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ON THE EDGE

 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Crime/Drama
Starring: Anthony Wong, Nick Cheung, Rain Li, Francis Ng
Director: Herman Yau
Rating: M18 (Some Sexual Scenes)
Year Made: 2006

 


SPECIAL FEATURES


- Trailer

 


TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: Chinese
Subtitles: Chinese, English
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Running Time: -
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Scorpio East

 

 


SYNOPSIS:
 

After working as an undercover in a triad for 8 years, Sheng (Nick Cheung) finally arrests the triad leader (Francis Ng) and resumes his duties as a police officer. However, life does not return to normal as he is faced with suspicions colleagues and even trailed by the investigations team. One day, he meets some triad members whom he has earlier befriended as an undercover. Sheng forced into a corner when asked to collaborate with them once again?

MOVIE REVIEW :

What becomes of an undercover cop after he had completed his tour of duty in the triads?

We are often shown the worst that could happen to an undercover cop or a happy ever after “ending” in the popular Hong Kong undercover cop and triads films. But we seldom see beyond what happens to an undercover cop after he completed his mission and reintegrate back into the police force.

In “On the Edge”, Xiao Hai (Nicky Cheung) as an undercover cop who had finally completed his tour of duty and reinstated back to normal cop duties. Adapting to his new life won’t be that rosy or easy. His new colleagues are unable to trust him and his new supervisor’s (Anthony Wong) brutal methods of dealing with gangsters are a sore reminder of his past, making it even more difficult to adapt to the new life. His former brothers in the triads despise him for what he had done and his guilt towards his ex triad boss (Francis Ng) weights heavily in his mind. Even his girlfriend (Rain Li) for many years couldn’t accept his real identity.

Shunned by everyone in the force and hounded by gangsters who seek revenge for his betrayal, Xiao Hai was push to the brim of sanity. A return back to normality seems just beyond his reach.

Although Nicky Cheung’s performance isn’t anywhere as impressive as Tony Leung’s role as an undercover cop in Infernal Affairs, he does convey the character’s dilemma well and gave a believable performance. Anthony Wong also shines in this movie by delivering his trademark hard-nosed unsympathetic performance to near perfection, giving the viewers much more reason to feel for Xiao Hai’s woes. The revelation of Anthony Wong’s action at the end came as a touching surprise and was pretty much heartfelt.

On the other hand, Francis Ng as the triad boss was forgettable and unbelievable as a triad boss. His role had limited screen time and could be easily mistaken as a cameo role. Rain Li performance was equally unremarkable and it felt like she was just another pretty face in the movie that add very little to Xiao Hai’s dilemma.

Performance aside, the story telling aspect of this film effectively uses flashbacks to contrast the life of Xiao Hai in the triads and police life. Not one of the smoothest editing in flashbacks but it exemplified the huge contrast between the two different lifestyles, helping the viewers to question with Xiao Hai if doing the righteous task was so right after all.

It’s evident that “On the Edge” is nowhere as good as “Infernal Affairs” but does poses an interesting question that’s rarely asked outside the undercover movies. The execution of the story and the cast performance were adequately to keep you entertain for an hour and a half. Definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of Hong Kong’s most famous genre of films.

SPECIAL FEATURES :

This Dvd comes with this film’s trailer.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The movie is presented in Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2CH with removable Chinese and English subtitles.

This film present a rather good reason why Dolby Digital 2CH is utilize in some disc. In the beginning scene, two rounds were fired and playing on a normal television set with Dolby Digital 2CH, the impact of these two rounds felt more powerful than on a Dolby Digital 5.1.

Another interesting thing to note is the name of the lead character’s name. He is called Xiao Hai in the movie but Xiao Hai is referred as Harry Boy in English subtitles and Hai Zi in Chinese subtitles. On the back cover, Nicky Wu’s character name is identified as Sheng. Rather confusing isn’t it?

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING:

Review by Richard Lim Jr

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This review is made possible with the kind support from Scorpio East


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