Revenge
Of The Green Dragons (2014/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B- Film: C-
If
the tastelessly designed cover art didn't scream it loud enough, this
paint by numbers crime drama is everything you would expect from a
paint by numbers crime drama. Starring Ray Liotta, Justin Chon,
Kevin Wu, and Geoff Pierson - the film is directed by Andrew Lau and
Andrew Loo. It is also executive produced by Martin Scorsese who
more than likely just got paid to put his name on the production to
give it more merit.
Chinese
immigrant Sonny (Chon) joined the Chinatown gang The Green Dragons
when he was a kid, and worked his way up through the gang hierarchy.
But as he quickly rose up the ranks and became the notorious in the
community, only to find his life falling apart around him. The film
is based on Frederic Dannen's New Yorker article that chronicled the
true story of Chinese-American gang life in '80s and '90s New York
City, but you might do better seeing Michael Cimino's highly
influential Year Of The Dragon (1985) on the same subject.
The
film is violent and at times very dark but doesn't bring anything new
to the table. Its main problems being its pacing, grim tone, and
cheesy guitar riffs belong squarely in the '80s. In other words,
it's the Chinese wannabe GoodFellas.
Lionsgate
did a fine job with the transfer and sound mix on the disc, however,
sporting a 1080p high definition transfer with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 2.40:1. The sound mix is nice too with an encompassing,
lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix that doesn't disappoint.
Extras
include:
Deleted
Scenes
Commentary
with Directors
The
Not So American Dream: The Cast Featurette
Stitches
in Time: Costume Design Featurette
A
Claustrophobic World: Production Design Featurette.
All
in all, unless you are a crime drama enthusiastic wanting more this
is a title that you can safely skip.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
