Tokyo Raiders

It seems that you can take the British from Hong Kong, but you can't take the action. The Chinese may have taken Hong Kong back, but that hasn't stopped director Jingle Ma from creating an action packed film that will leave you wondering what's going on until the very end.

For those of you unfamiliar with HK action films, Tokyo Raiders is a good introduction - plenty of action, some very human characters, and a plot that will keep you interested and curious between the action sequences.

Macy (Kelly Chen) has been left at the altar by her husband to be, Takahashi. Yung (Ekin Cheng) is the interior decorator of the couple-to-be, upset at having the cheque he was paid with bounce, and now wants to find Takahashi to make sure he gets paid. Lin (Tony Leung), a private detective on the trail of Takahashi for his own reasons, rescues the two after they run into some trouble upon arriving in Japan.

Where is Takahashi? Why has he disappeared? Why does an interior decorator have such impressive martial talents? Why is Lin hunting Takahashi?

For the answer to these questions, and more, strap yourself in for a fun-filled, action packed ride, as you join the Tokyo Raiders.

For a film full of motion, quick cuts and plenty of action, the boys at the Sony Center have done an impressive job making a flawless transfer. Edges are sharp, without appearing unnatural, and no aliasing or artifacting that was apparent.

Contrast is good, but you may think the colour is a little dampened. This may be the case, but it seems more of an artistic choice, as a lot of the foreground is browns, blues and greys. Check out the martial arts mat, and the lights of Las Vegas, at the beginning of the film, as well as the flesh tone throughout to see that colour saturation has been handled well.

For those of use without 16x9 Enhanced televisions, the 1.85:1 picture will result in the subtitles conveniently appearing in the black letterbox strip at the bottom of the screen.

When it comes to foreign films, there are two main camps: those that prefer original soundtracks with subtitles, and those that prefer a dubbed soundtrack. Lucky for us that DVD supports both and the viewer gets to decide what to watch. In fact, it gives us one additional alternative - dubbed soundtrack and subtitles. Try this out on a few titles - the differences in translation can be amusing.

Tokyo Raiders is produced with an original Cantonese and an English soundtrack, both in Dolby Digital 5.1. Apart from the differences in dialog, the tracks seem identical, as should be the case in an ideal world. As such the following notes apply to both tracks.

Tokyo Raiders makes reasonable use of the surround setup, with the rear speakers kicking in for the occasional effect. Most dialog is occuring on screen, and comes cleanly from the center speaker. As this is not your standard Hollywood action blockbuster, don't expect a huge workout from your sub-woofer, but be comfortable knowing it's there for when something does explode. The soundstage really opens up when it comes to the soundtrack - which is somewhat surprising in that it has a very Latino feel and beat.

One last thing of note: the recording level seems to be somewhat lower than your "average" DVD, so you'll probably want to adjust your volume level upwards accordingly.

• Language Options: not normally considered an "Extra", but with foreign language films this is an important feature. People should have the ability to chose how they watch their films.
• Theatrical Trailer: a low quality trailer, presented in Cantonese with subtitles.
• Making of Tokyo Raiders: a twenty minute featurette, again in Cantonese with English subtitles, containing the trailer, interspersed with interviews of the cast and crew, along with behind the scenes footage. Not a lot of re-watch value, but if you can get an extra, take it.

Tokyo Raiders is not the best Hong Kong action flick of all time (in my opinion, that honour goes to The Killer by John Woo) but it is one helluva fun film that will keep you puzzled through the first watching. It's also a good sign that the film industry in Hong Kong is far from dead, and that there is still a lot of talent left.

For the HK fans, this is a no-brainer - get the disc, it's an enjoyable film, and you'll be supporting HK films in the Region 4 format.

For those who haven't been exposed to HK action before - rent it from the video store, and checkout what you've been missing.