Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

The Accidental Spy Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 19, 2010

Directed by Teddy Chan and produced by Jackie Chan, "Dak miu mai shing" a.k.a "The Accidental Spy" (2001) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises. The disc does not contain any supplemental features. With optional English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Japanese subtitles. Region-Free.

It looks serious...

Bei (Jackie Chan, Shinjuku Incident), a gym equipment salesman, accidentally witnesses a jewelry store robbery. He follows the bad guys and teaches them a lesson. As a result, he is immediately dubbed a hero by the media. On the way back home, he is approached by a funny looking private investigator, Liu (Eric Tsang, Infernal Affairs), working for a client based out of South Korea.

Liu tells Bei that his client is looking for his long-lost son. He would like to meet Bei, who happens to be an orphan, and often has memory flashbacks of a couple he believes could be his parents. Liu also mentions to Bei that his client is a rich businessman whose days might be numbered.

Bei arrives in South Korea and quickly discovers that Liu's client is an ex-superspy who was once loyal to North Korea. The man, who looks like he has no more than a couple of weeks left to live, tells Bei that if he agrees to play a small game with him, he would be richly rewarded. Before Bei could answer, however, he is attacked by a group of men who attempt to kill him.

Fast-forward. Bei arrives in Istanbul, Turkey and immediately heads to a local bank where the superspy has something in a safe a lot of people want. With a bit of luck, Bei manages to sign the proper papers and get to the safe. In it, he discovers plenty of cash and a small black book. Bei empties the safe and heads back to his hotel. A group of men, however, attack him immediately after he leaves the bank. The men disappear when the local police authorities arrive.

At the hotel, Bei encounters a beautiful Asian girl, Yong (Vivian Hsu, The Shoe Fairy), who "belongs" to a powerful and remarkably cruel businessman (Wu Hsing-kuo, Shanghai Grand). It turns out that the girl is a junkie, and Bei decides to help her out, but ends up meeting her "owner", who explains to him that the money he has taken from the safe that belonged to the Korean spy are his. Then, the businessman tells Bei that he wants what he paid for - a deadly virus called Antrax II. So, Bei must help the businessman if he wants to live and keep Young for himself.

If you have followed Chan's career during the years, then you should know perfectly well what to expect from The Accidental Spy - mind-boggling stunts, fast action scenes and plenty of humor. The many subplots in the film could be somewhat confusing at times, but overall The Accidental Spy should appeal to hardcore action and especially Chan fans.

The cast is comprised of a motley crew of international stars, some of which have participated in a number of similar to The Accidental Spy projects. Veteran actor Eric Tsang, for example, has an interesting cameo role, which would likely prompt some viewers to revisit his early films. Prolific writer/director/actor Alfred Cheung has a small role as well, but he is almost unrecognizable here.

Technically, the film does not disappoint, though parts of it look rushed and slightly unbalanced. The camerawork is competent; the footage from Turkey, in particular, looks quite good. The editing could have been a lot stronger, but the script isn't overly convincing to begin with. The music score is not of crucial importance to the film.

All in all, The Accidental Spy is definitely not one of Chan's best films, but it certainly offers just about everything fans of the action star have come to expect from him. It could be argued that film is a bit too exotic, but a good actor must keep reinventing himself as an artist, which is precisely what Chan has attempted to do with The Accidental Spy. Give it a try!

The Accidental Spy Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Teddy Chan's The Accidental Spy arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises.

The high-definition transfer is fairly inconsistent. Portions of it look quite good, conveying pleasing detail and acceptable clarity and contrast levels. Elsewhere, however, detail is average at best. The color-scheme is also unconvincing at times, especially when the action moves to Turkey. Some minor noise reductions have been applied, and those of you with larger than 50' screens should be able to notice them. Some of the darker scenes in the film also look noisy. Occasionally, mild edge-enhancement is easy to spot. Heavy macroblocking, however, is not a serious issue of concern. Furthermore, there are no stability issues to report in this review. When blown through a digital projector, the image remains tight around the edges. Finally, the high-definition transfer is free of large cuts, splices and warps, but there is a bit of dirt on it as well as minor flecks popping up here and there. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).

The Accidental Spy Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Kam & Ronson Enterprises have provided optional English, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Japanese subtitles. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is not overly impressive. The surround activity, in particular, is fairly modest - even during the shootouts and car chases in Istanbul. The bass is rich but never punchy. The high-frequencies are not overdone. The dialog is clean, stable and easy to follow. There are no balance issues with Peter Kam and Pui Tat Kam's music score either. Finally, I did not detect any pops and cracks while viewing the film. I did, however, detect mild background noise.

The Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 track is clearly inferior to the Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. As expected, the most obvious gaps in quality are noticeable during the actions scenes (compare, for example, the chase scenes with the large truck from the second half of the film). The dialog, however, is clean, stable and easy to follow. Finally, I noticed a few minor grammatical errors with the English translation.

The Accidental Spy Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Most unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray disc.

The Accidental Spy Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I seriously doubt that Teddy Chan's The Accidental Spy will see a North American Blu-ray release any time soon. Those of you who know who owns the rights to the film here probably have a pretty good idea why. So, if you are a fan of Jackie Chan and The Accidental Spy, this Blu-ray release is probably what would be available on the market for quite some time. It is not a perfect release, but it is most definitely not a disastrous one either. If priced right, you could consider adding it to your libraries. RECOMMENDED.