Distributed by

Columbia TriStar

Cat.no: CDR 96297

Cert: 18

Running time: 84 minutes

Year: 1997

Pressing: 1998

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 28 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround

Languages: English, German (both DD 5.1)

Subtitles: 14 different languages available

Widescreen: 2.35:1

16:9-Enhanced: Yes

Macrovision: Yes

Price: £19.99

Extras : Scene index, Theatrical trailer, Filmographies

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Director:

Antoine Fuqua

Producers:

Brad Grey and Bernie Brillstein

Screenplay:

Ken Sanzel

Music:

Harry Gregson-Williams

Cast:

John Lee: Chow Yun-Fat (A Better Tomorrow 1-3, City On Fire, Full Contact, God of Gamblers 1 & 2, Hard Boiled, Hong Kong 1941, The Killer, Once A Thief)
Meg Coburn: Mira Sorvino (At First Sight, Beautiful Girls, Mighty Aphrodite, Mimic, Quiz Show, Romy And Michelle's High School Reunion)
Michael Kogan: Jurgen Prochnow (Air Force One, Body Of Evidence, Das Boot, Dune, The English Patient, In The Mouth Of Madness, Judge Dredd, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me)
Stan "Zeedo" Zedkov: Michael Rooker (Cliffhanger, Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer, JFK, Keys To Tulsa, Mallrats, Mississippi Burning, Rosewood, Sea Of Love, Tombstone)
Collins: Danny Trejo (Con Air)

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Five minutes later, Wei's 'replacement killers' show up ready to finish a new part of the job, her apartment-cum-office is shot full of holes as they defend themselves. With four dead men at their feet, it's time to go on the run.

Chow gives his usual 100% to a role in a film, while Mira provides the babe-quotient, proving just as handy with a gun. Jurgen Prochnow is the leader of the 'Replacement Killers' sent by Wei to bump them both off and Michael Rooker finds himself getting much more deeply involved than he ever thought possible.

The picture quality is near-perfect. Only slight artifacts are noticeable if you're looking for them, but not from the usual viewing distance. The film is presented in its original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1, is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions - thus allowing for higher resolution - and the average bitrate is a good 5.94 Mb/s.

The sound comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 - which will benefit all of those with the suitable hardware - and Dolby Surround for everyone else. The sound gets a major workout since most of the scenes involve gunfire or loud noise of one type or another, as well as an atmospheric background score.

Extras :

Chapters/Theatrical Trailer :

Languages/Subtitles :

Filmographies :

Menu :

Upon selecting the "Start Movie" option, you'll first see a "Sony Pictures DVD Center" logo, followed by the Dolby Digital helicopter demo, the copyright logo and then the film itself.

Overall, this is a superb high-octane action road movie with Chow and Sorvino making a success of their unlikely partnership. Endless John Woo-style action scenes set in front of many a stylish backdrop are made all the more enjoyable with the volume turned up high.

If I had any complaints, it's that the disc is very light on the extras, since even the Region 1 DVD contains a "making of" featurette, not to mention the fact that Columbia have now changed the packaging from the sturdy keep-cases to a plastic - easily breakable - casing as used since day one by Polygram.

FILM	 		: *****
PICTURE QUALITY		: ****½
SOUND QUALITY		: *****
EXTRAS			: *½
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OVERALL			: ****

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.