Chungking Express 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Chungking Express 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 13, 2025

Wong Kar Wai's "Chungking Express" (1994) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include an archival program with cinematographer Christopher Doyle; episode of the British television series Moving Pictures; deleted scenes; and more. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Note: The text below was first used in 2008 for our review of Criterion's original Blu-ray release of Chungking Express.

A lonely cop (Takeshi Kaneshiro, Perhaps Love, House of Flying Daggers) is wandering the neon-lit streets of Hong Kong. He is heartbroken, sad, and unable to connect with the people around him. His loved one (Valerie Chow, Red Zone) has left him and life has suddenly become pointless. So, to numb the pain, the cop decides to fall in love again as quickly as possible.

A blond woman (Brigitte Lin, Warriors from the Magic Mountain, Ashes of Time) with thick dark glasses hires a group of Indians to transport a large amount of drugs for her. After she pays each of the Indians a hefty chunk of money, the woman takes them to a local tailor. There they are given new clothes, while the drugs are hidden in their personal belongings. However, when the time comes for the Indians to serve their part of the deal, they disappear. Devastated and jaded, the woman heads to a local bar, where she encounters a funny-talking cop.

A second cop (Tony Leung, In the Mood for Love, Lust, Caution) is also struggling to overcome the loss of a loved one. He often dines at a fast-food restaurant where one of the workers, a beautiful girl (Faye Wang, Okinawa Rendez-vous, 2046) addicted to music, falls for him. The cop, however, is unaware. Eventually, the girl manages to get a key for the cop's apartment and starts visiting it while he is at work. Slowly but surely, the apartment begins to look cleaner, better organized, and friendlier, and the cop begins to question his sanity.

Mixing humor, drama and romance to perfection, Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express could be a difficult film to like if one isn’t particularly impressed by the stylistic preferences of its director. It is a moody, episodic, and focused on detail film whose narrative is practically unimportant. In other words, this is a film that overflows with moods and feelings, which is why its two stories come to an end without providing a conclusive resolution.

Christopher Doyle (Fallen Angels, Happy Together) and Lau Wai-Keung's (Infernal Affairs) lensing provides the film with a special look. In the beginning of each story the camera follows the main protagonists from afar, then gradually comes closer, and finally befriends them. The camera's maneuvering is also tied to the manner in which color is utilized. Naturally, even many seemingly casual sequences can look quite extraordinary.

The film also boasts a very unusual soundtrack -- a wonderful mix of traditional Asian and lush ambient tracks (the sax theme is truly one of the most beautiful pieces I have ever heard) -- courtesy of Frankie Chan, Michael Galasso, and Roel A. García. The Mamas and the Papas' classic hit "California Dreaming" is used as the film's leitmotif as well.

*In 1995, Chungking Express won four Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Director (Wong Kar Wai) and Best Actor (Tony Leung), as well as the Film of Merit award granted by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.

Chungking Express 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Chungking Express is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

The combo pack presents a 4K restoration of the film that was first introduced in this box set on Blu-ray. Now, the restoration can be viewed in native 4K as well.

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc. In native 4K, the 4K restoration cannot be viewed with Dolby Vision or HDR grades.

Screencaptures #1-22 are from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #24-35 are from the 4K Blu-ray.

If you read our review of the more recent Blu-ray release of the film, you will see how I feel about the quality of the restoration work. It brings some obvious improvements that strengthen delineation, depth, and the density levels of the visuals. (If you have a large screen, the improved density will be one of the upgrades that you will appreciate the most). However, there are some color tweaks on it that I do not find convincing. In some areas of the film, these tweaks affect the dynamic range of the visuals too, causing select darker nuances to struggle in several unfortunate ways. How does this material look in native 4K? The brightest footage has the most obvious improvements, but even they are not substantial, while in darker areas, I frequently could not see much of a difference while also looking at the 1080p presentation. The flattening and darkness that are introduced by the new grading tweaks remain the same. In native 4K, select visuals definitely reveal upticks in their dynamic range, which is to be expected, but because of the unique management of light and color different viewers will respond differently to them. Also, in native 4K, the lost nuances that are visible on the previous release are still missing. Ultimately, if you are fine with the color tweaks that were made on the 4K restoration, and you have a very large screen, you can consider an upgrade. If all this does not apply to you, you can consider an upgrade of a different film you like.

Chungking Express 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

While revisiting Chungking Express in native 4K, I did not encounter any technical anomalies to report in our review. Please see our review of the previous Blu-ray release for additional comment on the lossless track.

Chungking Express 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailer - new trailer for the recent 4K restoration of Chungking Express. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Moving Pictures - presented here is an archival episode of the British television series Moving Pictures in which Wong Kar Wai and cinematographer Christopher Doyle discuss their professional relationship and work. The episode was broadcast in 1996. In English, not subtitled. (13 min, 1080i).

• Deleted Scenes - three deleted scenes with comments by Wong Kar Wai. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles.
  
  1. The Star (7 min, 1080p).
  2. California Dreaming (6 min, 1080p).
  3. Baroque (4 min, 1080p).

• Christopher Doyle - in this archival interview, Christopher Doyle discusses his involvement with Chungking Express, some of the locations where the film was shot, and Wong Kai Wai's cinematic style. The interview was filmed in 2002. In Cantonese and English, with optional English subtitles where necessary. (11 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Amy Taubin's essay "Electric Youth" and technical credits.

Chungking Express 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Whether you should consider acquiring the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack release of Chungking Express must be determined entirely by your satisfaction with the quality of the 4K restoration that was prepared for it. On the 4K Blu-ray, the native 4K presentation of it does not bring positive changes in areas that were affected by the regrading work Wong Kar Wai endorsed. Considering how several other films in this box set were redone in 4K, I think that the 4K restoration of Chungking Express is mostly good, but a great opportunity was definitely missed to deliver a definitive presentation of the film.