The Forbidden Kingdom (DVD – Lionsgate)

Lionsgate has released THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM on home video in three flavors. There is a standard release for the Blockbuster crowd that includes optional full screen or widescreen. Does anyone really want to watch heavily cropped movies in full screen anymore? For a few dollars more there is the two-disc Special Edition version with bonus content and a licensed digital copy for your computer. Finally, there is the Blu-ray edition for early hi-def adopters. This review covers the Special Edition which is going to interest collectors the most.

This is a feature-rich edition with an eye-catching hologram slip cover, attractive menus and a bonus disc containing an authorized “digital copy” of the movie that users can upload to their computer or select portal devices for private use. There is an excellent audio commentary with director Rob Minkoff and screenwriter John Fusco, six featurettes with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, a humorous blooper reel, and six deleted scenes.

Disc One

Audio commentary with Rob Minkoff and John Fusco – Recorded prior to the theatrical release of the film is this audio commentary with director Rob Minkoff and screenwriter John Fusco. It’s not surprising to hear that both men put their hearts into the production given the results. They worked closely with the Chinese cast and crew, often allowing them to have significant creative input. Fusco’s comments are particularly interesting because he represents the martial arts community and has had a lifelong affinity with “Journey to the West” and martial arts movies and TV series, and not just those in the East. It’s touching to discover that this project originated with a bedtime story that Fusco adapted from “Journey to the West” for his son. There is some interesting production trivia revealed, such as Minkoff’s correction of Jackie Chan’s use of the word “kung fu.” The men explain the urinating scene and how that actually fits in with Monkey King lore. In loose relation, they also explain why Liu Yi-fei’s character was named “Golden Sparrow” instead of their original idea to use “Golden Swallow,” in reference to a character played by Cheng Pei-pei in COME DRINK WITH ME and its sequel. We learn that Li Bingbing’s BRIDE WITH WHITE HAIR character was originally written as a Bak Mei-like male villain, possibly to be played by Gordon Liu. I’m actually glad they did not do this since Quentin Tarantino had already paid homage to this character in KILL BILL: VOLUME 2. Overall, it’s a great listen and suggests to me that there is still hope that Hollywood can respectfully handle Asian-themed martial arts movies.

The Kung-Fu Dream Team (11 minutes) – The historic teaming of Chinese action movie heavyweights Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Yuen Woo-ping, and DP Peter Pau is put into perspective with relevant comments from the foursome, along with producer Casey Silver and screenwriter John Fusco. Included is behind-the-scenes footage.

Dangerous Beauty: The Women of ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’ (6 minutes) – Featurette focuses on co-stars Liu Yi-fei and Li Bing-bing. It includes comments from the actresses and Jackie Chan who briefly discuss the challenges in doing fight work for the first time.

Discovering China: The Extraordinary Locations of ‘The Forbidden Kingdom’ (8 minutes) – Offers a clear and concise look at the shooting locations throughout China which highlight some of the country’s natural wonders, captured and then enhanced by matte paintings and CGI in the film.

Filming in Chinawood: Hengdian World Studios (8 minutes) – Originally built for THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN, China’s Hengdian studios, where most of the film’s interiors were shot, are given the spotlight. Rob Minkoff rightly points out that the film owes much of its epic staging to the studios’ standing sets that were redressed and in one case burned down.

Monkey King and the Eight Immortals (9 minutes) – I’m pleased to see this featurette that focuses on the Chinese mythology and classic literature that inspired John Fusco to write the film. It’s as much about these topics as it is about Fusco who is one of best writers in Hollywood when it comes to revealing spiritual, cultural and moral aspects of action.

Storyboard and Previz: The Movie Before the Movie (6 minutes) – This look at the film’s extensive storyboard and pre-visualization process highlights director Rob Minkoff’s approach to live-action filmmaking as someone experienced in animation. The level of detail in the pre-production planning is a stark contrast to the traditional Hong Kong style of action filmmaking where much of the fighting is made up on the set. This featurette only hints at the way in which Yuen Woo-ping and his stunt crew adapted the previz fight sequences, all animated in 3-D, into live action.

Blooper Reel (8 minutes) – Funny set of outtakes with Jackie Chan taking center stage most of the time, either flubbing his lines or goofing around on set. All the stars are shown though. Collin Chou’s peach-catching seen is one of the best. I realize this is not exclusively a Jackie Chan movie but in keeping with his tradition they should have attached this segment to the end of the movie when it played in theaters.

Deleted Scenes – Six deleted scenes are provided with audio commentary by Rob Minkoff and John Fusco. They do not explain here why the cuts were made although we learn the reasons behind two of the cuts in their commentary to the film. One that I would have liked to see put back in is a brief scene involving river pirates. Any additional chance for the heroes to be interacting more with the world and its denizens would have lent the film more of an epic and broad-stroked feel. There are two action-related sequences. One is an extended chase sequence on horseback and the other shows a brief altercation with Jet Li and Liu Yi-fei taking out two guards from behind.

Trailers – BANGKOK DANGEROUS, WAR and THE BANK JOB. It does bother me that major studios like Lionsgate do not include original trailers for their releases. This is an item, along with missing production stills, that collectors like to have along with their movie.

Disc Two

Digital Copy – The digital copy to be a new method by major studios to address the growing trend towards digital downloading, whether through legit channels such as Amazon iTunes or illegal peer-to-peer file sharing. Because the file is compressed to a greater degree than the normal DVD release on disc one, its only value is in transferring it to a portable device for viewing on the go. The software included is only compatible with the iPod, iPhone or PlayForSure supported players. Sony PSP and Microsoft Zune are not supported.

Format: Region 1 NTSC DVD
Aspect Ratio: 16×9 Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English 5.1, English 2.0
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Length: 104 minutes
Release Date: 2008.09.9

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