Fire Of Conscience (2010/Vivendi/Indomina DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: C Extras: B Film: B+
Captain
Manfred is a hardboiled street cop and Inspector Kee is cop on the fast track
to promotion, both beat cops, but their paths collide when their cases
crossover into each one another, a bus accident and the murder
of a prostitute. Soon, both are lead
into a darker world of dirty politics, corruption and crime. Behind the
gun runners and drug dealers lies a hidden mastermind, and to catch
him they will have to be just as cold and ruthless, but when they find
each other at opposite ends of the barrel, who is the real crook and who
is the cop? In the line of duty
sometimes a cop has to know when to step over the lines.
In Dante Lam’s Fire of Conscience (2010),
both are men who willing do anything to get the job done, but that’s where
their similarities end, but after death of several cops in the line of duty,
Captain Manfred discovers corruption deep within his own police force
and Inspector Kee is the mastermind behind recent string of crimes. It becomes a nonstop chase between cat and
mouse, and epic showdown between good cop versus bad cop.
This is an Asian cop story, how the weary street cops combat crime with blood,
bullets and their lives. The constant
struggle has put a strain on the lives of cops and they become more
tempted to sometimes 'ignore' the law and have personal vices of their
own, meanwhile their higher ups worry more about PR than their lives. The line between cops and criminals blur when
cops are willing to get their hands dirty and criminals seem
more like victims of circumstance than of greed. That the real difference between good and evil
is whether we give into to our own demons or desires, it raise the
question are we controlled by our desires or can we rise above them? The 2.35 X 1 scope frame looks good for a DVD,
but the sound comes up a bit short sounding limited overall considering the
multi-channel possibilities, though a Blu-ray with a lossless mix might sound
better. Extras include behind the scenes
with story, characters concepts and trailers.
- Ricky Chiang
