| Mei Ah's 1.78:1 framed anamorphic presentation only suffers from some light damage on the print but showcases the eye popping colours of this show very well.
The Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 track mostly livens up the front stage and does so fairly well. One wish it had a little bit more dynamic but this draws you in to a good degree still. Cantonese DTS 5.1 and Mandarin 5.1 tracks are also available.
The English subtitles presented no problems whatsoever and only a slight mistime in one dialogue scene was the only error I could spot. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.
Mei Ah have actually provided a little bit more special features than usual, starting with the making of (7 minutes, 49 seconds). It only comes with burned in Chinese subtitles so little here is of interest for non-Cantonese speakers. The behind the scenes footage of the kitchen fight, with the stand in for the CGI character of Bug is fun to see though as well as the cast working with the action directors but the program as a whole, is a one watch show. The MTV (1 minute, 53 seconds) is less of a music video and more a reel of movie clips intercut with the actors "singing" along to theme song of the film. The brief Outtakes Footage (1 minute, 2 second) is fun while it lasts, especially to see poor Lau Ching Wan do extended takes of Bruce Lee war cries and handling sausage chucks at the same time. Best Buy section holds trailers for The Legendary La Roise Noire 92 and the animated feature The Butterfly Lovers.
Here's for the big revelation and a sure sign that armageddon is upon us. Mei Ah's Data Bank section actually has content in it outside of the plot synopsis screen and cast & crew listing! Interview of main cast (7 minutes), again has Chinese subtitles only. In the style of the making of, Lau Ching Wan, Cecilia Cheung, Louis Koo, Francis Ng, Jordan Chan, Gillian Chung & Charlene Choi and Christy Chung are interviewed respectively in combination with movie clips and behind the scenes footage. Again, the shots of Gillian and Charlene working with the action choreographers is the only noteworthy bit here that us non-Cantonese speakers can appreciate.
Interview of director (56 seconds) Obviously over before it stars, short interview bites and Wai Ka-Fai working on set can be seen in this segment. Interview of singer (24 seconds) rounds off the Data Bank section.
Finally, the trailer for Fantasia ends the special features section. To get English subtitles for extras is not a given on Hong Kong dvd's but Mei Ah including a little bit more than usual is noteworthy. They haven't lived up to the great initiative on the Men Suddenly In Black set (the Cantonese audio commentary came with English subtitles) but their current wonderful remastering of their back catalogue is enough to forgive the inclusion of Chinese subtitles only on this, a release of a recent film. |