...the film never quite takes off to the level you’d hope.
Video
The DVD transfer is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. I haven´t seen any of the previous DVD releases of the film but the Dragon Dynasty release is solid through out. The colors are bright and rich, details come across quite well for a standard DVD. Contrast is good with blacks deep and rich. While it might be nice to see the film in a higher definition format it shines brightly here. Great work all around for the transfer.
Audio
The DVD comes with a 5.1 Mandarin soundtrack as well as a DTS Mandarin track and an English 5.1 soundtrack. The mix is front heavy for the dialogue scenes but then kicks thing sup a notch with surrounds filling out whenever the music kicks in or during some of the bigger action scenes. Still, the music is well balanced never overpowering the rest of the soundtrack. There´s a nice amount of depth to the mix. This is a great sounding DVD, to say the least. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are also included.
Extras
As with most Dragon Dynasty releases, "Legend of the Black Scorpion" comes in a two disc set, packed with some decent extras. As with most of the other DD releases Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan is on hand to provide some insight into the film. The best part of Logan´s commentary are some of the historical points he touches upon, otherwise it´s pretty standard stuff, in line with what you might expect from him. The second disc houses most of the extras, the first being a twenty minute interview with director Xiaogang Feng. The second interview is a bit longer and is a one on one with actor Daniel Wu. Two production featurettes, "The Making of Legend of the Black Scorpion" and "A Dynasty Uncovered: Behind the Scenes on Legend of the Black Scorpion," go into typical behind the scenes style info about the making of the (combined they run for about and hour in length). Rounding out the extras are a trailer gallery and a Cannes Promo for the film.
Film Value
Despite the amount of talent involved with the production, the film never quite takes off to the level you´d hope. The balance of drama, production design, and martial arts seems a bit disproportionate making for a beautiful film that never measures up to the promise of being a Chinese version of Hamlet. Still, the DVD offers some nice extras, which helps to round out an otherwise lukewarm film experience.
