In the Line of Duty IV Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		2.5

In the Line of Duty IV Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 20, 2023

Yuen Woo-Ping's "In the Line of Duty IV" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary recorded by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema; archival audio commentary recorded by actor Michael Wong and Stefan Hammond; vintage interviews; and more. In Cantonese and English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

In Seattle, Chinese immigrant Luk (Yuen Yat-Choh) witnesses the execution of an undercover cop by corrupt CIA agents selling drugs to some very shady international characters. Luk is promptly apprehended by officer Michael Wong (Michael Wong) who demands that he surrenders crucial evidence -- a camera cartridge that he loses while trying to get away -- that identifies the corrupt CIA agents and their partners. While the interrogation is underway, Lady Luck gives Luk a chance to escape and a few days later he arrives in his native Hong Kong.

The victim’s colleagues, detectives Penny (Cynthia Khan) and Donny (Donnie Yen), begin tracking down Luk assuming that he is the killer, and shortly after land in Hong Kong determined to apprehend him again. However, while monitoring and directing their progress, their captain, a CIA operative, accidentally reveals the real reason Luk is wanted and, in the process, resets a range of different relationships in Hong Kong and America.

Directed by Yuen Woo-Ping in 1989, the fourth In the Line of Duty film is without a shadow of a doubt the most commercial entry in the franchise. It is the weakest one, too.

The successful concept -- teaming up cops with different styles from different environments and forcing them to solve a seemingly important case -- that each of the previous films used remains unchanged. However, this film manages its characters with such notable difficulty that all it has to offer to impress are different doses of carefully choreographed action. Isn’t this enough given the franchise’s focus on the action? No. This time the characters are so bland and repeatedly so obviously mismanaged that very large parts of the film begin to look amateurish.

The other major flaw is the emergence of indisputable evidence that Khan was not capable of leading as Michelle Yeoh did in the first two films. In the third film, Stuart Ong and Michiko Nishiwaki’s presence is so overpowering that Khan is often placed in their shadow, and when she is not, a predictably solid Hiroshi Fujioka provides valuable support. But in this film, Khan is expected to lead and the actors around her do not provide the same cover, which is how the indisputable evidence that she cannot match Yeoh’s work is revealed.

Most of the action footage looks quite good. Yen’s intensity, for instance, is on par with that of his later work in much bigger films that solidified his international reputation. Yat-Choh gives a fine performance while easily matching Yen’s intensity as well. However, it must be underscored that all of the actors that contribute to the action footage have styles that seem to be pulling the film in opposite directions at the same time. For example, Yen’s intensity is at odds with Yat-Choh’s lightness, while Wong behaves as if he is contributing to a legit conspiracy thriller. So, the film is not only a mish-mash of wild, utterly unbelievable conspiracies, intrigues, and shadowy affairs, but it gathers several incompatible characters with contrasting working methods and basic understandings of their roles in them.

Rather predictably, the editing is again very shaky, frequently even problematic. As was the case with the previous film, there are many abrupt cuts that effectively solidify the impression that the story was finalized to accommodate the action, and then transitional material was shot to fill gaps. This particular blueprint is not problematic because it was used by many directors that shot action films in Hong Kong during the same period, but the final product that emerged from it is.

*Eureka Entertainment's release presents two versions of In the Line of Duty IV: original Hong Kong theatrical version and export version. Both versions are approximately 96 minutes long. The export version is only a few seconds longer. The two versions have been restored in 2K.

In the Line of Duty IV Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, In the Line of Duty IV arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release presents two versions of the film: original Hong Kong theatrical version and export version. Both versions are approximately 96 minutes long. The export version is only a few seconds longer. The two versions have been restored in 2K. I viewed the original Hong Kong version and quickly sampled the export version.

My take on the 2K makeover of this film is very, very similar to my take on the new 2K makeover of In the Line of Duty III. However, I must immediately clarify that these films look very different. While not immaculate, the visuals look healthy, and on a large screen, many boast very fine delineation, clarity, and depth. Darker areas tend to reveal nice ranges of nuances as well, though there is a bit of room for improvement. I did not spot any traces of problematic tampering, so grain exposure and density levels looked quite nice on my system. Most unfortunately, this new 2K makeover is oddly graded and gives the film a very strange, inconsistent appearance. Why exactly? It is pretty easy to tell that the party that did the grading mismanaged several primaries, but blues and greens in particular. As a result, often times there are notable spikes of contemporary turquoise and anemic greens that produce visuals with very unnatural color temperature. For example, virtually all of the footage from Seattle has an odd greenish hue that makes destabilizes sunlight and produces flat visuals. How do we know that this is not a stylistic choice? We know because the dynamic range of many of these visuals is not right for 35mm film. See screencapture #2. The green hue also tones down or eliminates fine nuances in the sky, plus it makes red(s) appear unnaturally faded. After the film moves to Hong Kong, some episodes reveal a slightly better color balance, but it is still easy to tell that their original appearance was different. Again, the most compromised primaries appear to be blue and red, but there are weak ranges of yellow and white as well. Image stability is very good. I did not encounter any distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, warped or torn frames to report in our review. My score is 3.25/5.00. (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).

In the Line of Duty IV Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks for the Hong Kong version of the film: Cantonese LPCM 2.0 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Cantonese track. The export version of the film can be seen with an English LPCM 2.0. track.

I started viewing the Hong Kong version with the Cantonese track, switched to the English track, and eventually switched back to the former. Both tracks feature overdubbing, which is why they reveal noticeable unevenness and thinning. However, the English track is very clearly the weaker one. In what way? Its depth and range of dynamics are simply very, very modest. The Cantonese track is more potent, but I would not say that the dubbing that is present on it is as nicely done as it could have been. To be honest, in many places the audio sounds quite dated. But this is how it was finalized, so this is the quality the lossless track replicates. The English translation is good.

In the Line of Duty IV Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Hong Kong Trailer - presented here is an original Hong Kong theatrical trailer for In the Line of Duty IV. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (5 min).

• UK Trailer - presented here is an original UK trailer for In the Line of Duty IV. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Line of Duty "Franchise" Trailer - in English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Donnie Yen Interview - in this archival program, Donnie Yen explains why Hong Kong action films are different and discusses his involvement with In the Line of Duty IV. There are comments about his work in other popular action films as well. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Donnie Yen: Style of Action - in this archival program, Donnie Yen discusses his working methods and action style. In Cantonese, with English subtitles. (15 min).

• Commentary One - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. If you have listened to any of the commentaries these gentlemen have recorded for recent releases of popular and cult Hong Kong films, you should not what to expect from this commentary. There is plenty of interesting information about the conception of In the Line of Duty IV and the franchise it is a part of, Donnie Yen's image and work in Hong Kong at the same time and later, the evolution of the action genre, etc. I enjoy these commentaries a lot because they are quite broad and recorded by people that are clearly very passionate about action films.

• Commentary Two - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Frank Djeng. The bulk of the information addresses the production history of In the Line of Duty IV, the casting choices that were made, the locations where the film was shot, and its unique qualities.

• Commentary Three - this archival audio commentary was recorded by actor Michael Wong and Stefan Hammond. In this commentary, you will hear many interesting comments about the action choreography and Mr. Wong's interactions with various cast members before and behind the camera.

• Cover - a reversible cover with vintage poster art for In the Line of Duty IV.

• Booklet - a limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by critic James Oliver, extracts from A Different Brilliance – The D & B Story, and technical credits.

In the Line of Duty IV Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It is in this film that it becomes very obvious that Cynthia Khan was a compromise rather than a legit substitute for Michelle Yeoh. However, this is not a crucial flaw. In the Line of Duty IV is not a good film for a myriad of different reasons and the majority of them have something to do with the direction, though admittedly most of its action footage is still quite entertaining. Eureka Entertainment's release introduces a brand new 2K makeover of In the Line of Duty IV that is unconvincing. Why? Because it is graded awkwardly and alters the film's native appearance.