ABOUT THE MOVIE |
Genre:
Crime/Drama
Starring: Ekin Cheng, Stephen Fung, Julian
Cheung, Alex Fong, Niki Chow, Eric Kot, Ti Lung, Carl Ng
Director: James Yuen
Rating: NC-16 (Some Violence)
Year Made: 2006
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SPECIAL
FEATURES |
- Trailers
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TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS |
Languages:
Chinese/Cantonese
Subtitles: Chinese & English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital
Running Time: 1 hr 57 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Scorpio East
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SYNOPSIS:
After legendary triad leader Yip Chow (Ekin Cheng), was released
from his imprisonment, he is determined to reform himself and
establish an empire in the business world. However, a new influential
triad figure Ghost (Stephen Fung), feels threaten by his uprising
power and schemes to challenge him. Meanwhile, Superintendent
Sung (Alex Fong) places them under close surveillance, hoping
to obtain enough criminal evidence and arrest them....
MOVIE REVIEW:
The
promo tagline on the disc cover make this seem like it's a
spin-off from the decade old "Young & Dangerous"
series which propelled Ekin Cheng to stardom. But in true
fact, "Heavenly Mission" is notches away from the
metal-wielding gangsters' series.
Ekin Cheng is no Chen Hao-nan but Autumn Yip (as cheesy as
it sound but the name stays), a powerful triad leader who
was sent to jail for 8 years and believed he can mend his
ways after he is released from the cell. At the same time,
an upcoming triad figure, Ghost (Stephen Fung) feels he has
the potential to lead the triad further by dealing in arms
smuggling. All these while, there's this Superintendent Sung
(Alex Fong) who is watching the duo closely.
The most impressive thing about "Heavenly Mission"
is the omission of the usual "gangster epics" cliches.
There's no brutal gang fights, unnecessary vulgarities or
even sexuality to speak of. Even the few action sequences
are subtly handled.
The leisurely-paced script by the director James Yuen brought
out the excellent acting dough by the leads and also familiar
faces such as Julian Cheung and veteran artiste Ti Lung.
Seeing the charismatic male cast chewing up the screen is
worth the price of this disc. It's just a simple story trying
to bring across a simple message. But if you are expecting
action stuff and elaborate setups, I suggest you steer clear
of this.
And please don't go after the marketers who wrote that misleading
tagline.
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
This Code 3 disc contains the original Canto track
trailer in addition to Max Makowski’s One
Last Dance and Derek Yee’s Protégé.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Hooray
for having dual tracks options for this disc. At least viewers
have a choice of choosing their preferred track. The visual
is decently transferred although some portions of the movie
look grainy. Perhaps it's intended this way.
MOVIE
RATING:
DVD
RATING:
Review
by Linus
Tee
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This
review is made possible with the kind support from Scorpio East
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