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Election 2: Harmony is a Virtue (Special Collector's Edition) 2 DVD Set
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List Price: N/A
Our Price: $22.45
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Panorama Entertainment (HK)
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 4895033754619
Feature: 2 disc package (ALL region NTSC)
Format: DVD Region
Label: Panorama Entertainment (HK)
Manufacturer: Panorama Entertainment (HK)
Publication Date: 2006
Publisher: Panorama Entertainment (HK)
Region Code: 0.0
Running Time: 95
Studio: Panorama Entertainment (HK)
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
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Features
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2 disc package (ALL region NTSC)
Special Collector's Edition (Black & Gold Fonts slipcover)
Known as "Triad Election" pt. 2
Rated for Strong violence
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Editorial Reviews:
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Known as "TRIAD ELECTION 2". A drama-thriller centered on a democratic election within an organized crime society. In post-1997 Hong Kong, even the long-established "Wo Shing" Triad Society has to succumb to the power of China. The entrepreneurial sect leader Jimmy (Louis Koo) seems to be the perfect candidate to lead the Society into the new Millennium. Only problem is, Jimmy wants out. When Jimmy's business venture in China stalls, the Mainland government approaches him with an offer: Become Wo Shing's next Chairman and lead the Society according to Mainland government's wishes. In return Jimmy will enjoy full government backing of his business empire. As other candidates engage in bitter struggle for the Chairman position, Jimmy begins to understand the real price he has to pay for the deal...
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Requiem for a Materpiece. . .
Comment: The "Election" saga is one that asks some big questions: What do you want out of life? What are you willing to do to achieve? Why do you want what it is that you want?
The characters in "Election" 1 and 2 want absolute power. And we learn that it comes with an extraordinarily high price. We also learn that regardless of how noble one's intentions may be, there are serious consequences to chasing such a lofty goal.
"Election 2" is a direct sequel following the same group of characters from the first film and taking place a little less than two years later. Those that have seen the first film will understand the significance of that.
If you loved the first film, there's little doubt you'll enjoy this one as well. What really draws me in to these movies is the way that the characters are expanded upon, especially in the second movie. Triads are usually so generic and cliched that tend to be the same in movie after movie. But in these movies, we see characters that could almost exist in the same reality as ours. They get sick and injured, they make mistakes, they don't always have a plan or a way out. Instead of the caricatures we're used to, here we get real characters with families, flaws, weaknesses, and mortality.
What makes "Election" 1 and 2 so strong is that they are smart films. Instead of seeing who can get a higher body count and strike the meanest pose, both films play out like chess games. You can see the players making move after move, sometimes anticipating several moves in advance. Only here, the wrong move can cost lives. These aren't the types of films that reveal themselves early. They play their cards close to the chest so you're always riding along with the characters instead of being a passive observer just waiting at the finish line for the inevitable end.
There's not much left to say. This film is an excellent finale to the two-part saga. Performances, style, story, emotion--it has it all. Anyone who loves a good gangster drama will love these movies. This film holds up its end of the deal by offering a strong conclusion. And while the end is anything but closed or final, it will have you playing out many different scenarios in your mind as to what will happen after the credits roll--a power to live beyond the screen, one of the hallmarks of a great film and a great filmmaker.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Johnnie To on top form
Comment: The ever-reliable Johnnie To's Election 2: Harmony is a Virtue is in many ways more impressive and definitely more ambitious than its predecessor even though it lacks its relentless forward momentum. Where the first film was a literal relay race, this is more of a distance event, but it's a much more engrossing look at the nature and politics of corruption. It does amp up the violence from the first film, particularly in one literally grinding sequence, but it never deteriorates into a gore show, focussing less on Simon Yam's Triad chairman after a second term than reluctant contender Louis Koo, contrasting the one's troubled relationship with his son (who qualified for a lifetime in therapy at the end of the first film) with the other's hopes for his future offspring. It ends with the possibility of hope for one son but the certainty of damnation for another that hasn't even been born, the film bookended by scenes at the same location, the first full of sunlight and promise and confidence, the second dark and cloudy as one character finds that the price of respectability is the very violent life he wants to turn his back on. It's also surprisingly critical of the corruption in the Chinese government, implying that its collusion with Triad gangsters goes way beyond mere backhanders but is actually a deliberate part of government policy as a means of exerting social control in Hong Kong through close ties with organised crime - a particularly perverse irony considering the Triads' origins as political rebels exiled from the mainland who became corrupted by crime. Unsurprisingly, it seems to have been banned in Mainland China.
Incidentally, although there is talk of a longer version existing because of three striking scenes in the film's trailers (including a Chinese execution, the open grave of the first film's last victim and a funeral), an interview on the 2-disc Panorama DVD reveals that these scenes were cut by To prior to release. Extras aren't plentiful - good interviews with To and actors Lam Suet (a familiar fixture in To's films) and Lam Ka Tung, brief featurette, all featuring worse English subtitling than the film itself, stills gallery, 3 unsubtitled TV spots, unsubtitled theatrical trailer and booklet. The 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is fine.
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