Customer Reviews

Double Vision

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Well if I'd ever had the illusion that Asian horror films were inherently superior, Double Vision set me straight. It was an interesting way to kill an evening, I'll grant you, but only just.

Plot summary: a series of bizarre deaths in Taiwan baffle local investigators, so an American FBI agent Kevin Richter (David Morse) is called in to solve the murders. He's the topmost serial killer expert in the field, but even he cannot explain the seemingly supernatural circumstances surrounding the crime scenes. For example In one case a businessman froze to death in his office - in the middle of a heatwave; the mistress of a prominent official telephones the fire department and is later found burned to death - with no sign of a fire in her apartment. Richter's partner, a local cop, has less trouble believing that something supernatural is behind them, and on that angle he persuades him to investigate a local cult. They discover increasingly disturbing evidence that there are demonic forces at work in Taiwan.

My big letdown with this film started when I realized that the story was very slowly paced and not nearly as creepy as the trailer would have led me to believe. It's clear that the director is going for an atmospheric buildup in a tradition similar to that of Ringu; it just doesn't pay off well. Another sore point for me was the way that Richter's relationship with his Taiwanese partner was sketched in halfheartedly, as if it was something conventionally expected in a "cop buddy" flick , but not important enough to take more than a whirl at. The usual clichés apply there, like the American being overly blunt and disrespectful, the local trying to reign in his embarrassing partner. Finally, the explanation for all the mystery seems a little bit trite compared to what my imagination was conjuring throughout the film. Trust me, you'll be disappointed.

With good production values and a stellar setup, Double Vision is a study in unfulfilled potential. It wasn't badly done, but fans of Ju-On and Ringu should steer clear.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

Produced and Directed by Chen Kuo Fu & scripted by Kuo Fu with Su Zhao Bin, DOUBLE VISION has to be one of the best serial killer movies since SE7EN.
In Hong Kong the local police are baffled by a bizzare series of murders including: a woman who's been burnt to death, but there are no signs of fire damage in her home; a priest who is disembowelled & a businessman who's literally frozen to death at his desk. The only link between these murders police are able to find is the discovery of mold in nasal cavities and/or brains of the victims. In addition to this a Taoist talisman has been printed on the body of Victim #3 in blood.
The Taiwanese cop (played by Tony Leung) assigned the case is still recovering from a personal trauma of his own: two years previously his daughter was taken hostage by his deranged brother who then commits suicide. His daughter survived but has been mute for the past two years & incarcerated in an institution- all of which adds extra stress to what is to become the most demanding case of his career.
He is teamed with Kevin Richter (David Morse), a retired FBI Agent now teaching at Quantico; who is called in from Virginia to assist the Taiwanese police with their case.
DOUBLE VISION is an intelligent & gruesome chiller which tends to drag occasionally, but generally this is a must-see and ought to send a message to Hollywood on how to make a REAL thriller: something that hasn't come from them since THE SIXTH SENSE. Full of twists & scares, directed with panache & with three dimensional characters, DOUBLE VISION is one of the scariest movies I've seen this year. Sadly not many people I've talked to seem to know about it- which annoys me a bit. There's loads of neat lesser known movies out there, but some people are unwilling to watch anything that isn't mainstream, or that only feature overrated "stars" like Ben Affleck or Adam Sandler (I admit I'm guilty of watching their movies, but that means I have an excuse to make fun of them online).
Make it your New Year's resolution to expand your movie viewing horizons a bit. If you see this in your local video store, rent it or haggle your relatives into buying the DVD for you for Xmas (That way you won't have to suffer through the millionth repeat screening of THE SOUND OF MUCUS or MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET). DOUBLE VISION gets my seal of approval, & warrants a placing on my list of the best movies I've seen this year. Check it out.

First off, it's obvious that David Morse was just brought in to broaden Double Vision's international appeal but his presence doesn't take away from the intensity and mystery of the film. In truth, the involvement of the FBI is kind of irrelevant (you'll get a feeling it's just added upon).

The real star here is Tony Leung (the other one, not the Infernal Affairs/Hero Tony Leung). His portrayal of a troubled Foreign Services officer is compelling, and his tortured performance really drives the movie.

It's basically X-Files, mixed with an Eastern-style Seven and a temple massacre that predated Kill Bill, Double Vision is an enjoyable thriller with moody cinematography and excellent production values.

The deliberate pacing is perfect for this type of genre. It builds up the creepiness factor, while fully realizing the conflicts of Tony Leung's character.

Although the end is not as tight as the first 3/4s of the movie, Double Vision is a thriller worthy of purchase.

`Double Vision' is an interesting mixture of Taiwanese culture and occult thriller. The basic story goes like Thomas Harris novels, with a series of gory deaths in the city of Taipei, but there is another, more familiar aspect in `Double Vision' so-called buddy-buddy cop drama.

The film's star is Tony Leung Ka Fai ("L'Amant") playing Taiwanese police detective Huang Huo-tu tormented by his bitter past. Huang Huo-tu investigates strange cases of deaths in Taipei. The corpses are all unnatural - one of them looks as if frozen, and another burnt, although the rooms where they were found are all intact. One FBI agent Kevin Richter (David Morse, "The Green Mile") flies to Taiwan to help the investigatation of the local police about the bizarre deaths, but the truths turn out much more astonishing than standard thrillers.

`Double Vision' poses more questions and mysteries than it can explain in its two-hour running time. Though FBI profiler appears, the film's strength does not lie in his scientific methods to analyze the mysterious case. Actually I still am not sure if an FBI agent would be really sent to Taiwan even in his capacity as advisor, and also David Morse's slightly bland acting fails to convince us of the situation.

In fact, the merit of `Double Vision' can be found in its Taiwanese culture, especially its blend of the bureaucratic system of the modern police and the religious background including Taoism which has a long history. One (probably) fictional sect of Taoists plays an important role in the film, of which logics are not always clear to us in spite of the film's well-presented dark tone. The pace is always good, and you seldom get boring while seeing some surprises, but as the film reaches its conclusion, it tries to show too many things at the same time. And though the film's creepy occult elements have considerable appeal, the relations between the two cops look strangely like those of Hollywood films.

`Double Vision' is most appealing when it uses its cultural backdrop to the full, in order to set up the mysteries. The film's best part is its overtones and occult mysteries that refuse to be solved in a simple and normal way. And like any other thriller, when it is solved, it leaves holes in the logics that preceded the conclusion. Or maybe I am missing something in its logics. I don't know. For all (or because of) still unanswered mysteries, the film is worth watching.

DOUBLE VISION
[Shuang Tong]

(Taiwan - 2002)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)
Theatrical soundtracks: Dolby Digital / SDDS

Following a series of murders in which the victims died under mysterious circumstances (one of them drowned on the top floor of an office complex, another was disembowelled in his sleep, etc.), Taiwanese police engage the services of an FBI agent (David Morse) who joins forces with a disgraced cop (Tony Leung Ka-fai) and traces the clues back to a murderous religious sect...

Produced by the Asian wing of Columbia Pictures, DOUBLE VISION is a beautifully-made bore. With its moody visuals and stately pace, Chen Kuo-fo's torturous film aspires to something more upmarket than your average 'slasher' movie, and the results are pretty mixed, to say the least: Too 'arty' for the multiplex crowd, and too commercial for Art-house audiences, DOUBLE VISION swaps atmosphere for action at almost every turn, save for a violent massacre toward the end of the film and a confusing climax which suggests a supernatural explanation for the murders before going off in a different direction altogether. In fact, Chen's kid-glove treatment of the established 'serial killer' formula - a series of outrageous crimes, followed by an investigation in which an assortment of details lead to a final confrontation with the killer - suggests an aversion to the material that extends all the way down to the murders themselves, few of which are especially graphic, except for a couple of CGI-enhanced eruptions early in the movie, and the narrative suffers accordingly.

On the plus side, Morse and Leung (not to be confused with Tony Leung Chiu-wai, star of HAPPY TOGETHER [1997]) are well-matched as cops from opposite sides of the world, forced to set aside their cultural differences in order to track the killer to his/her lair. Morse is OK, as usual, but Leung has the showier role, playing an honest man whose life is in turmoil following a recent tragedy in which his young daughter was taken hostage by an officer whom Leung had accused of corruption. Rene Liu Re-ying (FLEEING BY NIGHT) plays Leung's wife, a lost soul struggling to cope with the fall-out from her husband's guilty conscience. Grim stuff, in every sense of the word. The uncensored director's cut - available on DVD in Asia - adds more gore to the proceedings, but little else. Gorgeous production values, expansive widescreen compositions and a busy soundtrack aside, the movie is a wash-out.

I watched 3 minutes of it & threw it in a dumpster, the sync was even bad, it was out if sync, DON'T WASTE UR MONEY ON THIS DVD

The production quality was very good, acting fine but still rather melodramatic; the writing lacked coherence and polish; so-much so after awhile one wonders what's happening and who's doing what
to who and why. Most Asian motion pictures are now pretty slick; this, production values aside,
could have been from the 80's, maybe 90's.

And of course, the premise is never really resolved in spite of mandatory blood baths. Sort of action looking for a reason.

For those viewers looking to enter the world of subtitled horror so as to enjoy the vast array of offerings from Asia, Spain, South America, France and increasingly places like Scandinavia, Russia and so on, "Double Vision" is a great place to start, being filmed partly in Taiwanese and partly in English. And oh yes, I almost forgot: it's also among Asia's best offerings.

"Double Vision" starts out as a first-rate police thriller with supernatural overtones and gradually transforms into a first rate metaphysical horror movie with suspense movie/crime movie elements, all the while maintaing a strong and expertly-done tone of drama. A series of murders is being committed in a Taiwanese city, the victims having no apparant link, and the ways they've been killed having only one thing in common: they should, logically, be impossible.

An American expert in particularly difficult-to-solve crimes (David Morse, of "The Green Mile" and "Hearts In Atlantis") is brought in to partner with Taiwan cop Tony Leung Ka Fai (of "Three....Extremes" {aka "Saam Gaang Yi"} and current Asian hit "The Myth") who's haunted both by some past on-the-job trauma and the tremendous strain it's put on his family life. Morse's character is a man who, although friendly, seems to have few attachments in his personal life, and watching him become friends with Ka Fai's character, and close to people he meets through his new temporary partner, is a glue that really brings the film together, really brings all the characters to life, and really makes you care what happens to them.

There is little hint in the first half of the movie of what unexpected turns the investigation is going to take, so I'll refrain from discussing it here. But it gets weird, cryptic, and it's something you really have to watch closely to catch everything. Highly, highly recommended.

This film is different. It's advertised as a horror film, but it isn't. It's a phycological suspense drama. Tells the story of a cop who has had a pretty tramatizing past. You see his brother had stole some money and when he was caught he broke free and held his daughter at gun point. He felt as though he didn't do enough to stop him. His brother pulls the trigger but somehow manages to shoot only himself. Well his daughter has spoken for 2 years, and his wife wants a divorce. Suddenly people start dying in odd and unusual ways, so the father must team up with an american FBI agent to solve this killing spree. Who's responsible for the murders? Well you're gonna have to watch the movie and find out. Be warned that this film does make you think. Oh and the dubbing is probably the best I've seen on a foreign film. No seriously! Oh and there is graphic gore in some scenes so if you are squemish then I wouldn't recommend this to you.

Double Vision was Taiwan's most expensive production ever (at just over a million bucks) and directed by Chen Kuo-fu, who did the wonderfully quirky The Personals. This is basically a clone of Se7en with a supernatural twist and a marketable Hollywood almost-star David Morse. Sadly, all that effort only goes to prove that Taiwan is just as capable of making soulless cinematic knockoffs as well as Hollywood. This film combines a muddled script filled with cring-inducing dialogues, plus indecisive direction and mostly stiff acting into a mess with a high production value. It tried very hard to be very moody, but only ends up being manipulative and unsubtle. Worst of all is that awful ending, with its sappy message spelled out literally for all audience to see. Argh, it makes me embarrassed to be a Taiwanese ex-pat. Truth be told, the story is actually kind of interesting, and the film could have been somewhat enjoyable if it wasn't executed without any care for plausibility and so much care for melodrama. BTW, can someone tell me how David Morse can walk into a room and dig up the precise piece of evidence without knowing where to look?