Young and Dangerous (1996)
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. |
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.
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.