BLU-RAY REVIEW

Warrior's Way, The

Featured In Issue 158, July/August 2011

Picture5+
Sound5+
WSR Score5
Basic Information on new release titles is posted as soon as titles are announced. Once reviewed, additional data is added to the database.
(Studio/Distributor):
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
(Catalog Number):
2275683
(MPAA Rating):
R
(Rating Reason):
Strong bloody violence
(Retail Price):
$39.99
(Disc Type):
Single Side, Dual Layer (BD-50)
(Widescreen Edition):
Yes
(Full Screen Edition):
No
(Running Time In Minutes):
100
(Color Type):
Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access):
Yes
(Closed Captioned):
Yes
(Regional Coding):
A
(Theatrical Year):
2010
(Theatrical Release):
Yes
(Direct-To-Video Release):
No
(Disc Release Date):
06/28/11
(THX® Digitally Mastered):
No
(Director):
Sngmoo Lee
(Screenplay/Written By):
(Story):
(Music):
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer):
(Visual Effects):
(Costume Designer):
(Editor):
(Supervising Sound Editors):
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers):
(Co-Producers):
(Producers):
(Academy Awards):
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio):
(Measured Disc Aspect Ratio):
(Disc Soundtrack):
Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS HD Lossless 5.1
(Theatrical Sound):
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(DTS Bit Rate):
(Dolby Digital Bit Rate):
(Additional Languages):
(French Language):
(Spanish Language):
(Chinese Language):
(Subtitles):
(Cantonese Language):
(Mandarin Language):
(Japanese Language):
(Italian Language):
(German Language):
(Portuguese Language):

In The Warrior's Way, the world's most dangerous fighter (Dong Gun) flees his homeland to start a new life in the American West after a lifetime of training in swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat. But soon the hunter becomes the hunted, and now the legendary warrior must wage a fierce, all-out battle against a renegade gang of outlaws and pack of murderous assassins from his own past. (Gary Reber)

Special features include 13 deleted scenes (SD 12:10 ), a behind-the-scenes montage (HD 02:26), and a digital copy of the film.

The 1080p AVC picture is exceptionally superb! Unusually stylized throughout, the visual stimulation is effectively engaging. Contrast is excellent with deep, solid blacks and revealing shadow delineation. Dimensional depth is quite impressive as well. The color palette is partly muted, yet strong hues project out, such as Kate Bosworth's reddish hair and dress, and other highlights such as a clown's outfit. Blues and grays are prominent in various scenes, especially during the Chinese sequences. The western town is hued in rich browns and golden tones. Fleshtones remain naturally hued. A flower garden amidst the town's otherwise bleak character bursts with color. Resolution is excellent, with fine detail rendered throughout in foregrounds and backgrounds. This is such an unusually visually engaging picture, especially for an adventure fantasy set in a Western motif. The picture is pristine, with a cinematic slight grain, and is absolutely reference quality. The imagery will unequivocally excite the imagination with its refreshing stylization and production and costume design. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is a powerhouse of dynamic intensities and
variations. The recording quality is superb. Atmospherics, sound effects, and Foley are effectively rendered in support of the visuals. Flying bullets and whisking swords are sonically characterized. Deep bass provides a solid foundation to the more intense action scenes, with .1 LFE energy extending to sub-25 Hz frequencies. The sound of hundreds of mounted horses is intense, with thundering bass extended to every channel as well as the flower bed dynamite explosion and the explosive ferris wheel. Dialogue is intelligible throughout and nicely integrated spatially. The orchestral music and choral score is dynamic, expansive, and aggressively surround enveloping. The soundfield is huge in scope, and the frontal soundstage is sweepingly wide and deep. Intense drumming intensifies the final battle with aggressively directionalized sonics. This is a spectacular holosonic® experience that will test whether or not your home theatre system has the dynamic capabilities that are demanded to reproduce this
soundtrack. (Gary Reber)