A par for the course DVD from Universe

The image is fairly good looking. Deep blacks often lack definition, but the forest always looks lush and green, and of course Shu Qi looks stunning all the way.

Subtitles are white with a black edge, unfortunately it doesn't matter how easy they are to read because the translation is so bad that in some sequences every other line is downright incomprehensible. Without a doubt some of the worst subtitles I have ever seen. They are, quite simply, written by someone who doesn't speak English.

The sound is very unimpressive, not to mention uneven. Some scenes feature a nice rich surround track, others sound like they were recorded in a public lavatory. Some lines are almost inaudible, others are perfectly clear. But of course this is probably a fault of the original editing and not the DVD authoring, but who knows?

The extras consist of the usual batch of non-items. A trailer, cast info and a set of stills (15 of them), plus a brief featurette, which is hardly worth the energy it takes to press the menu button.

David Bjerre