You don’t have to own this film to call yourself a martial arts film fan-but those who do own it can mock your inadequacy mercilessly.
What They Say:
Ip Man, starring Donnie Yen, is the award winning adaptation based on the life of Ip Man, the grandmaster of Wing Chun and mentor to legendary kung fu martial superstar Bruce Lee. Set in Fo Shan, China during the Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man vividly brings to life the brutality of the infamous Japanese occupation, where once proud men are forced to fight till death for a precious bag of rice. Defined by courage and humanity, IP Man, who fighting skills are revered all over China, rises to the fore front.
Upon refusing to teach his martial arts to the invading Japanese soldiers, he is forced to fight for the honor of his showdown with Japan’s greatest fighter.
The Review:
Audio:
The Collector’s Edition of Ip Man contains three audio tracks all in 5.1-English, Cantonese and Mandarin. (Note–the Japanese characters speaking in Japanese is preserved across all 3 tracks though there is a separate English subtitle track that addresses this as well as the any important Chinese written language that shows up) For the review the Cantonese 5.1 track was selected and it is a superb track that provides the fullness of the background in any given situation as well as picking up the quieter moments of dialogue. While the dialogue is mostly center speaker focused there is directionality when called for both with effects and the occasional off screen dialogue and is free from drop outs or distortions.
Video:
The videois presented in its 16:9 widescreen format but isn’t as fortunate as the audio as there are a number of issues present. Chief among the distractions are the occasional screen jitters which cause the whole picture to shake. They aren’t omnipresent but they are around often enough to be rather annoying. Also present are noise, dot crawl, grain, occasional print pops and some aliasing thought most of these are far less annoying than the jitters. The film does handle colors and blacks though in a solid manner and the action comes off well even in the fastest scenes.
Packaging:
The release comes packaged in a two disc DVD case with a hub on either side of the case. The front cover features Donnie Yen in a martial arts pose with his left hand creating a motion blur effect. Outside of Yen there is no other image on the cover though the stars names appear vertically on the left side of the image in gold with the Ip Man logo in gold block letters behind that with a lighter black Chinese logo just behind that. A gold banner with white letters at the top proclaims it the collector’s edition and the bottom of the cover has the movie tag line as well as a note saying this feature is the about the mentor of Bruce Lee. The back features a shot of Yen from the one of the feature sets as he practices with a wooden post with arms from the film. The back cover uses the Chinese logo in white at the top as well as the gold blocked English title and six stills from the feature. It is a particular artistry that makes the cover look clean and simple yet presents the depth one would expect in a far busier cover.
The two discs themselves are similar in their appearance except for a reversal of colors with disc one being black with a white Chinese logo on the left side and the English logo in the lower center right and disc two being white with a black Chinese logo. The release also has an insert which features a black image on one side with the Chinese logo in white and the English logo in gold as well as movie credits at the bottom. The reverse side features Yen with the wooden practice tool as the chapter stops are listed to his right with four stills being present above that. To add one last touch to the product Well Go includes a slip cover that mirrors the front and back covers and has the English and Chinese logos on either side against an ornate but not ostentatious maroon with black highlights floral pattern.
Menu:
The main menu for disc one features an image of Yen holding a long bamboo pole on the right hand side of the screen as dark clouds form a frame against the top and bottom of the screen. Different scenes from the feature play within that frame and a Chinese music theme from the film is present as well. The selectable options are represented by four stills from the film at the bottom of the screen. The scene select has a larger image of Yen using one of the wooden men practice tools on the left of the screen as the clouds again provide a frame at the top and bottom. The chapter stops are represented by stills from that chapter and are listed four at a time. The language selection screen features Yen in combat with a man using a small hatchet as the background uses the cloud frame again with a shot of the village from later in the feature as well as one from the factory. The extras menu features Yen in his character’s daily garb as he sits in a chair in his home enjoying a cup of tea with an exterior building shot on the far left. The current selection is highlighted in a soft red color and the menus are quick to respond to changes in selection and implementing choices.
The second disc uses the main menu image from the first disc and runs images behind it as well as using the same music piece. The behind the sets option uses an image of a woman from the film standing behind barbed wire while the interviews extra uses a bloodied image of one of the characters from late in the film and the subtitle option uses the factory boss and his son against a backdrop of the factory workers. The options selectable are again in the lower part of the screen each represented by a different character picture and the menu works the same as disc one.
Extras:
The biggest extra on this set for me is the inclusion of both of the Chinese audio tracks as the standard version is English dub only. Also present on disc one are an original theatrical trailer, a making of featurette as well as deleted scenes. While these would be a pretty good selection for most releases Well Go takes it up a notch with a second bonus disc containing a shooting diary, a behind the sets look at three sets, and interviews with the principle cast and crew.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The film opens in Fo Shan, China in 1935. The city has become famous for its martial arts schools which have brought much prosperity to the area as well. In this town many students are always seeking to follow the strongest master in the area while new hopeful teachers also arrive in the city to open their own schools and dream of being acknowledged as the best. For the residents of the city in the know however there is already a greatest martial artist already present- Ip Man. With his Wing Chun style he will face those who wish to prove themselves though he does so with humility and the desire not to embarrass those who come to him in private. Life is good in the city and Ip is comfortably well off so he feels no need to take on any disciples no matter how often he has asked though when the city faces a new challenger to their schools he is willing to step forward to maintain the cities honor to the great gratitude of her citizens.
The film advances three years and the city of Fo Shan and its resident’s fortunes have changed completely. Following the invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army the city bears only the vaguest of resemblance to its former self. Starvation has become rampant in the country and Fo Shan has neither escaped its grip or the tight fist of occupation. The town has become a run down and boarded up shadow of itself with most of its factories closed and the town itself being occupied as soldiers patrol the streets lined with walls and barbed wire carrying out the occasional brutal action on the remaining residents. With conditions as bad as they are the city has shrunk to less than a quarter of its former size and even its most prominent citizen is not spared. Ip has had his home and lands seized for the Japanese Army to use as their headquarters and he now ekes out an existence trading in the few objects of value his family retained for meager amounts of rice.
With the situation being as bad as it is Ip goes out to try to obtain work and finds it is almost impossible even in the shrunken size of the city as unemployment is rampant. He lucks out when the boss of a coal mine sees him and offers him a job as he finds himself among many friends and familiar faces due to the boss having used to practice martial arts and having a fondness for those who taught the discipline and he tries to hire them whenever he can. This allows Ip to make contact with an old friend he hasn’t seen in years and the two are able to spend some time together. The mine also serves as a convenient place for the area head of the Japanese Army in the area, General Miura, to send his men to recruit martial artists as he has a fondness for the discipline himself and enjoys putting his own men-and himself if a sufficiently skilled opponent appears- in the ring to test the mettle of their skills. The winner receives a bag of rice which along with the chance to be able to strike some Japanese soldiers offers all the incentive many men need to participate.
After a friend goes missing Ip goes along as a challenger when the soldiers appear to recruit fighters again but an act by one of the Japanese men there engages his anger in a way the film has not show previously. With his anger in full force Ip challenges 10 Japanese fighters and shows that the skills he previously used in sportsman like competition was used with incredible restraint as the brutality he can mete out is stunning. This act catches the General’s eye and he decides to have Ip train his men but when they come to his residence events go south and Ip is forced into hiding though luckily his friends have not forgotten him. While in hiding Ip sees the state that the country has fallen to with Chinese preying upon Chinese and he decides that training is no longer something he can put off but something he is duty bound to carry out. When word of Ip’s hiding place leaks out he will step forward to challenge the Japanese General to show him the anger and strength that this one man will bring to show that China cannot be bowed and that the principles and philosophy behind Chinese Kung Fu are beyond the Japanese grasp.
The film is just absolutely stunning in its martial arts display likely due both to the talent of its actors as well as the action director, Hong Kong film legend Sammo Hung. Unlike many martial arts films the story sticks almost exclusively to more realistic martial arts displays which actually makes many scenes feel even more dramatic. The actors weren’t chosen just for their fighting skills though as bring a very believable and often powerful screen presence with them. Donnie Yen shows the talent to be both the dotting and kind father as well as the intensely driven man fighting for his country and his philosophy. There is just so much in this film that centers around Ip but at the same time uses him to show both the joy and suffering that the Chinese people go through and how one man can symbolize a country. The story is based on real events and as with other films like it the audience should go in knowing some events are a dramatization and it isn’t a documentary but it is a powerful film. Pretty much the only downsides here other than the video quality is that a number of events take place with secondary characters that feel a touch forced as there is little time to really build them up despite the over one and a half hour run time of the feature and the kind of highlight feel covering a significant period of time some events seem to create.
In Summary:
Ip Man is a film that transcends the boundary of being a film made just to show off martial arts skills as many films in the genera appear to be. It shows off the joy and hardships that happened both before and during the war with Japan. The film uses both a wonderful mix of martial arts and drama to carry the story forward and the cast proves to be adept at both tasks so the story never feels like one side or the other of this dichotomy takes second fiddle to the other. It is a powerful film with some powerful performances that really create a real gem of a feature. Highly Recommended.
Features:
English Language, Cantonese Language, Mandarin Language, English Subtitles, Interviews with Donnie Yen, Wilson Yip, Simon Yam, Sammo Hung, Lynn Hung, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, & Ip Chun, US Trailer, Theatrical Trailer, Making Of, TV Spots, Main Scenes, On the Set, Deleted Scenes, Gala Screenin
Content Grade: A
Audio Grade: A-
Video Grade: C
Packaging Grade: A-
Menu Grade: B
Extras Grade: A+
Released By: Well Go USA
Release Date: July 27th, 2010
MSRP: $24.98
Running Time: 107 Minutes
Video Encoding: 480i/p MPEG-2
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Review Equipment:
Samsung 50″ Plasma HDTV, Denon AVR-790 Receiver with 5.1 Sony Surround Sound Speakers, Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray player via HDMI set to 1080.
