7.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
A troubled assassin, who works by orchestrating "accidents", suspects that an accident that happens to his team is not an accident at all.
Starring: Louis Koo, Richie Jen, Stanley Sui-Fan Fung, Suet Lam, Michelle YeForeign | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 2.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
Nominated for Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival and winner of Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actress, Cheang Pou-Soi's "Yi ngoi" a.k.a "Accident" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer and a standard making of featurette. In Cantonese, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
I can feel it...
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cheang Pou-Soi's Accident arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout Factory.
Shout Factory's presentation of this very entertaining thriller is both disappointing and puzzling. The film has been cropped from its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 to 1.78:1 and, needless to say, now it is practically unwatchable. The framing is so problematic that at times it is quite difficult to tell what is happening on the screen (see the tram accident during the second half of the film). Additionally, the high-definition transfer is also disappointingly weak. There are signs of heavy filtering, contrast issues, color reproduction issues, and compression issues practically everywhere. Some close-ups look remarkably flat (see sceencaptures #4 and 5), while during selected wider shots colors basically collapse. Indeed, this is a disappointing and very puzzling Blu-ray release from Shout Factory. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).
There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1, and Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0 track. For the record, Shout Factory have provided imposed English subtitles for the main feature (the subtitles cannot be turned off).
The audio treatment is a lot more convincing that the video treatment. The Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track actually opens up the film quite nicely during the "accidents" and Xavier Jamaux's atmospheric score gets a decent boost. The dialog is also clean and easy to follow. However, I did run a few tests with my Hong Kong disc and must say that I prefer its Cantonese Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track - during the final event, the surrounds and overall sound intensity are definitely a notch better. The English translation is good.
I am unsure what to make of this Blu-ray release. Coming from Shout Factory, a distributor with a solid record, it is puzzling to say the least. The film has been cropped from its original aspect ratio and I thought that at times it was virtually unwatchable. On the other hand, Accident is very atmospheric and quite unpredictable, definitely worth owning. Unfortunately, once again I must urge fans of Asian cinema residing in the U.S. to seek the Hong Kong Blu-ray release, which MegaStar produced in 2009. AVOID.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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