Connected Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.0

Connected Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 10, 2009

Inspired by David R. Ellis’ "Cellular" (2004), Benny Chan’s "Connected" (2008) is a strange hybrid of a film. It enhances most everything we have come to dislike about Hollywood action films, yet it looks quite fresh. The editing in particular is very well done. Courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Joy Sales.

Hello, can you help me?

Bob (Louis Koo, Flash Point), a debt collector on his way to the airport, receives an unusual call on his cell phone – a woman (Barbie Hsu, My So-called Love), who has been abducted and locked at a location she can’t identify, begs him to help her out. She also tells Bob not to hang up because she wouldn’t be able to call back; the phone she is calling from is broken. At first, Bob does not believe the woman, but then he hears her abductors threatening to kidnap her daughter if she does not comply with their demands.

Bob decides to help. He rushes to pick up the woman's daughter from a local school before her abductors do, but, unfortunately, he ends up being a few minutes late. What follows up is a wild chase that culminates with an adrenalin-infused finale where the bad guys are taught a lesson they won’t forget.

Benny Chan’s remake of David R. Ellis’ Cellular will not disappoint fans of high-octane HK action cinema. This is a well paced, mostly well acted and full of edge-of-your-seat action film with a very unpretentious tone. Structurally, Connected is also a carbon-copy of Cellular, yet it manages to improve in key areas that allow for a far more entertaining viewing experience.

Hong Kong veteran Yau Chi Wai’s (The Unusual Youth) terrific editing is undoubtedly one of the key reasons why Connected does not frustrate; there is a sense of continuity in this film that never disappears. There are also long portions of its story where Benny Chan’s camera is nothing more than a passive observer of the impressive chase scenes Bob and his opponents are involved with. As a result, the film makes it very easy to succumb to its flashy visuals.

Another reason why Connected does not frustrate is its melodrama-free story. Yes, there are a few scenes where one is likely to detect a bit of that sour flavor one could typically find in overpolished Hollywood productions – mostly when the woman is interrogated by her captors - but they are rather short and not overly distracting.

A direct comparison between Benny Chan’s Connected and David R. Ellis’ Cellular surely places the former ahead of the latter. Because the actors in Connected are mostly unfamiliar, one truly does not know what to expect from them during the film’s key scenes; though, admittedly, if one has already seen Cellular then one knows how Connected ends.

To sum it all up, Connected is indeed a very unusual film. I personally am not used to seeing foreign directors going after Hollywood films and remaking them; typically, it is the other way around. What is even more unusual is that Connected eliminates a lot of the extra baggage the main protagonists in Cellular had to carry, and by doing so it dramatically improves the flow of its story. Yes, I know, this probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you now, but take a look at Benny Chan’s film if you can; I guarantee you will enjoy it.

Connected Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Benny Chan's Connected (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Joy Sales.

I am not overly impressed with the transfer Joy Sales have provided for Connected. More than 20 minutes into the film, I noticed plenty of compression issues, some mild aliasing as well as quite a bit of edge-enhancement. Some of these issues are less obvious later on, but, occasionally, they still tend to pop up here and there. The color-scheme is also very inconsistent – yellows, reds, greens, browns, and blacks do not look natural at all. On the contrary, they appear overly processed, at times even distracting. The second half of Connected looks notably better; contrast and clarity are improved, and so is detail. Nevertheless, I could not help but notice how unhealthy the1080p transfer appears at times. This being said, the print provided by Joy Sales is free of scratches, stains and dirt. Regardless, Connected is most definitely not on par with the quality of the HK discs that have been reaching my desk as of late. (Note: Even though this Blu-ray disc is marketed as Region-A, it is in fact Region-Free. This means that you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

Connected Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese LPCM 5.1, Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1. Joy Sales have also supplied optional English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Bahasa Indonesian, Bahasa Malaysian and Korean subtitles for the main feature.

The Cantonese LPCM 5.1 track is quite pleasing. There is a good dose of activity that I noticed in the rear channels, a prominent bass and a good balance between the dialog and the music soundtrack. Furthermore, there are absolutely no distortions that I could detect; indeed, the Cantonese LPCM 5.1 track is free of pops, cracks and hissings. On the other hand, given the abundance of action scenes in Connected, you should be able to test the muscles of your audio system (the crash scene in the very beginning of the film sounds terrific). Still, you should not expect a reference-quality audio presentation; more or less, this is simply a good audio track. For the record, the English translation is well done and lacking disturbing grammatical errors.

Connected Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As noted in the tech specs on the top of this page, Connected arrives as a BD/DVD combo. This being said, most of the extras the producers of Connected have supplied appear on the DVD. First is a gallery with deleted scenes (I counted more than ten). Unfortunately, none of them are subtitled in English. A second gallery with alternate scenes is also available, but, again, none of them are subtitled in English. Fortunately, the Making Of does offer optional English subtitles. However, its content is quite generic in nature – random comments from the cast and crew are mixed with footage from the film. The Behind the Scenes featurette offers a lot of raw footage as well in addition to a few sporadic comments from the cast and crew. Unfortunately, it isn't subtitled in English. Finally, the DVD also offers a teaser, two theatrical trailers and a short promo piece for Connected (surprisingly, they are all subtitled in English). On the Blu-ray disc there is a commentary by the director of the film, Benny Chan, but, unfortunately, it is not subtitled in English.

Connected Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I enjoyed Benny Chan's Connected quite a bit. There is nothing memorable about it that I have not seen in other genre pictures, but because its tone was so unpretentious, I ended up liking it quite a bit. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, however, left me somewhat disappointed. In fact, this is the fist HK disc to reach my desk since Behind The Yellow Line that does not quite live up to the quality standards set by HK distributors.