If you're in the mood to Thai one on for the evening, Thai hard with Vengeance.
All of the effects in "Vengeance" are heads and tails above any B-movie I've seen, however I wouldn't put them quite on the same level as more recent mainstream productions. The entire film has a big-budget blockbuster feel from the caliber of cinematography and acting, except that some of the CGI seems to be stuck in a time loop from the late 1990s. While the wasps were very well done and the little lizards weren't bad, the movement of the giant snake was like a first time driver behind the wheel of a car. The creature putt-putted along in herky-jerky form, similar to what we saw in "Anaconda." It wasn't completely awful, but could have been a bit better.
Another complaint that I have is with the way the mysterious tribe dwelling in the jungle goes about rescuing the police from Naso. A pair of women clad in hooded cloaks come out of nowhere and totally trump an arsenal of automated weapons using simple knives and crossbows. I know that this was a vessel to introduce one of the women, Si-on (Chirapat Wongpaisanlux), as a love interest for Wut, but her disarmament of the villains just wasn't easy to swallow.
Lastly, I've read a few reports that the initial Thai release of "Vengeance" on DVD was heavily censored with certain parts of the film blurred or removed that were deemed inappropriate by Thai officials. This measure is totally understandable on public television especially in regards to nudity, but going that far on a DVD release is little extreme. Anyway, fans of the film will be pleased to know BCI's Blu-ray is unedited and uncut--the way it should be.
Video:
"Vengeance" utilizes the MPEG-4/AVC video codec and is presented in its original widescreen theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Colors are rich and vivid, and the bright greens of the jungle foliage and the moss blanketing the undergrowth were particularly eye-catching. Most of the film had strong black levels, although in one or two instances they appeared slightly faded. But even with that minor nitpick I still wasn't expecting the picture to be this pleasant.
Audio:
Being a Blu-ray release, I'm a little bummed that this release wasn't mastered with any of the lossless audio feeds, but on the bright side the Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 track does its best to try and fill those empty shoes. The acoustics are fantastic, and I was very impressed with the use of the rear channels. Bullets whiz by in all directions, in the midst of the thunderstorm it felt like the downpour was all around me, and there's a very cool sequence where tribal drums on the soundtrack rotate around to a different speaker with every pounding thump. Also included are two decent Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks, one in Thai and an English dub, as well as optional English subtitles.
Extras:
For special features, there's a quick featurette on "The Making of "Vengeance" clocking in just shy of six minutes that is loaded with production information. After that we have a music video for the tune that plays during the end credits, and a pair of trailers for "Vengeance" and "The Tiger Blade." All of these bonuses are in Thai with English subtitles.
I'd also like to mention here that the label on the Blu-ray disc is designed to look like the stone medallion artifact seen in the film, which I thought was pretty clever.
The Final Cut:
If you're in the mood to Thai one on for the evening, Thai hard with "Vengeance." The collage of genres injected into the script keeps the story entertaining and moving at a decent pace, preventing viewers from entering the realm of boredom. Sure, there were sections that definitely could have had more detail and attention, but it was still fun to watch.
Another complaint that I have is with the way the mysterious tribe dwelling in the jungle goes about rescuing the police from Naso. A pair of women clad in hooded cloaks come out of nowhere and totally trump an arsenal of automated weapons using simple knives and crossbows. I know that this was a vessel to introduce one of the women, Si-on (Chirapat Wongpaisanlux), as a love interest for Wut, but her disarmament of the villains just wasn't easy to swallow.
Lastly, I've read a few reports that the initial Thai release of "Vengeance" on DVD was heavily censored with certain parts of the film blurred or removed that were deemed inappropriate by Thai officials. This measure is totally understandable on public television especially in regards to nudity, but going that far on a DVD release is little extreme. Anyway, fans of the film will be pleased to know BCI's Blu-ray is unedited and uncut--the way it should be.
Video:
"Vengeance" utilizes the MPEG-4/AVC video codec and is presented in its original widescreen theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Colors are rich and vivid, and the bright greens of the jungle foliage and the moss blanketing the undergrowth were particularly eye-catching. Most of the film had strong black levels, although in one or two instances they appeared slightly faded. But even with that minor nitpick I still wasn't expecting the picture to be this pleasant.
Audio:
Being a Blu-ray release, I'm a little bummed that this release wasn't mastered with any of the lossless audio feeds, but on the bright side the Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 track does its best to try and fill those empty shoes. The acoustics are fantastic, and I was very impressed with the use of the rear channels. Bullets whiz by in all directions, in the midst of the thunderstorm it felt like the downpour was all around me, and there's a very cool sequence where tribal drums on the soundtrack rotate around to a different speaker with every pounding thump. Also included are two decent Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks, one in Thai and an English dub, as well as optional English subtitles.
Extras:
For special features, there's a quick featurette on "The Making of "Vengeance" clocking in just shy of six minutes that is loaded with production information. After that we have a music video for the tune that plays during the end credits, and a pair of trailers for "Vengeance" and "The Tiger Blade." All of these bonuses are in Thai with English subtitles.
I'd also like to mention here that the label on the Blu-ray disc is designed to look like the stone medallion artifact seen in the film, which I thought was pretty clever.
The Final Cut:
If you're in the mood to Thai one on for the evening, Thai hard with "Vengeance." The collage of genres injected into the script keeps the story entertaining and moving at a decent pace, preventing viewers from entering the realm of boredom. Sure, there were sections that definitely could have had more detail and attention, but it was still fun to watch.
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[release]24102[/release]