The Mission

DVD Released by : Mei Ah

Player reviewed with : Sony S3000

Receiver reviewed with : Sony 925

Features:

Trailer

Cantonese and Mandarin Soundtracks

Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital 5.1

English and Chinese Subtitles

Running Time : 84 mins

THE MISSION is about five guys who are hired to protect a gang boss. There are some action scenes but this is more of a drama. Most of the movie consists of these bodyguards trying to find out who is after the boss. In this time, you get to see different aspects of their characters which I found very interesting. In one scene, the bodyguards are waiting in an office hallway for the boss to finish his meeting. While waiting, the kick around an aluminum foil ball. The boss walks out, and they kick it away like it was never there. It was little touches like this that made you like the characters or at least get to know them. When the movie ends, you want it to continue just because you feel these characters have at least one more story together. Anthony Wong is great, as usual, as a stone cold killer who winds up having a heart after all.

The picture quality could be a lot better. This is a re-mastered DVD and it still has a less than perfect picture. It looks as though something was burned in the image. On some scenes it isn't noticeable and other scenes it is a little distracting. The trailer actually has better picture quality than the feature. Would this stop me from buying it if I had known? Probably not. I like this movie and I doubt if it will be remastered after it already has.

The sound options give you the choice between Dolby Digital and the 5.1 remix. I watched it without the re-mix. The sound is acceptable. The sound is mixed very evenly and suits the movie.

I watched the movie in Cantonese with the English subtitles. The subtitles are in sync with what is said and pretty well done. The translations are pretty on the mark.

The movie contains a trailer . The trailer's image quality is better than the movie itself.

THE MISSION is an enjoyable movie. It's not action packed but the action scenes it does have are really good. I think the cinematography is very well done. There is a shoot-out in a mall where you will see what I mean. If you really like the movie, the image quality shouldn't deter you from owning this. If you can wait, you can always see if another version will be out but since it was just remastered, I don't know if that will happen.