Dragon Wars - D-War Blu-ray Disc Review

Dragon Wars (aka D-WAR) is sort of a mixed bag. One the one hand, the plot or setting doesn't make all that much sense and the acting is wooden. However, for anyone that likes monsters, there are some really good ones, and the CGI effects, although not cutting edge, still look pretty good. If you have children, this might be a fun movie, especially with the added high-def Blu-ray experience. However, this release is not destined to be a classic.

As the high-definition disc formats become accepted by consumers, more films are being added to the growing library of the Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats. However, this doesn't mean that every film released in high-def is a gem.

Dragon Wars (D-WAR) caused quite a stir and had great box office success in Korea, with its blending of Korean mythology in a modern setting, with a mostly English-speaking cast. I am always a sucker for giant monster movies; if the monsters are big and a major city gets destroyed, I'm in. So I was very interested in seeing this film.

After viewing D-War, I must say that it falls far short of being a true fantasy epic, with its convoluted plot and wooden acting. However, despite its flaws and weak box office here in the U.S. If you are a monster movie fan, there are several scenes of monster mayhem in downtown Los Angeles that fans of this genre would enjoy.

With regards to the Blu-ray aspects of the disc, the detail was very good, but doesn't jump out at you.

The best examples of high-def detail were the scales and textures on the main monster "Imoogi", who is an evil giant snake seeking to capture the secret of transforming into an all-powerful dragon. Also, the opening medieval monster attack and several of the L.A. scenes very cleverly blended live action backgrounds with monster CGI well, and deserves to be viewed in high-def.

In addition, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround soundtrack was good, with excellent surround imagery during the L.A. Monster-Military battle.

With a $38.98 price tag, I would rent this one before buying. Wait for another BOGO (Buy-one Get-0ne) sale. I give the Blu-ray Disc release of Dragon Wars (D-War) 3 Stars out of 5.

Video Display used: Westinghouse LVM-37w3

Audio Used in Review: Sony BDP-S1 Player, Onkyo TX-SR705 Receiver, Klipsch 2-F2's, 2-B3's, 1-C2 speakers and Sub10 subwoofer.