SPECIAL ID – The Blu Review

Crazy stunts, complexly choreographed fight sequences, sinister villains. There’s no doubt that SPECIAL ID knows its target audience and does what it does extremely well. Fans of director Clarence Fok Yiu-leung’s previous hits THE ICEMAN COMETH and BLACK PANTHER WARRIORS will be heaven as his newest showcases three mind-blowing fight scenes and tops it off with a suspenseful battle inside (and outside) a moving vehicle that impresses with its lack of CGI.

SPECIAL ID tells of a cop named Chen (aka ‘Dragon’ played by the never-aging Donnie Yen who’s been starring in these things for 30 years) and his team of comrades who go undercover in one of China’s most ruthless underworld organizations to stop a gang leader. Andy On plays plays the nasty villain who swears to find every traitor and make him or her pay with their lives. Agents are turning up dead.  Desperate to protect his family and his life, Chen must risk everything to protect the SPECIAL IDENTITY he never wanted before it’s too late.

Donnie Yen has a likeable Stallone-like quality and his performance is ably supported by Tian Jing as a female police officer – she has remarkable fighting skills as well as good looks. SPECIAL ID has its quieter moments and the fight sequences are spaced out nicely, highlighting Clarence Fok ‘s fine sense of pacing and making his direction during the action scenes, especially during the aforementioned car chase, that much more effective. The fight choreography is less “showy” than in things like the IP MAN films, opting to reflect a more realistic, scrappy form of fist-fighting with some mixed martial arts peppered throughout while the fight finale lasts a whopping 15 minutes. The outstanding cinematographer Peter Pau (CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON) can shoot a fight scene at night in the rain as well as anyone in the martial arts biz, and the stunt direction by Bruce Law (THE RAID 2) is as amazing as you’d expect.

We Are Movie Geeks has seen the SPECIAL ID Blu-ray from Well Go USA

The AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1, is considerably robust in the color category. Flesh tones are notably saturated and the entire palette pops – there are often gorgeous and very deeply drenched hues that help elevate the visual interest in this film considerably. Sharpness and clarity are top notch, and fine detail is pleasing, especially in some of the close up shots. This is a great looking release.

The DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio offers up Cantonese or an English dub (with Spanish and French optional subtitles). One thing that is perhaps a bit bothersome in this film is the  decision to crowd the soundfield with nonstop underscore as well as sound effects in a couple of fight sequences, something that actually distracts from the action a time or two, but this is a dynamic-sounding presentation overall.

Extras are sparse – just a 4-minute ‘Making Of’ featurette and a trailer for the film.

As an actioner SPECIAL ID, definitely will satisfy fans of the genre and of Donnie Yen.

The Blu-ray from Well Go USA will be released on May 13th.