Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Police Story 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 9, 2022

Jackie Chan's "Police Story" (1985) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new audio commentary by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema; exclusive new audio commentary by critics Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto; export cut of the film; alternate and deleted scenes; vintage video interview with Jackie Chan; and more. In Cantonese or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

There is no denying that without Jackie Chan Hong Kong Cinema would have looked quite different. Similar to fellow actors Chow Yun-Fat and Jet Li, he enjoys a massive and very loyal fan base that has greatly influenced the manner in which films are produced and sold in Hong Kong. Unsurprisingly, during the years Chan also became an inspirational figure for a number of young actors and directors outside of his home country.

The first installment in his Police Story trilogy is arguably one of the actor's best films. It is about a young cop, Chan Ka-Kui (Chan), who has been ordered to protect an important witness, Selina (Bridget Lin), who the local authorities hope would testify against a powerful drug lord, Chu Tao (Yuen Chor). Ka-Kui does his best to keep the beautiful Selina out of harm's way -- even though she creates all sorts of problems for him -- which eventually leads to a serious dispute between him and his girlfriend, May (Maggie Cheung).

While trying to sort things out with May, Ka-Kui gets framed by Tao's men for the murder of a corrupt cop (Kam Hing Ying). In the meantime, Selina is kidnapped and all of the charges against Tao are dropped. Forced to hide from his former colleagues as well as Tao's men, Ka-Kui decides to take matters into his own hands -- he saves Selina and proceeds to destroy Tao and his gang.

I remember the first time I saw Police Story, I could not stop laughing. Someone had given me a German VHS tape with two Chan films on it, but they were both dubbed in German. I have no idea who the person dubbing Chan in Police Story was, but I remember quite well how inappropriate his voice was -- a raspy, deep baritone that would have been more suitable for a tall and strong German bodybuilder, not a short and extremely agile Chinese man. It was a total mismatch that made for a very unique viewing experience. Much later, after I had bought my first Region-Free DVD player, I imported Police Story from Hong Kong. I had already seen the film with its original audio intact, but this was the first time I saw it in its original aspect ratio.

I mention all of the above because Police Story is one of those films that reached all sorts of different people in all kinds of different versions. It was dubbed, cut, edited, and then sold by practically everyone, practically everywhere. Really, contrary to what is often claimed by Hong Kong Cinema pundits, this was the film that made Chan big outside of Asia.

Nowadays, Police Story certainly looks dated, but this further adds to its charm. Seeing Chan desperately trying to earn back the respect of his girlfriend -- played by the sweet and still innocent looking Cheung -- and then trying to defeat an army of, literally, unbreakable goons is still quite a show.

As Chan became more respected outside of Hong Kong, however, his films began looking more polished. The budgets got bigger and the scripts he had to work with became more complex. The sweet innocence and rawness that made Police Story so enjoyable disappeared.

Then Hollywood stepped in and things got even worse. The Rush Hour films did a good chunk of money for their producers, but those who followed closely Chan’s career during the years knew exactly why he came to Hollywood.

In 2009, Chan appeared in Yee Tung-Shing's much anticipated Shinjuku Incident, a violent and disturbingly graphic film about an illegal Chinese immigrant looking for his loved one on the streets of Tokyo. Despite positive reviews and some very unexpected free publicity, courtesy of the communist authorities in China who banned Shinjuku Incident, however, the film did little to revive Chan’s career.

Police Story 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and encoded with HEVC / H.265, Police Story arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

Please note that all of the screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and are downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

This release is sourced from the same 4K master that was used to produce this Blu-ray release in 2018. For the purpose of this article, I viewed the entire film with HDR.

If you have seen our previous reviews of Eureka Entertainment and Criterion's releases of Police Story, you already know that I don't like how the 4K master was graded. The native color temperature of the film is clearly altered -- virtually all visuals tend to be quite warm and display obvious balance issues that affect their dynamic range. It is true that in some areas of the film these balance issues are easier to tolerate, but they are always present. Now that I have seen the 4K makeover in native 4K, I dislike what was done even more. Here's why:

When viewed with HDR -- and for what it's worth, the HDR grade is actually quite restrained -- a lot of the visuals begin to look almost as if they are dimmed in some very unusual ways. For example, the big chase at the very beginning of the film is supposed to take place during a bright and sunny day, but as it is graded it looks like it takes place during a cloudy autumn afternoon. Furthermore, in darker indoor footage where 4K content usually reveals expanded ranges of nuances and superior shadow definition, here quite often it looks like the visuals can barely maintain proper depth. Why? Because their dynamic range is compromised. This is even noticeable during brighter indoor footage where select highlights suffer as well. In fact, the effect can be so pronounced that it can create the impression that the visuals are filtered (see a good example in screencapture #30). Of course, the newly introduced color temperature alters entire ranges of primaries and supporting nuances. For example, red and red nuances often lean toward brown. Some blacks move toward light gray as well, which of course is what creates the impression that select visuals are flattened by filtering adjustments. Needless to say, all of this is quite unfortunate because the density levels and overall health of the visuals are outstanding. (Note: This is a Region-Free 4K Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Police Story 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Police Story can be viewed in native 4K with three standard audio tracks: Cantonese: LPCM Mono, Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and English: LPCM Mono. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

These audio tracks were included on the previous Blu-ray release of Police Story as well, so I don't have any new comments to add. However, I would say that I spent quite a bit of time with the English audio track. It has some pretty entertaining lines, so if you enjoy classic Hong Kong dubbing I would recommend experimenting with it as well. In some areas this track is quite colorful.

Police Story 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Police Force: Export Cut - presented here is the alternate "Police Force" export cut of Police Story. It can be viewed with English LPCM 1.0 and Cantonese LPCM 1.0 tracks. English subtitles are provided for the Cantonese track. 1080p. (88 min).

• Commentary One - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto. The commentators recall their first viewings of Police Story and share plenty of information about the shooting of the film at specific locations in Hong Kong, how some of these locations have changed, Jackie Chan's action choreography, the promotional campaign and reception of the film, etc.

• Commentary Two - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. If you have encountered any of the commentaries these gentlemen have recorded -- and there are plenty of them -- you should know what to expect from their comments here as well. They have many interesting comments about the exact period in which Police Story arrived in cinemas and how it altered Jackie Chan's career, the general attitudes toward the film, the drama and humor that are at the center of its story, and of course the various locations where it was shot. I think that it is a light and very entertaining commentary that instantly reveals what big fans of Police Story the commentators are.

• Alternate and Extended Scenes - with optional English subtitles where necessary. (14 min)
  
  1. Extended Opening
  2. Extended Press Conference Intro
  3. Extended Ending
  4. Shot Extensions

• Jackie Chan Stunts Promo - a vintage collection of very dangerous stunts featuring Jackie Chan. With music. (5 min).

• Interview with Jackie Chan - in this vintage video interview, Jackie Chan discusses his approach to action choreography and the different and often quite dangerous stunt work that he did during the production of Police Story. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

• Original Theatrical Trailer - vintage trailer for Police Story. With music. (3 min).

• Original Export Trailer - vintage export trailer for Police Story. With music. (3 min).

• 4K Restoration Trailer - original trailer for the 4K restoration of Police Story. With music. (4 min).

• Book - 100-page perfect bound collector's book featuring essays by James Oliver on each film, as well as archival materials, imagery, and ephemera.

• Cover - reversible sleeve artwork by R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien.

• Case - limited edition hardcase featuring new artwork by R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien.

Police Story 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If the current restored 4K master remains the final makeover of Police Story, it will have to be considered a very unfortunate compromise. Police Story can look absolutely magnificent in native 4K because the bulk of the lab work was done right. I refer to the scanning work, the cleanup and repair work, and of course the transfer of the restored files. But the 4K master isn't graded right, and now that it is possible to see the entire makeover in native 4K, it is painfully obvious that it is so. If the new color temperature of this 4K master does not bother you, then perhaps you should consider upgrading your Blu-ray release, but the original theatrical appearance of Police Story was different. The 4K Blu-ray release is included in this three-disc set, which will be out in a couple of weeks.