Overview: Acclaimed director Johnnie To (The Heroic Trio, The Mission) is on top form with slam bang action-thriller Running Out of Time and its equally electrifying sequel.

Expert hostage negotiator Ho Sheung-sang (Lau Ching-wan, Black Mask, Mad Detective) is drawn into a psychological game of cat-and-mouse when a criminal mastermind with weeks to live (Andy Lau, Infernal Affairs, House of Flying Daggers) decides to take on the entire Hong Kong Police Force.

There’s more to his plan than meets the eye, but can Inspector Ho figure it out and catch him in time? He’s got 72 hours to try.

Blu-ray Verdict: A huge box office hit, Running Out of Time swept the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards and spawned a popular sequel in Running Out of Time 2, in which Lau Ching-wan returns as Inspector Ho - this time in pursuit of a sophisticated art thief with a taste for drama and theatrical flair.

In Running Out of Time (1999), Dying Wah has nothing to be afraid of anymore when he realizes that he has only 4 weeks to live, and he’s determined to get revenge for his father. Later, when Wah successfully gets away in a robbery, detective San makes up his mind and chases after Wah and arrests him. But, we can only have one winner in a game, who’s gonna win?

For me, this film is a refreshing change of pace from the mindless Hong Kong triad movies I have grown so tired of. There are no spectacular gun fights. No car chases. And practically minimal action to speak of. The audience is kept in suspense for the most part, though certain aspects of the so-called ploy by Andy Lau are quite obvious.

The film has been hailed as a departure from the genre of violent triad films, and as an intelligent crime film. To an extent, it is. But, to some extent, it still fails the believability test sometimes. One can hardly picture any triad member to be dumb enough to not see through the female disguise of Andy Lau in a second.

Nut, I digress. Oh, and it also seemed to have fallen for the if someone was seriously ill, the said someone will be coughing up copious amounts of blood regularly thing Chinese films seem to go for all the time. The subtle relationship between the two lead characters is a refreshing change.

All in all though, an enjoyable film, even though the concept is not new (more now, then back then, of course), but there are quite a few well placed surprises too!

In Running Out of Time 2 (2001), Ho Sheung Sang finds himself wrapped up in another cat-and-mouse game, this time against a tricky magician.

Once again, the sequel is a nice change of pace for a Hong Kong movie, to have a police movie that didn’t include over-the-top action sequences or shoot-out scenes.

Ergo, Running Out of Time 2 is cleverly put together with great acting and good dialogue. Plus the story line was compelling and always managed to keep me interested in seeing what was lurking around the next corner.

The plot in the sequel is about a thief who has stolen some valuable items from an insurance company and is demanding a rather high ransom for the return of these items. The thief (played by Ekin Cheng) seems to always be one step ahead of the police department.

The clever detective Ho Sheung Sang (played by Ching Wan Lau) is put on the case and has more than his hands full trying to catch up with the brilliant and slippery thief.

Simply put, Running Out of Time 2 is a cat-and-mouse story, that is clever and well thought through. Great entertainment and loads of good scenes throughout the movie.

So, if like me, you enjoy Asian cinema and Hong Kong cinema in particular, then you owe it to yourself to sit down and watch Running Out of Time 1 and 2, for they are police movies unlike most others of the same genre or ilk, trust me! These are both Widescreen Presentations (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
High Definition Blu-Ray (1080p) presentations of both films, scanned and restored in 2K
Original lossless Cantonese and Mandarin 5.1 audio options, plus lossless English mono (Running Out of Time) and lossless English 5.1 (Running Out of Time 2)
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Lucas Peverill

DISC 1 - RUNNING OUT OF TIME
Brand new audio commentary by Hong Kong film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
Audio commentary by writers Laurent Cortiaud and Julien Carbon, moderated by Hong Kong film expert Stefan Hammond
Archival interview with screenwriters Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud
Archival interview with director Johnnie To
Archival interview with star Lau Ching-wan
Archival interview with composer Raymond Wong
The Directors’ Overview of Carbon and Courtiaud, an archive featurette
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery

DISC 2 - RUNNING OUT OF TIME 2
Brand new audio commentary by Hong Kong film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
The Making of Running Out of Time 2, an archive featurette
Hong Kong Stories, a 52-minute documentary from 2003 by director Yves Montmayeur (Johnnie Got His Gun!) about Hong Kong cinema mythology via Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud’s experience as screenwriters in the HK film industry, working for Wong Kar-wai, Tsui Hark, Daniel Lee and of course Johnnie To
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery