REVIEW: ‘Legend of the Black Scorpion’ (DVD – Dragon Dynasty)

Released in China as THE BANQUET (at least as far as the English title goes), LEGEND OF THE BLACK SCORPION arrives on DVD courtesy of The Weinstein Company’s Dragon Dynasty label. Although this movie is technically a wuxia pian, it’s arthouse nature sets it apart from the rest of the label’s line-up thus far. The title change suggests that the company decided to market this as just another martial arts actioner. Ask fans of the genre what they think and you’ll likely get sarcastic cracks about another title with “legend” in it, as if we didn’t have enough already. Ribbing aside, this is yet another quality release from DD with a robust suite of extras to sate the pallet of demanding world cinema enthusiasts. Like most of the mainland Chinese martial arts films of late, this release is made for large-screen viewing. If TWC is smart, they won’t wait too long to get a Blu-ray version out. AS for the audio, don’t listen to the English dubbing. Daniel Wu busted his butt to learn Mandarin so he could match his mainland co-stars and you don’t want to spoil that.

Disc One

Audio commentary with Bey Logan – THE BANQUET is a little outside of the typical martial arts actioner that Bey Logan usually discusses and yet, like his commentaries for Korean and Thai films, he is up to the challenge. The main element involves comparisons between this movie and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” upon which it is based. Being a Hong Kong movie insider, Bey is able to go a step further by discussing his visit to the set and most intriguingly, his comparison of the finished film to an early script he had read before production began. He also gives his take on the film’s mysterious ending. A point I appreciate is Bey’s flattering appraisal of Daniel Wu who I count among an otherwise disappointing generation of Hong Kong screen talent. If Bey is correct, Wu is representing America a heck of a lot better than Conan Lee did. Another person Bey goes out of his way to praise is Yuen Wo-ping, someone we all know produces great action but we still tend to take for granted because of Yuen’s tendency to stay out of the limelight. Overall, this is a great companion to a film that begs for more explanation than most of Dragon Dynasty’s other releases to date.

Disc Two

Master of Ceremonies: An Exclusive Interview with Director Feng Xiaogang (20 minutes) – Excellent interview with the director. It’s hard to believe that this guy, who famously played the gang leader at the beginning of KUNG FU HUSTLE, actually directed THE BANQUET. Feng comes across as a very down-to-earth and humble person, happy to discuss his past work, which is more than I can say for many of his more experienced peers in Hong Kong. Say what you want about the politics of China but many of their mainland film talent act a lot more mature than their Hong Kong counterparts. Feng even acknowledges this when praising Daniel Wu, the American, over other Hong Kong talent he’s worked with. Feng briefly discusses a wide range of topics related to his film. I would have liked to hear him talk more about his vision, particularly with regard to the action. He does mention a ballet influence but says little or nothing about the baroque imagery and lavish bloodletting. Bey likens it to a classic Italian aesthetic in his commentary. The film does suggest that, despite similar art direction, Feng has a unique perspective on martial arts action among the current crop of mainland Chinese filmmakers.

Warrior Prince: An Exclusive Interview with Leading Man Daniel Wu (23 minutes) – After hearing Daniel talk about the film I wish he had joined Bey for the commentary. He’s an expressive fellow with a good handle on the film and his role in it. That’s not always the case with actors. It helps that he’s a native English speaker. A smart Hollywood producer could turn this guy into a international star with the ability to handle action and drama with equal skill.

The Making of the LEGEND OF THE BLACK SCORPION (15 minutes) – This Chinese-produced featurette contains typical behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew. It’s worth checking out as impressive proof that what we see in the finished production was largely created live and to scale. For action buffs, Yuen Woo-ping is interviewed and shown at work. He discusses the challenges unique to this film, such as choreographing action on horseback. Once again, we get to see why he is “The Master.” I wish producers would move away from making these generic featurettes and instead focus on specific scenes. You never really learn anything substantial as they tend to be more about promoting the film than educating the viewer about how the movie was constructed. A better example is the behind-the-scenes

A Dynasty Uncovered: Behind the Scenes on LEGEND OF THE BLACK SCORPION (43 minutes) – This is another Chinese-produced featurette picked up for use with this U.S. release. Its title is a little misleading as it’s less a visual look behind the scenes of the movie and more of a collection of interviews with Feng Xiaogang and the cast. I’ll say this. Zhou Xun could melt butter in a blizzard with her voice. Give her a cigarette, a tailcoat and a sultry song to sing and Zhou would be deadly.

Trailer Gallery – Two original trailers, an original teaser and a Cannes promo are included.

Format: Region 1 NTSC DVD
Aspect Ratio: 16×9 Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: Mandarin (DD 5.1), Mandarin (DTS), English (DD 5.1)
Subtitles: English, English (CC), Spanish
Length: 131 minutes

Related Topics: Daniel Wu, DVD, Feng Xiaogang, Shakespeare, swordplay, Wuxia, Yuen Woo-ping, Zhang Ziyi