Beast Stalker (HK BD April 3rd 2009)

[logboy]

Despite turning up a short while after the DVD, it does mean many have had chance to see this and report on whether they like it or not...

Now the BD is set for later this coming week; currently listed as All-Zone :

http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_d...5&LanguageID=0 ($22 USD + shipping)

also seems to be imported to the USA, so you may find other sources, including Amazon.com, in time.

http://www.yesasia.com/global/the-be...0-en/info.html ($20 USD inc shipping, potentially)

trailer : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty6YRH-8iUo

Personally, although this isn't high art or hugely original entertainment, it's very solidly acted and crafted, one of the nicest HK films that I've bothered with in the past year.

[Old Bones]

Having just watched this on dvd , I'll pass on the Blu-ray. It was an OK movie ,I did enjoy it , but not one I'd care to repeat watch.

[Sky_Captain]

There's a Tai Seng US release coming as well.

[pro-bassoonist]

The Tai Seng and Joy Sales releases should be identical. We will have a review for the Tai Seng disc shortly.

Time Out Hong Kong:

Beast Stalker doesn’t appear terribly exciting on paper. Its major characters – a no-nonsense police sergeant (Nicholas Tse’s Tang Fei) seeking redemption, and a killer (Nick Cheung’s Hong Jing) pushed to the edge by the harsh reality while losing his eyesight – seem to be blighted by cliché, and the plot is ludicrous at best: a prosecuting counsel (Gao Min, played by Zhang Jingchu) in a criminal case has one of her twin daughters killed in an unconnected kidnapping by (guess what!) the same defendant, although, in what must be a breach of a dozen legal niceties, she is allowed to proceed with her prosecution.

As it turns out, coincidence is a key theme in Dante Lam’s surprisingly engaging cat-and-mouse game, with the fates of several characters intricately intertwined by one traffic accident, retold in various flashbacks at different points of the film (one of them being the final twist of the story). As Tang tries desperately to rescue Gao’s remaining daughter (kidnapped by Hong under the defendant’s orders), this gritty drama slowly reveals its characters’ compassion and humanity.

Amid flashes of ultra-violence and moments of formidable dramatic impact, Lam flirts with perverse greatness with what is potentially very dark material, before opting to take the easy route and stay in strictly PC territory. Given the ferocious emotional intensity and the acute sense of fatalism permeating the proceedings, Beast Stalker plays like a Greek tragedy with a happy ending.

A brutal masterpiece this is not, but Lam’s captivating crime thriller certainly reveals a director near the top of his game.

Pro-B

[pro-bassoonist]

Blu-ray.com Review

Pro-B

[Michael Blanton]

I liked this quite a bit. Liked the cat & mouse aspect and thought Nick Cheung was great.