6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
An ultra-violent and ultra-gritty tale of desperate Chinese would-be jewel thieves hoping to make a quick, effortless score in Hong Kong. Naturally, things go afoul, and the gang must hide out until the heat dies down, besmirched with the blood of an undercover cop. A progenitor of sorts of both "City on Fire" and "Reservoir Dogs," but lacking the romantic melodrama of the former and the hipster staginess of the latter. Winner of Hong Kong Film Awards for both Best Film and Best Director. Spawned a franchise with three sequels.
Starring: Jing Chen, Jian Huang, Wai Lam, Wai Shum, Lung ChiangForeign | 100% |
Crime | 18% |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of 88 Films' Long Arm of the Law: Parts I & II release.
88 Films has been giving other labels with a penchant for releasing Hong Kong fare a run for their money with any number of interesting releases, and
this "double feature" release will no doubt be of interest to those who may already be attuned to what has been called the "heroic bloodshed" genre
(or subgenre, as the case may be). And in fact both of these films are often aggregated as part of that category, whereas at least somewhat ironically
while there may be copious bloodshed, it may a bit harder to spot any actual heroes. Both Long Arm of the Law and Long
Arm of the Law Part II (actually called Saga II in its title credits) revolve around perceived "criminals", though in what might be called
sterling examples of moral shades of gray, it's not always easy to say that the perceived good guys have any more of a moral compass than
those underworld types. Both films offer some visceral action sequences, but may actually ultimately be more concerned with characters in uncertain
contexts forced to take desperate measures. Per some breathless verbiage included with this release, these films were purportedly based on real life
events, though some may want to take the overall verisimilitude of these efforts with a grain of salt, despite some admittedly gritty and visceral
elements. There are actually even more sequels than just the first one included in this set, so 88 Films may have a
series planned.
Long Arm of the Law is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. 88 Films offers only a generic "stunning new 2K restoration" as its sole technical tidbit. As Frank Djeng mentions in his commentary, however, some scenes which may actually shock viewers due to their ragged quality were actually shot on 16mm during surreptitious trips to the mainland (see screenshot 9 for an example). And in fact, some of that 16mm footage shows up fairly early and is combined with what was evidently a fairly long overall sequence accounting for the optically printed titles, so the early going here is especially rough looking. Once all of that has subsided, though, clarity improves noticeably, the grain field becomes much more tightly resolved, and detail levels are generally much stronger. The overall color timing struck me as being a tad on the brown/yellow side at times, though that tendency definitely subsides in the more brightly lit outdoor moments. There's no appreciable damage to report.
Long Arm of the Law features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono audio in the original Cantonese (Hong Kong Cut) or English (Export Cut). Both tracks deliver dialogue and sound effects well enough. The English track sounds a bit flat and processed, it doesn't have any really inherent issues. The Cantonese track struck me generally as more fluid sounding, with better balance between effects, dialogue and score, and without any of the slight crackling that's apparent on the Cantonese track of the second film. Optional English subtitles are available.
The intervening years may admittedly have slightly dulled the visceral impact that Long Arm of the Law evidently engendered (in Hong Kong at least) when it was originally released, but this is still a kind of fascinating sociopolitical and economic "statement" disguised as a heist film. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements are very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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