Review of Crime Story

Introduction

A tycoon who has already been kidnapped once feels he is being targeted again and calls on the services of Hong Kong police. Dismissed as overly paranoid nevertheless a large amount of officers are assigned for his protection headed by Eddie Chan. (Jackie Chan).Eddie is already suffering from trauma following a dramatic shootout the previous week.

Following a day that is marked by worker unrest the cops go home but Chan receives a phone call from Wang who is being chased at high speed down the Hong Kong streets.

Racing to the rescue Eddie is too late to prevent his capture and now they must wait for the kidnappers to contact the family.
Eddie joins forces with another senior detective little suspecting he is at the heart of the plot.

An unusual film for Jackie Chan it shows a man at the edge, suffering from the stress of the job. It also deals with the thorny issue of police corruption and the power of the Triads in Hong Kong society.


Aka: Zhong an Zu, New Police Story, and others…

Video

This film has been digitally remastered and the picture is clean and sharp. It has a well- tailored look that is apparently down to Kirk Wong`s background in the fashion industry. Look out for Jackie Chan`s wardrobe it has a major role.

Filmed at various locations around Hong Kong there are some impressive set-piece action sequences-just to show Hollywood how it`s done. Jackie Chan and Bruce Law are responsible for the action and there is a major overload on stunts.

Audio

The sound has been remastered and is produced in 5.1. It is not overly successful; most of the sound is front-loaded. The sound balance is good though and the dialogue is easily audible over the action sequences.

Dialogue-that`s a tricky one, with two versions available not counting the Cantonese. The spoken dialogue is more watered down than the subtitles-it depends how you like your swear words really. Either will keep you informed

Features

A word about subtitles-its an entertaining exercise to listen to the dubbed English and read the subtitles as the two rarely coincide. Ideally I think the subtitles are more detailed but you can choose, and thanks to the wonder of DVD keep choosing. The commentary reveals the film was shot without sound, as is normal in the industry and dubbed post-production.

Two featurettes:

Short interview with the Scriptwriter-Teddy Chen who repeats himself several times about how the story was developed. This has possibly lost something in the translation.

Action director-Bruce Law talks about his role in the Hong Kong film industry and Jackie Chan movies.

Commentary by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan
An informed and extremely informative commentary by Bey Logan who has written extensively about the Hong Kong film industry. Worth listening to more than once he goes into great detail about the film, the actors, stunt men etc.


Trailers

The DVD trailer is first-rate and the original Asian release trailer is vastly enjoyable. It almost appears to be about a different film.

Conclusion

I confess this was my first Hong Kong cinema film but not my last! My previous experience was confined to the Hai Karate ads and I enjoyed this for all the wrong reasons I`m sure. Jackie Chan gives an outstanding performance and takes a lot of punishment in this film. The film looks fantastic too with the investment of digital remastering a plentiful bonus. The sound is not as brilliant and surrounding as newer films but it certainly packs a good enough punch.

The quality of the commentary sells it as a Collector`s Edition and is far more gripping and informative than the rest of the tacked on items. The action is spectacular including some admirable James Bond type stunts. The plot has enormous holes, probably relating to how it was cut for different markets with some peculiar redundant scenes, however if you are a Chan fan or favour the Hong Kong spectacular then this will be for you.