Fatal Move Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Fatal Move Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 22, 2011

Dennis Law's "Duo shuai" a.k.a "Fatal Move" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Showbox Media. The supplemental features on the disc include theatrical trailers and a standard making of featurette. In Cantonese, with imposed English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Sammo Hung - A man with many problems

If bloody action is what your heart desires then you should find a way to see Dennis Law’s Fatal Move as soon as possible. The film delivers on all counts - it is flashy, brutal and stylish. It also tells a story that makes sense.

Hong Kong martial arts legend Sammo Hung is Big Brother Lung, a former bouncer-turned-triad leader, whose organization is amongst the most influential in Hong Kong. After years of killings and shady dealings, he has also become one of the wealthiest men in the region.

Big Brother Lung runs his organization with the help of a childhood friend, Tung (Simon Yam, Kill Zone, Echoes of the Rainbow), who has a serious gambling problem, and an insanely violent young killer, Hung (as Wu Jing, Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg, City Under Siege). The organization’s finances are managed by the beautiful Soso (Tien Niu, Widow Warriors, The Good, the Bad and the Bandit), with whom Big Brother Lung has spent the bigger part of his life.

When a few local competitors begin to shake things up, Big Brother Lung decides that it is time to remind everyone, including his partners, that he is still a man of power. The competitors are killed, but a new problem arises, and members of the organization are forced to turn against each other. This makes Detective Liu (Danny Lee, The Killer, Fearless Match), who has been after Big Brother Lung for years, incredibly happy.

I liked Fatal Move a lot. It is head and shoulders above many of the recent action films that have come out of Hong Kong, both in terms of acting and production values. It also takes its core ingredient - the action - very seriously, boasting superbly choreographed fights, and completely ignoring the censors.

The story is fractured into small episodes, but there are no continuity issues. The idea is to provide a good look at the structure of Big Brother Lung’s organization and the people who are at its core. There are various fascinating relationships on display, some of which remind about the complex relationships between the main characters in Lau Wai-keung and Alan Mak’s terrific Infernal Affairs.

The film’s greatest weakness is related to the sudden and dramatic character transformations at the end - though everything makes sense, what takes place is rather hard to swallow. The rest of the film is so much better.

The film’s uncompromising tone, however, more than makes up for its few shortcomings - the violence is graphic but never kitschy and the numerous CGI effects very intelligently used; best of all, Hung and Jing are on fire, and Yam looks great, a true madman, as impressive as he is in Johnnie To’s Election II (Milkyway regular Suet Lam also has a small role in the film).

There are reports that Fatal Move was apparently censored in a number of different countries, but British distributors Showbox Media present the film on Blu-ray uncut (running at approximately 117 minutes).

Note: In 2008, Fatal Move was screened at the European Film Market in Berlin, and later on at the Munich Asia Filmfest.

Fatal Move Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Dennis Law's Fatal Move arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Showbox Media.

A prefer this high-definition transfer over the one Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises used for their Blu-ray release of Fatal Move. The two may seem almost identical, but the compression appears to be slightly better here. Generally speaking, fine object detail is good and contrast level adequate. Color reproduction is also convincing. Clarity, however, isn't as pleasing as I hoped it would be. Occasionally, some of the nighttime scenes look soft, and various lumps of light background noise are quite easy to see. Film grain is present, but, again, there is noise mixed with it. Finally, there are no serious stability issue. Also, I noticed a few minor flecks popping up here and there, but did not see any large damage marks, cuts, stains, or debris to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. Please note that there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Fatal Move Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Showbow Media have provided imposed English subtitles for the main feature. They split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is very strong. The are a number of shootouts in the film that sound terrific. There wild fight between the triads early on, where Wu Jing goes berserk, is also quite impressive. Generally speaking, the dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Tommy Wai's music score either. Lastly, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, hissings, or dropouts to report in this review.

Fatal Move Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Some of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC in order to view them in North America.

• Making of - a standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film and various comments from cast and crew members. In Cantonese, with imposed English and Traditional Chinese subtitles. (11 min, PAL).

• Trailer/Teaser Gallery -
  
  -- Teaser - music only, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, 1080p).
  -- Trailer - music only, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, PAL).
  -- International Trailer - music only, with imposed English subtitles. (2 min, PAL).

Fatal Move Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I liked Dennis Law's Fatal Move - the action is first-class and the cast is rather impressive. If you are interested in adding the film to your collections, I strongly recommend considering this Blu-ray release, courtesy of British distributors Showbox Media, over the one Kam & Ronson Enterprises produced in Hong Kong. RECOMMENDED.