“My friend, I’m not sure if you’re pulling me into the abyss or helping me,” muses white-maned hero Su Huan-Jen as he confronts a spectacular mystery filled with occult manuscripts, palace betrayals, kaiju-like Qilin monsters, incredibly-choreographed wuxia sword battles – all performed by puppets – in the struggle to control the Five Mountains and obtain the Limitless Celestial Book. Twenty years after directing the epic LEGEND OF THE SACRED STONE (also released by Deaf Crocodile) and building on the long-running “PILI” TV show in Taiwan, director Chris Huang returned with this amazing fusion of traditional budaixi glove puppetry, wuxia martial arts storytelling ala CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and wildly imaginative fantasy filmmaking in the vein of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER and THE DARK CRYSTAL.

The serpentine plot revolves around the murder of the Lord of Globe Castle and Huan-Jen’s quest to prove his innocence and unmask the killer, and involves (we kid you not) secrets like the Needle of Roaring Snow, puppets perspiring and spurting blood, the Seven Words Poison, lovable con men named Shark Qin and Three Dots, and priceless dialogue like “Dumbass! You betrayed my teachings for a book!” and “Why would Evil Brink attack the Fantastic Academy??” In other words, a pure joy from start to finish for fantasy and wuxia martial arts fans! With voice performances by Vincent Huang. In Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles.

For thoughts on Demigod: The Legend Begins, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

Demigod: The Legend Begins arrives on Blu-Ray in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with a terrific 1080p master that showcases every unique facet of these puppets with stark clarity. We just covered Legend of the Sacred Stone on Blu-Ray a few months back, which looked amazing, yet the couple of decades’ worth of technological improvements allow this prequel to soar even higher in terms of sheer majesty and beauty. With the Pili approach to puppetry, you get awe-inspiring renderings that arrive on your screen with unbelievable texture, coupled with background elements that nearly make you forget you are watching puppets. The level of care put into this production by the artists is rivaled by the physical media presentation from Deaf Crocodile.

The movement of the puppets flows even more naturally than before, carefully coaxing the viewer into a reality that feels authentic. The black levels are strong with no semblance of banding or compression artifacts, and highlights hold firm to avoid any blooming. The colors are deftly saturated to capture the proper aesthetic of the feature, leading to some gorgeous hues to delight in throughout. These colors are showcased with a full accounting of their potential. This Blu-Ray provides a top-tier presentation that we could not imagine looking better.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio surround sound track in the original Taiwanese Hokkien (with optional English subtitles). The leap in audio is not as dramatic as the video side of things, but this track delivers on all fronts. Dialogue comes through crisp and clear with no dropouts. The action-packed sound effects play well on this front without anything sounding drowned out. Every unique sound effect brings a level of credibility to the experience that we appreciate. The expansion to a surround sound experience makes things even more immersive without drawing attention to itself. The music trickles through the speakers with favorable fidelity. The track handles every element as you would hope.

Special Features

The Deluxe Edition Blu-Ray of Demigod: The Legend Begins arrives in a hard slipcase package that is a beauty in person. The release also includes a 60-page bound book featuring new essays by Fantasia Festival programmer Rupert Bottenberg and film critic Walter Chaw. All of this provides great insight into the film, the creatives, and the behind-the-scenes details in a thoughtfully written style. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: Puppeteer & filmmaker Ben Wolf Page, Associate Editor of The Puppetry Journal for the Puppeteers of America, delivers a really informative commentary track in which he discusses the genre at large, the innovations from the first movie, the approach to the puppetry, the blending of practical and digital effects, the influences of various works, and more. This is a great addition that fans of the film should definitely check out.

Innovation Within Tradition: How Pili and Demigod Synthesize Millennia of History – New Visual Essay by Evan Chester: A 17-minute visual essay that looks at the tradition of glove puppetry, the exaggerated nature of the art form, the ongoing television series connected to this feature, the elements of mythology in the experience, and so much more that puts things into context.

Interview with Director Chris Huang: A 23-minute continuation of the conversation between Deaf Crocodile’s Dennis Bartok and the filmmaker from this production, who discusses the fire that disrupted the studio, his work at PILI, crafting the story for this outing, and more.

Behind the Scenes Featurettes: A collection of brief videos is provided that looks into one aspect of the creative process in broad strokes.

- The Beginning (2:32)

- Beast (3:17)

- Costumes (3:50)

- Dubbing (2:48)

- Music (4:01)

- Tokusatsu and Visual Effects (5:04)

Trailers

- Demigod: The Legend Begins Original Trailer (1:59)

- War of Dragons Trailer (3:44)

- Doom of Dragons II Trailer (1:30)

Final Thoughts

Demigod: The Legend Begins continues the madness that Deaf Crocodile started a few months back with another entry in the dazzling art of glove puppetry. We love the ambition of this particular project, as it takes us back to fill in some blanks in the story of our beloved protagonist. It does not hold your hand, and you would be forgiven if you could not take in all the plot developments in a single viewing, but what is clear from the first moment you lay eyes on this is that you are witnessing something truly singular and wonderful. We love that it exists, and we have a boutique label that knows there is a demand for something as unique as this on physical media. Deaf Crocodile has released a fantastic Blu-Ray which sports a first-rate A/V presentation and an excellent assortment of special features. Recommended

Demigod: The Legend Begins is currently available to purchase on Standard Edition Blu-Ray or with a Deluxe Edition Slipcase exclusively through Deaf Crocodile and DiabolikDVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Deaf Crocodile has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.