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The Legend of King Naresuan Part II: Reclamation of Sovereignty
(aka Kingdom of War: Part 2)
2007; directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol

The second installment of the King Naresuan trilogy, Reclamation of Sovereignty, addresses many of the issues people had with the first film. Namely, it keeps its' storytelling under a more focused eye and ups the action quotient. Even though, in this reviewer's opinion, there was nothing really all that wrong with the initial entry, these changes work for the better, as this is an exciting historical epic that fans of the genre should be able to readily enjoy, even if they have not seen the first movie or are not familiar at all with this period of Thailand's history.

At nearly three hours, Reclamation of Sovereignty is still a very sprawling picture. However, unlike the first entry, the emphasis is more squarely placed on the lead character, Naresuan (Wanchana Sawatdee), as he participates in his first series of major battles which followed after the death of one of his mentors, king Bayinnaung of Phitsanulok. This led to a period of instability in the region, as some of the other kingdoms did not want to align themselves with Bayinnaung's successor, his son, Nanthabureng (Jukrit Ammarat).

The Legend of King Naresuan Part II  The Legend of King Naresuan Part II

Of course, as anyone who has watched a few of these sorts of historical epics might expect, this results in lots of political double-crossing that culminates in bloodshed on the battlefield. These huge setpieces are definitely Reclamation of Sovereignty's highlight. Director Chatrichalerm Yukol shows himself, and Thai cinema as a whole, to be able to hold their own against Hollywood's and China's biggest hitters. Some of the stuff featured here ranks right up there with what you would see in such prestige productions like Braveheart and Red Cliff.

While it does feel like -- at least to this jaded reviewer's eyes -- there could have a bit more forceful bloodshed and severed limbs to supply more panache and liven things up, the overall power of the battle scenes goes a long way to forgiving the fact that, like the first film, there is no real resolution presented here, with the ending serving more to set up the final picture in the trilogy, rather than encapsulating this movie as its' own stand-alone entry. Still, when you take Reclamation of Sovereignty on its' own merits, it's a very entertaining and satisfying historical epic that will please action movie fans who like a little more weight in the story department.

RATING: 7.5

Kingdom of War Part 2

Blu-ray Information

This release, from Magnolia's genre label Magnet, is the uncut Thai version, running 165 minutes, and is presented via a 1080P picture at a 1.78:1 ratio. Audiowise, the Thai soundtrack is encoded in DTS-HD, with English and Spanish subtitles available. Extras include two featurettes (in standard definition) that run for a total of ten minutes, a music video (also in standard definition) and trailers for the film and other Magnolia releases.

The Blu-ray is being sold on its' own or bundled together with Part 2 as a two-disc set. Both versions can also be purchased on DVD.

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