Time And Tide DVD

Tsui Hark's triumphant return to making a film set in the present day, Time and Tide, is so fast-moving and kinetically stylised that at times the plot's coherence has to be taken on trust. Young barman Tyler (Nicholas Tse) gets a lesbian cop pregnant after a drunken one-night stand when she fell out with her lover. He feels an obligation to raise money to help her and takes a job in the third-rate bodyguard company of Uncle Li (Anthony Wong), showing a real flair for the job, but not for Li's over-organised system. Coincidentally, he befriends Jack (Wu Bai), husband... of the daughter of Li's main client, but also a retired mercenary, whose former allies are in town and up to no good. The two friends find themselves intermittently co-operating and opposed as they pursue their separate agendas; the violence, the bodycount and the special effects all escalate continually. Highlights include some spectacular scenes of grappling down skyscrapers and Tyler's delivering the baby of his friend's wife while she shoots one of her husband's enemies over his shoulder--Tsui Hark's take on the post-John Woo thriller is entertainingly exaggerated and semi-parodic. On the DVD: The DVD has a choice of English, German and Cantonese dubbing and subtitles in 18 languages from Hindi to Icelandic, and comes with filmographies and theatrical trailers. The soundtrack, full of loud music and explosions, is presented in an abrasively loud Dolby Sound. The film is presented in widescreen letterbox in the film's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio; the digital format brings out its deliberately garish colours and use of shadows. --Roz Kaveney [show more]

Read More