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, Ringo Lam'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 behind bars 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, City on Fire), a cocky young man who enjoys torturing those who question his authority.

A messy conflict between the well-organized ‘Hongkies’ and a large group of Mainlanders forces Ching to abandon his neutrality.

During the conflict, the Mainlanders form a new triad to protect themselves from the ‘Hongkies’ and the corrupt prison guards, and Zau asks Ching to become his informer in exchange for various privileges. When Ching wisely declines, Zau proceeds to destroy his reputation among the ‘Hongkies’ and the Mainlanders.

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

Though not as intense as its successful predecessor<, Prison on Fire II is just as wild and entertaining. However, in Prison on Fire II there are several notable adjustments.

The most consequential one is the reduction of the humor in favor of rather heavy melodrama, virtually all of which is introduced through prolonged memory flashbacks. Also, the void left by Tony Leung Ka Fai’s departure significantly impacts the tone of the new material, and the sadistic head of security brings an entirely new type of energy.

It must also be acknowledged that Prison on Fire II is not as carefully polished as its predecessor. The sequences where the flashbacks produce the heaviest melodrama look particularly wobbly. However, the action choreography and dangerous stunts are still excellent.

*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, mostly during close-ups, Prison on Fire II conveys some extremely weak high-definition detail. Still, the overall quality of the visuals is very underwhelming. The somewhat good news is that there are no serious stability issues, and colors are mostly decent. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player 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 dialogue is sharp, 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 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)

• Ringo Lam 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 recommended that you skip this release and wait for a different distributor to release Prison on Fire II somewhere else. However, 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 can find a good deal on it and then grab a copy. Otherwise, RENT IT.