AsianImage

I just saw Johnny To's ELECTION and thought the film as OK. I actually liked SPL much better.

Anyone else see this? The extra disc with the special features were OK too.

Does anyone know the Chinese song sang by a female that is played over the end credits?

tinlunlau

i'd rather wait for the boxset.
but yeah...i saw the movie already. the ending was odd...

splattii

I watched this last night and it didn't really do much for me. I'm not sure if I liked it more or less than SPL either as I didn't really take to either film to be honest.

dleedlee

Credits on the DVD say it's called Song of Heaven sung by Silver.

dyerjp

just finished watching. i actually enjoyed it alot. i didn't find it boring at all. simon yam is a badass as usual, tony leung ka fai does a great job of playing a over-the-top character.
i flipped through the extras for a bit, long of to find the easter egg which is the teaser for election 2.
all in all, a very good film. one of johnnie to's better efforts in a while.

Moon33

The ending is a tribute to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Game985

Sooo...Should I buy the special edition or just buy the single disc? Like was the packaging nice for the special edition? I'm guessing the extras aint subbed like most of the asian movies.

Moon33

I think the extras are eng subbed.

Game985

I hope this movie doesnt turn out to be like "Jiang Hu". I thought that movie was awful.

Moon33

This is the best HK movie since the new millenium.
It didn't get a good review in Cannes because it involves too many local details. And it is hard for non-HK people to fully understand the whole movie.

dleedlee

Wasn't the Wine & Oyster Bar where Lok and Big D meet Dinosaur the same location as the the shop where Wong Tin Lam got killed in The Mission?

Yes, the interviews with Johnnie To, Simon Yam, Tony Leung Ka Fai and Wong Tin Lam are subbed. There's also an easter egg with a short trailer for Election II, as mentioned previously.

Game985

How about this extra, "The History Of The Triad Society In Hong Kong", in the extras disc? Is that one subbed too? If so how long is that extra? If its subbed then I will definitely pick up this special edition.

dleedlee

How about this extra, "The History Of The Triad Society In Hong Kong", in the extras disc? Is that one subbed too? If so how long is that extra? If its subbed then I will definitely pick up this special edition.

Can't remember but I think that's in the accompanying booklet in both Chinese and English.

There's also a subbed 'Making of' that's basically Tony and Simon talking about the film.
Oddly, Tony Leung's outfit in these interviews is the same as the one he's wearing in the Everlasting Regret extras.

flixtime

After letting it sit around for some time to let my expectations neutralize, I just gave Election a spin........and, thankfully, I really enjoyed it. I had a bad feeling I was going to end up more in league with some of the folks who didn't care for it but I'm glad that wasn't the case. I thought it was a very good entry into the Hong Kong crime film genre and certainly at least the equal of my favorite HK crime films from 2004 - "One Nite in Mongkok" and "Love Battlefield".

After watching (and enjoying) only "Divergence" in this genre for the year 2005, I'm a little more upbeat now to start working my way through some of the other genre entries for 2005. I've got "Mob Sister" and "Set to Kill" lying around, "Sha Po Lang" and "Dragon Squad" ordered, and I still need to go back and pick up "Colour of the Loyalty". I doubt any of them will come close to "Election" but at least I'm more interested now in giving them a shot.

One more thing on "Election", did anyone else catch who the actor was that played one of the lead police officers..........it was David Chiang of the Shaw Bros. - Iron Triangle fame. I've been watching some Shaw Bros. films these past few months and I spotted him right away. Nice to see him getting some work nowadays.

Some other thoughts on "Election"........it is a slower-paced, sort of low-key film so don't expect "Breaking News"; there is certainly a fair dose of violence but don't expect a whole lot as far as big & grand action scenes. It feels closer style/pacing-wise to Johnnie To's "Throwdown" (which I personally didn't care for), or maybe for ones in the same genre "Jiang Hu" (which I thought was rather mediocre at best) or maybe "One Nite in Mongkok" (which I really liked).......it has been a while since I watched the aforementioned films so I hope I'm remembering their style/pacing correctly and am doing right by mentioning them here. Another thing I liked about "Election" was the music; it really elevated the film and created the perfect mood for the story.

Also, it's been theorized about that some of the charm of "Election" might be lost on non-Chinese audiences, but I really didn't see how this film would have been particularly challenging in that way. Maybe it was there, but I really don't see where "Election" might have had any sort of Chinese-only vibe that went beyond anything else coming out of Hong Kong (it seemed like the sort of stuff you would see in any gangster film - Chinese or not). Anyway, having been pleased with "Election", I can't wait for the sequel.

Now if only "Sha Po Lang" can deliver.........although I do have greater reservations in regard to "Sha Po Lang" than I did for "Election". And on a side note, I sure wish a lot of the recent Asian cinema DVD releases had been spread out a little more.....it seems like a ton of the stuff I was interested in all came out during this December/January timeframe.

Dai

I recently saw the movie and thought it was entertaining....

Mind you, the only reason i watched it was to see my friend that's got bit parts in this movie...(he's the guy that brings the girl into the restaurant and the girl is told to 'jump')