Dororo (Universal DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: B-

 

 

Dororo is yet another genre-crossing martial arts/fantasy film that blends in amongst the rest.  Although the choreography (the same man who directed the fight sequences in Hero and House of Flying Daggers) does help to make this stand out a bit, but inevitably comes across as just another average flick.

 

Here an epic hero must fight demonic forces in order to destroy the powers that will help him unlock the secret behind his father’s betrayal.  The film never fully realizes what it wants to be and suffers from the fact that it can’t determine if it wants to be a realistic samurai epic or a fantasy-filled martial arts ballet.

 

Presented in a 1.85 X 1 anamorphic transfer the film looks fairly average with a picture that never really impresses.  Especially when we are now getting some stunning Blu-ray titles from the genre, like the fantastic The Forbidden Kingdom reviewed here:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7492/The+Forbidden+Kingdom+(Blu-ray

 

 

The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is also on par with the picture in that it never truly impresses and is fairly lackluster.  A DTS mix would have greatly improved this, but again with comparing to the lossless audio tracks that Blu-ray can deliver, it just pales in comparison.

 

 

-   Nate Goss