...it wouldn’t hurt to get your hands on these “Balls.”
Co-writer Thomas Lennon is funny in his supporting role, but he deserves credit for working with director Robert Ben Garant to come up with this unusual and quirky tale. "Balls of Fury" is not just a funny title, but a funny film. I love the mix of films it parodies and the execution of the cast. I´m not sure of the thought processes of Lennon and Garant and what drove them to writing this story, but it is original and fresh. I love a good comedy and while "Balls of Fury" will never be listed among the classics, it is destined to become a cult comedy with a decent following. It has Christopher Walken and that almost always guarantees cult status in some regard, but when you mix Walken with ´Sudden Death´ ping pong, you have a winner that works on enough levels to ignore its shortcomings.
Video:
The little balls of "Balls of Fury" look great in high definition. The white ping pong balls move quickly throughout the film and they are never lost. Motion is an aspect where a transfer can fail, but I don´t recall seeing any motion artifacts as a result of the fast paced action of the ping pong sequences. The picture is solid and it is steady. Detail is very strong and coloring is perfect. Comedies are typically not the strongest looking titles on HD-DVD, but "Balls of Fury" is striking looking and another fine effort from Universal. Being a recent title, "Balls of Fury" is presented as an HD-DVD / DVD Combo title and features a DVD compatible transfer on one side and the HD-DVD layer on the flip side.
The 1.85:1 film is mastered with the VC-1 codec. As I have previously stated, detail is very strong and the outrageous outfits of Feng look amazing, as does the lovely skin of Maggie Q. It is easy to count the hairs on Dan Folger´s unshaven face. The lush foliage of Feng´s Central American hideout looks quite sharp in detail and is a testament to the strong hues of the release. Feng wears reds, blacks and blues in a sample of his outfits and the colors hold up regardless of shade. Reds are routinely troublesome, but "Balls of Fury" does them well. Blacks are deep and strong and shadow detail is good. The transfer is striking, with only a few of the stock footage moments during the early ´88 games scenes are weak. The transfer shows no apparent flaws and the source materials were pristine.
Audio:
"Balls of Fury" is presented with English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound and matching English and French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtracks. The TrueHD mix is definitely the way to go and it seems as if Universal has decided to finally go the TrueHD route with their new titles. Their support was sporadic for a while, but more recently, every new title seems to possess a next-gen TrueHD soundtrack. The opening logos were perhaps the most sonically impressive moments as the Rogue Pictures logo is quite enveloping. Until the climactic end of the film, the most dynamic sounds are the realistic sound of the ping pong balls hitting a table. There is some gunfire until the finale and the soundtrack is decent enough for a comedy. The final FBI assault and explosions that signal the end of Feng´s bunker and tournament sound very good. Dialogue is good, but I could barely hear one or two jokes because vocals dropped. Randy Edelman´s score sounds warm and is effective. The .1 LFE channel is heavy when used and rear surrounds are present throughout the film. Aside from the two or three lines where vocals dropped, this was certainly an above average sounding comedy.
Extras:
"Balls of Fury" comes packed with a handful of "Balls" features. The first three supplements are presented in high definition. The seven Deleted Scenes (6:36) can be played collectively or individually. Some of the scenes flesh out subplots in the film that were not fully explained, such as the location of the sex-slave prison. There was a great Walken moment on a bridge and some more scenes with Maggie Q´s legs. Robert Patrick has a number of additional scenes as "Ghost Dad." In my opinion, these scenes deserved to be in the film. The Alternate Ending (1:50) is provided separately. This new ending finds Ernie offering a new assignment to Randy. I enjoyed it. Balls Out: The Making of Balls of Fury (13:57) is your typical EPK-styled making of feature, but I enjoyed hearing the filmmakers talk about the ´serious kung-fu nature´ of the film and the ´uplifting´ qualities. It was fun and worth spending fifteen minutes with. After all, it has Walken. The only supplement without high definition is the Under the Ball: The Life of a Ball Wrangler (5:17). This was a cheap method of showing a hot blonde who is responsible for handling all the balls in the film. Funny, but cheesy and Irena is a knockout.
Closing Comments:
It didn´t require a nice pair of ping pong paddles to earn my affection towards "Balls of Fury." This is a very funny film that combines the plot lines of "Enter the Dragon" with the deadly nature of "Mortal Kombat." Of course, kung fu is replaced with ping pong. The mix results in hilarity. Christopher Walken is always great as a bad guy and he excels in this film. The writers need to find a way to bring his character back from the dead for a sequel. I very much enjoyed this film, but felt it was uneven in its comedic pacing and didn´t quite flesh out the story enough. Maggie Q, George Lopez, James Hong and Dan Fogler were all funny in their roles. The HD-DVD release features a very good looking visual transfer with a good, but not perfect TrueHD soundtrack. The extras are limited, but fun. I really would have liked a little more in the bonus materials and would have been in awe of a Walken commentary. This is a unique comedy that is worth sitting down to and a nice HD-DVD to add to any collection and the next time you go shopping, it wouldn´t hurt to get your hands on these "Balls."
Video:
The little balls of "Balls of Fury" look great in high definition. The white ping pong balls move quickly throughout the film and they are never lost. Motion is an aspect where a transfer can fail, but I don´t recall seeing any motion artifacts as a result of the fast paced action of the ping pong sequences. The picture is solid and it is steady. Detail is very strong and coloring is perfect. Comedies are typically not the strongest looking titles on HD-DVD, but "Balls of Fury" is striking looking and another fine effort from Universal. Being a recent title, "Balls of Fury" is presented as an HD-DVD / DVD Combo title and features a DVD compatible transfer on one side and the HD-DVD layer on the flip side.
The 1.85:1 film is mastered with the VC-1 codec. As I have previously stated, detail is very strong and the outrageous outfits of Feng look amazing, as does the lovely skin of Maggie Q. It is easy to count the hairs on Dan Folger´s unshaven face. The lush foliage of Feng´s Central American hideout looks quite sharp in detail and is a testament to the strong hues of the release. Feng wears reds, blacks and blues in a sample of his outfits and the colors hold up regardless of shade. Reds are routinely troublesome, but "Balls of Fury" does them well. Blacks are deep and strong and shadow detail is good. The transfer is striking, with only a few of the stock footage moments during the early ´88 games scenes are weak. The transfer shows no apparent flaws and the source materials were pristine.
Audio:
"Balls of Fury" is presented with English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound and matching English and French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtracks. The TrueHD mix is definitely the way to go and it seems as if Universal has decided to finally go the TrueHD route with their new titles. Their support was sporadic for a while, but more recently, every new title seems to possess a next-gen TrueHD soundtrack. The opening logos were perhaps the most sonically impressive moments as the Rogue Pictures logo is quite enveloping. Until the climactic end of the film, the most dynamic sounds are the realistic sound of the ping pong balls hitting a table. There is some gunfire until the finale and the soundtrack is decent enough for a comedy. The final FBI assault and explosions that signal the end of Feng´s bunker and tournament sound very good. Dialogue is good, but I could barely hear one or two jokes because vocals dropped. Randy Edelman´s score sounds warm and is effective. The .1 LFE channel is heavy when used and rear surrounds are present throughout the film. Aside from the two or three lines where vocals dropped, this was certainly an above average sounding comedy.
Extras:
"Balls of Fury" comes packed with a handful of "Balls" features. The first three supplements are presented in high definition. The seven Deleted Scenes (6:36) can be played collectively or individually. Some of the scenes flesh out subplots in the film that were not fully explained, such as the location of the sex-slave prison. There was a great Walken moment on a bridge and some more scenes with Maggie Q´s legs. Robert Patrick has a number of additional scenes as "Ghost Dad." In my opinion, these scenes deserved to be in the film. The Alternate Ending (1:50) is provided separately. This new ending finds Ernie offering a new assignment to Randy. I enjoyed it. Balls Out: The Making of Balls of Fury (13:57) is your typical EPK-styled making of feature, but I enjoyed hearing the filmmakers talk about the ´serious kung-fu nature´ of the film and the ´uplifting´ qualities. It was fun and worth spending fifteen minutes with. After all, it has Walken. The only supplement without high definition is the Under the Ball: The Life of a Ball Wrangler (5:17). This was a cheap method of showing a hot blonde who is responsible for handling all the balls in the film. Funny, but cheesy and Irena is a knockout.
Closing Comments:
It didn´t require a nice pair of ping pong paddles to earn my affection towards "Balls of Fury." This is a very funny film that combines the plot lines of "Enter the Dragon" with the deadly nature of "Mortal Kombat." Of course, kung fu is replaced with ping pong. The mix results in hilarity. Christopher Walken is always great as a bad guy and he excels in this film. The writers need to find a way to bring his character back from the dead for a sequel. I very much enjoyed this film, but felt it was uneven in its comedic pacing and didn´t quite flesh out the story enough. Maggie Q, George Lopez, James Hong and Dan Fogler were all funny in their roles. The HD-DVD release features a very good looking visual transfer with a good, but not perfect TrueHD soundtrack. The extras are limited, but fun. I really would have liked a little more in the bonus materials and would have been in awe of a Walken commentary. This is a unique comedy that is worth sitting down to and a nice HD-DVD to add to any collection and the next time you go shopping, it wouldn´t hurt to get your hands on these "Balls."
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[release]22399[/release]