WOOCHIE THE DEMON SLAYER – The Blu Review

WOOCHIE THE DEMON SLAYER is a 2009 Korean film making its U.S. DBD/Blu-ray debut April 9th. Woochi (Kang Dong Won) is a 16th century wizard in training who, along with his sidekick (and former dog) Chorangyi finds himselfin the middle of a search for a magical pipe that goblins and evil magicians alike are desperately trying to obtain in order to take control of our world. Time travel, betrayal, magic, and drunken gods who can’t seem to get anything right are all stuffed a lot of story that fill this film’s two and a quarter hours

What makes Korean cinema so interesting is that it doesn’t feel obligated conform to Hollywood formula or conventional genre boundaries. It’s weird and off-kilter, but it’s also a lot of fun. It’s a zippy adventure story that is never far from an entertaining action scene, a hero whose brashness comes of more as irreverence than arrogance, and a full roster of supporting characters with their own broadly comic or deadpan charm. The villains are properly threatening without being too intense for kids. The CGI goblins look good (yes, they really make the giant bunny rabbit goblin into a legitimate monster), with Choi and company doing a fine job of blending Woochi’s magic into the modern world seamlessly. WOOCHIE THE DEMON SLAYER is a bit distracting and confusing due to the frequent time period jumps. However, given its entertaining premise and solid special effects, I can see why this was one of Korea’s biggest box office smashes, and I have no doubt American audiences will eat this up. Combining fantasy, adventure, action and humor to maximum effect, this deserves to be seen by as big an audience as possible.

Technically, Shout Factory’s disc sure shines and it’s absolutely loaded with extras. The 1080p HD transfer presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and has some wonderful images that you’ll simply stand there in awe of. The colors are bright, deep, vivid, and rich; the screen betrays no blemishes to speak of, and object delineation is noticeably sharper than the still-good standard-definition version. What’s more, there is nary a sign of filtering, edge enhancement, digital artifacts, or moiré effects in sight. Even the nighttime scenes display good inner detailing.

WOOCHIE THE DEMON SLAYER has two lossless DTS-HD 5.1 audio mixes, along with two 2.0 mixes. Each comes with an English (default) or Korean option. The action is loud the surrounds are used greatly and you’ll wonder if a Demon Slayer is maybe in your home. The only problem I had was with some of the dialog. Perhaps my ears were still bleeding from the furious action, but some of it sounded hollow (and the chopsocky dubbing didn’t help).

The new WOOCHIE THE DEMON SLAYER Blu-ray/DVD doesn’t skimp on the extras:
Production Featurettes (SD, 56 mins) – Here are a few different featurettes that go into depth about pre-production, camerawork and lighting, the special effects, editing, and more of the stunt work. This is an all inclusive how they made the film in under an hour.

The Magic of Computer Graphics (SD,55 mins) – Here is another hour of extras, which focuses on the CG effects for the film. We see everything from the pre-production set up to them implementing the CGI with the real actors to seeing the before and after versions. This was fascinating stuff.

Interviews (SD, 16 mins) – Here we have a few interviews with the cast and crew of the film discussing all aspects of production and their characters.

Making Of (SD, 25 mins) – Here we have a lot of behind the scenes footage that mostly include a lot of the stunt work.

Deleted Scenes (SD, 14 mins) – Here are a few deleted scenes, which are raw and showcase some of the supposed character development, but nothing crucial to the story.

The Newest Korean Style Hero Movie (HD, 6 mins) – Here is a promo feature that features a few interviews and behind the scenes footage of the film.

Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 mins) – The film’s theatrical trailer. Check it out: