DVD Spotlight: The Flying Swordsman
Well Go USA releases 2022’s ‘The Hidden Fox’ on physical media.
Once in a while we’ll see a direct-to-streaming wuxia film attempt to do something different, and Qiao Lei’s The Hidden Fox aka The Flying Swordsman is no exception. It might try to do too much, but you can’t fault it for trying to a point. The film concerns a mysterious treasure once guarded by warrior Hu, challenged by Miao Renfeng to obtain it. When their battle ends in tragedy, the treasure disappears. When the map resurfaces in ten years, 8 villains resume the hunt for the wealth the map points to but not without a traitor in their midst.
Video
The Flying Swordsman is presented in a 16:9 scope ratio and retains some good detail despite the format’s standard definition limitations. There are a number of visual effects shots that challenge these limitations to a degree, such as the mirage effects in a snowy forest and a great number of computer generated hyenas at a later point. The encoding is better than legacy DVDs but still hits a wall in special effects presentation. The colors and details are as crisp and beautiful as they can be, and at some points you may forget you’re watching standard definition. All in all it’s a solid presentation.
Audio
Flying Swordsman has only one language option, but an offering of both stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks in the original Mandarin with optional English subtitles. Audio information comes across intelligibly and mastered just right for consistent levels during the viewing experience. It doesn’t always use its surround capabilities for immersive purposes but during fight sequences it kicks in, making a point to get you invested in the conflicts between the villains who hunt so desperately for this treasure. Both surround and stereo tracks do a good job of providing excitement and filling in the magic wuxia world of Flying Swordsman.
Special Features
As is typical with Well Go USA releases, this disc only provides trailers for other Well Go titles as well as a trailer for Flying Swordsman. The trailers will auto-play at start and if selected from the menu, after the feature’s trailer plays will auto-play all other trailers again before returning to the menu.
Final Thoughts
This DVD is a well-presented copy of the movie, which turns into a bit more of a complicated venture as the narrative progresses. At almost every turn a flashback intervenes after a scene, changing the stakes of the preceding sequence. For movies involving intrigue and questionable loyalties as this no doubt does a well-executed trick can completely change the course of the experience and revitalize the audience, lest they fall into a lull of procedural patterns genre fare like this can induce. But director Qiao Lei relies on this too much, giving us flashbacks after nearly every fight in the second half once the treasure reappears and the villains are actively on the hunt.
The supernatural elements bring much needed relief from taking the film too seriously, and their incorporations into fight scenes bring great entertainment value to the whole experience. It feels as stimulating as 2005’s Shinobi: Heart Under Blade in its magical realism, especially during its fights. Although Flying Swordsman can get convoluted during its runtime it does manage to bounce back, keeping things moving at a consistent pace but at the cost of making its proceedings feel a tad bloated. But for its fights and table-turning twists left and right, you could do much, much worse. This release comes recommended.
The Flying Swordsman is available Tuesday, January 9th on DVD from Well Go USA.
If you’d like to purchase a copy, consider the following outlets instead of Amazon, if you will:
DeepDiscount | Gruv
Disclaimer: Well Go USA has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
