The Departed (2006) & Infernal Affairs (2002)

The Departed - Blockbuster Rental
Infernal Affairs (Mou gaan dou) - NetFlix Rental

Leighton: Departed - ****, Infernal Affairs - ***

I decided to do a combined review of the Academy Award winning movie The Departed along with the original Chinese movie that it was based on, Infernal Affairs.

When an American remake of a popular foreign is made, I generally prefer the original to the remake (case in point, La Femme Nikita vs. Point of No Return).

The Departed is the rare case where I actually preferred the remake. I can't point to any one thing as to why this is so. The Departed just left me more satisfied at its conclusion, overall. The Departed is a great Martin Scorsese film, but I can't say if it's his best since Goodfellas since I haven't seen many of his films in between. The story was basically the same in Infernal Affairs, except the gang was a drug dealing Triad gang in Hong Kong rather than an Irish mafia gang in Boston dealing in stolen computer chips. Each mole is racing to find his counterpart, as in The Departed. In Infernal Affairs, there are two female leads, who were combined into a single character in The Departed. And the ending is slightly different in Internal Affairs. [Highlight text to read spoiler -> One of the characters who dies at the end of The Departed doesn't die at the end of Infernal Affairs. I'll let you wonder which one. <- End Spoiler]

I definitely recommend The Departed unless you're really put off by violence. If you're interested in the origin of the story, Infernal Affairs was a good movie. But I don't think you're missing out on anything if you decide to skip it.