I watched the american remake of this, called 'The Departed', first, and I loved it (I paid to watch it in theater SEVERAL times:) I knew I am late to finally find the time to watch the original but I am glad I was able to do it. I loved it, too. It's brilliant. I love both movies, the remake has the strengths and weaknesses of a hollywood movie (love them or hate them:) the original has the strengths and weaknesses of asian movie (love them or hate them:) Both are the BEST among their kind.

As I am no stranger to hong-kong production I knew what to expect and I have zero complains. I admired and enjoyed this a lot. The cast was spot on, both Anthony Wong & Eric Tsang were perfect fit for the type of the role. As for the main two, Andy Lau is the typical attractive asian actor but Tony Leung really is no DiCaprio:-) But then he smiles and you find that he has the cutest smile in the world. The characters were similar enough, I felt Andy Lau's maybe differed a little and it was hinted by the ending, but you be the judge... I appreciated the scarce and poignant use of female characters (in both versions).

I felt Scorsese made his version with great respect to this movie. It's a beautiful movie. I know, some would point out it's "depressing", because of the deaths, terror... But look at it this way. You can just as well watch a movie 'Sex and the City 2' where it's all sunny beach and everyone is wealthy and happy. And then you might see some terror, LOL. Yes, a beautiful movie isn't about whether the characters ended up well.

Simply put, it is a movie you feel privileged you had the chance to see it.