DVD Corner

Little Big Soldier Blu-ray Review

“Little Big Soldier” is yet another mediocre Jackie Chan vehicle.

Set during the warring states era in China, the story focuses on a clever, but wimpy soldier (from the Liang state) who has captured an injured General (from the enemy Wei state) with the hopes of receiving rewards and fortunes from his own state. Of course, the soldier’s journey to deliver the General is easier said than done as they must escape the clutches of violent nomads and violent Wei soldiers searching for the General. With these challenges, the two are forced to work together to survive. Predictably, the two start to develop a friendship over time.

As you can no doubt tell by the above plot summary, not a lot happens in this movie. Basically, it’s a standard buddy movie (ala “Rush Hour”) with a slightly more serious tone and a historical setting. The movie features many trademark Jackie Chan-isms. Slapstick humor? Check. Wirework stunts? Check. Loads of coreographed fight scenes? Check. It’s all by-the-numbers stuff.

The only aspect that stood out here was the production values. A lot of time and money went into making the costumes, props, and battle sequences look very cinematic and it shows. Despite the quality of the film, there’s no denying that it looks professional and impressive from a production standpoint.

Summary: Is “Little Big Soldier” worth a watch? No. But at least it’s better than “The Tuxedo.”

Video/Audio:

The widescreen picture is generally impressive. The colors are noticeably crisp and clear. The only issue I noticed was the presence of dirt specs here and there.

The Blu-ray disc contains English and Mandarin Dolby Digital DTS-HD 5.1 (and 2.0) audio tracks. The English dub is fairly lousy and poorly synched. In my opinion, the Mandarin track is the only way to go here as it’s the original language track.

Extras:
* Well Go USA Entertainment trailers and 2 “Little Big Soldier” trailers.
* DVD copy.
* Jackie Chan music video.

* “Making of” includes the usual behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and movie clips

August 29, 2011 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Jackie Chan, Little Big Soldier Blu-ray Review