The adventure melodrama Polar Rescue pits Donnie Yen against time and the rescue mission to save his Son – who already think he’s dead. New to Blu-Ray from Well Go USA.
The Film
One expects Polar Rescue to be your standard adventure in the wilderness to be a standard issue fodder. The delight of the film is how this isn’t the standard issue adventure film but more of a melodramatic thriller and race against time. Donnie Yen stars as a father trying to save his son’s life which is more complex than your average action hero.
The film’s simple concept of a vacationing family who loses their son after a heated argument is imbued with the narrative complexities you don’t expect from this sort of entry. Rather than being a play on the Cliffhanger style action film – Polar Rescue takes a grounded realism to create its tension. Shortly after the family reports their son missing a slew of questions come into play leading to different narratives by the police and rescue operation. All the while Yen’s De cares nothing of the brew media (social and otherwise) storm brewing, only the minutes and hours wasted not spent searching for his son.
Co-writer/Director Lo Chi-Leung has given Donnie Yen one of his best roles in recent memory. The character of De is an austere man of principle unwilling to compromise or discuss anything other than finding his son. The way that Yen is able to create a sense of understanding within an audience as everything unfolds is a testament to the superstar’s ability to create complicated characters.
That isn’t to say the film is a chamber room drama concerned with only the politics of this sort of media sensational story. Polar Rescue definitely has a wealth of action set pieces including a truly harrowing one that comes towards the final third of the film. It’s the perfect mixture of pathos, drama, and kinetic action that the filmmakers have adroitly built through the smart human drama of the first half of the film.
Polar Express is an unexpected first-rate piece of adventure fiction that has the right amount of melodrama to truly elevate itself beyond the doldrums.
The Transfer
The transfer provided/created to/by Well Go USA is another winner in a long line of winners. The folks at Well Go USA have smartly transferred this one which could have been filled with issues. The digitally shot film looks crisp and sharp on Blu-Ray. The handsome image has no issues with handling anything the VFX-heavy film has to throw at it including the snow-blown CGI imagery does not create any sort of issue within the transfer. The only way this one could look any better is if Well Go USA released a 4K UHD version of the film.
The Extras
None was provided for this release.
The Final Thought
Well Go USA continues to find the very best of Asian genre cinema. Recommended.
The adventure melodrama Polar Rescue pits Donnie Yen against time and the rescue mission to save his Son – who already think he’s dead. New to Blu-Ray from Well Go USA.
The Film
One expects Polar Rescue to be your standard adventure in the wilderness to be a standard issue fodder. The delight of the film is how this isn’t the standard issue adventure film but more of a melodramatic thriller and race against time. Donnie Yen stars as a father trying to save his son’s life which is more complex than your average action hero.
The film’s simple concept of a vacationing family who loses their son after a heated argument is imbued with the narrative complexities you don’t expect from this sort of entry. Rather than being a play on the Cliffhanger style action film – Polar Rescue takes a grounded realism to create its tension. Shortly after the family reports their son missing a slew of questions come into play leading to different narratives by the police and rescue operation. All the while Yen’s De cares nothing of the brew media (social and otherwise) storm brewing, only the minutes and hours wasted not spent searching for his son.
Co-writer/Director Lo Chi-Leung has given Donnie Yen one of his best roles in recent memory. The character of De is an austere man of principle unwilling to compromise or discuss anything other than finding his son. The way that Yen is able to create a sense of understanding within an audience as everything unfolds is a testament to the superstar’s ability to create complicated characters.
That isn’t to say the film is a chamber room drama concerned with only the politics of this sort of media sensational story. Polar Rescue definitely has a wealth of action set pieces including a truly harrowing one that comes towards the final third of the film. It’s the perfect mixture of pathos, drama, and kinetic action that the filmmakers have adroitly built through the smart human drama of the first half of the film.
Polar Express is an unexpected first-rate piece of adventure fiction that has the right amount of melodrama to truly elevate itself beyond the doldrums.
The Transfer
The transfer provided/created to/by Well Go USA is another winner in a long line of winners. The folks at Well Go USA have smartly transferred this one which could have been filled with issues. The digitally shot film looks crisp and sharp on Blu-Ray. The handsome image has no issues with handling anything the VFX-heavy film has to throw at it including the snow-blown CGI imagery does not create any sort of issue within the transfer. The only way this one could look any better is if Well Go USA released a 4K UHD version of the film.
The Extras
None was provided for this release.
The Final Thought
Well Go USA continues to find the very best of Asian genre cinema. Recommended.
Well Go USA’s Blu-Ray edition of Polar Rescue is out on March 26th
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