Visible Secret 2: Technical Notes

Technical Notes Technical Notes:
Visible Secret 2
All Content Used With Permission.


TIP: Log In to enable enhanced Interact features.NEED HELP?

    by So Good... - Hong Kong DVD Movie Reviews
    www.sogoodreviews.com



This technical review makes reference to screen shots, which are available at the time of this writing at www.sogood.tk.

I bought this movie as part of the Visible Secret 1 & 2 Collector's Edition which is packaged in a round tin. With it you get the same Megastar discs (sans cover art sadly) that are available separately, four Visible Secret II postcards, four film frames from the banned subway scenes in Visible Secret and a nice creepy 3-D hologram of the female ghost seen in the movies. The latter is also supposed to be assembled to create a mini-fan but I let it stay on the tin cover, looks better on the shelf.

The picture is 1.85:1 anamorphic and looks good with strong colors and blacks. Hues come off as a little reddish at times and there was more grain present than I would've liked (the cemetery scene with all the smoke really looks horrible).

The 5.1 Cantonese Dolby Digital track is very effective. It's restrained but uses every speaker well to create a soothing yet still creepy atmosphere throughout. A DTS 5.1 track and a mandarin 5.1 dub is also included.

The English subtitles seemed very accurate and I couldn't find any errors. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.

We get a few extras that would've been very much enjoyable if they had subtitles. Director Abe Gwong and producer Ann Hui can be heard on the Cantonese language audio commentary and the usual plot synopsis and cast & crew listings appear (with small biographies of Abe Gwong, Ann Hui, Eason Chan, Jo Kuk and Cherrie Ying).

There's 5 short making of-featurettes lasting from 2 minutes and 50 seconds to 4 minutes and 17 seconds. They all feature interviews with the main players and crew but are only interesting for a few small behind the scenes shots.

The teaser trailer shows some abandoned footage (see pictures below). In it there is a 'new' shot of the female ghost on the subway, something that may be part of the stuff filmed but cut out of the first Visible Secret. She is also seen riding a bus which may be only intended for the teaser but interesting to highlight nonetheless. Finally there is the theatrical trailer that actually comes with optional English subtitles, an option rarely seen on Hong Kong DVD's.

(from the Teaser trailer)

And now for the hidden extra! Go to the Making Of & Trailers-section and from there press left on your remote to highlight the eyes of the female ghost. Press enter and you're treated to 16 minutes and 13 seconds of stylish footage shot around Hong Kong interspersed with clips from the Visible Secret-movies. The footage is set to some wonderful ambient music and while it doesn't provide anything useful, it's a nice way to finish off the disc.




CLOSE THIS WINDOW

This window is a "pop-up" from at HKFlix.com.
If you've arrived here from somewhere else,
please CLICK HERE for our home page!