The White Storm Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The White Storm Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 10, 2014

Nominated for seven Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director, Benny Chan's "The White Storm" (2013) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Universe Laser & Video Co. The supplemental features on the disc include an original Cantonese trailer for the film; standard making of featurette; and deleted scenes. In Cantonese and Thai, with optional English, Traditional Mandarin, and Simplified Mandarin subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"He is mine now..."

Childhood friends and narcotics cops Tin (Lau Ching Wan, Mad Detective, Life Without Principle), Wai (Nick Cheung, The Stool Pigeon, Breaking News) and Chow (Louis Koo, Drug War) are ordered to track down an elusive drug lord nicknamed eight-faced Buddha (Lo Hoi Pang, The Grandmaster), who hides somewhere in Thailand. Because Buddha’s is constantly on the move, Hong Kong police authorities promptly request the assistance of top narcotics cops and informers in the Golden Triangle, hoping that they will provide valuable information that will allow them to study his organization and bring it down when the time is right.

Soon after, Tin and Wai arrive in Thailand, but quickly discover that the operation they have initiated in Hong Kong will be closely monitored and directed by the local police authorities. This immediately complicates things because Tin and Wai’s arrangements with Chow, who has been working as an undercover cop for years and is on his way to meet Buddha’s local contacts, will have to be changed without his knowledge. A corrupt local cop working with Tin and Wai also sends Buddha’s men a text-message warning them that one of the Hong Kong businessmen they are about to meet is in fact a mole.

Despite warnings that the operation is compromised, the local authorities send their people, with Tin, Wai, and Chow in the same group, to meet Buddha’s men on the outskirts of Bangkok, assuming that he will be there to finalize an important deal. The cops try to arrest Buddha’s men, but are quickly annihilated by a better prepared military unit. Somehow Tin, Wai, and Choi manage to escape with Buddha’s beautiful daughter, but crash their car nearby a massive cliff. Buddha finally appears and agrees to spare two lives if they let his daughter go.

One of the three friends dies and the remaining two return to Hong Kong. They vow to seek revenge, but also decide to head in different directions.

There are enough twists in Benny Chan’s action thriller The White Storm for three different films. Different viewers will probably have a different opinion on whether this is a good or bad thing. The most important one, however, is quite surprising and effectively redirects its story. At the end of the film there are also a series of flashbacks that realign key events, but at this point it is already perfectly clear what has taken place earlier.

Excluding a couple of overly melodramatic sequences -- the worst one being the meeting at the hospital with the forced confessions -- the film balances action and drama very well. The main characters are routinely presented with interesting moral dilemmas that allow them, and the viewer, to reexamine the ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ that shape up their lives. The only weak link really is their remarkable commitment to be good cops, which becomes more and more suspicious as the film progresses.

Without Cheung, Wan, and Koo The White Storm would have been a very different film. They look very relaxed in front of the camera and provide the film with the type of depth it needs. However, there is no doubt that all three have appeared in much better films. (The Beast Stalker and Mad Detective immediately come to mind).

Anthony Pun‘s (Out of Inferno 3D) cinematography is difficult to criticize, but some viewers could be slightly annoyed with the fact that a few of the big action sequences attempt to imitate the visual style of such legendary action films as John Woo’s Hard Boiled and A Better Tomorrow.

The White Storm Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Benny Chan's The White Storm arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Universe Laser & Video Co.

Shot with the Red Epic camera, The White Storm has the appropriate clean and smooth -- not digitally smoothed -- look. Both close-ups as well as large panoramic shots boast tremendous clarity and depth. The daylight footage, in particular, looks exceptionally crisp and vibrant. Colors are solid and very natural. During the large shootout with the helicopter select scenes look as if they were extracted from a documentary film (see screencapture #11). Generally speaking, light and shadow are well balanced and beautifully reproduced. Brightness levels occasionally fluctuate as the action moves from one location to another, but the fluctuations are clearly part of the film's visual design. Lastly, the encoding and compression are very good. Also, there are no stability issues to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The White Storm Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1, and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 (with portions of Thai and English). For the record, Universe Laser & Video Co. have provided optional English, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The lossless 7.1 track is very impressive. It has a tremendous range of nuanced dynamics and depth and clarity are quite simply superb. There are a couple of action sequences that will easily test the muscles of your audio system -- the surprising attack with the helicopter is a good example; surround activity, bass and clarity during the shootouts are exceptional. The dialog is crisp and very easy to follow. Generally speaking, the English translation is good, but some minor grammatical errors are present.

The White Storm Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All of the supplemental features are placed on a separate DVD (Region 3).

• Trailer - original trailer for The White Storm. In Cantonese, with imposed English subtitles. (3 min).

• Making of - standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film and comments from various cast and crew members. In Cantonese, with imposed English subtitles. (19 min).

• Deleted Scenes - a gallery of deleted scenes. In Cantonese, not subtitled in English. (13 min).

The White Storm Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Benny Chan's latest film, The White Storm, does not break any new boundaries, but it has a solid cast and massive action sequences which - for better or worse - have been inspired by John Woo's classic films. I think that viewers who like Chan and his style will enjoy it, but there are certainly better action films out there. The film's technical presentation is quite impressive. RECOMMENDED.