impressive, with deep wallops of bass during the action, and good supporting low end for slamming castle doors, and the “thwap” of wings. It’s a good track, and borders on great at times, but I really do wish that we could have heard the original Chinese voices as the voice ACTING is incredibly painful.







Extras:

• Trailers

Final Score: ​

LORD is meant to be a stylistic Chinese fantasy, but the movie just stumbles and falls on its face in such an epic manner that you wonder what exactly went on that allowed such a travesty to happen. I really did like the novels, and was hoping for at least SOMETHING worthwhile, but after teasing the audience with a complete movie, then ripping that away from us in the end, coupled with a HORRIFIC English dub (I would have liked the original Mandarin or Cantonese track) and a film that looked like it was a 2005 video game cut scene, I can’t recommend this movie in the slightest. Even to a fan of fantasy, Chinese films, and animation movies like myself. An incredibly huge disappointment to say the least. Just skip it.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Kris Wu, Bingbing Fan, Cheney Chen
Directed by Jingming Guo
Written by: Jingming Guo
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 MPEG2
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: NR
Runtime: 118 Minutes
DVD Release Date: September 26th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Frustrating Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. Based on your review, I will skip this one.