The Grandmaster of Kung Fu - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Grandmaster of Kung Fu



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As I’ve mentioned before, 2008’s Ip Man created a massive resurgence for classic kung-fu cinema, as well as a ton of knockoffs and different adaptations, much like the Bruce Lee exploitation years. For as many Donnie Yen IP Man films out there, we have 3 more non “authorized” (if there is such a thing) Ip Man movies waiting in the wings. There is such a glut on the market that I’ve sort of become burnt out on the titular character. The Grandmaster of Kung Fu decides to slyly answer the question “what do you do when the Ip Man market is completely saturated?”. Instead of going for Ip Man himself, they decided to go with Huo Yuanji (Dennis To), a quarter century predecessor to Ip Man, and instead aim for the goal of creating a new intellectual property than Well Go USA’s straight to streaming service can mine in perpetuity.

Naturally you’re going to be comparing Ip Man to this one, but I’d say that it would be an effort in futility as it’s comparing apples to oranges. Both feature skilled martial artists battling the occupying Japanese army, and both end with some incredible martial arts battles. But that’s really where the two movies end. Instead of a nuanced and deeply moving story about a martial arts master falling from high society in order to fight for his honor and the honor of China, but merely another fast moving action movie with the same basic second act plot. In The Grandmaster of Kung Fu the Japanese commander’s goal is to wipe out the martial arts community of China and supplant it with the “superior” Japanese Karate. Huo’s goal is to stand up to the Japanese oppressors and put them back in their place, keeping the honor of Chinese Kung Fu and the honor of her people, even under military rule.

Now, that you’ve got the basics of the movie out of the way, what about the fight scenes? You know, the thing were REALLY here to see. Well, this is where things get dicey, as the fights are generally “goooood” but never GREAT. The editing and choreography are really the big bad cultprits here. There’s very few scenes that aren’t chopped up into little bits, basically not allowing the viewer to watch a singular battle, but a Taken style of choppy edited together bits into the facsimile of a fight scene. It’s especially surprising being that Dennis To (otherwise known as Du Yuhang) is a world Wushu champion with extensive skill in various styles. I guess I just would have preferred that the fights look less edited, and more extensively choreographed.

All in all, The Grandmaster of Kung Fu is a solid film that isn’t too much of a deviation from the Ip Man legacy of story telling. It’s just got some choppily edited fight scenes and a rather rote script. Nothing to write home about, but nothing offensive either. I guess it goes without saying that I’ve been mildly disappointed with the Hi-Yah DTV kung fu flicks in recent years, but this is actually not half bad. It feels more old school Hong Kong in many ways, despite being a mainland production, and except for the choppy edited fight scenes ala The Bourne Identity, I had a reasonably good time.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA





Video:

The 2.35:1 framed AVC encode is quite solid as one would expect. It’s got that honey and wood color grading that period piece 20th century placed films have, but it is reasonably well detailed and sharp. I can’t find any technical information on the film online, but I’m guessing the typical 2K master and digitally produced judging by the aesthetic look. It’s glossy and shiny, with great details but some odd banding here and there along with some black crush here and there. The yellow/brown tones are soft and buttery, but never so obtrusive that they really mess up the black levels. All in all, this is a solid encode that has a very few minor quirks to keep it from excellence.










Audio:

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA Mandarin track (no English Dub) is what I would expect for a low budget Kung fu flick. The majority of the dialog heavy moments are really up at the front of the room, and the only time that the surrounds get some MAJOR workout is from the action scenes. Then things kick into high gear and the bass and surrounds are rather impressive. There’s plenty of civil/social unrest in the film, and a lot of the time we’re just focusing on the dialog in the front of the room, but the action is more than impressive. There’s also the typical 2.0 Dolby lossless track to enjoy for night listening, but for a majority of us, the 5.1 DTS-HD MA is what we’ll be focusing on.












Extras:

• Theatrical Trailer

Final Score:
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It’s been years since I saw Jet Li’s Fearless (the first time I remember Huo being shown on the big screen), but I feel that China is in desperate need for another big name to come out and woo western audiences like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Bruce Lee, and Donnie Yen have done over the years. The Grandmaster of Kung Fu is a solid movie, but it lacks an incredibly charismatic lead that can really drive audiences into rooting for him, despite the movie being technically well done. The Blu-ray looks and sounds solid, but has your typical lack of extras from Well Go USA. Fun enough watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Yang Feng, Yu-Hang To, Mei Xue
Directed by: Cheng Si-Yu
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Mandarin DD 2.0
Subtitles: English
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 74 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: January 31st, 2023

Recommendation: Recommended for Rental