Poker King Blu-ray offers decent video and great audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
Poker King is a welcome return to a good old Hong Kong genre favorite - the gambling comedy. Louis Koo and Lau Ching Wan team up again after Overheard for lighter fare, facing off as rival poker players in gambling capital Macau. All in for both the gambling and the comedy, the tanned duo preen, bicker, mug, and throw down the cards for a light and entertaining casino escapade. Ingenue Stephy Tang (La Lingerie) not to mention Cherrie Ying, Josie Ho, Jo Koo, and model Kama bring some sass and eye candy, while Wong Yau Nam, Eddie Cheung, and Lam Suet add comedic support.
Chan Hing-Ka and Janet Chun's "Pou hark wong" a.k.a "Poker King" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises. Amongst the supplemental features included with this release are interviews with Winfred Yu and poker champion Johnny Chan, making of, trailers, photo galley, etc. In Cantonese, with optional English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles. Region-Free.
Macau
There are many places in the East where you could blow your life savings in style. Those who know what they are talking about, however, will tell you that none are better than Macau, the former Portuguese colony now part of the People's Republic of China. Giant casinos, luxury hotels, world class restaurants and all sorts of other unadvertised treats have transformed Macau into the Sin City of Asia.
Chan Hing-Ka and Janet Chun's Poker King is a simple but quite long film about a group of gamblers who find happiness in Macau. One of them is Jack Chang (Louis Koo, Election), an incredibly smart online poker player, who spends the majority of his time in a large room filled with PC monitors somewhere in Canada. Jack is so good that he could literally predict the odds of winning any poker game, so long as he is in front of a PC and not at a poker table.
Uno Cheuk (Lau Ching Wan, Mad Detective) is a man with a lot of responsibilities. He is the chairman of a large company that owns the most prestigious casino in Macau. Uno is also a former gambler who has made it big thanks to a series of smart moves, including staying loyal to a man who taught him how to win when luck isn't on his side.
Ms. Fong (Josie Ho, Naked Ambition), a former gambler, is also in charge with a casino; one that she hopes would become as prestigious as Uno's. She is smart, beautiful but lonely. She admires Uno and likes it when he flirts with her, but tries hard not to show it.
Jack is flown to Macau where Uno informs him that his father, who founded the company that owns his casino, has passed away. Unsure how to react to the news, Jack agrees to play a strange game of poker with Uno that will determine his future. If he wins, he would replace Uno. If he loses, he would have to pack his bags and disappear. Uno easily beats Jack and out of respect for his late father organizes a small online tournament so that Jack could meet a girl, Smiley, also an online poker player, who he has befriended while living in Canada.
During the tournament, Jack meets a different Smiley (Stephy Tang, Nobody's Perfect) and immediately falls in love with her. She is a simple girl, whose luck has always been incredibly poor, living alone in a tiny apartment. The two begin gambling and winning big. While having fun, they meet another poor boy (Wong You-Nam, Hollywood Hong-Kong) who falls for a beautiful but surprisingly pretentious girl (Cherrie Ying, Throw Down). Eventually, Jack faces Uno again, this time in a prestigious poker tournament televised all over Asia. Uno loses to Jack and is forced to give up his post at the company, but wins Ms. Fong's heart and everyone goes home happy.
Poker Kings is a predictable romantic comedy whose only redeeming quality are the stunning vistas from beautiful Macau. The cast, including some familiar faces from important festival winners, isn't disappointing, but it isn't overly convincing either. Louis Koo, in particular, looks terribly miscast as the incredibly smart but laughably naïve online gambler Jack.
At 121 minutes, Poker Kings is also needlessly long. Many of the actual poker games are incredibly boring, even pointless. Towards the end of the film, there are a couple of interesting tricks, but they are hardly worth the wait. On the other hand, the humor is flat and mostly tasteless.
Note: Poker Kings arrives with a fancy booklet containing a long list of addresses and phone numbers for all sorts of different casinos and hotels in Macau, Korea and the Philippines, as well as a deck of real poker cards.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Chan Hing-Ka and Janet Chun's Poker King arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises.
Portions of Poker King look relatively good. Elsewhere, however, the image film looks disappointingly soft. The color-scheme, in particular, is quite problematic. Reds, yellows, blues, greens, grays and blacks look very weak, especially during the outdoor scenes. Edge-enhancement is also fairly easy to spot. Some minor artifacts are popping up here and there as well. Additionally, some random noise filtering has been applied, and selected close-ups look very unnatural. This being said, blown through a digital projector Poker King looks stable. Also, aside from a few minor flecks, I did not detect any large cuts, warps, stains, or dirt to report in this review. All in all, this is a passable high-definition transfer that could have looked substantially better. (Note): This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location).
There are three audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, Cantonese Dolby Digital 6.1 EX, and Mandarin Dolby Digital 6.1 EX. For the record, Kam & Ronson Enterprises have provided optional English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.
The Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track is quite strong. The surround channels are not overly active, but when used, they are quite effective. The bass isn't overly active either. Generally speaking, the dialog is crisp, clear and easy to follow. I personally did not find Andy Cheung and Chiu Tsang-Hei's soundtrack to be very effective, even though there are a couple of tunes in the film that are quite good. There are no balance issues with the dialog. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or hiss to report in this review.
I sampled only a couple of scenes with the Cantonese Dolby Digital 6.1 EX track, and while the Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track really isn't that impressive, it is definitely a lot more convincing than the Cantonese Dolby Digital 6.1 EX track The dialog seems fairly easy to follow on both tracks.
Trailer- the original theatrical trailer for the film. In Cantonese, with optional English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles. (3 min, 1080p).
DVD (Region-Free):
Making of - raw footage from the shooting of the film and comments from the cast and crew. In Cantonese, not subtitled in English. (21 min, 480/60i).
Trailer - the same theatrical trailer found on the Blu-ray. In Cantonese, with optional English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles. (3 min, 480/60i).
Suncity Group Trailer - a promo trailer for many of the hotels and casinos seen in the film, which are owned by the Suncity Group. (1 min, 480/60i).
Interview - an interview with Winfred Yu and real poker champion Johnny Chan. In Cantonese, with optional Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles. (11 min, 480/60i).
Interview - an interview with Winfred Yu. In Cantonese, with optional Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles. (5 min, 480/60i).
Interview - an interview with Johnny Chan. In Cantonese, with optional Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese subtitles. (4 min, 480/60i).
The best I could do is recommend that you see Chan Hing-Ka and Janet Chun's Poker King on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I wasn't particularly impressed with this film, but to be honest, I did not dislike it either. If you are a poker player, you may actually enjoy it. RENT IT.
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