TAXI HUNTER (1993)
Label: 88 Films
Region Code: A,B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 89 Minutes 40 Seconds
Audio: Cantonese PCM 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Herman Yau
Cast: Anthony Chau-Sang Wong (Infernal Affairs), Rongguang Yu (Shanghai Noon), Man-Tat Ng (Shaolin Soccer), and Hoi-Shan Lai (Hard Boiled)
Directed by Herman Yau, the guy who gave us the truly wild Cat III Hong Kong shockers Ebola Syndrome and The Untold Story comes Taxi Hunter (1993), wherein a mild-mannered insurance salesman named Ah Kin (Anthony Wong, The Untold Story) goes on a taxi-driver killing-spree after his pregnant wife is dragged to her death by a callous cabbie. It's a terrifically seedy slice of HK exploitation that is nicely dark without ever going full-on grotesque about things, with a wink and a nod to those that came before it like Death Wish, Falling Down and Taxi Driver, this slice of 'ordinary guy gone off the deep-end' exploitation is well-directed, acted, and it's never dull. Wong's Ah Kin makes a sympathetic character wracked by grief after his happy home life is upended by the actions of a cabbie; first hitting the drink, then becoming despondent, until one day after witnessing a cabbie abusing a woman he finally snaps. HK cab drivers are portrayed as exaggeratedly awful people for the most part; they are witnessed to be abusers of women, extortionists, rapist and just general lowlifes, at least the few that Kin targets. It's interestingly that Kin, even though he's a killer, is also portrayed as someone who remains kind and empathetic when he's not hunting cabbies. When he does eventually encounter a decent good-intentioned cabbie he doesn't murder him just for the fact that he's a cabbie, in fact he makes sure to compliment and reward the man with a very generous tip. He's not just a heartless cold-blooded killer, albeit he is murdering admittedly unscrupulous people, so he's not without his own set of issues, obviously.
Investigating the cabbie-murders are hot-tempered hero-cop Sgt. Yu Kai Chung (Yu Rongguang, Supercop 2) and his partner, the comedy relief of the film Sgt. Gao (Ng Man-Tat, A Moment of Romance), who wears hip-hop street clothes. Gao is an absolutely ridiculous, but the humor comes off pretty well and his interactions with his TV new reporter daughter add some heart to the flick.
The film is well-directed with a couple of solid action set-pieces, these include a pair of wild car chases with a cop holding into the hood of a speeding car and another one with plenty of twisted metal carnage. The murders themselves are pretty well staged if a bit quick for my tastes, and not overly gruesome. Kin strangles, beats, stabs and shoots his targets, acquiring a .45 after one of his intended victims vigorously defends themselves causing him injury.
This is a fairly notorious flick, so I guess I'd always assumed it was one of the Cat III flicks, but Bruce over at Cinema Arcana corrected me recently, it's actually only Cat II - which is evidenced by the toned down violence/gore, though the scene of Kin's pregnant wife being dragged by the cabbie to her death is still quite harrowing and exploitative, but it is still more a vigilante thriller than a true horror flick. It's got great atmosphere as well, the dingy neon-lit backstreets off HK give it an appropriately skeezy tone. It's a solid flick, while it might not deliver the visceral intensity of The Untold Story or Ebola Syndrome it's still quite an entertaining thriller with a terrific turn from HK actor-extordinaire Anthony Chau-Sang Wong as the traumatized salaryman turned self-appointed exterminator who has declared war on Hong Kong's unscrupulous taxi cab drivers.
Audio/Video: Taxi Hunter (1993) is presented in 1080p High Definition Widescreen (1.85:1), its a solid scan with organic grain, solid colors and serviceable black levels. The source is in solid shape, there are minor instances of speckles, grit and scrapes but its never too distracting and they are few and far between. Audio come by way of uncompressed Cantonese PCM 2.0 Dual-Mono with newly translated English subtitles. The track is clean and non-problematic, the levels are well-balanced and while it won't give your surrounds much of a workout it had good fidelity throughout.
Bonus features come by way of a fantastic Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Frank Djeng; 29-min Hunting For Words - An Interview with Scriptwriter and Producer Tony Leung Hung-Wah; 27-min How to Murder Your Taxi Driver? - An Interview with Action Director James Ha; 18-min Falling Down in Hong Kong - An Interview with star Anthony Wong; 4-min Theatrical Trailer and a very brief 24-sec Stills Gallery.
The single-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a Reversible Sleeve with new kick-ass art by Sean Longmore and original HK poster art, housed inside
a sturdy Double-Walled Matt Finish O-Ring (Slipcover) featuring the same new artwork by Sean Longmore. Inside there's a Double-sided Foldout Poster also featuring the new Longmore and original HG artwork.
Special Features:
- Double Walled Matt Finish O-Ring featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore
- Double-sided foldout poster
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
- Lossless 2.0 Cantonese Mono
- Newly Translated English Subtitles
- Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Film Expert Frank Djeng
- Hunting For Words - An Interview with Scriptwriter and Producer Tony Leung Hung-Wah (28:45)
- How to Murder Your Taxi Driver? - An Interview with Action Director James Ha (27.06)
- Falling Down in Hong Kong - An Interview with star Anthony Wong (17:57)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:51)
- Stills Gallery (0:24)
- Reversible cover with new artwork by Sean Longmore and original HK Poster Art
Screenshots from the 88 Films Blu-ray:
