| The DVD: Edko, HK REGION 3 encoded DVD.
Picture: Non-Anamorphic Letterboxed. The film is a low budget visual dazzle and unfortunately this transfer is no great shakes in presenting those wonderful visual elements. While the films style and budget does have some heavy use of grain, this print takes the grit a little too far. You've got softness, some weak contrast levels, and murky colors. Overall the transfer is also technically glitchy with some motion blur and general compression defects that dilute the finer details.
Sound: DTS or 5.1 Thai language with optional Chinese or English subtitles. Never ceases to amaze me when a company can tack a DTS track on a disc but fail to give it an anamorphic image and vice versa. Well, the sound quality is good. The film has a decent action fx, though the surround mix and dynamics are not up to Hollywood standards. The subtitles were decent, the flubs were few and they appeared well-timed.
Extras: Theatrical Trailer & TV Spot. --- Photo gallery. --- ?Making Of? Featurette (3:13) NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES on this brief Pang Bros interview. --- Marginal Cast and Crew text info that basically lists some of the Pang's films and the actors names.
Conclusion: ...The disc is cheap in price and in transfer quality. The US version isn't much better. If you are a fan of the film or truly want the best version, apparently the UK release is the one to import, and this HK edition would be best served as a throwaway lackadaze purchase or skipped altogether. |