War From Two Perspectives
Little Big Soldier takes place during a period of constant war between Chinese states. Chan is a nameless peasant soldier from the state known as Liang. He does not enjoy war and would instead prefer to be left alone to farm land, but, circumstances simply do not allow for that at this time. The film begins with the end of a huge battle between the Liang and Wei. Chan manages to survive by playing dead, lying still amongst the thousands of other fallen soldiers. He seems to be the sole survivor, but Wang Leehom’s character, a respected and noble General in the Wei army, is also alive, but wounded. Chan takes the general prisoner, and intends to bring him all the way back to the Liang officials so that he would be granted a reward of five acres of land.
The journey is far from easy, though. The two clash against each other at times and must also deal with some roaming barbarians, as well as a large Wei search patrol that is lead by the General’s brother who seems to have intentions of his own. Amidst the action, there are many scenes where the General and Chan talk about war and their people and their lives before the war. The General believes that the war is necessary to finally unite the fragmented states of China, while Chan can’t understand why war is the only solution. In addition to the fast paced, well choreographed action, Chan’s signature physical comedy is abundant but not too obtrusive as to completely disrupt the serious tone of the movie.
There’s a lot to like about Little Big Soldier; I thought the acting was very good, as were the costumes and the locales. Some areas of the story seemed either a little unnecessary or perhaps under developed, though. The story of the General’s brother, for example, just didn’t seem to fit properly when the two brothers finally met. Any of these shortcomings are pretty easily overlooked in light of the film’s merits, though.
On Blu-ray
Little Big Soldier is a great looking movie on Blu-ray, due largely impart to the pretty countryside which acts as a backdrop to much of this movie. Technically speaking, the images are sharp and vibrant, with no issues noted. Audio options include a 5.1 DTS Mandarin and dubbed English track, as well as English subtitles.
There are not many extra features, which I found a little surprising. Here’s what you get:
-Making of (14m5s, SD) – A few interviews and lots of behind the scenes footage is included here making it well worth a watch.
-Jackie Chan Music Video (3m9s, SD) – Jackie sings the theme song of the movie.
-Trailers – There is a “Trailer) that is 2m3s in HD, and the International Trailer which is 1m39s in HD.
The extras are over before you know it, making this a release that is more film and presentation quality focused than the extras. To the summary…
