Let the Bullets Fly Blu-ray review

            Let the Bullets Fly is full of bullet ballet moments which seem inspired by a John Woo film, though it also has a plot that is worthy of a classic western and some slapstick which is often oddly closest to films like Kung-Fu Hustle. Not all of these elements always line up smoothly within the film, but individually there are some great sequences. The storyline is what truly makes the movie engaging, playing out like a chess game between two violent men.

            Legendary bandit Pocky Zhang (Jiang Wen) and his numbered gang members attempt to make easy money with train robberies. When they attack a carriage holding a con man governor (Ge You), Zhang is given the opportunity to make a great deal more money with a scheme. They enter the town as Goose Town as governor, but find that the town is under the iron fist of Master Huang (Chow Yun-Fat). Huang is rich and ruthless, soon giving Zhang reasons beyond money to destroy him. These two brilliant and violent men go to battle against each other passively, manipulating and maneuvering in secret until the final blowout.

            There is plenty of action in Let the Bullets Fly, but the focus remains much more on the maneuvering of the two men than it does gunplay. There is far less spectacle than I was expecting, and fans of gun films may find themselves a bit disappointed in that respect. Fortunately, there are enough other strong elements to make up for the minimal gunplay within a film with bullets in the title.

            The high definition does look spectacular, as the film has great production values even with less action than hoped for. The special features are lacking, however, including only trailers and an English Language track for those too lazy to read subtitles.