Police Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Police Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 12, 2018

Jackie Chan's "Police Story" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; alternate and deleted scenes; vintage video interview with Jackie Chan; the longer Japanese cut of the film; and more. The release also arrives with a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film and rare archival material. In Cantonese or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The interloper

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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jackie Chan's Police Story arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

This release is sourced from a new 4K remaster of the film, and is included in this two-disc box set. Because there is such a dramatic gap in quality between the original Hong Kong release, which was sourced from a very old standard definition remaster, and this new release, I will not focus on direct comparisons. Instead, below I will highlight the pros and cons of the new presentation.

The Good: The density levels of the new 4K remaster are outstanding. I think that this is very important to underscore because as bigger TVs and projectors become more affordable, more people will notice that density is a key quality. Fluidity is dramatically better as well, though any proper high-definition master would have excelled in this area. Image stability is fantastic, which means that all of the annoying flicker from the old release has been completely eliminated. There are no traces of compromising degraining corrections. Also, there are no traces of sharpening adjustments. So, the basic qualities of the new remaster are all very solid and as a result the old release is now irrelevant.

The Not So Good: I don't know where the film was graded, but some of the issues that I noticed while viewing it are of the kind that I have seen introduced by European labs. For example, virtually all skin tones have a stronger than usual darker brownish hue. Blacks appear slightly elevated and remain such throughout the entire film as well. As a result, quite often there is noticeable black crush, and even during daylight footage with plenty of natural light there are nuances that are clearly lost (see examples in screencapture #3, 11). Also, there are subtle but noticeable shifts in the film's dynamic range, which I am fairly certain were introduced during the grading process, and they produce light flatness that is not part of the original cinematography (see examples in screencapture #17, 27, 28, 29, 30). So, I feel that the overall color balance is slightly warmer than it needs to be, and then the entire film looks marginally but noticeably darker than it should be.

To sum it all up, a more careful color grading would have produced quite a stunner as the basic qualities of the remaster are excellent. (I actually feel that for the most part the color temperature of the Japanese version that is included on this release is vastly superior, so using it as a blueprint would have gotten the job done). On the other hand, considering the alternative, it is very obvious that currently this is without a doubt the best overall presentation of the film on the marketplace. (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).

Police Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are four standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese: LPCM Mono, Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and English: LPCM Mono (U.S. alternate track). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I viewed the entire film with the original Cantonese Mono track, which has been fully remastered. It is quite the revelation because both stability and dynamic balance are outstanding. Indeed, there is a lot of action footage in the film and where previous remixed tracks used to alter dynamic intensity in very odd ways now there is proper stability that is very refreshing to hear. Furthermore, the music is very sharp and clear, and again nicely balanced. There are absolutely no traces of age-related imperfections in any register.

Police Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Japanese Cut - presented here is an extended cut of Police Story which appeared on LD in Japan. This cut of the film was transferred in high-definition from a film print in 2012. In Cantonese, with optional English subtitles and printed Japanese subtitles. (106 min).

• Police Force: U.S. Video Version - presented here is a version of Police Story which was created specifically for the U.S. home video market with an entirely different dub track and a new electronic score. Presented in standard definition. (88 min).

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

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

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

• Alternate and Extended Scenes - with optional English subtitles where necessary.
  
  1. Extended Opening (7 min).
  2. Press Conference Introduction (1 min).
  3. Extended Ending (4 min).
  4. Deleted Shots (3 min).
  5. Ending Outtakes (3 min).

• Booklet - a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film and rare archival material.

Police Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The new 4K remaster that was created for Police Story is obviously dramatically better than the old standard definition remaster that Kam & Ronson Enterprises used nearly ten years ago for the first Blu-ray release of the film. I am not at all surprised that this is the case. However, I would have preferred to see it retain the color temperature of the longer Japanese version that is included as a bonus. While there are obvious source limitations on the Japanese remaster, including some color stability issues, I feel that for the most part it has the better primary values that older fans of the film remember. Either way, considering the alternative, it is very obvious that currently this is without a doubt the best overall presentation of the film on the marketplace. RECOMMENDED.