Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

The Man from Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 11, 2016

Brian Trenchard-Smith's "The Man From Hong Kong" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian label Umbrella Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; promotional materials; audio commentary by writer/director Brian Trenchard-Smith, actor Hugh Keays-Byrne (Morrie Grosse), and stunt coordinator Grant Page; and a lot more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The Man

The Man From Hong Kong has a slightly more exotic flavor but it follows the same blueprint that hundreds of Eurospy films used after the success of Dr. No and From Russia with Love. In the United States, it was distributed under the alternative title The Dragon Flies.

In the intense prologue an important Asian drug dealer (a very young Sammo Hung) is arrested away from his home turf and transferred to Sydney. Soon after, Inspector Fang Sing Leng (Jimmy Wang Yu) leaves Hong Kong to assist his Australian colleagues (Roger Ward and Hugh Keyes Byrnes) from the Federal Narcotics Bureau as they are eager to get to the dealer’s boss. Jack Wilton (George Lazenby), a prominent local businessman with plenty of powerful friends, emerges as a primary suspect, but the closer the agents try to get to him, the clear it becomes that despite the fact that they carry badges he won’t hesitate to take them down. Inspector Leng then decides that it is time to begin improvising as he often does when he goes after merciless triad bosses back in Hong Kong.

Less than twenty minutes into the film it becomes crystal clear that Brian Trenchard-Smith’s main goal was to pack as much action in it as possible. The characterizations, the evolution of the relationships between the main protagonists, and ultimately the journey (from Australia to Hong Kong and back) are largely irrelevant.

Because the film does not attempt to mask the fact that it has nothing else to offer but flashy action, there is a certain charm in the manner in which it goes overboard with it. It also helps that Inspector Leng is essentially a James Bond copycat but with much more impressive fighting skills. So the entire film looks very familiar and yet it has this quite refreshing exotic flavor that gives it a very special period atmosphere.

Reactions to the film, however, are almost certainly going to be mixed. There will be viewers who will declare it a success simply because it sticks out amongst all other similar films from the same era and has the right attitude to be considered a cult classic. But there will also be viewers who will quickly get bored by the excessive action and conclude that it is essentially an unapologetic exploitation project that ultimately ends up rehashes a lot of very familiar material.

Some of the most entertaining of the Eurospy films typically do a great job of promoting glamorous locations that the rich and famous loved to visit. Something similar happens here, though instead of turning its attention to glitzy resorts and architectural landmarks the film seeks to capture the raw beauty of less than popular and even forgotten but great locations in the Outback and Hong Kong.

The film was lensed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Russell Boyd (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Crocodile Dundee). Hung assisted him as martial arts choreographer for the bulk of the high-octane action footage.

The Man from Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Brian Trenchard-Smith's The Man From Hong Kong arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Australian label Umbrella Entertainment.

I assume that the release is sourced from the same remaster that was prepared a few years ago when the film was released on DVD in Australia. The remaster actually appears to be quite good. There are a few areas where time has left its mark, but generally speaking the footage looks healthy and overall rather nicely balanced (there are no distracting drops in terms of density and fluidity). The current presentation, however, could have been optimized so that the film looks as good as it can in high-definition. My guess is that because there is a substantial amount of supplemental features on the disc some encoding compromises were made and as a result depth and definition are not optimal. This isn't to imply that the end result is disappointing, but it is quite clear that the quality of the master is actually quite a bit better than what is on the Blu-ray. Still, depth and detail could be quite pleasing, and the range of primary colors and nuances is actually surprisingly good. Grain should be better exposed. There appear to be some small traces of filtering adjustments, but I want to mention again that with certain optimizations these would have hardly been noticeable even on larger screens. There are no traces of distracting sharpening adjustments. Finally, overall image stability is very good. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

The Man from Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with small portions of Cantonese). Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. They are no listed on the main menu, but you can access them with your remote control.

The audio track is very good. However, I wonder if there was an original two-channel track that could have been included. Regardless, depth is very good, balance is handled quite well, and there are no distracting age-related anomalies to report in our review. During the action sequences dynamic intensity is also good.

*I have been informed that there is also an English LPCM 1.0 track on this disc, but it cannot be accessed via the main menu. It can only be selected with a player's remote control.

The Man from Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this audio commentary features writer/director Brian Trenchard-Smith, actor Hugh Keays-Byrne (Morrie Grosse), and stunt coordinator Grant Page. The commentary is extremely informative and actually contains some very honest observations about the film's objectives and the end product that ended up in the theaters.

• The Making of The Man From Hong Kong - presented here is an archival featurette with with plenty of raw footage from the shooting of the film. (14 min).

• Uncut: Not Quite Hollywood Interviews - presented here is a collection of very long and informative interviews with dierctor Brian Trenchard-Smith, and actors George Lazenby (Jack Wilton), Rebecca Gilling (Angelica), and Roger Ward (Bob Taylor), executive producer David Hannay, and second unit cameraman John Seale. In English, not subtitled. (82 min).

• Newsreel Footage - a short archival promo piece with footage from the Australian premiere of The Man From Hong Kong. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Trailers from Hell: The Man From Hong Kong - this archival segment from Trailers from Hell features a small introduction to The Man From Hong Kong by dierctor Brian Trenchard-Smith. In English, not subtitled. (7 min).

• Theatrical Trailer - original theatrical trailer for The Man From Hong Kong. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Theatrical Trailer II - theatrical trailer for The Man From Hong Kong with an alternate edit. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• The Headman's Daughter Book Trailer - promo piece, with music. (2 min).

• Cover - reversible cover.

TRENCHARD-SMITH COLLECTION

• Death Cheaters (1976) - the film can be seen with an optional commentary by Brian Trenchard-Smith. In standard definition. In English, not subtitled. (96 min)

• Stunt Rock (1980) - the film can be seen with an optional commentary by Brian Trenchard-Smith. Also included is an original trailer., as well as an archival promo reel. In standard definition. In English, not subtitled. (96 min)

• Kung-Fu Killers (1974) - in standard definition. In English, not subtitled. (77 min)

• Dangerfreaks (1989) - also included is an original trailer for the film. In standard definition. In English, not subtitled. (95 min)

• The Stuntmen a.k.a. Dare Devils (1973) - in standard definition. In English, not subtitled. (51 min)

The Man from Hong Kong Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Brian Trenchard-Smith's The Man From Hong Kong is an entertaining James Bond copycat that delivers an overwhelming amount of high-octane action whose intensity rivals that of some of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan's most beloved films. Of course this should not be too surprising because one of the parties that funded it was the legendary Golden Harvest production company, which I think is fair to say is primarily responsible for the popularity of Hong Kong's biggest action stars and films in the West. Umbrella Entertainment's Blu-ray release is sourced from a good remaster of the film, but there is so much supplemental content on the disc that the quality of the main feature suffers a bit. I think that it would have been wiser to place some, or all, of the supplemental content on a separate disc. Nevertheless, this is a release that is very easy to recommend to anyone interested in Australian exploitation films. RECOMMENDED.