The One (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

84

Film Synopsis:

In a stunning dual role, international action star Jet Li portrays Gabriel Yulaw, a police officer confronted with a sinister form of himself escaped from an advanced, parallel universe and intent onkilling Gabriel. His alter ego's hunt culminates in a fateful battle between good and evil that changes Gabriel's perception of reality and forces him to examine the evil hidden within himself. The One features riveting martial arts and innovative special effects.

My Take:

The One is action based film starring the amazing Jet Li that features him in playing dual roles. The story is futuristic and focuses on the character Gabriel Yulaw (Li) who was once a decorated police officer who is now a hunted outlaw. The film is based on the existence of parallel universes where everyone has alter egos that exist within each of them. Yulaw discovered that by traveling through worm holes in space/time to these universes and killing his alter egos he can absorb their essence and became stronger/faster/smarter. He is pursued by two Multiverse Agents, one of whom he once worked with. He has killed all but one of his alter egos. He locates him but soon finds out that this time he is in for a fight that will ultimately determine who truly is The One.

This is an average action film that features Jet Li displaying his skillful martial arts chops. The story is straight forward and hits the right notes in terms of pacing, subject matter, and casting. Delroy Lindo and Jason Staham portray the MVA Agents pursuing Yulaw. Delroy Lindo is a fine actor that even manages to stand out in a less demanding role like this. I find Carla Gugino to be an alluring woman whose presence in any film peaks my interest. Here she also gets to play dual roles in the part of Jet Li's wife/girlfriend. Jet Li isn't much of an actor but I enjoy watching him in action. At 87 minutes this film plays out quickly but is pretty much right on target. The level of action is satisfying and the special effects are pretty good. It isn't a standout but for those who like Jet Li and appreciate genre films like this it's a decent watch.

Parental Guide:

The rating is for intense action violence and some language.

Audio: 84

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Video: 84

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The One comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony/Columbia Pictures featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 28 mbps and lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 channel audio that has an average bitrate of 1.8 mbps.

This is a nice looking and good sounding catalog release title from Sony but then again that is nothing new from them. It boasts vivid colors, crisp high definition detail, and deep slightly crushed blacks that pop nicely. Grain is well preserved and naturally rendered over the course of the presentation. Other than some low level digital noise there were no obvious signs of video artifacts are compression related anomalies. The soundtrack is equal to the task and features solid bass extension, an active surround mix and crystal clear dialogue. The extended fight sequence in the finale offers plenty of dynamic impact, enveloping sound effects, and authoritative low frequency content.

Bonus Features:

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• Director & Crew commentary
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• Jet Li is The One - 13 minute featurette
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• Multiverse create - 18 minute stunts/fight choreography featurette
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• About face - 6 minute special effects feature
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• The many faces of Jet Li - 2 minute feature
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• Animatic comparison - a split screen look at 1 sequence from the film using computer based and hand held miniatures
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• (HD) BD Preview - Resident evil Degeneration
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• BD-Live enabled

Final Thoughts:

The One is a predictable but fun action film that serves to showcase the masterful Jet Li kicking butt and taking names. It doesn't bring anything new to the genre but it does have a pretty good cast and a large enough budget to offer decent entertainment value. Sony continues to release technically strong catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc as this one both looks and sounds great. Recommend for fans