Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Throw Down Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 13, 2021

Johnnie To's "Throw Down" (2004) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include new video interview with screenwriter Yau Nai-Hoi; new video interview with composer Peter Kam; new video interview with film scholar David Bordwell; remastered vintage trailer; and more. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Please note that the text below was initially used in our review of the Hong Kong release of Throw Down which Kam & Ronson Enterprises produced in 2011.

The film follows three lonely characters who have struggled to maintain balance in their lives. They first meet in a popular club in downtown Hong Kong where other people like them often go to escape reality.

The first character is Sze-To (Louis Koo, Accident, Overheard), a former judo champion who has lost his passion for life. He owns the club but routinely steals from an eccentric crime boss to cover his expenses. Without anyone special in his life to love him, or help him with his business, Sze-To spends most of his time inside the club, drinking himself to death.

Tony (Aaron Kwok, The Detective, Cold War) is a young drifter who wants to prove to himself that he could be a great judo fighter. He is convinced that winning a fight with Sze-To will dramatically change his life. But when he enters Sze-To’s club, he quickly realizes that his opponent is on the verge of self-destruction.

Mona (Cherrie Ying, Karmic Mahjong, Poker King) is a young singer who wants to be successful in Hong Kong. She is ready to sleep with any producer if he promises to make her a star. Hoping to get noticed, she begins visiting Sze-To’s club, where men with many important friends occasionally go for drinks.

After a wild night in the club, Tony approaches Sze-To and challenges him to a fight, but he hires Mona to sing for his customers. An old foe (Tony Leung Ka Fai, The Lover) then reappears and demands that Sze-To finishes an important match with him.

Dedicated to the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, Johnnie To’s Throw Down is a film with two very different identities. On one hand, it is about the underbelly of a city where just about anything goes. As it is almost always the case with To’s films, there are cruel mobsters and men willing to follow their orders no matter how outrageous they might be. Unsurprisingly, in most of the places To’s camera visits life is shockingly cheap.

On the other hand, Throw Down is sort of an unusual romantic film in which two young men and a beautiful woman rediscover their passion for life. They do it while they wander around the city and slowly warm up to each other. The whole process feels like a group therapy for lonely souls during which people gradually relax, open up and begin to share some of their most intimate stories.

The film might be one of To’s best. It is very complex but it does not overwhelm. It is incredibly beautifully lensed as well. The lush neon lights make it look elegant and at the same time very relaxing. Even some of the more intense fights look like ballet acts choreographed for a big Broadway show.

Koo plays the lonely club owner to perfection. In one of the film’s most memorable sequences he attempts to remember some of his best judo moves while walking down an empty street. The atmosphere here is terrific. Kwok is also in a couple of great sequences fighting a giant bodyguard.

The excellent score was created by award-winning composer Peter Kam (Derek Yee's One Nite in Mongkok, Peter Chan’s Perhaps Love, Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame).

*In 2005, Throw Down won Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay Originally Written for the Screen (Yau Nai-Hoi, Yip Tin-Shing, Au Kin-Yee).

Throw Down Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Throw Down arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears on the leaflet/poster that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new 4K digital transfer was undertaken by Fortune Star. A new digital transfer was created from the original 35mm camera negative on an ARRISCAN film scanner at L'immagine Ritrovata Asia in Hong Kong. The original 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm optical track using Avid's Pro Tools and iZotope RX."

If you have seen our review of Eureka Entertainment's recent Region-B release of Throw Down, you already know how I feel about the new 4K master that was created for this very entertaining film -- I think that it is gorgeous. On my system, the night club footage and practically every other sequence with neon lights looked astonishing, which means that in native 4K this film is an absolute stunner. (Unfortunately, I have never seen it in the theater, so I don't have an experience with it that I can reference). I still have in my library the first release of Throw Down from Kam & Ronson Enterprises, so I can confirm that the same darker footage tends to reveal better nuances as well. If you project, the difference becomes very obvious, but even on a larger TV set I think that you will easily appreciate the improvements. The color grading job is better, but I have to admit that I had to choose specific daylight sequences to spot the most obvious discrepancies. (The first release is very nicely graded as well, but you can see what type of discrepancies and improvements to expect if you compare screencapture #22 with the corresponding screencapture from our review of the first release). Density levels are outstanding. There are no stability issues. Finally, I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Throw Down Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The audio is very clear, sharp, and always stable. There are no balance issues to report either. Since Eureka Entertainment's release offered only a 2.0 track, I did some direct comparisons with the 5.1 track, and I still think that the former is excellent. During the bar fights there is some additional surround activity, but I think that the overall dynamic balance is identical. The English translation is different.

Throw Down Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - fully remastered original trailer for Throw Down. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (3 min).

• Johnnie To Interview - in this archival video interview, director Johnnie To explains how the idea for Throw Down came to exist, how the film evolved and what are the key themes that define its narrative, how the visual style of the film is 'connected' to its charters, etc. The interview was conducted in 2004. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (40 min).

• Filling in Blanks - in this new video interview, screenwriter Yau Nai-Hoi discusses the original concept for Throw Down and the evolution of its tone, Johnnie To's vision of the film and the eventual changes that transformed its identity, the 'spontaneity' that is part of the same identity, and the director's working methods. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2021. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (12 min).

• Finding the Pulse - in this new video interview, composer Peter Kam recalls how Johnnie To asked him to 'react to the film' while figuring out how to score Throw Down, and discusses the relationship between the film's visuals and music, and some of the the director's stylistic preferences and working methods. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2021. In English. (12 min).

• Hidden in Plain Sight - in this new program, film scholar David Bordwell discusses the visual style and narrative construction of Throw Down. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2021. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• Kicking Conventions - in this new program, film scholar Caroline Guo discusses the unique style of Thrown Down. The program was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2021. In English, not subtitled. (13 min).

• Making of - standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film. Also included are short interviews with cast and crew members. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (11 min).

• Leaflet/Poster - a leaflet/poster with critic Sean Gilman's essay "Down but Not Out" as well as technical credits.

Throw Down Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wouldn't it be great if the Criterion Collection started bringing to America the many great films from Milkyway Image's catalog? And how about considering a few of the biggest ones -- like the Election films and Fulltime Killer -- for 4K Blu-ray? It would be an incredible development that will make a lot of people very, very happy. This upcoming release of Johnnie To's excellent noirish thriller Thrown Down is definitely a step in the right direction. I love this film, and I think that the new 4K master that was prepared for it is a stunner, so hopefully the release is not a one-off. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.