The City Of Violence

I wasn't the biggest fan of Ryoo Seung-hwan's The City Of Violence when it hit the cinemas earlier this year, but I've warmed to it considerably thanks to Contender's packed two disc DVD release.

An array of lengthy extras cover all aspects of the filmmaking process, with Ryoo Seung-hwan and his co-lead Jung Doo-hong the main protagonists. They're engaging, have plenty to say, and their quiet passion for their project is quite infectious. With a limited budget they jumped for as high a mark as possible and are clearly pleased with their film - and its western release.

There is the expected but still interesting Making Of but given the amount of fighting that Ryoo Seung-hwan tries to cram into his film there's an understandable focus on the action scenes. Detailed accounts of some scenes are accompanied by commentaries from Jung Doo-hong along with considerable attention to detail and people's differing combat styles melding into their performance. Most original, however, is the attention given to the Seoul Action School. Set up by Jung Doo-hong it's a college for stunt fighters to train and hone their onscreen combat skills. Many of the energetic 'students' who feature as the hordes of extras gambled by taking part free of charge, with only the promise of a share of the profits later if the film was a success. The sense of the low-budget filmmaking community this helped generate around the production clearly rubbed off on the rest of the crew who also get their own featurette.

With so much detail on offer the absence of a main commentary is less keenly felt. Ryoo Seung-hwan does provide one for each of the deleted scenes, though, further expounding on his vision, direction and editing processes.

Standard trailers round things off to make up a sizeable, slickly put together package that does justice to the filmmakers' considerable efforts.