7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Shan "Donnie YEN" is a righteous cop who's is admired by the police force to have solved many cases. One day, his past comes back to haunt him when his sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo "Nicholas TSE", his former protégé. Ngo was once a talented cop who admired and respected Shan. However, a terrible accident sent him to prison three years ago turning him into a furious man with the aim to kill everyone who wronged him - including his former mentor.
Starring: Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Kang Yu, Ben Lam, Tak-Bun WongForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 43% |
Action | 16% |
Crime | 5% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Cantonese: Dolby Atmos
Cantonese: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Mandarin: Dolby Atmos
Mandarin: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional)
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Well Go USA's streaming service Hi-Yah! has frequently offered typical video on demand fare, which means that many of their offerings (to pun horribly) were not all that demanding. Things may have changed at least a bit with regard to Raging Fire, a viscerally exciting if undeniably rote outing that was famed director Benny Chan's last film before he sadly died from cancer last year (the film features a dedication to him in the closing credits). This "exception to the rule" may be due at least in part to the fact that Raging Fire evidently was not produced as a straight to video feature and evidently did have a rather successful theatrical release where it raked in some considerable box office receipts. There is absolutely nothing in Raging Fire that most Asian action film aficionados will not have seen in other films, but the pace here is often frenetic, and Donnie Yen is his stalwart best as yet another honorable cop, this time named Cheung Sung-bong, who is surrounded by corruption and who has the misfortune to be personally targeted by a former acolyte named Yau Kong-ngo (Nicholas Tse) who has gone over to "the dark side" and is out for revenge.
Raging Fire is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Perhaps appropriately for a film with this colorful title, Red cameras were utilized, with a 2K DI (both data points courtesy of the IMDb). I haven't been particularly shy about expressing my preference for Red captures, at least when compared to some Alexa captures, and that preference continues apace with this presentation. Despite a surplus of rather dimly lit and in some cases extremely aggressively graded sequences, there's little to none of what I've termed "Alexa murk", though to be fair there are a few passing instances of iffy shadow detail and even a bit of crush in the darkest moments. But the palette is really beautifully suffused a lot of the time, as can hopefully be made out in several of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. Interestingly, a kind of detour through a court case is almost desaturated, emphasizing beiges and grays (see screenshot 1). Detail levels are quite appealing throughout. There are just the barest hints of banding in some of the fadeouts (the film fades to black regularly at the end of various sequences), but considering what I've seen on some other releases from Well Go USA, I'd personally term it basically inconsequential.
Raging Fire has three really great sounding audio options, Mandarin and Cantonese in Dolby Atmos, and a relatively effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track delivering an English dub. I toggled back and forth between the Mandarin and Cantonese tracks for the bulk of my viewing, and I noticed no substantial differences between the tracks in terms of overall mix and amplitude. I'm frankly not enough of an expert in various Chinese dialects to be able to tell which actor may have been speaking what during filming, since lip movements often can be kind of comically out of synch with the sounds emanating from them in either language. That said, dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly. The Atmos tracks offer really fun engagement of the "traditional" surround channels as well as good vertical placement in several of the action sequences. The propulsive score also spreads through the side and rear channels. Optional English subtitles are available.
- Behind the Scenes 1 (HD; 2:00) is the first of two fun montage pieces that play to music. Both show behind the scenes footage, including some interesting renderings for CGI effects.
- Behind the Scenes 2 (HD; 1:13)
- Donnie Yen Commentary (HD; 1:53) would have probably been more accurately listed as an interview.
- Nicholas Tse Commentary (HD; 2:25)
Raging Fire might be thought of as the movie equivalent of comfort food, at least those who like to "snack" on Hong Kong action flicks involving stolid cops and nasty villains, in an urban environment teeming with sense of moral turpitude. There's frankly nothing in this film fans of this kind of movie will not have seen before, but this is a slick, engaging production with decent performances and some really fun fight choreography. Technical merits are solid, and Raging Fire comes Recommended.
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