Young and Dangerous (1996)

Director - Lau Wai Keung
DVD Released by : Mei Ah
Player reviewed with : Sony S3000
Receiver reviewed with : Sony 925
 
Features:

Cantonese and Mandarin Soundtracks

English and Chinese Subtitles
Not enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs

Running Time : 99 mins.

YOUNG AND DANGEROUS follows the members of the Hun Hing gang. Ekin Chen is Nam, a well respected and revered Triad for his age. Chicken is also well respected and very much a womanizer, which leads to some comedic and serious consequences at the same time. Brother Bee sends them to do a job and things go horribly wrong. The results pit brother against brother and send things in disarray. When Brother Bee is killed by Ugly Kwan, the scene is set for a new alignment that strengthens the friendships that have been broken.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS spawned several follow up movies. Perhaps seeing it now doesn't have the same effect that it did when it was released in 1996 but it is still a very good movie. The movie is filled with little moments that make the characters enjoyable and more human. The acting is also well done. The characters are each unique in their own way where as some other movies just have the non-main characters standing around and looking hard.

The first thing you will notice is that there is no menu or options. To change the audio, you will need to change it with your DVD remote. The English and Chinese subtitles are burned in so there is no option to change subtitles.

The picture quality ranges from fair to average. The opening scene is in a sepia type of color and is blurry at times. As soon as the movie turns back to color, it gets better. The source print that was used is in fairly good shape. The transfer itself is well done but could be better. The picture quality is on par with some of Mei Ah's early releases on DVD. There are some times where some film techniques are used that would have benefitted from a really good transfer. Overall the picture is average.

The audio is mixed well. The sound comes mostly from the two front speakers and very little if any from the rear. The sound effects and music never overpower the dialogue. Overall, the sound quality is average and like the video, much like the other early releases.

As mentioned before, the subtitles are burned in the picture image. The spelling is sometimes a little off but never too distracting. They are generally readable throughout the movie. There is only once where there is a little difficulty in reading them against the background but they words can still be made out. There are some titles that are not translated in the movie as well as a song that is song in a karaoke bar. A big thank you to Yellow Hammer for letting me use his translation below for the untranslated titles.

YOUNG AND DANGEROUS is worth picking up if you don't already have it and the price is right. Since the movie has been out for a while it seems like it could be a good candidate for a future re-master so if you have it on another format, you may want to wait and see. I would recommend at least renting this one. The characters are likable and the acting and directing are very good.

Missing Subtitles:

At the very beginning of the movie, the background caption reads:
In 1956, the Shek Kip Mei area of Hong Kong has a big fire (actually more like an inferno) and much of it is destroyed. The Hong Kong government, in order to resettle the thousands of underprivileged people who lived in the Shek Kip Mei area, built a lot of public housing. During this period, a big baby boom also occured. As such, thousands of these people lived in this housing, which was very narrow and small for families. During this period many of the household members were out to make a buck, so many of the younger generation had no one looking after them. The sports courts (where kids played soccer and basketball) were primarily the outlet where youngsters went. However, this was also the area where the 'goo wak jai' (the traid rascals) hung out doing their recruiting activities as well. Then the movie forwards to 1985.

There is also a manga portrait of each of the 5 main Hung Hing 'goo wak jai' in the movie with background information only in Chinese. All are Hung Hing members:
Chan Ho Nam (Ekin Cheng) is 24 years old and likes to lead by example
Chicken (Jordan Chan) is 23 years old and his favorite activity is to have sex with many partners
Pou Pan (Jerry Lamb) age not given, is the chubby one, is the weak one and afraid of things
Chow Pan (Jason Chu) is 22 years old and is the brother of Pou Pan, very quiet
Dai Tin Yee (Michael Tse) is 23 years old, active and likes to box.
After Chan Ho Nam gets his formal punishment and beating for supposedly sleeping with Chicken's girl, the caption reads:
After the big Hung Hing meeting over the punishment, Chan Ho Nam quits Hing Hung and opens up a bar in Sai Kung. He changes his name as well. Then the movie forwards to 10 months later.