Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Firestorm Blu-ray Movie Review

You probably wouldn't want a hit off of this Bong.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 22, 2014

Childhood friends who end up on opposite sides of the law are hardly a new cinematic trope, and Firestorm, a 2013 Hong Kong action thriller, doesn’t shy away from the setup, although it turns out to be a relatively small component in what is a perhaps overstuffed though frequently visceral viewing experience. Andy Lau portrays harried police inspector Lui Ming-chit, a professional becoming increasingly exasperated (and perhaps a bit unhinged) by his inability to bring a crime lord named Cao Nam (Hu Jun) to justice. When a completely improbable armored truck robbery goes haywire (for the police as much as the bad guys), Lui literally collides with ex-con To Shing-bong (Gordon Lam), who it turns out has a history with the cop. Bong is trying to forge a new life with his girlfriend Bing (Yao Chen), but the fact that he was at this crime scene and prevented the capture of some of the bad guys by ramming his car into Lui’s argues against the criminal’s insistence that it was all just an accident.

My colleague Dr. Svet Atanasov has reviewed the Hong Kong release of Firestorm here, and I refer you to his review for more information on the somewhat overconvoluted plot of Firestorm. Svet had a perhaps slightly more positive reaction to Firestorm than I did. While the film is exciting and even breathless in several key sequences, it also squanders some of its dramatic heft by trying to weave in too much ancillary information, including a supposedly big "twist" at the end that anyone worth their thriller salt will have seen coming from a long way off. The film is nonetheless very impressively staged and includes enough perilous action sequences to whet most appetites that hunger for this type of genre fare.

Firestorm Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Firestorm is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.38:1. The slightly different aspect ratio might argue for this being a different transfer than the Hong Kong version, but the image seems otherwise largely identical, based both on screenshots and Svet's comments. Shot with the Red Epic, this boasts the typically sleek, smooth and stable image of that technology, while also offering some stupendous fine detail in extreme close-ups (see screenshot 4). Parts of the film have either been color graded or at least lit with specific tints (once again the ever popular blue), leading to a slight but noticeable diminution of detail in some sequences. Contrast is strong and stable though the film's unrelenting darkness results in a lack of shadow detail some of the time.

Firestorm Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

From the opening whispers of wind rustling through an urban cityscape to the closing conflagration that threatens to bring down central Hong Kong, Firestorm's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is a whirlwind of activity, offering near ubiquitous surround activity in what is frequently a very busy and at times crowded sounded mix. Everything is very well prioritized, and the track offers abundant LFE for those who like to give their subwoofers a workout. Dialogue is very cleanly presented. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is extremely wide.

Firestorm Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (480i; 21:20) offers a collection of separately selectable brief featurettes, including interviews with the stars and pieces on the stunt choreography and visual effects.


• Trailer (1080p; 1:45)

Firestorm Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Early in Firestorm, a heist sequence posits such an unlikely fate for an armored car that it becomes difficult to reconcile that kind of whimsy with the gritty, character driven drama that then unfolds. My hunch is adrenaline junkies will probably get the most out of this film, for when it indulges in its action sequences (which is quite a bit of the time), things move briskly and are typically very well staged. The melodrama surrounding Bong and Bing (doesn't that sound like a comedy duo?) is largely pointless, something that becomes even more apparent with the film's denouement. Technical merits here are very strong, and for action fans if for no one else, Firestorm comes Recommended.