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| Breaking News |
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List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $11.96
You Save: $8.03 (40%)
Buy New/Used from $9.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 3 reviews)
Sales Rank: 36911
Category: DVD
Director: Johnny To
Publisher: Palm Pictures / Umvd
Studio: Palm Pictures / Umvd
Manufacturer: Palm Pictures / Umvd
Label: Palm Pictures / Umvd
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: Cantonese Chinese (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 98 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
UPC: 660200312725
EAN: 0660200312725
ASIN: B000E0ODEK
Release Date: March 7, 2006
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Editorial Reviews:
Description
When a live TV news crew broadcasts an embarrassing defeat of Hong Kongs police dept. by just five bank robbers, public opinion of the force plummets and the dept. vows to capture the robbers at any cost. So when Detective Cheung accidentally stumbles upon the five bank robbers hiding out in an abandoned building, Yuen (Richie Jen), the ultra-cool leader of the gang, suddenly finds himself and his partners under siege by thousands of police officers. Sensing an opportunity to restore the publics faith in the police dept., Inspector Rebecca (Kelly Chen) turns the stakeout into a breaking news show, with live updates beamed out to a transfixed Hong Kong. But she soon discovers how difficult it can be to manage the press when hostages are involved, true identities are unknown, and the building contains not one gang but two&
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Customer Reviews:
 Dog Day Afternoon Hong Kong style March 5, 2006
Breaking News is the most satisfying of Johnny To's films that I've seen so far. What starts out as an above average cop movie soon turns into a satire on spin. The police respond to the bad publicity from a failed stakeout that turns into a running battle by televising their investigation and resulting siege. They even hire a film director to re-edit their footage only for the media savvy crooks to put the footage they shot on their mobile phones on the internet, leading to a game of psychological one-upmanship - the crooks cook a meal for their hostages and show footage of them enjoying it, so the police buy meals for all the reporters; the crooks manage to bluff their way out of heir hideout being stormed, so the police wheel out Jackie Chan (well, an unconvincing lookalike) to show his support for the force.
Lots of neat touches (such as the bad guys accidentally rescuing a pair of killers who are hiding out in the same building), a neat use of occasional slit screens and an incredibly impressive opening sequence shot in one technically astonishingly difficult but remarkably fluid uninterrupted take add to the show. Expect an American remake in the near future.
 one of the best thriller in years February 28, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Great movie. One of the best directed thrillers out of Hong Kong. The firefighting scenes if not directed well, might have turned out pretty messy, but not this one. The only letdown of this great thriller is the female cast. Although tried very hard to look cold and official, she was not successfully performed a believable character. And one more thing, even she was constantly praised as beautiful, actually she's not, not even close. Major manpower implemented in this movie, but well supervised and directed. The chases and the firefightings in the apartment compound are the best to see in years. Very enjoyable.
Reality TV in Hong Kong: Tightly-Wound Action with Stylish Camera (Don't Miss the Opening!) January 24, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
After very humiliating defeat of Hong Kong police, young and ambitious Inspector Rebecca Fong (Kelly Chen seen in `Infernal Affair') proposes one daring plan - that is, to bring the TV crew to the crime scenes, and let them broadcast how the `real' police are doing their jobs, risking their lives to protect the people from criminals. When another inspector hot-tempered Cheung (Nick Cheung) finds out the hideout of the criminals (and the very criminals that undermined the dignities of the police), Inspector Fong is assigned a job to show the police work on the air. What Fong didn't know is that the criminals are much more resourceful and cleverer than she thought.
Johnny To takes up the idea of reality TV shows, and uses it in the unique way. Not that the idea itself is original - you know so many TV shows following the real-life police officers, or Robert DeNiro film '15 Minutes.' It is the way how the criminals led by the leader Yuan (Ritchie Ren) fight back and tries to escape that is really intriguing.
(ULTRA-STYLISH, GREAT OPENING) Johnny To is known for his prolific career and stylish camerawork, and in `Breaking News' he again shows his great skills in creating the tension and beauty while shooting the action scenes. The opening seven minute sequence is just brilliant. It is shot in one take, and shows us that shoot-out scenes can be so intense without using many fast cuts.
Some may find the film slightly confusing because of the police organization in Hong Kong. Fong belongs to OCTB (Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, and Cheung is a cop from CID (Criminal Investigation Department). Another unit PTU is also mentioned (and PTU played a central role in To's previous film `PTU' starring Simon Yam and Suet Lam, both also seen in `Breaking News), but all you have to do is to keep in mind that Fong and Cheung are from different sections of the police.
I think the ending is a little weak, and cast-against-type Kelly Chen is not convincing. And probably the idea of reality TV could have been more explored. But with the intriguing characters and situations, some of which are humorous - Have you seen the `bad guys' cooking in the kitchen? -- `Breaking News' is riveting throughout.
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Copyright Runningonkarma.com 2006
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