7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 2.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.1 |
When former gangster Johnnie Wo returns to raise a family on his old boss's territory, four assassins are sent by the boss to despatch him. However, all four are Wo's childhood friends, and their loyalty to him, though tested, is strong. Yet if they side with him, all five will be in danger.
Starring: Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Francis Ng, Simon Yam, Nick Cheung, Richie JenForeign | 100% |
Crime | 15% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Cantonese: LPCM 2.0
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Johnnie To's "Exiled" (2006) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Chameleon Films. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentaries by Hong Kong cinema expert Frank Djeng; archival program with actress Josie Ho; archival program with composer Dave Klotz; making of featurette; vintage publicity materials; and more. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
The men who knew how to kill
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Exiled arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Chameleon Films.
The only other release of Exile that I have in my library is this release from Hong Kong distributors Mega Star, which I believe has been out of print for quite some time. It was one of the very first Hong Kong releases that I received.
This brand new release is sourced from the same master that was used to produce the original release. I like this master a lot, though a brand new one would have been appreciated as well. I did some direct comparisons with the original release and I did not see any meaningful discrepancies. I think that the new release has a very nice encode, which might be the one and only improvement it offers in the video department. Delineation, clarity, and depth are usually very good, but Exiled is a highly stylized film that features a great deal of colored lighting and even what appear to be color filters, which means that it is not very easy to evaluate. In some darker footage, for instance, the blacks are very prominent and from time to time it appears that they begin to crush, but I am not at all convinced that this isn't an intended appearance. Why? Because the brown tint shifts many primaries and nuances. Highlights are difficult to evaluate for the same reason. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. However, a brand new master will likely make the surface of the visuals slightly more attractive. Image stability is excellent. The entire film looks spotless as well. All in all, I think that Exiled looks very nice in high-definition, and the only way it could potentially look dramatically better is if it was released on 4K Blu-ray. (Note: The back of my release has a Region-B logo. However, the release is playable on North American players).
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Cantonese LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
I revisited the film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. It is an outstanding lossless track that produces some pretty incredible contrasts and opens up the action sequences really well. I have a different audio system now and pulled up the other Blu-ray release to test the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track on it, but I could not spot any obvious discrepancies in the action sequences. Admittedly, I did not spend a lot of time on these comparisons, but my impression is that earlier the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 did a tremendous job handling the film's very active soundtrack. The English translation is excellent. On the other release, there are a few minor errors, so this is an obvious improvement in the audio department.
Australian film lovers and collectors will have another very serious local boutique label to keep an eye on. It is called Chameleon Films. I have its first three Blu-ray releases and really like how they are designed and what they offer. I rushed to revisit Johnnie To's Exiled, a tremendous neo-western with a noirish personality, which is an old favorite of mine. This film has such an incredible style that it almost feels like To conceived it as a violent symphony with multiple, unusually long acts. The back cover of my Blu-ray release has a Region-B logo, but it is Region-Free. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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