Like some of Johnnie To's other recent output (P.T.U. comes to mind), with Throw Down the director focuses not only on action and violence but also on some interesting character development to tell a story that simultaneously works within and stands out from the rest of his filmography.

Louis Koo plays Szeto Bo, a retired judo master who decides to call it quits for good and stop fighting professionally once and for all. What will he do with his spare time? Why, he's going to open up his own nightclub! Kind of a strange idea, but hey, what's a retired judo master to do? Unfortunately, this isn't the best environment for Szeto, as he tends to drink way too much and gamble even more. Just as it looks like things are going to fall apart for him, however, a new kid named Tony (Aaron Kwok) shows up on the block, cocky and ready for a fight. Tony figures if he can take down a former champion then he can instantly make a name for himself and start his rise to the top of the ladder.

To complicate matters even more for poor Szeto Bo, his one time rival, Kong (Tony Leung) decides that he wants to prove himself against Szeto in the ring and settle in no uncertain terms who is the better fighter. The only one who may be on Szeto's side is a nightclub singer named Mona (Cherrie Ying), but even his relationship with her can't be easy and in order to make anything go his way, he's going to have to pull himself up by his bootstraps and decide what he wants to do with his life – drink, smoke and gamble it all away or get back in the ring and prove his worth once more..

Influenced by Akira Kurosawa's story, Sugata Sanshiro, Throw Down is one of those fabulous disasters. This movie could have been something really special and it certainly does have a few outstanding moments of action and emotional impact, but the film is quickly muddied by poor character development and motivation, making the story seem rather contrived. We don't know enough about Szeto's descent into a life of alcoholism and gambling to really be able to root for him when it's time to turn his life around aside from the fact that he is suffering from some impending blindness. If there'd been a bit more background given on his character we might have been able to get behind the character more and care about his out come through all of this but because we're not given that, Tony Leung's character becomes more interesting and our sympathies don't end up falling for the supposed protagonist of the film. This makes the character development that happens subsequently feel rather murky and as such, when we should be feeling for Szeto and his plight, we're instead left wondering how he got there in the first place.

The bright side to all of this is that Throw Down is one of the best looking films to come out of Hong Kong that I've seen in the last few years. To's shot compositions and the cinematography in this film are outstanding and even when the film is on the dull side, it at least looks wonderful. Colors are used throughout the movie to build some interesting atmosphere and add an at times almost other worldly feeling to some of the sets and the fight scene that takes place in the bar is jaw dropping in its intensity. A few stand out scenes and plenty of pretty angles, however, do not a brilliant film make.

The DVD

Video:

Tai Seng's 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is quite nice. Some sections are a little dark but this looks to be a stylistic choice on the part of the director and the cinematographer, and not so much a fault of the actual disc itself. There aren't any problems with compression artifacts, the image is strong and clean from start to finish, and print damage is not an issue either. Some mild edge enhancement is noticeable as is some line shimmering along the edges of the buildings in the movie from time to time but other than that, this is quite a solid presentation. Skin tones look lifelike and natural, color reproduction is good, black levels are strong and stable, and aside from the aforementioned darker scenes, there's a pretty strong level of both foreground and background detail in the picture.