Featured Audience Ratings

• Carlos M

  
  A very smart and taut thriller that prefers to focus on its characters and the relationship between them instead of jumping into action, shootings and twists as usually expected to be seen in this kind of crime movie.

• Al S

  
  An explosive crime-thriller. It's Heat meets Resivor dogs. Sets new standards for the cops and criminals genre. It's superb and magnificent. A tense, gritty and remarkable film in every way. It`s stylish, excellent, thrilling and unforgettable. A riveting, brilliant and… More
  An explosive crime-thriller. It's Heat meets Resivor dogs. Sets new standards for the cops and criminals genre. It's superb and magnificent. A tense, gritty and remarkable film in every way. It`s stylish, excellent, thrilling and unforgettable. A riveting, brilliant and absolutely sensational movie that packs pure suspense and surprises. A powerful and extraordinary piece of work. Awesomely entertaining. An incredible adrenaline-rush that wont quit and is packed with blistering action and amazing twist and turns. A stunning, deeply moving, surprisingly effective and breathtaking. This is where The Departed was found. A Hong Kong classic. Andy Lau and Tony Leung give outstanding performances. A knockout that has great charisma and a theme that's all its own

• xGary X

  
  Two cops face off against each other in a race against time to discover their respective identities; one honest, working within a drug runner's gang and the other corrupt, working for the criminals. The inspiration for The Departed, this is one of the seminal Asian crime dramas… More
  Two cops face off against each other in a race against time to discover their respective identities; one honest, working within a drug runner's gang and the other corrupt, working for the criminals. The inspiration for The Departed, this is one of the seminal Asian crime dramas of the last few years. Well, ever, in fact. My main problem with it is that I REALLY wish I'd seen it first. The difference between this and The Departed highlights the difference between HK and US movie-making in general; The Departed was full of colourful language, brutal violence and macho posturing, while this is a far more understated affair. Unfortunately this means it is far more reliant on the twists and turns of the very cleverly written plot, and so anyone who has seen The Departed already will know what's going to happen in advance. If viewed the other way round, one can still enjoy Scorsese's reinterpretation of events with his colourful and characterful fleshing out of the story. It is a quality piece of film-making, but I would seriously suggest to anyone who has seen neither to go for this one first.

• Cynthia S

  
  Apparently, the original movie that inspired the American movie The Departed. I did not know this going in, but now I see the connection. Fantastic stuff here! This version is more of a psychological drama, than an action movie. Just as good, in my book.

• Lewis C

  
  Unfortunately I saw The Departed first, so I didn't get to go into Infernal Affairs as a fresh experience. Still, it's a tense, taunt thriller that's well worth watching.

• Thomas B

  
  An expert showcase of suspense with some great lead performances. Full review later.

• Michael G

  
  Infernal Affairs is by no means a bad movie (actually, its pretty good) and maybe I'm just saying this because I was it first, but I liked The Departed better. That's just me. The story is more streamlined that The Departed but I felt that Scorsese's version had more… More
  Infernal Affairs is by no means a bad movie (actually, its pretty good) and maybe I'm just saying this because I was it first, but I liked The Departed better. That's just me. The story is more streamlined that The Departed but I felt that Scorsese's version had more bite to it. But again, that's just me. I kind of wish I saw Infernal Affairs before I saw The Departed because there's that Scorsese that I'm (unfairly I'll admit) putting over this movie. Anyway, its worth the watch and there's some great photography...

• Stella D

  
  why did scorsese change the ending? this one was much stronger imo. at least he spared us sequels

• Lady D

  
  A film I've been meaning to see for so long and at last I have. It has to be the first film I've watched where I like both the original and the remake (The Departed) equally. The storyline here is a truly original and clever idea, increasing in tempo as the polt unfolds.

• Lanning :

  
  So direcrtor Wai-keung Lau gave Martin Scorsese an eight out of ten for his use of this movie in making <i>The Departed</i> . . . I think I'll have to call that "professional courtesy." And if he gave Scorsese an eight, then this one is deserving of about… More
  So direcrtor Wai-keung Lau gave Martin Scorsese an eight out of ten for his use of this movie in making <i>The Departed</i> . . . I think I'll have to call that "professional courtesy." And if he gave Scorsese an eight, then this one is deserving of about a 16 out of 10. It certainly is at least twice as good. <p>For one thing, there is none of the sleaziness or coarseness of Scorsese's failed borrowing. And with apologies to one of my favorites, Jack Nicholson, there is no comparison between this film's cast and Scorsese's. This cast all around is a cut above, Lau's directing is at least as good, and any finesse to be found in the Scorsese project's story is a tribute to the original.<p> I've said before that it takes a lot for me to put a living actor on my all-time favorite list, but I've now seen more than enough of Tony Leung Chiu Wai to know that I must add him. Nicholson is also another living actor on this list. I'd love to see them do a movie together. That would be one awesome treat. <p>I'm also going to put <i>Infernal Affairs</i> on my Top 100 list right now as well. This is a movie not to be missed.

• Tsubaki S

  
  As much of a crisis as the HK industry might have entered in the late 90's, they still know when to pull out great stuff like this one. Hardly the most polished script you could find, but the always sharp direction, and a well rounded cast makes it impossible to lost interest in… More
  As much of a crisis as the HK industry might have entered in the late 90's, they still know when to pull out great stuff like this one. Hardly the most polished script you could find, but the always sharp direction, and a well rounded cast makes it impossible to lost interest in what's happening. And no, i won't go endlessly with comparisions between this and the remake. Infernal Affairs deserves it's own recognition as a stand alone film. Everyone from Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Tony Leung all the way to Eric Tsang show what acting is really about. They are popular actors in Asia yes, but they also happen to have actual acting skills, becoming a big part of what made this film work so well.

• Saskia D

  
  I'm so sorry, but I saw The Departed first!! It's a great story, but it lost me, or actually it didn't get me in the first place. Maybe I saw the wrong version, but the Cantonese dub was terrible. It creates a gaping hole between the characters and the viewer (at least… More
  I'm so sorry, but I saw The Departed first!! It's a great story, but it lost me, or actually it didn't get me in the first place. Maybe I saw the wrong version, but the Cantonese dub was terrible. It creates a gaping hole between the characters and the viewer (at least in my opinion). I wanted to bang my head on the table during the few "love scenes", when the sugar-sweet-god-awful music started. ...I'm sorry... I'm getting carried away there. I'd still like to watch the other two movies though :p <a href="http://media.photobucket.com/image/infernal%20affairs/attaccabottoni/0000f4f4.jpg?o=20" target="_blank"><img src="http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a32/attaccabottoni/0000f4f4.jpg"></a>

• Drew S

  
  Infernal Affairs is uniformly a weaker movie than The Departed, except for one strength: the running time. This is an hour shorter than its remake. Some people may view that as a disadvantage, but there wasn't a single scene I saw in The Departed that I missed here, and I think… More
  Infernal Affairs is uniformly a weaker movie than The Departed, except for one strength: the running time. This is an hour shorter than its remake. Some people may view that as a disadvantage, but there wasn't a single scene I saw in The Departed that I missed here, and I think it accomplished just as much plot and character-wise as it did in its American successor. It's lean, punchy and doesn't fuck around. Sadly, everything else Infernal Affairs does is comparatively worse. Christopher Doyle is a flashy cinematographer, so maybe the visuals stand on even ground, but this is by far the product of a less seasoned filmmaker. The narrative is fitfully clever and deserves some respect for pioneering the great ideas we saw in The Departed, but at other times it's an absolute mess. There are flashbacks to things that happened earlier in the movie to elucidate a point or add poignancy. I fucking hate that shit. I remember what the character accomplished and said before they died, I don't need you rubbing it in my face! The symbolism is even heavier than it was in The Departed - Mary's novel? Seriously? Sammi Cheng is cute and all (she's a far better singer than actress - I'm positive that's her voice on the speakers), but her character is poorly used as a dramatic impetus for Lau. There's a couple of lines that are just embarrassing. The movie is a generally successful action film, but can be insulting to one's intelligence, which I never felt The Departed did. And that's why I didn't enjoy this as much.

• Taylor B

  
  iT coPieD the DePaRted!!@~@@!!~~

• Aaron N

  
  Lau Kin Ming: Do all undercover cops like rooftops? Chan Wing Yan: Unlike you, I'm not afraid of light. I wanted to watch this movie and not think about The Departed. It was very hard not to. Both of these movies were very good, but by seeing The Departed first, it essentially… More
  Lau Kin Ming: Do all undercover cops like rooftops? Chan Wing Yan: Unlike you, I'm not afraid of light. I wanted to watch this movie and not think about The Departed. It was very hard not to. Both of these movies were very good, but by seeing The Departed first, it essentially ruined any chance for this movie to seem better. There are elements here that I like more, but at the same time there are elements in Departed I like more. It's similar to someone who watched the American version of 'The Office' first, then the original British version. They can like what came first, but there will always be something in the way of understanding why the original is considered better. The story involves a cop undercover as a gangster, and a gangster undercover as a cop. Both of these men are good at what they do, but the double life aspect is getting to them. These roles are filled by international stars Andy Lau and Tony Leung, who are both very good in their roles. The other elements of the story are all familiar if one has already seen the Departed, with the exception of some points involving the women in their lives. One thing I enjoyed here is the direction. This film clocks in at about an hour and forty minutes, and is paced very quickly. Opposed to Scorsese's version, which takes its time to fill all the details (which is not a bad thing) this movie moves along much quicker with the plot, and never strays off course. The scoring for the film is very good as well, along with the presentation of the themes involved with being a mole in the organization, and the problems that come with it. This is a very good movie, that will unfortunately fall under the shadow of its big brother remake. SP Wong: Let me tell you a story. Two men need an organ transplant, but there's only one organ. So they play a game. They each put a card in their pocket. Whoever can guess the other's card wins the organ. Sam: You know I can see your card. SP Wong: I see yours as well.

• Shauna R

  
  Gripping, stylish and well-crafted cop thriller. A refreshing script which is tensely directed. It's highly entertaining to the point that my eyes were glued to the screen. Both Andy Lau and Tony Leung give great performances but Tony Leung adds a slight more humanity to his… More
  Gripping, stylish and well-crafted cop thriller. A refreshing script which is tensely directed. It's highly entertaining to the point that my eyes were glued to the screen. Both Andy Lau and Tony Leung give great performances but Tony Leung adds a slight more humanity to his role. Anthony Wong also worth mentioning was good support. I'm a little disappointed with the ending, I expected it to end with more of a bang. However, this is a smart, exciting and compelling film, I implore you to watch it.

• Aliyanto L

  
  The best HK film since A Better Tomorrow!

• danny d

  
  this is the chinese film that scorcese adapted into the departed. i wanted to see this to see what scorcese used from it and to see how similar they were and i was suprised by what i saw. they are the same movie. almost exact, scene by scene, line by line. this movie is about 40… More
  this is the chinese film that scorcese adapted into the departed. i wanted to see this to see what scorcese used from it and to see how similar they were and i was suprised by what i saw. they are the same movie. almost exact, scene by scene, line by line. this movie is about 40 minutes shorter than the departed and that 40 minutes is the only real difference between these films. i did enjoy the departed more because of the superior acting and execution, but i almost think less of the departed when realizing how much it took directly from this film. ultimately, both are great and i recommend this to anyone who liked the departed.

• Ken S

  
  Not as good as the Departed, but a damn fine film. The trilogy is better than the departed, but that's not really a fair comparison.

• Christopher M

  
  This is a great film, very indicative of the quality I've come to expect from Asian cinema. It is the basis for Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning crime saga, The Departed - which I saw first. In watching Infernal Affairs I really respected what Scorsese did with The Departed… More
  This is a great film, very indicative of the quality I've come to expect from Asian cinema. It is the basis for Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning crime saga, The Departed - which I saw first. In watching Infernal Affairs I really respected what Scorsese did with The Departed more, because it isn't just a remake, but a very active re-imagining. They're very different films, and both brilliant in their own way. The soundtrack kicked my ass. Even from the credits, I was loving the music, and it stayed consistently amazing throughout the film. Just as Leonardo DiCaprio was my favourite thing about The Departed - Tony Leung, who plays the equivalent of DiCaprio's character, was my favourite part of this film. He's simply an amazing actor, and I am constantly amazed by the quality of his work. Though he's no Jack Nicholson, Eric Tsang was fucking great, though I felt his character wasn't featured as prominently as Nicholson's in The Departed, and that was a little disappointing. The cast was all good, though. The direction was overall pretty solid. One thing that surprised me is that, I expected (based on what I have seen from Asian cinema so far) Infernal Affairs to be a much more violent and bloody affair than The Departed (which had plenty of that), but it was considerably less. Instead this discrepancy was filled with the the slickness and style that oozed out of the pores of this film, rather than the more gritty approach Scorsese took. They both work, this is a more refined, just as well done, envisioning of this material, and I loved it.

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