Peking Opera Blues Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Peking Opera Blues Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 4, 2026

Much as with the recently reviewed City on Fire 4K and City on Fire, Arrow is offering separate standalone 4K and 1080 editions in Region B of a film that was offered in a combo 4K /1080 package by Shout! Factory (and/or Studios, as the case may be) in Region A. These new releases from Arrow also mimic the City on Fire releases by porting over the supplements from the Shout! release while also adding some "new" archival material into the bonus item category.

As mentioned above, Peking Opera Blues had a previous combo 4K / 1080 release from Shout! Factory. Stephen Larson's Peking Opera Blues 4K Blu-ray review provides plot information, a list of supplements (with longer descriptions that won't be repeated here), and Stephen's reaction to the technical presentation. I'm evidently a more ardent fan of this film than Stephen, and my overall score reflects that opinion. I'll also simply mention in passing that fans of this film may want to check out the impending 4K / 1080 release of Shanghai Blues 4K by Film Movement in Region A.

Peking Opera Blues Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Peking Opera Blues is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the presentation (as per their relatively recent standard operating procedure, Arrow provides the same insert booklet for both its standalone 4K and 1080 releases, hence some irrelevant data vis a vis things like HDR):

Peking Opera Blues (Dao maa daan) is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 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 was scanned in 4K by Interface Video Production Ltd. in Hong Kong.

It may be salient to also note that both the 4K and 1080 presentations Arrow offers come with the Shout! Studios masthead, and as such much of what Stephen offers in his review of Shout!'s own release pertains to this presentation as well. As was mentioned in both Stephen's and my reviews for City on Fire, variances in grain are noticeable in both the 1080 and 4K presentations of this film as well, I found grain resolution here to be generally tighter and more consistent looking than in City of Fire, but I'd certainly echo some of Stephen's comments about spikes at various moments. You can see how widely variant things can look by comparing screenshots in this review, my 4K review (which offers screenshots off the standalone 1080 disc) and Stephen's own review. Detail levels on things like textures on costumes are typically excellent throughout. The palette pops really beautifully here, but it's probably unsurprising that the standalone 4K's HDR and Dolby Vision grades add sometimes significant luster to the proceedings. Stephen mentioned primaries in his review, but I'd call attention to some of the really luscious pastel hues, especially in some of the background sets which can feature really evocative purples and pinks. That said, reds and blues pop really well throughout.

Peking Opera Blues Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Peking Opera Blues features LPCM Mono tracks in either Cantonese or English. As with the recently reviewed City on Fire, the Cantonese track is marginally louder and more full bodied, though there can still be some slight thinness in the upper registers that is especially noticeable in some of the fun scoring choices or momentary sound effects like crashing cymbals. Both tracks deliver dialogue, scoring and effects without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Peking Opera Blues Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: As mentioned above, Stephen provides longer descriptions of the ported over supplements in his review of Shout! Factory's Region A release, linked to above.

• Commentary by James Mudge


• Archive Interviews

Interview with James Wong (HD; 8:14) is from 2005 and features the composer. Subtitled in English.




Interview with Sally Yeh (HD; 7:47) is a 2005 piece with the actress. Subtitled in English.

• New Interviews

An Opus for Peking: Starring in a Tsui Hark Classic (HD; 21:59) is an interview with actor Mark Cheng. Subtitled in English.




An Operatic Achievement (HD; 11:12) is an interview with cinematographer Ray Wong.




Hong Kong Confidential: Inside Peking Opera Blues (HD; 14:23) is an appreciation by Grady Hendrix.




Peking Provocations (HD; 25:03) is an appreciation by David West.




Peking History Blues (HD; 23:43) features historian Dr. Lars Laamann discussing the historical context in which the film is set.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:06)


• Image Gallery (HD)

This Limited Edition features a reversible sleeve and an illustrated collectors' booklet with two interesting essays by Camille Zaurin and Jamie Zhao. Packaging features a slipcover.

Peking Opera Blues Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Revisiting a number of Tsui Hark films for review purposes lately has really been a reminder to me of how wonderfully genre bashing Tsui has been in his long and notable career, and one of the kind of maybe slightly hilarious things in that regard is how many genres he manages to bash in this one film alone. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Highly recommended.