Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Hitman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 20, 2011

Stephen Tung Wai's "Sat sau ji wong" a.k.a "Hitman" (1998) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises. The supplemental features on the disc include footage from the film's premiere in Hong Kong and standard behind the scenes featurette. In Cantonese and Japanese, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Shoot to kill

A Japanese tycoon is assassinated by a professional killer. Shortly after, the world’s top hitmen gather in an expensive hotel in downtown Hong Kong. The tycoon’s lawyer informs them that the head of the killer is worth $100 million. Whoever delivers it and reveals the identity of the party who hired the killer will receive the money via a Revenge Fund established by the late tycoon.

Amongst the hitmen are Norman (Eric Tsang, Infernal Affairs Trilogy, Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg) and Fu (Jet Li, Hero, The Warlords). Norman is a small-time hustler who has run out of luck and having problems with his beautiful daughter (Gigi Leung, Fat Choi Spirit, Full Throttle). Fu is a Mainlander who has never killed, but is ready to do whatever is necessary to take the reward back home.

What Norman and Fu do not know is that the tycoon’s son (Keiji Sato, Love On A Diet) is also interested in the reward. After the search for the killer begins, he bribes the lawyer and receives crucial information that allows him to get ahead of the rest of the hitmen.

Meanwhile, officer Chan Kwan (Simon Yam, Sparrow, Election) takes over the murder case and launches his investigation. Norman and Fu are at the top of his list of suspects.

Stephen Tung Wai’s Hitman a.k.a. The Contract Killer is a simple film that should appeal primarily to viewers who enjoy straightforward action-comedy affairs. Jackie Chan fans, in particular, are guaranteed to appreciate its elaborate fights and shootouts.

Jet Li is billed as the star of the film, but it is actually Eric Tsang that impresses the most. Excluding the action sequences where he predictably delivers big, the former looks surprisingly stiff in front of the camera, especially when he attempts to be funny. (The only sequence that works well is early into the film, where he is seen cooking and then cheating one of his naïve neighbors). The latter looks relaxed and confident, always full of energy and willing to improvise (his fight with the geisha, for instance, is short but terrifically choreographed).

The supporting cast does not disappoint, but it does not impress either. Gigi Leung, for instance, has a limited amount of time in front of the camera and is basically used as a litmus test of sorts -- her interactions with Jet Li and Eric Tsang’s characters highlight their strengths and weaknesses. Simon Yam appears only in a couple of key action scenes.

Stephen Tung Wai’s direction is confident and effective. From start to finish, there is a good sense of balance between the action and humor, which is why the film never stumbles. The finale, however, could have been a tad more elaborate.

Arthur Wong’s (Crime Story, Iron Monkey) lensing is modest but appropriate. Cheung Ka-Fai’s (A Better Tomorrow II) editing is also competent. Stephen Ma (Running on Karma), Johnnie To’s special effects wizard, has kept a relatively low profile, but his touch is still easy to recognize during select scenes from the second half of the film.

*In 1999, Hitman was nominated for Best Action Choreography Award (Wei Tung) at the annual Hong Kong Film Awards.

Hitman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.88:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Stephen Tung Wai's Hitman arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises.

I have mixed feelings about this release. Unlike a number of recent Kam & Ronson Enterprises catalog releases, clearly we do not have an upconversion being passed on as native high-definition. Unfortunately, however, this is a dated high-definition transfer with a number of issues -- there is a good dose of mild to medium sharpening, sporadic denoising, and light halo effects. Edge enhancement is often easy to spot during the daylight scenes, but it is not as damaging as it might appear on some of the screencaptures we have provided with this review. The light noise that pops up here and there is also relatively easy to tolerate. What will likely frustrate some viewers, however, are the various tiny damage marks (see screencapture #1, bottom right) that are easy to spot, as well as a thin horizontal line that appears a couple of times for a few seconds. This being said, fine object detail and color reproduction are actually quite decent. Contrast levels are also balanced well. Obviously, however, the various issues mentioned earlier make it rather difficult to appreciate the upgrades. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Hitman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 (with portions of Japanese). For the record, Kam & Ronson Enterprises have provided optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature.

The Cantonese Dolby TureHD 7.1 has a decent dynamic range, but balance is not overly impressive. During the action scenes, gunshots have a tendency to stick out while obviously enhanced kicks and punches sound hollow. Generally speaking, the rear channels are also underused. This said, the dialog is mostly stable, crisp, clean, and easy to follow. The English translation, however, is not very convincing. I noticed plenty of syntax and spelling errors.

Hitman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Opening Ceremony - footage from the film's premiere in Hong Kong. In Cantonese, not subtitled. (12 min, 480/60i).

• Behind the Scenes - standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film. In Cantonese, not subtitled. (14 min, 480/60i).

Hitman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Stephen Tung Wai's Hitman is a fairly straightforward yet entertaining action film. I enjoyed it, but mostly because I really liked Eric Tsang's improvisations. Indeed, I have to say that without him, the film would have been a major disappointment. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Kam & Ronson Enterprises, is something of a mixed bag. You should consider adding it to your collections only if you could find it on sale.