A Moment of Romance (1990) (Radiance Films)

[MifuneFan]

Radiance Films will be releasing the 1990 Hong Kong film A Moment of Romance, from the late great Benny Chan, in August

A Moment of Romance (1990)

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
• Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
• Archival audio interview with Benny Chan who discusses his start in the industry, A Moment of Romance, and his collaborators on the film (2016, 21 mins)
• In Love and Danger: HK Cinema Through A Moment of Romance - A new visual essay by critic and Asian cinema expert David Desser on the genre tropes in A Moment of Romance and their use in Hong Kong cinema (2023, 26 mins)
• Audio commentary by Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng
• Newly translated English subtitles by Dylan Cheung
• Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the iconic cast and crew by critic Sean Gilman; and a profile of Benny Chan by Tony Williams, co-editor of Hong Kong Neo Noir
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

[RiFiFi1955]

That synopsis of the film and package looks incredible! Might have to blind buy this one!

[StarDestroyer52]

Listing up at BullMoose. Just $23.97 which is a steal IMO.

[Sinister Ash]

One of Benny Chan and Andy Lau's best movies. Glad it's finally getting a proper release.

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by Sinister Ash

One of Benny Chan and Andy Lau's best movies. Glad it's finally getting a proper release.

Not sure what is considered a proper release but it's been on blu-ray from South Korea for 6 years.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

Not sure what is considered a proper release but it's been on blu-ray from South Korea for 6 years.

That release had a bit too much DNR applied

Originally Posted by DangerousG

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by joeyjoey

RAGING FIRE (the late Benny Chan's last film) had visually large set pieces as well as hand to hand and gun fights that were better than most HK action films in recent years.

I loved Benny Chan. I don't watch a lot of modern HK movies as they seemed forced to be watered down, but was surprised as to how crazy Raging Fire was. Was pretty good.

Would love to see Heroic Duo and Divergence get US releases.

[Ken81]

This is a great release. Compared to the older Korean bluray, this one wins on every aspect. I also love the new subtitles, especially of the theme song during the final scene. Although the old theatrical burnt-in subs were not accurate on the theme song, it still has a nostalgia touch on me. So those should have been included as well, but ah well, I'll just pull out the old UK vhs or any other old dvds for that. It's also a great touch that Radiance actually states who did the subtitles, and thanks to Dylan Cheung for the newly translated subs. In my opinion the other great companies should also do the same, not just in the booklets. And when releases don't have a booklet, these credits are also gone and unknown..a pity to the contributors.

As for the actual movie, if someone is on the fences for this one, I would recommend picking it up. Not to spoil anything, but the final confrontation scene of this movie is something quite unique in my opinion. If you changed the Cantonese language with other languages, the scene would immediately become cheesy. But somehow it works perfectly with the Cantonese language. And it's put together in a perfect emotional way. I guess when you got 3 top-notch directors Benny Chan, Johnny To and Ringo Lam all supply with their opinions (although Benny Chan is the director), the outcome would just be magnificent. And as the synopsis on this release says "A Moment of Romance is a classic of Hong Kong cinema that has been much imitated but rarely bettered." Which is so true