Shadow 4K UHD

This is a Wuxia film in the context of a historical film with fights and a war. Not a Bruce Lee style film. The cinematography is mainly in shades of gray, splendidly beautiful, with a few color touches, especially of lanterns burning. Also, subtly green in a bamboo forest, pale (unsaturated) skin tones, etc., part of the film’s style. The story has a touch of Hitchcock flavor, with multiple threads woven together. Not easy to follow, one must let it play out. One of a kind, in the good sense. The audio, mainly of historical instruments including flute and traditional Chinese zither, is hauntingly beautiful in excellent sound quality to my ears. Although the story is not straightforward, this is truly an outstanding film IMO. I watched the 4K disc, truly technically outstanding in 4K UHD on my beloved OPPO 4K UHD BD player, where subtle gray tones in dark scenes are revealed, and lantern lights reveal a wonderful bright yellow contrast in an otherwise darkish evening scene.

I am a huge Martial Arts (KUNG FU) film buff. This is one of the best. Very well written, very well photographed and very good KUNG FU action. I knew when I saw the previews I would want this in my library of films. I was not disappointed. Since receiving it, I have watched it 4 times. So far. It's like the IP Man movies, I can't just watch them one time. It has become one my GO TO "Entertainment" movies when I'm bored.

I found the beginning of Shadow a bit slow and confusing. Important characters get developed along with the plot but for me it was overwhelming. I expect it will make more sense in the next viewing. This is not in the action vein of Zhang’s Hero or House of Flying Daggers but let’s not forget he is also the director of many fine art films such as Raise the Red Lantern. Shadow has a distinctive cinematographic style and the ending action sequences are everything one could wish for. Exciting with unique fighting techniques (not extremely violent although a few heads roll). If you like his previous films you will probably like this too. I bought it sight unseen and am not sorry.

If you've seen (and liked) Zhang Yimou's other directorial work (Hero and House of Flying Daggers, 2 of his most popular) then you'll probably enjoy this one. For me, this is a favorite, not just of Zhang's work but of this genre in general. It's simply just visually spectacular. The entire film... costumes, scenery, sets, etc... are all in Black, White and Grey tones (And this is NOT filmed in B&W) and while that may seem like it could appear dreary, it really fits the overall emotional tone of the film... which is kind of dreary (lol), but the story itself is really interesting and virtually EVERY SINGLE SHOT could be a framed Art print. It's that visually beautiful. And there's a lot of really unique fight sequences that are expertly choreographed. I could babble on and on about what a fantastic film this is, but if you are a fan of Chinese Fantasy Period pieces, then you will probably love this film.

I saw the film in the theater and knew I wanted to add it to my collection in 4K. My issue is that the UHD disc does not come with a digital copy of the film. This is standard practice for pretty much every UHD disc I buy so I have to lower the score for that. If you want to stream this film and also own a physical copy then you'll have to buy it twice or subscribe to their $2.99 a month streaming service that is advertised in the packaging for the film.

Master of the modern wuxia martial arts and sword fighting art films of the early 2000's, Zhang Yimou, returns to the genre with his awesome style of fantastic action sequences and back-stabbing political intrigue. Shadow (2018) is very much like a darker Chinese variation on Japanese master Akira Kurosawa's epic late masterpiece Kagemusha (1980), with an emphasis on the complex, dramatic story of body doubles and vicious power plays. The highly visual motif of a black and white palette gives the film a washed out, nearly monochromatic look, that accentuates the bold blood reds, and adds a level symbolism of Ying and Yang to this well done philosophical fable. The film also has the classical Chinese mythic feel of the director's classics Hero (2002), House Of Flying Daggers (2004), and Curse Of The Golden Flower (2006) - all recommended. In my opinion these movies have appreciated in artistic value over the years. Also recommended: John Woo's excellent and vast cinematic version of the epic work of classic Chinese literature, The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, Red Cliff (2009), Hou Hsiao-Hsien's beautiful The Assassin (2015), The Banquet (a.k.a. The Legend Of The Black Scorpion) (2006), even Korea's Memories Of The Sword (2015) and The Swordsman (2020), as well, and of course Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000). Well Go USA's Blu Ray also contains an English language dub and a couple of making of featurettes. This is one of my favourite films in Well Go USA's very cool library of Asian cinema and recommended to fans of the director and the genre.

Visual and aural stunner.

Shipped quickly. DVD poor resolution.

La calidad UHD es muy buena pero nunca había visto la película y la trama no me encantó

I viewed it at home with friends, who hadn't seen it at the cinema like I had. It's magnificent;y filmed with wonderful sets and photography and a very moving, tragic story.

日本語吹替、日本語字幕が無いので購入される方は要注意。

I wasn't expecting much more than a cheap wuxia action film when I bought "Shadow" but it exceeded any expectations I had except, ironically, the wuxia action which takes a back-burner to a really good royal political intrigue drama until the final act which features a fascinating one-of-a-kind blade-umbrella battle. For some reason they chose to go with a nearly monochromatic colour scheme which detracts from the excellent period costumes and sets but not from the great acting and directing. If they mentioned in the DVD extras why they went with that art direction I must have skipped over it. I only tried the English dub long enough to hear if it was any good -- it isn't -- so stick with the well-translated subtitles instead. (Why such big budget movies don't care about dub quality when there are so many good dubbing houses for TV dramas, animation, and video games I'll never understand.) "Shadow" easily deserves a place in your DVD collection along with such classics as "House of Flying Daggers", "The Emperor and the Assassin", and "Hero".

4K UHDを注目したのにBlu-rayが届いたので初めて返品したくなった。