| Joy Sales presents the film in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, with anamorphic enhancement. Minor dirt is on the print and what seems like a chosen, washed out look for the film feels represented sufficiently here.
The audio options are Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1, Cantonese DTS 5.1 and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 but as I'm not equipped with such a system, my assessment of this disc aspect will be left off this review.
The English subtitles flow well overall, containing only minor slips into poor grammar and spelling. On a few occasions, one of the more profane words out there remains censored in the subtitles but there is no audio censoring to go along with it. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.
Extras are devoted to a second disc in the package and the setup menu reveals what more or less looks like a standard now from Joy Sales; the inclusion of English subtitles on the special features. First program Behind The Scene (11 minutes, 52 seconds) is more a random trip through various stages of shooting, mostly focusing on rehearsing and Marco Mak's direction. We also see Eric Tsang nicely leading a table of actors regarding approach to a scene and character while remaining helpful when working with Sonia Kwok too.
Deleted Scene goes on for 15 minutes, 27 seconds and if I'm counting correctly, consists of 10 deleted/extended clips. None are missed as such but notable expansions includes a scene touching upon how the selection process of the infiltrators should be handled, the harsh rules of the mission and a more pronounced scenario motivation-wise when it comes to Julian Cheung's heinous acts towards the latter part of the film. Of special note is a completely removed end twist concerning one character but it stretches believability quite a bit.
The traditional Making Of (10 minutes, 8 seconds) has the usual happy talk and basic character discussion but Wong Jing reveals some tidbits worthy of note. For instance associate director Wang Gwang-Li was more of the driving force behind the off-beat comedy in the film while Wong also gladly allowed the actors to talk characters with each others for hours if it would help boost performances. Apparently real life undercover cops are interviewed as well, sharing basic impressions of their schizophrenic experiences.
A standard 15 page Photo Gallery follows, TVC is a 30 second TV Spot and the next substantial program is Interview (17 minutes and created for the Mainland market since all participants speaks in Mandarin). Going through Wong Jing and most of the cast, it is the former that gives us the sole meat of this program, elaborating more on his script intentions and the reason for bringing in Mainland director Wang Gwang-Li to provide a different kind of comedy to counterbalance Marco Mak's style as director. The actors merely meet and greet their viewing audience before being cut off although some mention is made about the different acting styles of Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese actors.
Premiere (13 minutes, 53 seconds) is the usual laid back, tiring charade that is awfully uncoordinated and even the actors at one point urges the organizers to get on with it. For once some glamour is injected though as Sonia Kwok shows up dressed for a premiere as well as the ladies Wong Jing brings. The trailer concludes a solid package that is more than just a little fluffy but the inclusion of the deleted scenes will rank as an interesting excursion for those who were into the movie. |