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Chungking Express - Criterion Collection
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List Price: $39.95
Our Price: $35.99
Your Save: $ 3.96 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
Starring: Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Faye Wong
Directed By: Wong Kar-Wai
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0715515033220
Format: AC-3
Label: Criterion Collection
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion Collection
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-11-25
Running Time: 102
Studio: Criterion Collection
Theatrical Release Date: 1994
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Editorial Reviews:
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The whiplash, double-pronged Chungking Express is one of the defining works of nineties cinema and the film that made Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai an instant icon. Two heartsick Hong Kong cops (Takeshi Kaneshiro and Tony Leung), both jilted by ex-lovers, cross paths at the Midnight Express take-out restaurant stand, where the ethereal pixie waitress Faye (Faye Wong) works. Anything goes in Wong s gloriously shot and utterly unexpected charmer, which cemented the sex appeal of its gorgeous stars and forever turned canned pineapple and the Mamas and the Papas California Dreamin into tokens of romantic longing.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer
Remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack supervised by director
Wong Kar-wai
Audio commentary by noted Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns
U.S. theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from a 1996 Sight and Sound interview with Wong by Rayns
More!
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A beautiful film with two stories.
Comment: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.
Chunking Express, known in Cantonese as Chung Hing sam lam, or "Chunking Jungle" contains two stories about Hong Kong police officers. In the first story, a cop meets a woman who is heroin smuggler and in the second film a cop meets and socializes with a female clerk and an open all night sandwich shop.
The film is directed by Wong Kar Wai and was originally released by Criterion on laserdisc back in the mid 1990's. The film also has some great music including the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreamin'" and a Cantonese language cover of the Cranberries' song, "Dreams" by Faye Wong who also acted in the film.
The DVD also includes scenes from an episode of the BBC series "Moving Pictures" with interviews of Wong Kar Wai and Christopher Doyle. There is also the US theatrical trailer and feature length audion commentary by Tony Rayns.
This is a great film which I highly recommend.
Customer Rating:
Summary: things like this make me mad
Comment: Criterion has all these great films sitting around begging for a release... why are they wasting time on films like this and Bottle Rocket, which have already been released on other labels for cheaper? Okay okay, they can add documentaries, director-approved transfers, better color, etc., but god damn it, why not release Pressburger & Powell's A Matter of Life and Death, or Godard's My Life to Live instead? It's not just Criterion, everyone prefers to rerelease stuff already out in "better" versions rather than give us the stuff that's just sitting on the shelf for ten years that no one has seen. Urgh! Anyway, I don't like Wong Kar Wai, I think he's overrated and between the grinding repetition of the Mamas and Papas song, the cheap flash of the "action" color blurred still montages, and the binge eating (don't tell me you ate four caeser's salads in a row from room service, that's expensive AND disgusting) I can't even think of this movie without getting nauseous. Still, some people like Wong Kar-Wai and that's fine.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Overpriced... but mindblowing transfer
Comment: Like Days of Heaven and Rushmore before it, the single-disc Chungking Express is questionably priced at $39.99 MSRP. However, I'd say the transfer alone warrants shelling out the extra bucks. Wong Kar Wai and Christopher Doyle were two artists WAY ahead of their time in 1994, and this is evidenced by the gloriously futuristic look of these images. Greens, blues, reds, whites... they all melt by in a dizzying, kaleidoscopic rush. Fourteen years later, I still have not seen anything that comes close to this pair's work in the mid-90s. I should also mention that the 5.1 soundtrack is tops, and hearing the scratchy opening notes of "California Dreamin" becomes somewhat of a transcendent moment here.
The "Moving Pictures" extra is amusing mostly because it features a seemingly inebriated Doyle prancing about while WKW looks serious.
Criterion is the best DVD company in the world because they *understand* the films they release. Buy this edition if you're a fan of the movie... you will fall in love with it all over again.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great movie, sadly lacking in the extras department.
Comment: For such a popular and highly regarded film, it is sadly lacking in the extras department. There is an audio commentary by Asian cinema critic Tony Rayns. He starts things off by talking about the origins of the film's title. He points out that both stories pair a veteran Chinese actor with a relative newcomer. Rayns touches upon Wong's multicultural background and how it informed the film. The critic also provides a brief biographical sketch of the filmmaker and how he to the point in his career where he made Chungking Express. Rayns also defends the film against the criticism that it is all style, like some sort of MTV music video. This is a very informative track with loads of production details that fans of the film should enjoy.
"Moving Pictures" features an excerpt from this British television series which takes a look at the films of Wong Kar-Wai. He and cinematographer Christopher Doyle take us on a guided tour of the Chungking Express' key locations with Doyle cheekily re-enacting a couple of memorable moments from the film. This is a brief yet fascinating look at his films and filmmaking philosophy as well as a nice snapshot of where he and Doyle were at back in 1996.
Finally, there is a theatrical trailer.
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