COLD WAR 2 reviewed; debuts on Blu-ray & DVD today

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Cold War 2

Directed by: Lok Man Leung and Kim-Ching Luk

Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka Fai, and Chow Yun-fat

Hong Kong/China, 2016, 110 minutes

Cold War 2, which continues the original film’s saga of intra-police rivalry, debuts toady, March 7th on Blu-ray™ and DVD from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available on digital since February 7th.) This review is based on my watching the Blu-ray release.

The original Cold War (2012) also was directed by Leung and Luk. I also had Kwok and Leung starring as rivals in the Hong Kong police force. It was shown at the 14th New York Asian Film Festival in 2015 as one of several films starring Aaron Kwok, who was in attendance to receive that year's Star Asia Award.

M.B. Lee (Tony Leung Ka Fai, right center) is pissed at Sen Lau (Aaron Kwok, left center)

This second installment, which includes Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-fat as eminent legislator Oswald Kan, picks up after the events of the first film. Sean Lau (Kwok), a straight-arrow bureaucrat, has risen to the position of Commissioner of Police, besting M.B. Lee (Tony Leung Ka Fai), the former Deputy Commissioner of Operations.

Lee's son, Joe Lee (Eddie Peng of Call of Heroes), is a criminal in police custody. His buddies kidnap Lau's wife and demand his release in exchange for her life. This sets things in motion, including a behind-the-scenes conspiracy to control the Hong Kong Police Force.

Chow Yun-fat as legislator Oswald Kan

The film starts out at a funeral and numerous characters are identified by subtitles, in Chinese and English, as they appear on scree. This tends to get things off to a slow start. There are a few decent action scenes, but nothing all that spectacular.

Frankly, the best thing about the film was the opening credits which feature ice figures such as those seen in the Blu-ray image above. It's truly lovely to watch, and every bit as good as the best Bond film openings credit sequences.

Disc Specs:
-- Audio
   -- Cantonese DTS 5.1 HDMA
   -- Cantonese 2.0 Stereo
   -- Mandarin DTS 5.1 HDMA
   -- Mandarin 2.0 Stereo
-- Subtitles
   -- English
   -- Chinese
   -- Off
-- Bonus
   -- Behind the Scenes
      -- A Powerful Cast
      -- The Story
      -- The Three Powers
      -- VFX and Action
   -- Teaser
   -- Trailer
-- Previews
   -- Sky on Fire
   -- Operation Mekong
   --  Three

AsianCineFest Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars. A decent-enough policier,  but not all that great.

COLD WAR 2 coming to Blu-ray & DVD on March 7th

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Cold War 2

Directed by: Lok Man Leung and Kim-Ching Luk

Starring: Aaron Kwok, Tony Leung Ka Fai, and Chow Yun-fat

Hong Kong/China, 2016, 110 minutes

Cold War 2, the sequel to the 2012 Hong Kong box-office smash, continues the original film’s saga of intra-police rivalry. This second installment will debut on Blu-ray™ and DVD March 7th from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available on digital since February 7th.)

Picking up some time after the events in the first movie, Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok, The Monkey King franchise) is now the Commissioner of Police. Things turn bad when his wife and daughter are kidnapped and he must seek help from a former rival (Tony Leung, The Taking of Tiger Mountain) to save their lives. Joining Kwok and Leung from the original cast are Charlie Young (Kung Fu Killer), Eddie Peng (Call of Heroes), Aarif Rahman (Young Bruce Lee), Ma Yili (Badge of Fury) and Alex Tsui (Merry-Go-Round). They are joined by new cast members, including legendary Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Janice Man (The Midnight After) and Tony Yang (Phantom of the Theatre), in the “superbly acted” (Edmund Lee, South China Morning Post) ensemble drama.

Synopsis:
A suspected criminal mastermind escapes from police custody, throwing the city into turmoil. With the police department now divided, rival police chiefs are forced to take their fight to the streets of Hong Kong—with deadly consequences.

Bonus Materials Include:
-- A Powerhouse Cast
-- The Story
-- The Three Powers
-- VFX and Action

THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN debuts today on BD, DVD, digital HD

Well Go USA

Entertainment

Presents

The Taking of Tiger Mountain / Zhì qu weihu shan

Directed by Tsui Hark

China, 2014, 143 minutes

The Taking of Tiger Mountain, an action-adventure film from legendary Hong Kong director Tsui Hark, debuts today, June 2nd on Blu-ray™, DVD and digital HD from Well Go USA Entertainment. This review is based on the Blu-ray version.

The film is has its roots in the novel Tracks in the Snowy Forest by Qu Bo. During the Cultural Revolution the book served as the basis for Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, one of the eight model operas produced during that period that was also made into a film in 1970.

Bracketed by scenes set in 2015 that seem intended to make the story relevant to contemporary audiences, Hark's film is set in north-east China in 1946. At that time the area was victimized by rampaging bandits. One powerful gang was led by Hawk (an unrecognizable Tony Leung Ka Fai of Tai Chi Zero and Tai Chi Hero, who is made all but unrecognizable by wonderful make-up). His gang consisted of over 1,000 bandits and was based remote and well-defended Tiger Mountain.

Captain 203 (Lin Gengxin,), left

A People's Liberation Army (PLO) squad of thirty-some Communist soldiers are led by a captain code-named 203 (Lin Gengxin, Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon) with the objective of subduing Hawk and his men. .Joining them are Comrade Yang (Zhang Hanyu, Special ID, Back to 1942), a political division scout sent by the Hejiang Military District and field hospital nurse Comrade Bai (Tong Liya), called Little Dove by the troops.

Yang, with 203's reluctant acquiescence, enters hawk's lair as a spy in order to provide a means for the PLO squad to attack the fortress. Little Dove, along with one other female character, provides a touch of estrogen in this otherwise testosterone-laden war movie.

Comrade Yang (Zhang Hanyu)

The film, originally shot in 3D, clearly has some scenes that were intended to produce an "off-the-screen-and-into-your-face" effect. But they in no way suffer from transference to 2D. There are lots of digital bullets, knife blades, blood, flying hawks and debris from explosions. Also one very convincing and ferocious digital tiger. (Where would a movie with this title be without at least one tiger?) The considerable CGI, which is very well done, contribute significantly to the more than seven minutes of credits at the films end.

Despite it's rather epic length of nearly two-and-a-half hours, the film moves along nicely. To his credit, Hark claims to have eliminated some of the sermons from the source material. While I'm not familiar with Qu Bo's book, nor with the opera or 1970 film based on it, I think it's safe to say that while a degree of patriotic pride still remains in his film, it's probably not nearly as preachy and stilted as the source material.

Comrade Bai (Tong Liya) reports for duty

So what we have is a brisk, entertaining action-adventure film set in the period in which the Chinese Communists under Mao Zedong (spelled Tse-tung in my 1966 first edition "Little Red Book") fought to consolidate control over all of China after the Second World War.

Disc Specs:
- Audio:
  - Mandarin 5.1 DTS HDMA
  - Mandarin 2.0 Stereo
- Subtitles: English / Off

Bonus Features:
- Interviews with:
  - Tsui Hark (Director)
  - Tony Leung Ka Fai (Hawk)
  - Zhang Hanyu (Yang)
  - Tony Liya (Little Dove)
  - Lin Gengxin (Captain 203)
- Trailer

AsianCIneFest Rating: 3 out of 4 stars; a good film, solidly recommended

BEIJING LOVE STORY opening on Valentine's Day in North America

China Lion

Presents

Beijing Love Story

Directed by Chen Sicheng

China, 2014, 122 minutes

China Lion will be offering a Valentine's Day treat with the North American theatrical release of the Chinese romance movie Beijing Love Story on Friday, February 14th. The film, which stars Tony Leung Ka Fai and Carina Lau, takes a look at love and commitment from multiple generations. It's a spin-off from the hit Chinese TV series of the same name and marks the feature film directorial debut of Chen Sicheng, who also wrote the screenplay and has a starring role.

Beijing Love Story is slated to open in these locations:

- DC Area: AMC Loews Rio (Gaithersburg)
- Los Angeles: AMC Atlantic Times Square 14 (Monterey Park)
  - an additional Los Angeles area location for the 14th is likely to be added
- New York: AMC Empire 25 (Manhattan)
- San Francisco/San Jose Area: Camera 12 Cinemas (San Jose)
  - an additional San Francisco proper location for the 14th is likely to be added
- Toronto: Cineplex Odeon Yonge Dundas
- Vancouver: SilverCity Riverport

AsianCineFest is expecting a screener to arrive in time for a review on or shortly before the Valentine's Day opening, so be sure to check back here.