Plot: What’s it about?
Yip Ku-Sing (Andy Lau) has issued a challenge to Snow (Ekin Cheng), which involves a duel to end all duels. This battle will happen in the most sacred place within the palace, which is the only location such a clash should happen. As both men are true sword masters, this duel will be an epic one and as such, all the people in the land will want to watch, but that is impossible. So one of the Royal Agents has been given eight gold medals to distribute and those medals are like tickets, so only eight outsiders will be allowed within the palace to watch the duel. The path to the duel is dangerous for both men, as other warriors are looking for them, in an effort to settle various scores for previous events. Snow is tracked by two brothers who seek revenge for the death of their master, while their sister now lives with Snow also. Yip Ku-Sing is hassled by a band of warriors who use poison weapons and are feared throughout the land. In addition to all this, love knocks for each of them via two young women, all while a murder mystery brews in the streets. As the time nears for the duel will either man survive to see it and if so, who will emerge the victor?
I had high expectations for The Duel, since it had an excellent premise, a loaded cast, and direction from Andrew Lau (The Storm Riders, A Man Called Hero). As such, I had some concerns that it would fall short of those expectations, but I knew it would be worth a look, without a doubt. As it turns out, The Duel met and then exceeded all of my expectations, as this is one fun and outrageous motion picture. As you would expect, there’s plenty of action to go around and it is well done, though a tad hard to follow at times. But after a repeat look at the film, I was better able to track the more brisk action moments, which was cool. You’ll see some terrific special effects and great fight sequences, all with superb supernatural elements or strange weapons involved. Of course, the final duel had a lot of pressure to be good and it delivers, I assure you of that. Andy Lau and Ekin Cheng shine in their roles, while the supporting cast is fantastic as well. I know some will knock the computer visuals and some of the editing choices, but I think The Duel is a very cool movie and as such, I am giving it a very, very high recommendation.
This movie has a number of memorable performances, but Andy Lau’s work stood out to me, although it isn’t the best in the picture. Lau has a mysterious character to work with, which means he is unable to reveal much and that had to make his turn difficult. He still manages to fill the role with passion however, which adds a lot of depth to the character. His moments of romance were very well acted and while he is good throughout, the final third of the film contain his finest moments, as far as The Duel is concerned. I think he works quite well within films of this nature and I hope to see him in more of them soon, to be sure. You can also see Lau in such films as Drunken Master II, Island on Fire, Armageddon, Full Throttle, Casino Raiders, and The Three Swordsmen. The cast also includes Ekin Cheng (The Legend of Zu, The Storm Riders), Nick Cheung (The Tricky Master, The Conman), and Kristy Yang (Comrades: Almost a Love Story, A Man Called Hero).
Video: How does it look?
The Duel is presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen transfer, which is not enhanced for widescreen televisions. Although this is a very recent production (2000), the materials here look aged and that’s a let down. The print looks washed out at times and shows a lot of wear signs, although some parts look fantastic. I was pleased with some sections here, as they retain very sharp black levels and bold colors, but this is not consistent, by any means. This means some portions look great and others look rather unimpressive, so this is very much a mixed visual assortment. But in the end, this looks better than most Hong Kong films and I was never too distracted by the flaws, even though I wish this were a remastered, anamorphic widescreen transfer. Even with the problems seen here, this is a more than solid treatment and fans should be pleased.
Audio: How does it sound?
The film’s original Cantonese soundtrack is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 option, which sounds very good, even if not up to the usual American action movie standards. The track offers plenty of surround presence, but it sometimes seems a little false, though never to an extreme degree, by any means. In the end, you shouldn’t be let down in the least, but if you compare to a good American action soundtrack, you’ll hear less power and natural texture here. Not a big deal by any means, as this mix still sounds terrific, but worth a mention, I think. The vocals are well presented too, with no volume errors to report at all, even in the action driven sequences. This disc also includes audio options in English and Mandarin, as well as optional English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc might not stack up well against other special edition releases, but it still has some cool bonus materials, to be sure. It all starts with an audio commentary with Hong Kong cinema expert Ric Myers, who always provides a worthwhile session. Myers knows his stuff and it shows here, but he never becomes dull either, thanks to bits of humor at times. I think Myers offers a very good track here and if you’re a fan of The Duel, make sure you give his comments a spin. You can also view a behind the scenes featurette, which includes interviews with various cast & crew members. This piece was a pleasure to watch and while I wish it were longer, it is more informative than most featurettes, without a doubt. This disc also includes some talent files, an isolated music & sound effects audio track, and some theatrical trailers.
