{"id":26889,"date":"2023-08-22T23:48:16","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T06:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=26889"},"modified":"2023-08-22T23:48:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T06:48:16","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-a-moment-of-romance-1990","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=26889","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: A MOMENT OF ROMANCE (1990)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is currently available\nfrom Radiance Films. Only 3000 copies will be made available for this release.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you grew up in North America, Hong Kong cinema really\nrose to prominence in this part of the world with the release of The Killer<\/em>\n(1989) from John Woo. Of course, hundreds upon hundreds of wonderful films came\nbefore it, but worldwide audiences really responded to the stylized action and\nthrills of that title, bringing attention to earlier titles and others\nfilmmakers like Tsui Hark, Johnnie To, Ringo Lam, Ronny Yu, Sammo Hung and so\nmany others. Despite the success of The Killer, North American releases were\nstill spotty and many titles were still hard to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radiance Films is now distributing a feature that was a huge\nsuccess in its homeland but had a harder time finding an audience abroad. A\nMoment of Romance<\/em> was produced by Johnnie To (The Heroic Trio<\/em>) and\nRingo Lam (City on Fire, Prison on Fire, Twin Dragons<\/em>) and marked the\nfeature debut of director Benny Chan (who later worked with Jackie Chan on Who\nAm I?, New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood<\/em>). Despite being a big hit that spawned\ntwo sequels, North American audiences aren\u2019t as familiar with this title. That\u2019s\ntoo bad, as it is an impressive effort that contains many themes popular in\nHong Kong cinema of the era, including heroic criminals who possess a sense of\nhonor, wild action scenes and melodrama. This is also a great Blu-ray with a\nwonderful transfer and plenty of informative extras that will impress anyone\nwho enjoys movies from this part of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wah Dee (Andy Lau) is a young triad gang member who is true to his word and works diligently as a getaway driver. During a heist gone wrong, he is forced to briefly take 17-year-old heiress Jo-Jo Huen (Jacklyn Wu) hostage. He has no intentions of hurting her, but soon realizes that the power-hungry Trumpet (Wong Kwong-leung) and other crooks who planned the robbery have no intention of letting any witnesses survive. Wah Dee steps in to act as na\u00efve Jo-Jo\u2019s protector as she is pursued by Trumpet\u2019s men, and she falls for him in the process. The protagonist tries to dissuade her from getting close, but she\u2019s soon cooking Wah Dee soup and following him to some very dangerous places. They fall for each other even though Wah Dee feels that their relationship will likely end in tragedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As with many films of this era, there isn\u2019t much subtlety on display. These are big melodramas with over-the-top action and the characters aren\u2019t hiding any deep secrets or hidden motives. The central relationship is particularly unique in this kind of picture and the movie takes some jarring turns. A violent threat or bloody attack is often followed by a romantic montage of Wah-Dee and Jo-Jo sightseeing. It\u2019s all a bit surreal, but the cast are charming and the movie still does manage to win one over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And Lau is very good as the protagonist. Being a man of honor, Wah-Dee feels compelled to fight back against the tyrannical Trumpet (who is planning to take over the organization), not just for Jo-Jo\u2019s sake but also for all those within the gang who will suffer under this new leadership. The actor effectively conveys the inner turmoil and concern, as well as a realization that his actions may cost him his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The action is also really compelling. The jewelry heist at\nthe beginning of the picture features a fast- paced car chase packed with\ncrashes and dangerous turns. There\u2019s an incredible illegal race between driver\nWah-Dee and another competitor in large but rickety rigs. Female compatriots\nare strapped onto the tops of the driving compartments while the trucks bounce\naround a dirt track filled with other vehicles. This stunt looks incredibly\ndangerous and is pulse-pounding. And all of the fight sequences are equally\nstirring, with multiple characters suffering stab wounds and other painful\nmaladies. While the action is always presented in an excessive manner, it\u2019s\ndynamically edited. The villains come across as very threatening and the\nconflict is consistently tense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie also looks wonderful, boasting a 4K restoration\njob from the original camera negative. Viewers get to see beautiful,\nneon-tinged backdrops along with some interesting architecture in run down\nareas. It\u2019s a very polished looking movie and the Blu-ray delivers an\nincredible transfer. Everything looks incredibly sharp and many of the\ncompositions are striking and memorable. It\u2019s a gorgeous movie to watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admittedly, everything about A Moment of Romance<\/em> is\nhyperbolic, but this was the style of pictures from the era. All of the\ntechnical elements are top-notch and the cast are charismatic enough to make\nthe film a fun and memorable experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonuses include an informative interview with director Benny\nChan who details his start in the industry, as well as his work on this film\nand other career highlights. There\u2019s a lengthy visual essay with an Asian\ncinema expert who discusses the disperate genre tropes used in the film and\nwhere they originated. It\u2019s intriguing and will leave viewers adding many more\ntitles to their to-see lists, but at times it does come across as a bit dry and\ngeneral, with the figure delivering an extended list of movies that influenced\nthis title.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s alright, but the audio commentary by Asian film\nauthority Frank Djeng is exceptional. This critic gives plenty of background\ninformation about the production and cast, analyzes the thematic elements and\neven camera placement in certain scenes, as well as giving listeners trivia\nabout Hong Kong\u2019s underbelly (apparently, the color of neon street signs can\ncarry connotations about services being provided to customers). There\u2019s an\namusing story about producers fighting with Lau and his obsession over how his hair\nlooked onscreen. The expert also discusses rumors about a producer stepping in\nand helping first-time filmmaker Chan shoot some of the more complex sequences.\nThere\u2019s a treasure trove of information available in this audio track and it is\na wonderful listen. You\u2019ll also get a trailer, a reversible sleeve with\noriginal and newly commissioned art, and a booklet with new writing on the\npicture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite being familiar with most of the individuals involved\nin A Moment of Romance<\/em>, it hasn\u2019t been an easy title to come by in these\nparts. Radiance Films has done a top-notch job transferring the movie and\ngiving viewers background about how it came to be and what inspired it. This\nreviewer may have arrived at the party some 30 years late, but is grateful to\ncatch up with the move and really appreciates that it is now available on\nBlu-ray for everyone to see. This is a slick, stylish and interesting effort\nthat will please any enthusiast of Hong Kong cinema and the \u201climited edition\u201d\ndisc is definitely worth picking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is currently available from Radiance Films. Only 3000 copies will be made available for this release. If you grew up in North America, Hong Kong cinema really rose to prominence in this part of the world with the release of The Killer (1989) from John Woo. Of course, hundreds upon hundreds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[123,502,503,504,697,1401,2565,2949,4910,10142,10932,16584,17064,17310],"class_list":["post-26889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-123","tag-a-moment-of-romance","tag-a-moment-of-romance-blu-ray-review","tag-a-moment-of-romance-review","tag-action","tag-andy-lau","tag-benny-chan","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-reviews","tag-crime","tag-jacklyn-wu","tag-johnnie-to","tag-radiance-films","tag-ringo-lam","tag-romance"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}