Operation Mekong (Blu-ray w/DVD)/Sky On Fire (Blu-ray/both 2016 Well Go USA releases)

Picture: B+ & B-/B Sound: A & B-/B- Extras: A/C- Film: A-/B+

Here's two new thrillers to know about...

Operation Mekong

Every year the Mekong River lies in the heart of the Golden Triangle, where each year, millions of illegal drugs are shipped. An elite group of deep cover agents are sent in to discover and bring in the drug lord and his cartel to justice, but the deeper they go, the more danger they put themselves at risk and to find the leaders they must be just as ruthless as them in Director Dante Lam's epic actioner.

The Mekong River lies between 3 countries, but the Mekong river is controlled by the drug lord Naw Khar. The Chinese government sends in an elite hit squad to bring Naw Khar and his lieutenants to justice. While pretending to be buyers they enter heart of the drug underworld without intel or backup, everything they do they are on their own and can only rely on each other and their own skills, but along the river, the cartels own the all the pirates, villages and even the police. There is danger around every corner, but with each success the cartels dig deeper into their mountain base.

Based on a true story, the story was like watching the Chinese narcotics officers fighting against drug underworld for real. While the agents have government training and high tech gadgets, the cartels has nearly unlimited money, guns, and their own moles within the force, but their main source of power for the drug cartel is using fear and corruption to manipulate others, including use of child soldiers, hostages, torture and terror tactics. Extras include a Making Of the film featurette, Uncovering the Truth, The Team, The Secret Mission, The Journey, Two Heroes, Force of Nature and trailers.

Sky On Fire

A security chief, a scientist, a thief and a brother and sister find their fate intertwined when Sky pharmaceutical company find and hold the key the cure of cancer. After discovering the truth to the origins to the cure, they must decide who to trust, what to believe and who are their friends. The pharmaceutical company will do anything control cure and kill anyone who stands in their way in the latest of Director Ringo Lam's political Fire thrillers.

When a young girl is dying of cancer, her adoptive brother will do anything to save her. Sky Pharmaceutical company holds an experimental cure to cancer and they had it for years, but the truth is, 5 years ago a fire destroyed the lab and killed the original team leader. The thief is the son of the lead researcher, who is trying to prove they murder his father to steal his research. The scientist was a survivor from the original team who suspects their mentor 'accident' was not an accident and her husband caused it. And the security chief must decide where his duty lies ...in serving the company, or to save people's lives.

This was your typical giant pharmaceutical company who wants to control a ground breaking cure to make a profit. While they have been sitting on the cure for years, people continue to suffer and die. Instead of giving the cure to the world and saving millions of lives, they keep the cure for themselves to make a profit instead. Extras include trailers.

Both are shot digitally and are presented here in 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High definition presentations, though Mekong also has a lesser, passable, anamorphically enhanced DVD included. Mekong is also the better of the two HD presentations, but it soars sonically ahead of Sky with a DTS: X 11.1 soundtrack that is very impressive, while Sky only has a decent, if limited, yet lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mix. The Mekong DVD has the poorest soundtrack here: lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 that just sounds weak and even antiquated throughout.

- Ricky Chiang