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Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More

Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More

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Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More

Video Dispatches is a regular column covering recent home video releases.

Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More
Time and Tide (2000) – source: Eureka Entertainment

TIME AND TIDE (2000) – EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT

Tyler (Nicholas Tse), a streetwise and seemingly aimless young man, takes a job as bodyguard for a man known as Uncle Ji (Anthony Wong) in order to send money to Ah Jo (Cathy Tsui), a cop he impregnated during a one-night stand. Tyler also encounters another young man named Jack (Wu Bai), a mercenary who has recently fled from South America. Tyler and Jack form a loose friendship and share similar aspirations, but this bond is ruptured when the two are thrust into opposite ends of their goals.

Time and Tide comes from the great Tsui Hark, one of the finest cinematic formalists who ever lived. The above synopsis is a very loose attempt to piece together the key narrative events that make up the film; in reality, the film moves at an incredibly accelerated rate, and I rarely felt like I was able to keep up with the sheer momentum on display. No matter, as it’s Hark’s style that makes this engrossing to watch, not his storytelling. This is a masterpiece in film technique, where each shot is constructed to be more riveting than the last. It’s completely astonishing to behold – the editing, the staging of shots, the arrangement of shots in sequence, the color scheme, the kinetic mayhem, Hark is truly firing on all cylinders here.

Eureka Entertainment has pulled out all the stops to deliver one of the best Blu-ray releases of the year. While previously only available to Western viewers on a muddy DVD from the mid-aughts, the new Blu blows expectations out of the water, delivering the best presentation of Hark’s vision. A fair share of strong extras are also in the package, including two excellent audio commentaries, one from Hark, and one from Asian film expert Frank Djeng. The limited-edition set also comes with a booklet written by Stephen Teo, and the film is encased in a gorgeous O-card. Do not sleep on this release!

Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More
PTU (2003) – source: Eureka Entertainment

PTU (2003) – EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT

From master filmmaker Johnnie To, PTU concerns the titular squad (Police Tactical Unit) during a single night of patrol, led by Sergeant Mike Ho (Simon Yam). When one cop on the force, Lo Sa (Lam Suet), loses his service revolver following an altercation with some hoodlums, Ho and his squad have until dawn to retrieve it, or they risk facing dire consequences from their superiors.

In the pantheon of great “up all night” films, To’s film definitely deserves mention as one of the subgenre’s best examples. With over fifty director credits to his name, the filmmaker has produced an array of exciting and varied works, from gangster films to romances to musicals. What makes To frequently exciting to watch is, like Hark, his formal construction. PTU plays out like an elaborate game of chess, except there are four sides converging upon each other. It’s truly commendable work from a director who takes care to make every shot in his films matter.

As with Time and Tide, Eureka offers up another exceptional release in their catalogue that does good by To. While taking place entirely at night, the film is gorgeously photographed, and Eureka’s new transfer captures this brilliantly in an excellent release. The film looks and sounds pristine as if it were made yesterday. Frank Djeng also returns to deliver another insightful commentary, and the extras are rounded out by a host of interviews with Johnnie To, Simon Yam, and Maggie Siu. If you are a fan of To’s work, you know you will want to pick a copy of this up. If you have never seen any of his films before, this is a great place to start.

Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More
Siberia (2020) – source: Lionsgate Films

SIBERIA (2020) – LIONSGATE FILMS

Surreal, introspective, and stunning, Siberia marks the sixth collaboration between Abel Ferrara, one of the world’s greatest living directors, and Willem Dafoe, one of the world’s greatest living actors (a seventh film, documentary Sportin’ Life, was also released last year). The pair, who have been working together since 1998’s New Rose Hotel, was last seen with Tommaso (released virtually in 2020), where Dafoe played a Ferrara-esque surrogate that allowed the director to delve into his own psyche of his status as both a husband and a father. With Siberia, the director goes even deeper into his own mind, if such a thing were even possible.

The film eschews anything resembling a conventional plot, but the general summation is that Dafoe plays a man named Clint, an American running a tavern in the middle of the Siberian wilderness. He converses amiably with Inuit customers (neither speaks each other’s language but they both seem to understand each other) before heading out with his sled dogs into the harsh wilds of the land. It is here the film takes a drastic turn and becomes a series of vignettes, where Ferrara – sorry, Clint, encounters figures from his past and future, including his father (also Dafoe), his mother, formers lovers, and his children. The film leans heavily into the abstract, which is sure to drive any average viewer crazy as they await some sort of “resolution,” but it’s frequently beautiful to behold, and Dafoe does an exceptional job grounding the feature as he embarks on “The Odyssey by Abel.”

Lionsgate’s treatment of Siberia’s visuals and soundscape does not disappoint. While the film eventually deviates from its frigid setting, the cold of the eponymous country is captured beautifully, as are the frequently arresting images throughout, and the haunting sound design complements Ferrara’s imagery well (a memorable use of Del Shannon’s “Runaway” is included). Sadly, the studio neglected to include any special features, with a trailer being the only thing available. The disc comes more than recommended on the merits of the film alone, and while it could possibly drive you mad (again, nothing really “happens” in it), it’s worth taking a look at this singular vision, if only to see two of the best masters in the game at the top of their craft.

Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More
Undercover Punch and Gun (2019) – source: Well Go USA

UNDERCOVER PUNCH AND GUN (2019) – WELL GO USA

Xiao Wu (Phillip Ng) is an undercover cop working closely under the powerful rule of Brother Bao (Lam Suet, in what is essentially a glorified cameo). When a drug deal goes south, leaving nearly everyone on both sides of the exchange dead, Xiao is promoted to the de facto leader of the gang, soon forced to do business with fearful overlord Xia Qiankun (Andy On), all while struggling to maintain his cover. Also in the mix is Dawnie (Aka Chio), Brother Bao’s daughter, and Hou Hu (pop star Vanness Wu), a survivor of the attack on Brother Bao’s gang.

With a title like Undercover Punch and Gun, the audience is not going to go in expecting the film to shake up the foundation of storytelling – they’re there for the punch and gun! With the action being the potential draw, does the film succeed on that front? Unfortunately, no, it does not. Undercover gets bogged down in the particulars of the drug business, with the requisite martial arts mayhem coming second to Xia’s struggle with building a meth lab. Ng also makes for a considerably bland hero; he’s got the moves but lacks the gravitas to make anything he says or does interesting when he’s not punching or kicking people. Also on a problematic note is the insufferable performance from Wu, who goes full ham to be the comic relief in the film. It’s a terrible performance in an already poor film.

The film looks and sounds clean on Blu-ray – perhaps too clean, as this ostensibly gritty tale has been polished up with a layer of digital scene that, for me, dilutes much of the excitement. Fans of the film will have no reason to complain. And perhaps as a mercy, Well Go USA has opted not to include any special features in the package, save for a handful of trailers promoting other films from their catalogue. This film and Blu-ray are as bare-bones as it gets – maybe seek out a rental before you commit to purchasing.

Video Dispatches: TIME AND TIDE, PTU, SIBERIA, and More
Silat Warriors: Deed of Death (2019) – source: Well Go USA

SILAT WARRIORS: DEED OF DEATH (2019) – WELL GO USA

Silat, a traditional class of martial arts originating from Indonesia, garnered international recognition in Gareth Evans 2011 actioner The Raid: Redemption. Highly acclaimed by many (including this writer) as one of the best action films of this last decade, The Raid was a phenomenal showcase for lead actor Iko Uwais’ talents in the art of Pencak Silat, which operates under quick strikes, grappling, throwing, and limb snaps in close quarters combat. Under the right direction, it can be captured beautifully on film.

Perhaps in a belated attempt to capitalize on their indigenous martial art form, director Areel Abu Bakar fashions Silat Warriors: Deed of Death as a narrative about a family oppressed by local gangsters, who are owed money by the family’s son Mat Arip (Fad Anuar). A brash young man with a crippling gambling addiction (often betting on sport fights and drag racing), Mat Arip should be the compelling force behind the drama, well-meaning but plagued with terrible business decisions. Trouble is, Mat Arip is a lousy protagonist, completely anodyne and with little redeeming quality. It’s a wonder the gangsters don’t just shoot him and get it over with.

Also of issue is the film’s promise of Silat, which does not really emerge until the final third of the film, where Mat Arip’s brother Ali (Khoharullah Majid) must set aside his pacifist ways to kick ass and save the day. Silat is eventually showcased, with a standout sequence taking place on a city bus, utilizing the tight location for maximum punishment. Silat Warriors ends stronger than it begins, but to get there, there is over an hour of rote scenes of intimidation that are deadly in all the wrong ways.

Well Go USA’s Blu-ray is clean, with no real objections to report (though the limitations of some shots, likely originating from the source as being shot on lower-grade cameras, does pop up from time to time). I also couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the punching, kicking, and body blow sound effects seem to have been designed by a sound library, a problem exacerbated by the professional sound mix. As with Undercover Punch and Gun, the disc is bereft of extras, save for a few trailers from the studio.

What recent home video acquisitions have you made? Let us know in the comments below!

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