Once a Thief 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Once a Thief 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 18, 2026

Arrow Video's UK branch continues to mine both the John Woo filmography as well as their licensing of Shout! Studios Region A releases. As has been the case with several previous releases of Woo films, Arrow is offering a standalone 4K UHD presentation of Once a Thief, whereas the Shout! counterpart was a combo pack with both 4K and 1080 discs. Per its occasional custom, Arrow is also releasing Once a Thief in 1080 as a standalone release, but only this 4K edition was sent for purposes of a review.

As mentioned above, Once a Thief had a combo 4K / 1080 release from Shout! Studios earlier this year, and Stephen Larson's Once a Thief 4K Blu-ray review is a good place to start for comparative purposes. Stephen's review contains its own link to a 1080 review of a 2010 Hong Kong release, and that review provides some plot information, for those interested. As I often mention, different reviewers means different opinions, and there are some slight variations both among the two previous reviews as well as this one as a result. This release ports over the supplements from the Shout! release and also has several supplements that according to Stephen's review were on an older DVD. Kind of interestingly, this also features two alternate audio tracks (info in the audio section, below).

Once a Thief 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray, so these screenshots are taken directly from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate. Stephen's review linked to above does contain a few screenshots from Shout!'s 1080 presentation that may offer a better accounting of the palette, for those interested. Since this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

Once a Thief is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information about the presentation:

Once a Thief / Chung hang sei hoi is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese and English mono audio. The film has been restored in 4K resolution and graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negative was sourced from the Hong Kong Film Archive and scanned in 4K by Interface Video Production Ltd in Hong Kong.

Some "fine print" credits accompany the above verbiage, along with the salient comment "Additional picture restoration by Arrow Films", which as often but not always been the case with these John Woo films in particular. As with other Woo outings that Arrow has "tweaked" after an initial Shout! Studios release, it's probably the color timing rather than any huge difference in detail levels that will be most immediately observable to fans. Once again the somewhat warm, slightly yellowish quality of the Shout! release has been considerably cooled here, and that coolness may be especially evident courtesy of HDR / Dolby Vision grades in some of the scenes swathed in either blue or purple. That said, some of the gorgeous tones on the warmer end of the spectrum also receive some burnished highlights, as in the second screenshot accompanying this review.

Once a Thief 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Some other international releases of the film have offered rejiggered surround sound options, but this edition of Once a Thief offers four mono audio options, Cantonese in either LPCM Mono or DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, and similarly English in either LPCM Mono or DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. Both of the DTS-HD Master Audio versions are labelled as "alternate" tracks, and both of them are considerably louder and less muffled in higher frequencies in particular, though I frankly did not watch the film four times all the way through and there may be other differences, though neither the back cover of this release nor the insert booklet detail any. One way or the other, there's the probably expected "loose sync" in all versions, with either post looping or dubbing offering various mismatches along the way, and there are occasional fluctuations in amplitude and fidelity. The slightly dampened sounding high end of the LPCM codecs may make the DTS-HD Master Audio option more preferable for some, but there are no major issues in terms of delivering dialogue, score or effects. Optional English subtitles are available.

Once a Thief 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: More information on the supplements is available in Stephen's review, linked to above.

• Commentary by James Mudge


• New Interviews

Handling a Heist (HD; 23:54) is a 2025 interview with John Woo.




Heists & Lows (HD; 7:56) is a 2025 interview with Terence Chang.




Thoughts About Thievery (HD; 21:25) is a 2025 interview with Clifton Ko. Subtitled in English.




Stealing Some Shots (HD; 27:11) is a 2025 interview with Poon Hang-Sang. Subtitled in English.




Art of the Steal (HD; 10:04) is a 2025 interview with David Wu.

• Archive Interviews

Up Close and Personal (HD; 33:57) is a 2006 interview with John Woo.




Brother in Arms (HD; 10:49) is a 2006 interview with Terence Chang.




Interview with Kenneth Tsang (HD; 7:01) is from 2005. Subtitled in English.

• Critical Appreciations

Hong Kong Confidential (HD; 8:15) features Grady Hendryx.




Once a Star, Always an Icon (HD; 17:09) features Frank Djeng.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:23)

Arrow's insert booklet contains an interesting essay by Priscilla Page. The keepcase sleeve is reversible and packaging also features a slipcover.

Once a Thief 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Once a Thief may not quite manage navigating a wildly variant tone as well as some other Woo outings, but it's still another (intermittent?) thrill ride with Woo's typically well executed action scenes and another fun lead performance from Chow Yun-Fat. This Arrow release cools down the color timing while also offering four audio options and all of the supplements from both Shout!'s own release and an older DVD. Recommended.