Midnight Diner - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Midnight Diner



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras: :
Final Score:


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Movie
2019’s Midnight Diner is a film I’ve been eager to watch for quite some time. It’s based off of a higher popular manga known as “Shin’ya Shokudo” for over a decade, and was starring some of my favorite classic Chinese actors. The source material has been used for several different TV shows in Korea and Japan (and I BELIEVE China as well), all of which have been highly received, but when I heard we were making a movie with Tony Ka-Fai Leung as the star and director, I was excited…..only to realize that the film just didn’t seem to be coming to America. I lost track of the movie after the pandemic started and almost forgot that it was even out until I saw the press release that Well Go USA put out a few months back. We were not only going to get a home video release, but a full on Blu-ray release at that!

They say that food ties communities together. Good food has a way of comforting people in their time of need. Of uplifting spirits when they are down, or simply as a way to relax after a stressful day. No matter what class you are, what age range you are, a good community diner is somewhere where you are welcomed and equals, if not for a short period of time. I grew up in a small town and went to an even SMALLER town when I went to college, and a good midnight diner was one of my favorite places to visit. Everything was quiet, you saw the same people every night, and the food just seemed to taste better. Well, that’s exactly what Midnight Diner is. A place to come and watch people of all walks of life come together for a few moments of simple enjoyment.

The film is a kind hearted and syrupy sweet version of Crash, where everyone knows each other in various degrees of 7 ways from Kevin Bacon, but they all have one thing in common. The midnight diner run by “Uncle” (Tony Ka-Fai Leung). The stories themselves are told in vignette form and for the most part. We get to see a young man fall in love with a divorcee and gain a boxing career. A young model off to see the world, leaving the love of her life behind. A musician and a nobody teaming up to create the beauty of music, and a troubled police man with a damaged life that keeps him at bay from everyone else. Narrated by “Uncle” as he watches people come and go from his diner, it is a sweet series of vignettes that highlight the beauty that can be had from a safe place, as well as Uncle himself showing his love of his guests through his work.

The movie isn’t something you can pretty much describe via a 3 act story arc, but rather an EXPERIENCE as you watch each heart warming (or heart breaking) story unfold bit by bit. It’s also a movie that draws you in and calms you down just watching the food being made by Uncle. It’s peaceful, beautiful, a little overly syrupy at times, but something that can be forgiven simply due to the fact that this was designed be the movie version of “Chicken Soup for the Soul”, with a foody twist. Honestly that was probably the best part of the film. Watching Uncle cook some of the most amazing and intricate Chinese dishes that I’d ever seen, making me simultaneously wish we had a local red eye diner ourself (sadly my wife and I moved to an area with nary a one for 45 minutes in any direction), as well as greedily wishing we had ANY diner that could could that amazing.

The heart and soul of the film is based upon the actors and their little vignettes. Most of the time they’re perfectly solid, but some of them are acted a bit melodramatically and keep you wondering if the movie is a bit TOO syrupy sweet. That being said veteran Tony Leung keeps the film flowing with his wizened voice and calmly kind demeanor. Even when some of the younger actors are acting at a soap opera level, his guidance seems to right the ship and push the film back into being a serious movie once more.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

As is the case with most modern Asian films, I can’t seem to find much information on what cameras were used or what resolution the master was. However, I would bet some coin on the fact that it was a 2K master judging from the film’s overall aesthetic, and a solid one at that. The movie may take place in a diner, but the film is generally brightly lit and very neutral in the color grading. No massive ash gray and blue or gold highlights (except in small instances), but rather a very open and natural looking color grading. Details are generally great, but I did notice some softness here and there, as well as a few instances where digital noise cropped up (the one where Uncle steps out from the back of the diner at around the 1 hour and 34 minute mark was surprisingly obvious). Blacks are also really good, but I DID notice a few instances of banding as well. Nothing major, as the whole of the image is very clean and clear, but just enough to never truly be “stunning”.






Audio:

Featuring a singular 5.1 DTS-HD MA track in Mandarin (with a 2.0 down mix in the same language), Midnight Diner delivers exactly what one would expect from a heavily dramatic film like this. A very front heavy experience with light to moderate surround activity based upon simple ambiance. You can hear them light up a bit when the boxing match starts, or when the symphony blares across all speakers, but a goodly amount of the film lives up in the front 3 speakers. Bass is much like the surrounds. Very light and complimentary for the most part, but a few small instances surprise you with a good wallop (such as the tire flipping in the gym). An all around good mix that knows it’s place in the audio hierarchy and does everything well.









Extras:

• Trailer
• Well Go USA Previews

Final Score: ​

If I had to complain about Midnight Diner I would say the last story was kind of superfluous. The movie was winding down around the hour and 10 minute mark and the addition of the overly long story about the model and her cab driver boyfriend felt more like padding than anything. That being said, the vignette style movie is cute and adorable, which is pretty much what they were going for. A veritable “Chicken Soup for the Soul” movie whose entire point is to be heartwarming and uplifting. A time and a place for everything and I dare say I enjoyed the little film. Not perfect, but enough to put a smile on your face and the Blu-ray’s good technical specs are icing on the cake. Definitely check it out if you’re in the mood for heart warming and simple.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Tony Ka Fai Leung, Tony Yo-ning Yang, Tao Liu, Yibai Zhang, Elaine Jin, Kim Scar, Joyce Chen
Directed by: Tony Ka Fai Leung
Written by: Yaro Abe (Comic), Simon Chen, Chris Chow
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Mandarin DD 2.0
Subtitles: English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional)
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 104 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 17th 2021

Recommendation: Sweet Flick

 

[Michael Scott]

apologies, there was a glitch where Little Q was overwriting this review. it's been fixed

 

[Grayson Dere]

Neat! I was not aware they made a movie of the show. I've been watching the Midnight Diner series (3 seasons?) on Netflix and it's a fun watch : )

 

[Michael Scott]

Neat! I was not aware they made a movie of the show. I've been watching the Midnight Diner series (3 seasons?) on Netflix and it's a fun watch : )

it works better as the show than a movie, but they do a solid job for what's basically an ensemble movie

just to be aware though, the show and the movie are two completely different productions. The show is a Japanese show, and this is a hong kong production. They're just both taken from the same manga written source material