6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The infamous Eddie Chan, member of Hong Kong's Crime Squad, is assigned to protect a millionaire real estate developer threatened with kidnapping by a powerful triad of groups.
Starring: Jackie Chan, Kent Cheng, Kar-Ying Law, Christine Ng, Ken LoForeign | 100% |
Action | 30% |
Crime | 17% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Cantonese: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Kirk Wong's "Crime Story" (1993) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British label 88 Films. The supplemental features on the disc include new interviews with assistant director P'ng Kialek and actor/producer and Hong Kong cinema expert Mike Leeder; vintage interviews with director Kirk Wong and crew members; rare scenes from the Singapore version of the film; and more. The release also arrives with a 40-page booklet featuring rare production stills and promotional materials for film. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
The cop
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Crime Story arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.
The release is sourced from a brand new 2K remaster, which probably comes from the same people that produced the 2K remaster of City Hunter. It is very, very nice.
Direct comparisons between Shout Factory's release and this new release are meaningless because the former was sourced from a standard definition master. Quite predictably, all of the key areas of the new presentation of the film are vastly superior. In fact, I am going to mention first the two areas where I think there is still a tiny bit of room for improvement. Density levels can be slightly better, but this would be a cosmetic improvement at best because even when projected the current presentation looks very solid. Then a few of the darker areas have some small nuances that ideally should be exposed better if the black levels are managed better -- and I think that a proper 4K remaster will deliver exactly this particular improvement -- but once again the current presentation is very convincing. The rest looks great. Colors are stable, healthy, and promoting the type of filmic nuances that should always be part of strong organic remasters. There are no traces of compromising digital adjustments, which means that grain is nicely exposed and and resolved. Image stability is excellent. Well done. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There are four standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese: LPCM 2.0 (Mono), English: LPCM 2.0 (Mono),
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English (for the Cantonese tracks) and English SDH (for the English tracks) subtitles are provided.
I viewed the film with the original Cantonese Mono track because the previous release from Shout Factory that we reviewed did not have a lossless Mono track. I thought that it was excellent. The shootout in the beginning around the 00:04:00 mark actually highlights all of its strengths, so if you test it you will know exactly what to expect from it throughout the rest of the film. Balance, in particular, is very good, so you don't have to worry about abrupt spikes in dynamic activity. The English translation is excellent.
When Eureka Entertainment released City Hunter on Blu-ray I wrote that in an ideal world the people that restored it in 2K should have been in charge with the high-definition makeovers of all early Jackie Chan films. This new 2K restoration of Crime Story confirms what just about all Jackie Chan fans already know, which is that L'immagine Ritrovata should have never been tasked to 'restore' Police Story & Police Story 2. (King Hu's big films also should not have been sent there). My point is this: Every single 2K restoration of a Jackie Chan film that I have seen to date has been vastly superior to the 4K 'restorations' that L'immagine Ritrovata produced for the Police Story films. An argument can be made that some of the restored in 2K films could look slightly better -- though I believe that City Hunter looks so impressive that the bar is way too high already -- but I think that the folks that did the work on them know exactly what they are doing and are basically giving them back the native theatrical qualities that they always had as best as they can. This is all that their fans wanted to get on Blu-ray. If you have been waiting for a high-quality release of Crime Story to emerge, place your order now. 88 Films' new release is it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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