IP Man Blu-ray Review

Being unfamiliar with IP Man (2008), a quick Internet search clued me in to the highly regarded Hong Kong flick that took its sweet time garnering domestic distribution. If I’d been feeding off the growing film community hype for two years, it could have been quite the disappointment. Yet going in expecting nothing more than the tale of Bruce Lee’s martial arts teacher, I had an enjoyable if not overwhelmingly memorable experience.

As it turns out, the Bruce Lee reference is a marketing gimmick since his training doesn’t factor into the story set in 1930’s Fo Shan, China where IP Man (Donnie Yen) is portrayed as the preeminent practitioner of the Wing Chun style of fighting. Early on his mastery is showcased when he handily (and graciously) defeats a master from a rival school set on proving his merit and a gang leader who has bullied other teachers and residents. However the primary story arc takes place against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation during the Sino-Japanese war.


The majority of Fo Shan’s industry is destroyed doing away with leisure and affluence forcing able bodied males (IP Man included) to compete for menial labor allowing them to earn just enough rice to sustain their families. Throw in two-dimensional caricatures of oppressive Japanese villains (think Nazis or Cold War-era Russians) led by a general with top notch martial arts skills, and the stage is set for IP Man to rise up and fight for the dignity of his people.

If that synopsis sounds a bit trite, well the script comes off as such. But to its merit, the story is goodhearted showing the title character to be humble and peace loving yet willing to bravely engage the enemy. Director, Wilson Yip, and action star, Donnie Yen, comment on doing extensive research into IP Man’s background and his son consulted on the production. I don’t know how factual the details are, but they verge into a mythic feel at points.

Still the highlight of the flick is the fighting sequences exhibiting the beauty of the Wing Chun style. With mesmerizing fluidity, IP Man’s hands instinctively block his opponent’s attacks with graceful, almost dance-like motions. And when he goes on the offensive, you’ll be hard pressed to count the barrage of fists that pummel his rivals senseless. The martial art scenes are done tastefully with minimal slow-mo effects and no, now cliched, wire-fu stunts. These alone make the film worth watching.

High-Def Presentation

I can only assume the subdued visual palette of Well Go’s 1080p Blu-ray transfer is faithful to the director/cinematographer’s intentions which makes me question that intent. The early parts of the film highlight earth tones with brownish-golden hues that are at times muted to the point of being drab. Yet in comparison, the flattened imagery during the Japanese occupation is almost gray-scale (for thematic purposes) verging on being a black and white film, and those blacks can be seriously washed out. Add in noticeable detail in some shots, overt smoothness in others and inconsistent grain structures topped off with conspicuous edge enhancement ringing (most annoying in the fights organized by the Japanese) and you get a mixed bag of a high-def experience.

Three 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio language tracks grace the BD with the English and Cantonese being dubs. I opted for the original Mandarin with English subtitles for authenticity and found the dialog somewhat out of sync with mouth movements making the mix seem like a dub, itself (multiple reports confirm this minor defect on the BD). The audio is fairly front heavy with the rears reserved for the rousing score during fight scenes. Yet the mix does a great job at keeping dialog (in the context of hearing a language I don’t understand) clear with a good foreground experience though directionality is limited compared to Hollywood action soundtracks. By no means demo material, there is enough oomph and sub-woofer engagement in fight scenes (the best parts in my opinion) to make this lossless audio worthwhile.

Beyond the Feature

The only true HD supplement on the BD is the retooled Trailer (1:46, HD) while the rest are high bitrate MPEG-2 encodes that look like upscaled standard-def. These include the Original Theatrical Trailer (2:18 ), Making of Featurette (18:33) that includes brief but interesting input from all the main actors, director and fight coordinator, Sammo Hung, talking about filming anecdotes, researching IP Man’s life (with IP Man’s son) and the Wing Chun fighting style. Several Deleted Scenes (3:19) are worth watching for variations that didn’t make it into the film yet are strangely framed with the video shrunk/boxed in the center of your screen.

A second DVD contains lowly standard-def video extras (making the BD ones look quite good in comparison) of Shooting Diary ( 5:27) that is a montage of on-set shooting with rousing music and subtitle narration, Behind the Sets (6:26) covering work on three main sets and Interviews (~89 min). The Interviews are the highlight of the DVD with the longest being 20ish minutes each from director, Yip Wilson, and main star, Donny Yen, with the rest of the main actors and fight coordinator giving input. There is content that overlaps the making of featurette but much fleshed out here with many great production details.

IP Man may not climb to the top of my martial arts movie list but makes for entertaining viewing with adequate suspension of disbelief regarding the historical facts. The fight sequences are the meat of the flick, and I’ll be throwing the BD in often just to check them out, making me glad to add the title to my collection.

Well Go delivers a so-so Blu-ray transfer that suffers from a mix of questionable artistic intent and over done digital manipulation, and though the lossless audio fares better, it is still a bit underwhelming. Some may find the out of sync Mandarin dialog distracting however while reading subtitles it’s not that bad, and beneficially there is an English dub for those not inclined to subtitles. IP Man is in no way a grand slam of a high-def release but has enough going for it to recommend a rental for fans of Asian fighting movies.

– Robert Searle

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