Running on Karma Blu-ray - Andy Lau, Cecilia Cheung

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Dai zek lo" or "Running on Karma" +or "An Intelligent Muscle Man")

Directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai
Hong Kong 2003

The tenth film co-directed by Johnnie To (Running Out of Time) and Wai Ka-fai (Peace Hotel) following a string of collaborations that included comedies, romances, action films and historical epics, Running on Karma is a crime thriller with a distinctly Buddhist flare starring a titan of Hong Kong cinema in Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs).

Big (Lau) was once a devoutly religious man, but turned away from his vocation as a Buddhist monk when he could no longer bear the weight of his unusual gift: the ability to see people’s past lives and predict the impact of karma upon their present and future. Having found a new life as a bodybuilder, he is drawn to use his sixth sense for good after meeting Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung, The Legend of Zu), a cop investigating a homicide. But as the two grow closer and work together to catch a murderer, their relationship is complicated by the fact that Big can see Lee’s past lives, too…

A film that balances genre thrills with deep philosophical questions on the nature of spirituality and faith, Running on Karma stands with Mad Detective as one of the most interesting and unique collaborations between Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time outside of Asia.

***

The great Johnnie To (The Mission, Running Out of Time, The Heroic Trio) directs this intriguing murder mystery with a touch of Zen. Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs, The Duel), in his most daring role to date, is Biggie, a huge, muscular Buddhist monk who knows kung fu and somehow has "Karma"--the ability to see things before they happen. Biggie's unusual characteristics soon arouse the interest of policewoman Yee (Cecilia Cheung), who begins to fall in love with him. But when Biggie's karma foresees Yee's impending death from murder, he has to do everything in his power to stop fate.

Posters

Theatrical Release: September 27th, 2003

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Review: Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Masters of Cinema - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:33:10.673
Video	1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,003,329,350 bytes Feature: 29,823,176,256 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio Chinese 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit Commentaries: LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Masters of Cinema 1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 41,003,329,350 bytes Feature: 29,823,176,256 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.91 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • New audio commentaries by East Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and F.J. DeSanto • Reap the Whirlwind – new interview with Gary Bettinson, editor-in-chief of Asian Cinema journal (24:51) • Archival “making of…” featurette (18:39) • Theatrical trailer (1:18) PLUS: A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by David West of NEO magazine Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Time Tomorrow Blu-ray Release Date: January 27th, 2025 Transparent Blu-ray Case inside O-card slipcase Chapters 9

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (January 2025): Masters of Cinema have transferred Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai's Running on Karma to Blu-ray. It is cited as "on Blu-ray for the first time outside of Asia". It looks pristine on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. The film has many scenes (cinematography by Siu-Keung Cheng, Election) that look marvelous in 1080P with beautiful lighting, detail and effective shots mostly in 35mm. It's a clean and extremely pleasing HD presentation. Beyond the prosthetic suit, the film has some pretty cool and seamless effects that look effective in this format.

NOTE: We have added 72 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Masters of Cinema use a linear PCM 2.0 channel track (24-bit) in the original Cantonese language. Running on Karma has plenty of aggression / violence and a supportive bass response. The score was by Cacine Wong (Peace Hotel, Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 and My Left Eye Sees Ghosts.) Also included in the film's music is Keith Leung's Beyond Love performed by Anthony Yiu-Ming Wong. Like the video the sound is clean with audible dialogue and consistent in the lossless transfer. Masters of Cinema offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray offers two commentaries. The first is by East Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and Producer F.J. DeSanto (Constantine, The Spirit) and a, second, supplementary commentary from, Djeng by himself where he covers the films themes and deeper Buddhist parable meanings. Reap the Whirlwind is a new 25-minute interview with Gary Bettinson, editor-in-chief of Asian Cinema journal and Senior Lecturer in Institute for Contemporary Arts. Also included is a 20-minute archival “making of…” featurette and a theatrical trailer. The package has a collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by David West of NEO magazine and a limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Time Tomorrow.

Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai's Running on Karma was a big success both commercially and critically (13 nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards - winning three.) Andy Lau, Hong Kong's "No.1 Box office Actor 1985–2005" plays, Biggie, a gifted, and muscular (sporting an audacious prosthetic suit) Buddhist Monk who can see a person's past life. Because of the ancient concept referring to action, work, or deed aka 'Karma' - he can also see their future. He develops a strange buddy-cop relationship with Inspector Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung - Dangerous Liaisons) in the investigation of a homicide. Running on Karma is not genre-specific - kinda humorous, fun fantasy, action-filled, and contemplative at the same time being a Buddhist parable about the nature of karma. So, it is far more layered and nuanced than it appears with offbeat superficiality like Biggie running around for 10-minutes totally naked while evading police. I enjoyed the film way out of proportion to what I was anticipating. The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray is top-shelf - excellent a/v of a very visual film, two commentaries, interview, booklet and more. This is a hard film not to enjoy. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze