In the pantheon of 21st-century Hong Kong cinema, no film balances lyrical beauty with brutal violence quite like Johnnie To’s Exiled (original title: Fong juk – 放‧逐). Released in 2006, this spiritual sequel to The Mission (1999) landed like a grenade wrapped in silk at the Venice Film Festival. Yet, for years, home video releases of the film ranged from mediocre to disastrous—plagued by poor compression, incorrect aspect ratios, and murky color grading.
If you search for "Exiled -2006- aka Fong juk -Koch 1080p BluRay x264" or x265, ensure you are getting the real German transfer. Preserve the grain. Keep the DTS audio. Watch it on an OLED or a good projector. Notice how the light hits the golden coins just before the guns roar.
Tai (Francis Ng) and Cat (Roy Cheung) arrive at the same time to protect him. The Conflict:
In the pantheon of Hong Kong action cinema, few films balance lyrical beauty with brutal violence as effortlessly as Johnnie To’s Exiled (Fong juk, 2006). Often described as a spiritual sequel to The Mission (1999), this film takes the director’s signature “heroic bloodshed” genre and strips it down to its essence: loyalty, betrayal, and the dying code of the triad underworld on the eve of the Macau handover.
The Koch BluRay’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is aggressive yet nuanced:
The "Koch" or "Chameleon Films" 1080p Blu-ray releases are highly regarded for their technical quality: Exiled [Fong Juk] - reviews - onderhond.com
The Verdict Exiled is the ultimate "hangout movie" for action fans. It is less interested in a complex plot and more interested in the feeling of brotherhood. It captures that specific melancholy of knowing the party is over, but deciding to have one last drink (and one last gunfight) before the lights go out.
Title: Exiled (Original Title: Fong Juk) Year: 2006 Director: Johnnie To Format: Koch Media 1080p BluRay x264
