R E V I E W :   Downtown Torpedoes

Reviewed 2/19/01 | Background | Movie Review | DVD Review | Recommendation

    

Background 

Mei Ah / 1997 / 90 minutes
Directed by Teddy Chan Tak-Sum
Written by Poon Yuen Leung

As a director, Teddy Chan Tak-Sum made four films between 1991-1994 (Alien Wife, Two of a Kind, Twenty Something, and In the Heat of Summer). Twenty Something was a minor hit and introduced Jordan Chan to the screen. The two teamed together again for In the Heat of Summer in 1994 and then this fim. In the interim, Teddy Chan Tak-Sum had a hand in planning Full Throttle and writing The Log and Black Mask. Jordan Chan acted in more than 20 films during that time.

The film opened theatrically in Hong Kong in August 1997.

Subsequent to this film, Teddy Chan Tak-Sum directed Purple Storm and Jackie Chan in The Accidental Spy.

Movie: plot, performances, production, rating

A small band of international thieves is blackmailed by Alex Fong Chung-Sun of the Hong Kong Security Branch into pulling a job against the British MI5 secret service. The four thieves are played by Takeshi Kaneshiro as Jackal and Jordan Chan as Cash (the lead field operatives), Ken Wong Hop Hey (his first film role) as the alcoholic Titan, and Charlie Yeung Choi-Nei as their coordinator, Sam. They are joined by Theresa Lee Yee-Hung as Phoenix, a deaf computer expert. Something goes wrong, as things as wont to do in espionage thrillers, and the thieves are forced to run for their lives while trying to uncover the truth.

Taken as a whole, the film does not deliver on its promise. Part of the problem is its dead earnest tone. With precious little comic relief, we are evidently meant to take the proceedings at face value. As a drama, the characters are not compelling enough to earn sympathy or rooting interest. The silly plot holes and fake technology are glaringly apparent. The photography and music are routine.

Yet, take the film apart, and the action sequences are quite effective -- rapidly paced, well-filmed, and gripping. For some people that may be enough.

The film is rated Category IIB. Many people are shot and killed; several scenes depict explicit violence and blood.

DVD: look, sound, subtitles, and features

The letterboxed (1.85 to 1) video quality is problematic. Black tones are deep, the colors are adequate, but the source print looks like a second-run theater's last showing. The constant display of dust and speckles can be distracting at times.

Dolby Digital 2.0 Cantonese and Mandarin audio tracks are provided. I listened to the Cantonese 2.0 track and the mix was a bit disappointing -- the foley effects sounded too loud and artificial (Godzilla-sized footsteps, for example). I also sampled the Mandarin track and it was a disaster -- the main sound was routed to one of my surround speakers! I've never experienced this before.

Chinese and English subtitles are burned into the print. The white subtitles have no backing and are sometimes difficult to read, disappearing into the background.

No menu is provided. Pressing "Menu" on my DVD player's remote showed 19 chapter divisions.

Buy, rent, or pass?

Rent. Well-filmed and mostly exciting action sequences are stranded by underwritten material and routine acting.

 

---

corrections? broken links? criticism? praise? please e-mail webmaster

this site is a non-commercial resource for region 1
original content copyright 2001 peter a. martin all rights reserved