Moonlight Express: Technical Notes

Technical Notes Technical Notes:
Moonlight Express
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    by HKFlix
    www.hkflix.com

HK Mei Ah 2-Disc DVD re-badged by Tai Seng.



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



Issued as part of Mei Ah's remastered dvd line, the film doesn't look like an upgrade despite the anamorphic transfer (framed at 1.76:1 approximately). Print is murky, occasionally grainy and colours subdued but it isn't distracting as such because part of it lies in the design by the cinematographers Keung Kwok-Man and Chan Chi-Ying. I doubt it's much improvement over the old disc though.

The Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 option (the track mixes Cantonese, Japanese and English) isn't the clearest sounding in the world and barely uses the front channels to any good effect. Foley work, although I don't believe this is a remix, is rather sloppy also, primarily evident in the action scenes. A Mandarin Dolby 5.1 track is also included and as far as I could hear, it only dubs the Cantonese dialogue of the film.

The English subtitles has some awful grammar at a select few times (some intentional since it's coming from the Hitomi character) but presents a translation otherwise that is very bearable. You can also choose Korean, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese subtitles.

Mei Ah takes us on a slight journey through extras territory, starting off shaky with the often useless Databank (containing the also often useless cast & crew listing and the plot synopsis). Things get a little bit better when we get to the making-of (7 minutes, 36 seconds). Optional subtitles in English and traditional Chinese are thankfully available (along with Cantonese and Mandarin language options). Little is revealed by the cast & crew as the program mainly is a scattershot video diary of the shooting with the best moments conveyed through Tokako Tokiwa's Japanese narration. A music video, (consisting of movie footage only) for the Henry Lai composed number with the English title "Looking For A Night Of Happiness" by Tienji Tang, finishes the disc.

Advertised as a 2 disc set, the second one actually holds the Official Soundtrack of Moonlight Express, presenting both Henry Lai's score and chosen music (including Richard Yung's "Flame In My Heart" and the title track "Moonlight Express" by AD, saved till last). A varied selection of moody character themes, upbeat ditties and even death metal certainly makes it varied but the mentioned tunes along with Lai's instrumental cues are more memorable than anything. There's also a postcard in each of the amarays.




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