Fallen
Angels (1995)
Director
- Wong Kar-Wai
DVD
Released by : Kino Video |
Player
reviewed with : Sony S3000 |
Receiver
reviewed with : Sony 925 |
|
Features:
|
In
Chinese with English Subtitles |
Scene
access |
Trailer |
Not
enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs |
Running
Time : 95 mins. |
Fallen
Angels is a visually stunning film. Wong Kar-Wai really can make other directors
look like first time hacks. Though this movie is slower paced than CHUNG KING
EXPRESS, it is also much darker but equally beautiful to watch. There are
a couple of stories going on at once. One is about a hitman and his partner
who falls in love with him. He wants out of the business but finds it difficult
to tell her. Another story is about a mute who opens businesses after they
close so he can make money. This story in particular is very touching. Though
a drama, there are some great action scenes.


The
DVD is a straight forward presentation of the movies. No extras besides a
trailer and it can only be watched in Chinese with English subtitles. The
trailer is pretty long but it is nice to have. I didn't miss not having those
filmographies on this disc.
Every frame of this movie is a work of art. You could take a snapshot of any
single frame and literally put it on your wall. The picture quality is pretty
good on this DVD. The darks and lights were done very well. The film is shot
entirely at night and the city streets aglow with neon lights look great.
The picture only suffers from the quality of it's source material. Overall,
the picture is a little better than average.


The
packaging doesn't really say anything about the sound. I believe it's Dolby
5.1. It comes only from the center speaker. The mixing seems to be pretty
good and only on one or two occasions did the music overpower the dialogue.
The movie is mostly music with very little dialogue. When characters speak
it is mostly in voiceovers.
When I first saw the sparse menu I though I got hosed
again like with World Video version of ASHES OF TIME. I was pleasantly surprised
to find that the picture and sound were pretty good. At first the subtitles
are a little distracting but I quickly got used to them. If you like the
movie, you will like the DVD. This is one movie that you will watch more
than once.
