Prison on Fire II Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Prison on Fire II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 10, 2011

Nominated for Best Action Choreography Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards, Lam Ling Tung's "Prison on Fire II" (1991) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises. The supplemental features on the disc include two theatrical trailers and a short interview with the director of the film. In Cantonese, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Ching and Lung

Chung Tin Ching (Chow Yun-Fat, God of Gamblers) is once again locked up and trying to stay alive while various triad members clash and attack the prison guards. His most serious enemy is the new head of security, Zau (Elvis Tsui, All Men Are Brothers: Blood of the Leopard), a cocky young man who enjoys torturing those who question his authority.

Things get complicated again when Ching is sucked into a messy conflict between the well organized 'Hongkies' and a large group of Mainlanders. The former know their way around the prison and their leaders have a say when important decisions are made by the authorities; the latter are often bullied by the 'Hongkies' and mistreated by the guards because they are not united - which is why they decide to form a triad. The news reaches Zao and he approaches Ching to see if he would be interested in becoming an informer in exchange for various privileges. When Ching wisely declines his offer, Zao decides to destroy his reputation.

Fastforward. Ching’s mother dies and he asks Zao to let him attend her funeral. When he refuses to grant him leave, Ching threatens to file a complaint with the prison’s superintendent. Sensing trouble, Zao vows to break Ching before he breaks the system.

Meanwhile, Lung (Chan Chung-Yung, A City of Sadness), the Mainlanders’ new boss, is framed for murder. Ching helps him escape from the prison and shortly after that also runs away. The two meet somewhere in the jungle and quickly discover that they have plenty in common. Eventually, while visiting his son at a local orphanage, Ching is captured by the police and sent back to the prison where Zao’s new informer has quietly managed to convince everyone that he is the man behind Lung’s murder frame-up.

Though not as intense as Prison on Fire, Prison on Fire II is just as wild and entertaining. The key players are once again identified during the first half of the film; during the second half is where all of the big conflicts occur.

The majority of the humor from the first film is replaced with melodrama - mostly in the form of various prolonged memory flashbacks - but there are still a few genuinely hilarious scenes. Arguably the best one is with Yun-Fat, who tries to finish his dinner during a massive fight between the 'Hongkies' and the Mainlanders.

Tony Leung Ka Fai’s absence is definitely felt. Chung-Yung is convincing as the leader of the Mainlanders, but the attractive buddy-element is certainly missing from his relationship with Yun-Fat. Their adventure in the jungle also feels rather out of sync with the rest of the film.

Tsui is a fantastic as the sadistic officer Zau. The series of violent confrontations between him and Yun-Fat’s Ching are what make the film worth seeing. The finale is predictable but the energy is once again outstanding.

Technically, Prison on Fire II is not as well polished as its predecessor, particularly as far as the editing is concerned, but the fight choreography and various stuns are all excellent. Lowell Lo’s music score once again adds plenty of flavor.

Note: In 1992, Prison on Fire II was nominated for Best Action Choreography Award (Lam Moon-Wah) at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Prison on Fire II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lam Ling Tung's Prison on Fire II arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises.

Prison on Fire II looks slightly better than Prison on Fire but it does not impress. It puzzles -- while from start to finish Prison on Fire looks like an upscale job, a few times Prison on Fire II actually conveys some extremely weak HD characteristics, mostly during various close-ups. Still, detail, clarity, contrast levels, and color reproduction are very problematic. The somewhat good news is that edge-enhancement is not as overwhelming as it is on Prison on Fire, while macroblocking is manageable. There are no serious stability issues either, though there are plenty of minor specks and scratches popping throughout the entire film. All in all, this is yet another underwhelming release, but at this point I must admit not terribly surprising considering how a lot of these films were treated during the years. (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).

Prison on Fire II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

The Cantonese Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track is decent. Its dynamic amplitude is rather limited, and surround activity not overly impressive, but the dialog is fairly crisp, stable, and easy to follow. There are no serious balance issues with Lowell Lo's music score either. Aside from a few minor syntax errors, the English translation is actually quite good.

Prison on Fire II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer 1 - theatrical trailer for Prison on Fire II. In Cantonese, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p)

• Trailer 2 - a second theatrical trailer for Prison on Fire II. In Cantonese, not subtitled. (3 min, 480/60i)

• Lam Ling Tung Interview - a short interview with the director of Prison on Fire II. In Cantonese, not subtitled. (8 min, 480/60i)

Prison on Fire II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Under different circumstances I would have definitely recommended that you skip this release and wait for a different distributor to release Prison on Fire II somewhere else. But I don't believe that a better, English-friendly Blu-ray release of Prison on Fire II is likely to emerge any time soon, if ever. If you want this film, as well as its predecessor, in your library look around and see if you could find a good deal on it and then pick yourself a copy. Otherwise, RENT IT.