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[DarkLordMalik]

The Departed, as many know, is based on the popular movie trilogy: Infernal Affairs from Hong Kong. This trilogy was released in 2002-2003 and then later remade by Martin Scorsese for Hollywood.

My original introduction to the story was after seeing The Departed, and I absolutely LOVED every moment of it. The acting from Leo Di Caprio and Mark Wahlberg was pretty damn good, and while Matt Damon was not bad, Nicholson did feel like overreacting at times. Still, we can say that when it comes to acting, The Departed was the superior movie.

After hearing that The Departed was based on a movie trilogy that originated in Hong Kong, and being a fan of Asian cinema, I had to search and look for the trilogy. While I already knew majority of the story, and despite the changes in The Departed, I still enjoyed it a lot. I still prefer the original Infernal Affairs in term of story and execution to The Departed. As for the prequel/sequel, it is honestly enjoyable on its own. I really loved Andy Lau and Tony Chiu in their respective role and to me, Infernal Affairs had the more tragic end than The Departed. It was just better executed.

So GAF, what do you think about both these movies. Which one is your favorite?

 

[Fandangox]

I didn't even know about Internal Affairs, I should watch it.

 

[John Kowalski]

Infernal Affairs has that Hong Kong coolness to it that i prefer. I just really love the aesthetics of that city.

 

[Sinatar]

I saw infernal affairs first, but ended up preferring The Departed.

 

[norm9]

Loved Infernal Affairs, the original Japanese movie Departed was based on.

 

[Little Green Yoda]

Pacing in Infernal Affairs is so much better.

 

[kunonabi]

Watched both for a film course I took in grad school. I loved Infernal Affairs and pretty much hated the Departed. It just didn't work for me on any level.

 

[sfedai0]

Of course, the original.

 

[HideyoshiJP]

I can't versus them. I loved them both for different reasons.

 

[Davilmar]

I managed to watch Infernal Affairs recently. Interesting trilogy of films, but the third film just fell off so hard. A lot of double crossing and wacky web threads between all the major players in the films. It gets a bit ridiculous at times. For those reasons, I prefer the Departed even though Infernal Affairs are a good set of films to watch.

 

[ActStriker]

Loved Infernal Affairs, the original Japanese movie Departed was based on.

uh

 

[Gully State]

Infernal affairs. Andy Lau's performance was way better than Damon's (both portrayal and writing).

I never bothered with the rest of the trilogy though.

 

[Eyeron]

Prefer The Depahted. It has issues but I'm a Scorsese nut and I just find it more entertaining and rewatchable.

 

[beyond_death]

Infernal Affairs. The Departed was okay compared to it.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

Infernal affairs. Andy Lau's performance was way better than Damon's (both portrayal and writing).

I never bothered with the rest of the trilogy though.

The prequel is pretty good. The sequel though, not so much.

 

[brianjones]

departed for the cast and just more enjoyable/memorable in general

 

[HyperZone<3]

hey, is that... subtly in Infernal Affairs, yeah, that's kinda nice. And hoo boy that love triangle in The Departed is kinda crappy. The Departed is considerably funnier though.

I prefer Infernal Affairs, but honestly, the best film of the trilogy might be part 2, which while a prequel, still pretty much requires seeing the first film to make sense of it. Its pretty dang great, part 3 is sort of a wash though.

I think the Infernal Affairs movies would have better stateside reputations were it not for the mishandling of their releases. I saw them on Hong Kong DVD's, which had much better subtitles then the American releases did. This is still the case even years later, Infernal Affairs 1 is available on Netflix streaming, and for some insane reason has two different subtitle tracks, the default one being much worse.

 

[MidnightHour]

Saw Infernal Affairs before the Departed, so Infernal Affairs for me since I knew what was coming in the Departed so it loses it impact. But both are great.

 

[BorkBork]

Have only seen Infernal Affairs. It's amazing.

 

[norm9]

uh

The announcer at the Oscar's said that when Scorcese won.

I have the imported trilogy on dvd. I'll rewatch the first one every so often between it is short, tight, and moves fast.

 

[Discotheque]

Departed. I think the performances and the tension is much more fun

Props to infernal affairs tho. But tbh I'll take to's election movies over them

 

[Gully State]

I just want to point out how shitty the American release was handled. I mean look at the cover...wtf...

 

[deadscreensky]

I didn't think either were particularly great, but I felt the ending to Infernal Affairs had more of a punch to it and preferred that film on the whole. The Departed's ending was too Hollywood.

I think the Infernal Affairs movies would have better stateside reputations were it not for the mishandling of their releases. I saw them on Hong Kong DVD's, which had much better subtitles then the American releases did. This is still the case even years later, Infernal Affairs 1 is available on Netflix streaming, and for some insane reason has two different subtitle tracks, the default one being much worse.

Interesting, maybe I should give it another chance.

 

[LiK]

Infernal Affairs is top-tier. The whole trilogy is awesome and perfect. Departed was like a cartoon. The funny thing was the scene with the Chinese guy in Departed was awful. They found some guy who couldn't even speak Cantonese correctly. Shitty casting.

 

[StriKeVillain]

Seen both.

Prefer The Departed.

 

[Superflat]

I enjoyed The Departed more as a film overall, but not by much; both are great films. The concept worked really well with Scorsese's style, and remains as one of the best film remakes out there.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

I just want to point out how shitty the American release was handled. I mean look at the cover...wtf...

This looks like some cheap action movie? WTF.

I don't even remember this girl?

 

[DarkJediKnight]

There's amazing details into the 2 protagonists' lives that the HK film does so well.

Scorcese never really captures that. Also, the Rat to finish the movie was very corny and a cheap laugh for such a serious situation.

 

[br3wnor]

I saw Internal Affairs first and thought it was pretty great. Departed was basically just as enjoyable for me and I felt the humor was better (Alec Baldwin deserved a mini-oscar) so I think I enjoy it a bit more overall.

Both are great movies, a rare occurrence where the American Remake is just as solid as it's international counter-part.

The funny thing was the scene with the Chinese guy in Departed was awful. They found some guy who couldn't even speak Cantonese correctly. Shitty casting.

Hahaha yeah that 'transaction' scene is really AWFUL. It's like it's a parody scene or something, really out of place in the movie.

 

[FStop7]

I thought this was about Internal Affairs the terribad Richard Gere movie.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

As much as I loved Vera Fermiga, her love triangle was so corny and out of place, lol.

The therapist in the original was also hot.

 

[Shaanyboi]

Both have their strengths. I prefer The Departed simply for the moment when they both are silent on the phone.

 

[rootbeerafloat]

Infernal Affairs, easily. The Departed is bloated and has Marky Mark.

 

[ZeroCypher]

This looks like some cheap action movie? WTF.

I don't even remember this girl?

I don't think the girl even existed in the movie.

I saw Infernal Affairs a few years before The Departed and was excited for The Departed but felt like it didn't have the same feel as Infernal Affairs which I really enjoyed. Both movies are good in their own ways though.

 

[StMeph]

Infernal Affairs is much much better than The Departed.

 

[dramatis]

Loved Infernal Affairs, the original Japanese movie Departed was based on.

You made an edit for 'wrong country' and still got the country/origin wrong...



I have a vague memory of Infernal Affairs, but I think the ending was better in Internal Affairs compared to The Departed. The latter is pretty good on its own merits though. Both followed the same story roughly enough that they didn't damage themselves by moving away from the strength of the story. The acting was great in both, the cinematography in The Departed was better, but I think the characters in Infernal Affairs have the edge.

You'll get to see the traitors together in a movie next year!

 

[True Savior]

I prefer Infernal Affairs 2. Wong and Ng knock it out of the park.

IA works better as a thriller. Departed is a very funny, somewhat bizarre movie and extremely entertaining. But it's way more uneven.

 

[Muffdraul]

I saw The Departed, loved it, found out it was based on Internal Affairs, figured that would be even better, watched it, enjoyed it, but it was damn bare bones compared to The Departed. The backstory in the past was part of what made The Departed so good.

If I'd seen IA first, I probably would have watched The Departed and thought "lol why'd they add all this unnecessary bullshit tho"

 

[MassiveNights]

The ending is better in Infernal Affairs.

And Andy Lau is a boss.

 

[Ridley327]

uh

It might be a joke about how the announcer at the Academy Awards of that year mistakenly announced it as a Japanese film, to which Scorsese corrected them up on the stage.

I'd go with The Departed in this situation. I found the acting across the board to be a lot better (though I would probably say that between the two films, Tony Leung had the more riveting performance), the black humor of the script took it to places that the original story never considered, and I loved the more chaotic approach to the editing that made even well known story beats from that film feel fresh again, particularly the climax. Some might complain it's too long, but I liked the lived-in feel they gave Boston that was actually quite novel for the time before every crime thriller was set in in that city.

 

[Disgraced]

I'm torn. Maybe I prefer Affairs overall but Marky Mark gave the best performance ever in TD.

 

[TAJ]

I've only seen a clip of Infernal Affairs, of a scene with a major character death, and it was laughably bad. It kinda killed my interest. Maybe it works in context?

 

[unpopularblargh]

Infernal Affairs. The relationships in that film actually felt fleshed out. In Departed it was literally Martin Sheen and Leo's character have a bonding moment and the next scene is

Spoiler

his death

.

 

[Zodzilla]

Infernal Affairs doesn't have a needless bullshit love triangle plus the ending for IA is way more tragic and not based on an idiotic shock "twist" ending like The Departed.

IA hands down.

Also, I was disgusted when The Departed won the screenplay Oscar (plus a bunch of others) and no one acknowledged the original film even though it's pretty much a direct top-to-bottom remake.

 

[Ridley327]

Infernal Affairs. The relationships in that film actually felt fleshed out. In Departed it was literally Martin Sheen and Leo's character have a bonding moment and the next scene is

Spoiler

his death

.

Really? The first half hour of The Departed for Leo's character is pretty much nothing but interacting with Sheen and Wahlberg

 

[Ridley327]

Infernal Affairs doesn't have a needless bullshit love triangle plus the ending for IA is way more tragic and not based on an idiotic shock "twist" ending like The Departed.

IA hands down.

Also, I was disgusted when The Departed won the screenplay Oscar (plus a bunch of others) and no one acknowledged the original film even though it's pretty much a direct top-to-bottom remake.

Scorsese went out of his way in his acceptance speech to correct people on it being a Hong Kong film.

 

[Dan]

Internal Affairs, hands down.

The Departed is very bloated and the supporting cast is chewing scenery to an obnoxious degree.

 

[Puck Beaverton]

IA has Tony Leung and I dislike The Departed. It's a pretty easy decision.

 

[Miker]

I vastly prefer Infernal Affairs. Echoing some other comments, it feels lean and well-paced compared to The Departed's almost excessive runtime (1h41m vs 2h31m). I think IA does more with less compared to its remake, although I do think the therapist's role was kind of unsubstantial, and The Departed had its heart in the right place in expanding that part of the film (maybe too much tho).

 

[BadWolf]

Infernal Affairs was much, much better.