Review of Flaming Brothers

Introduction

Flaming Brothers - a Chow Yun Fat film that people haven`t been raving about or a best forgotten piece of mid-career dross? How has this one slipped under the radar? Another film that`s arrived in my DVD player and I`ve never heard of it.

It stars Alan Tang, in what is actually one of his most recent roles, despite the fact that the film was made in 1987 - he has made 4 films in the last 16 years and only 1 in the last 10! Alongside him is the ever popular (and aforementioned) Chow Yun Fat. The plot (what little there is) is outlined above, and the story was in fact written by Wong Kar-wai, of In The Mood For Love fame.

Video

A 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer greets us on this disc. It`s not quite up to the usual Hong Kong Legends standards, but then this isn`t really an A list title, so that might be expected. It`s still pretty good given the age of the print - largely free from dust and dirt, but with some traces of grain.

Much of the on-screen action (and fashions in particular) firmly date the film to the 1980s. Look out for lots of fake blood, which becomes laughable at times.

Audio

A DD5.1 Cantonese soundtrack, which is a remix of the original stereo soundtrack. Before I go any further I must say that this film has the weediest sounding gunshots that I have ever heard coming out of my speakers. It sounds like they recorded a cap gun instead of a real gun, and this is a bit annoying since there`s a lot of gunfire in this film, including at least three big shootout scenes where hundreds of bullets fly.

The remix is very subtle (a nice way of saying that they haven`t done very much with it), and this isn`t a soundtrack that will test your speakers. It`s almost entirely directed at the front speakers. Dialogue is fine, and the naff Chinese pop songs that appear in several places all sound ok (from a technical point of view).

Features

Another Hong Kong Legends DVD almost inevitably means another commentary track from Bey Logan. He is his usual "full of information" self, and it`s yet another of his commentary tracks that`s well worth listening to. Excellent as ever.

Backing up the commentary track is a 45 minute with director Tung Cho `Joe` Cheung - he talks about Hong Kong cinema in general as well as going into depth on the making of Flaming Brothers.

You can also find trailers for the film, and trailers and information about other DVDs from Hong Kong Legends and their new spin-off Premier Asia.

Conclusion

There`s a reason that people don`t rave about this film - it`s not very good. It`s basically a series of shootouts (complete with weedy gunshot sounds), interlinked with a rather naff romantic subplot. Chow Yun Fat puts in his usual sterling performance, but he can`t save the film. It`s not as bad as some of the films that have leaked out of the "Old Skool Kung Fu" range from another DVD producer, but you might still find yourself laughing at the wrong bits from time to time.

The DVD is the usual good job from Hong Kong Legends - very good considering that this is not an A list title, but not as good as some of their other efforts. If you wanted to buy it, then the disc won`t put you off. The film should though!

One for big Yun Fat fans or those of you who want every Hong Kong Legends title on your shelf. If you want a good Yun Fat DVD then hunt down Hong Kong Legends` The Killer or Columbia`s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.