6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Young and beautiful Bu finds a romantic message in a bottle near her family restaurant in Taiwan. On a whim, she flies to Hong Kong to meet her potential soul mate, who turns out to be Albert, a gay beautician pining for his ex. Taking pity on the girl, he brings her to his workplace, where she falls for the wealthy and lonely C.N. Chan. But when Chan's lifelong enemy, Lo, discovers Chan has a new love, he decides to ruin their happiness.
Starring: Jackie Chan, Shu Qi, Richie Jen, Ken Lo, Tony Leung Chiu-waiForeign | 100% |
Action | 19% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
You know you've really matriculated to the cultural zeitgeist when you end up as a clue on Jeopardy!, and somewhat hilariously just a day or two before this review was being written, there was in fact a clue on that venerable game show about a rather famous Sting song involving a message in a bottle, though the clue did not reference Gorgeous, a film which is based upon the very conceit mentioned in the title of Sting's tune. This is a rather sweet romantic comedy that easily could have been adapted for American audiences with stars like Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, and if its supposed "magical realist" qualities are only hinted at courtesy of things like some kind of comical CGI rendered dolphins (who seem to be considerably more intelligent than some of the humans), the underlying emotion of a sweet rural girl traveling to the big city to hopefully find true love may in fact be a kind of "magical realism" in and of itself, in terms of the kind of wish fulfilment that often seems to suffuse this kind of comedy.
Gorgeous is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.36:1. Despite a rather nicely appointed insert booklet, 88 Films doesn't really provide any technical information on the transfers other than a passing comment on the back cover that these offer "2K transfers from original film material of the Hong Kong & International versions of the film". There's somewhat variable color timing at play in both versions, but in the most brightly lit outdoor moments, things pop generally quite well, and primaries are especially vivid, offering a suitably warm and sunny account of some nice looking scenery (the always expert Frank Djeng provides a rundown of some of the locations in his commentary). Occasionally some of the less brightly lit moments can have a slightly blue and/or yellow cast to them, which can in fact combine to make flesh tones attain a weird and sickly green appearance. Close-ups offer good fine detail levels, but some midrange material is a bit on the fuzzy side. A grain field is apparent, but this still looked like it had some high frequency filtering to me.
Gorgeous features Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for the Hong Kong Cut, and either Cantonese or English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for the International Cut. There's really not a huge difference between the Cantonese and English options on the International Cut, though toggling between the two may disclose an every so slightly fuller sounding midrange on the Cantonese version. Both tracks offer good reproduction of dialogue, effects and a rather charming score. Optional English subtitles are available.
The romantic comedy angle of this film is probably much more involving than any passing attempts at making this a more "traditional" Jackie Chan film, but both Chan and Shu Qi are charming, and the film is undeniably sweet natured. Technical merits are generally solid (I'd say audio arguably a bit more than video), and the supplements are very enjoyable. Recommended.
飛龍猛將
1988
Xià rì fú xīng | 夏日福星 | Hong Kong Cut & Extended Cut
1985
Zui quan
1978
The Legend of Drunken Master / 醉拳 II / Jui kuen II / Warner Archive Collection
1994
The Contract Killer / Sat sau ji wong / Sha shou zhi wang / 殺手之王
1998
Fuk sing go jiu / Fu xing gao zhao / 福星高照
1985
5 Lucky Stars / Kei mau miu gai: Ng fok sing / Qí móu miào jì: wǔ fú xīng / 奇謀妙計五福星
1983
2016
2015
'A' gai wak
1983
富貴列車 / Foo gwai lit che / Shanghai Express | Limited Edition
1986
The Armour of God / Lung hing foo dai
1986
Shuang long hui
1992
一個好人 / Yat goh ho yan / Warner Archive Collection
1997
拳精 / Quán jīng
1978
2016
Se ying diu sau
1978
Top Squad / Ba wong fa / Ba wang hua / 霸王花
1988
贊先生與找錢華 / Chan sin sang yue chau gung Wa
1978
Tang shan wu hu / 唐山五虎
1979