Time and Tide

DVD Released by : Columbia/Tristar

Player reviewed with : Sony S3000

Receiver reviewed with : Sony 925

Features:

Cantonese and English Soundtracks

2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround

French and English Subtitles

Widescreen Presentation

Bonus Trailers

Enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs

Running Time : 113 mins.

TIME AND TIDE follows the character of Jack, a bartender who gets a Lesbian Cop pregnant and becomes a bodyguard to earn more money so he can support the child. Although he tries to slip money under her door, she slips it back out to him. If he leaves it when she isn't home, her dog eats it. While working as a bodyguard, he meets Tyler, an ex-mercenery. Even though they are more acquaintances than friends, Tyler winds up trying to protect Jack's pregnant wife when his ex-unit tries to kill him.

Visually beautiful to watch, TIME AND TIDE should please most fans of Tsui Hark. Though a little sparse on the development of the characters, the movie delivers in the action department. The action scenes feature some great camera work and slick editing. This movie begs to be watched on a widescreen TV.

The image quality is excellent. Being a recent movie, the source print is fantastic. No specks, dirt, or damage in the film. The colors are vibrant and the black tones are perfect. The opening scene of the movie takes place at night and looks beautiful with the rich colors. I like this transfer even better than the one of Columbia/Tristar's version of TOKYO RAIDERS. The picture is also anamorphic so if you have a widescreen TV, you will be very happy. If you don't have one, this may make you decide to get one. As with many of Tsui Hark's films, there is a lot going on at times and large screen would really let you soak it all in.

There are a few options when it comes to the sound. There are the English 2.0 Dolby and 5.1 and the Cantonese 2.0 and 5.1 tracks. I watched the movie with the Cantonese 5.1 option. The sound is very full and is usually mixed well. There are a few times that the dialogue was a little low compared to the other sound elements but overall I think it's very well done.

The extras consist of a Tsui Hark commentary and trailers for TIME AND TIDE, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, and the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series.

Though not perfect, TIME AND TIDE is one of the better movies I have seen in a while. It may be falling into the over-hyped territory that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon fell into but regardless, it's a solid movie and Tsui Hark really does a great job with this. I enjoyed it and will watch it many more times. The compositions of some of the shots are really visually interesting. There are some special effects shots that look really good, like a camera view through the barrel of a gun.

I definitely recommend this DVD. TIME AND TIDE will hold up under multiple viewings and you will find yourself watching this more than once. The transfer is excellent and you're going to wish all your imports looked like this. Columbia/Tristar really did a good job on this one.