Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

With Bangkok Dangerous, the Chinese filmmaking team the Pang Brothers, who have built their reputation in the world of Asian cinema in the Thai film industry, have remade their 1999 debut film of the same name with lead actor Nicolas Cage's production company Saturn Films. This time out the story of the deaf mute assassin Kong from the original has been transformed into a US assassin, Joe (Cage), out of place in Thailand and signed on to do four jobs for a Thai mobster named Surat (Nirattisai Kaljaruek). During his stay, he hires a young street criminal named Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) to act as his go-between, ferrying his job assignments and communications between him and Surat.

During one assignment, Joe is injured and must wander into a pharmacy to treat himself. There a beautiful deaf mute pharmacist named Fon (Charlie Yeung) catches his eye and the two strike up a silent romance that goes awry one night on a romantic stroll through a park when Joe guns down two muggers who try to steal his wallet. His relationship with Fon, however, had already begun to have an effect on him. He was questioning his life and readying to get out of the business -- even going as far a to take Kong under his wing as an apprentice and train him.

On his final job in Bangkok, Joe has a crisis of conscience when he is assigned to kill a popular politician and hesitates to finish the kill. The tables also turn on him and the hunter becomes the prey when Surat, fearing the political assassination will get back to him sends people out to kill Joe. Joe must then attempt to rescue Kong and Kong's girlfriend Aom (Panward Hemmanee) being held hostage by Surat's crew while fighting for his life.

In all honesty, I haven't seen the original 1999 film by the Pang Brothers so I can't say whether it is any better, worse, or just the same as this slightly Westernized version, but I do know that this 2008 version of Bangkok Dangerous is a film that is struggling to find itself.  With one foot in the world of Hong Kong cinema and one in Hollywood action films, the story doesn't know if its protagonist is a man tired of killing and trying to get out or just a killer who has had his world turned around. It starts with one angle and quickly takes a turn in the other direction. But, hey, it's yet another action flick with Nicolas Cage brooding in a black leather jacket -- I guess there's a market for that out there somewhere.

The Picture

Gritty, grainy and with a blue-tinted de-saturated color palette, Bangkok Dangerous comes to Blu-ray Disc in a 1080p/24 high definition AVC/MPEG-4 video encoding that will most likely not impress too many people.  Truthfully speaking, the transfer does not display any compression issues so macroblocking and mosquito noise and other issues are nonexistent, but black levels are set so low that the film's many dark, nighttime scenes display high levels of black crush, losing lots of shadow detail. 

The Sound

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless mix is the highlight of this release. The 7.1 mix engulfs listeners in a lively and dynamic soundscape. From the sounds of Bangkok nightlife in the Caribbean Club to the roaring engine of Joe's motorcycle and the numerous sounds of gunfire, sound is presented in a 360-degree radius with plenty of low frequency extension giving every gunshot and punch solidity and "thump." Dialogue is mixed in at a proper level, is clear, well balanced and never lost amidst the relentless stream of action violence.  

The disc also provides a French Dolby Digital 5.1 dubbed option and English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitle tracks.

The Extras

The extras proffered on Bangkok Dangerous are not extensive by any means, but at least Lionsgate has seen fit to offer them all in high definition, which, surprisingly enough, is still quite uncommon these days.

The extras available on this release are:

• MoLog -- The is a link to Lionsgate's BD-Live network and offers up nothing more than promotional material for more Lionsgate releases. There is a "Community" section, but at this time that still shows "coming soon" when it is selected.
• From Hong Kong to Bangkok (1.78:1/high definition) --This mini-documentary gives some background information on the Pang Brothers, but also briefly explores the history of Hong Kong and Asian Cinema, including the famous Shaw Brothers studio system and more. It's a very interesting featurette for anyone interested in Asian cinema or film in general.
• Bangkok Dangerous: The Execution of the Film (1.78:1/high definition) -- This making-of featurette is surprisingly in depth given its compactness, at only 10-minutes long. Through interview segments with the Pang Brothers and Nicolas Cage among others much is explained about adapting the film from the original for Western audiences.
• Alternate Ending (1.78:1/high definition/DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1)
• Digital Copy -- There is a DVD included with access to a standard definition digital copy for playback on a Mac/PC or iTunes/Windows Media-compatible portable device.

Where to Buy

• Bangkok Dangerous on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Final Thoughts

Perhaps it's just that these films originally produced for the Asian market should be left alone because when they are fiddled with and Westernized they just don't translate well, but Bangkok Dangerous is just not a very interesting film although it very obviously feels like it is trying to be taken quite seriously.  The lackluster picture quality, combined with an albeit stellar audio presentation, mean that this one cannot garner anything more than a rental recommendation from myself for anyone other than the most ardent Nicolas Cage fans.

Product Details

• Actors: Nicolas Cage, Charlie Yeung, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Panward Hemmanee, Nirattisai Kaljaruek
• Directors: Danny Pang, Oxide Pang Chun
• Writers: Danny Pang, Oxide Pang Chun, Jason Richman
• Producers: Andrew Pfeffer, Ben Waisbren, Chris Lowenstein
• Video Format: AVC/MPEG-4
• Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Region: A
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: R
• Studio: Lions Gate
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: January 6, 2009
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• List Price: $39.99
• Extras:
  • Alternate Ending
  • From Hong Kong to Bangkok: A Look at Hong Kong Cinema Featurette
  • Bangkok Dangerous: The Execution of the Film Featurette
  • MoLog
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Digital Copy