Thunderbolt 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Thunderbolt 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 25, 2026

Note: This film is available in 4K UHD as part of Arrow Videos's Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits! 4K collection.

Arrow's set of Jackie Chan movies spans the years 1994 to 1998, when Chan seemed to burst (in more than one way) out of virtually nowhere, at least to non-Asian audiences, to become a global superstar, an achievement that perhaps was officially accomplished per some verbiage on the slipcover of this release when Rush Hour (not included in this collection) became such an international sensation. Most of the films in this set have had prior 1080 releases (links to reviews will be provided in the appropriate reviews of the 4K editions), evidence in and of itself of how enduringly popular this particular era of Chan outings has been. Arrow's set includes a number of alternate cuts (some of the films in this set have so many alternate cuts the different versions are spread across two discs) and new 4K restorations culled from original negatives, along with their typically bountiful supply of on disc supplements. The set comes with Arrow's also typically handsome packaging which in this case includes a much heftier than average collector's booklet and a veritable host of non disc swag.

While he has frequently seemed invincible, Jackie Chan is evidently a mere mortal like the rest of us, and Thunderbolt was made when Chan was recovering from some reportedly fairly serious injuries, resulting in occasional pretty obvious uses of body doubles for various stunts in this outing. That said, even without Chan personally participating in some of those sequences, the film is problematic on some more foundational issues, including a completely ridiculous plot that finds Chan as mechanic and occasional vigilante Chan Foh To, who runs afoul of a nasty street racer with an illegal car. That villain sports the somewhat hilarious name Warner "Cougar" Krugman (Thorsten Nickel), and while Chan initially seems to have delivered "Cougar" to the long arm of the law, like the wily animal he's named for, the bad guy escapes and promptly takes Chan's sisters hostage.

That in and of itself might have been a decent enough premise for a typically goofy Chan comedy, but Thunderbolt is instead designed to be a (pun incoming) high octane thriller, and it attempts to get there by having Chan compete against "Cougar" in a race to achieve his sisters' freedom. Now, wouldn't a little thing like the regular police or Interpol have been a more logical route to go to secure kidnapped siblings' release? The whole thing is decidedly outlandish, but under the direction of Gordon Chan and the fight choreography of Sammo Hung, there are a couple of really well staged vignettes, including an early skirmish in Chan's auto repair shop and a later even more gonzo one in a Japanese Pachinko parlor.

Thunderbolt 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. Since this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

Thunderbolt is presented in 4K UHD with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's War and Peace size insert booklet (that's a joke, but maybe not by much) lumps all of the films in this set together on two pages offering the following information about the presentations:

Drunken Master II, Rumble in the Bronx, Thunderbolt, Police Story 4: First Strike, Mr. Nice Guy and Who Am I? have been exclusively restored for this collection by Arrow Films. The original feature film camera negative elements have been used as the primary source materials for this work, but extensive research was also undertaken to locate and identify additional materials to restore original logos, credits, cut scenes and reconstruct alternate release versions. The films are presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The Hong Kong Cut of Drunken Master II is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese mono (both the original theatrical mix and an alternate home video mix), Mandarin mono and English (export dub) mono audio. The International Cut is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with English (export dub) mono audio. The US Cut, re-titled The Legend of Drunken Master is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with English 5.1 audio.

The Hong Kong Cut of Rumble in the Bronx is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo and English mono audio. The International Cut version is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 English audio, and the burnt-in subtitles are presented as per the original theatrical release.

Thunderbolt is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo, English (export dub) stereo and English (New Line dub) 5.1 audio. The Japanese Cut is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo audio.

Police Story 4: First Strike is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo and Mandarin stereo audio. The International Cut, re-titled Jackie Chan's First Strike, is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 English audio.

All three versions of Mr. Nice Guy (Japanese, Hong Kong and International) are presented in their original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 English audio.

Both versions of Who Am I? (Hong Kong and International) are presented in their original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with English stereo and 5.1 audio. For the Hong Kong Cut, alternate English 5.1 audio with Cantonese-dubbed sections is also included.

The original 35mm camera negatives and additional film elements were scanned at 4K/16 bit resolution at Warner Bros / Motion Picture Imaging.

The films were restored in 4K resolution and color-graded at Duplitech.

Audio restoration was completed by Þorsteinn Gíslason.

All materials sourced for this new master were made available by Warner Bros.

As one of the films in this set which doesn't appear to have had a prior Region A release in 1080, there's obviously no baseline to compare this to, but this is another great looking presentation one way or the other. Clarity is typically exceptional throughout, although there's a clearly visible but tightly resolved grain structure throughout. Fine detail is also very expressive in scenes the ultimately horrifying vignette out on the race flats, where things like sand or even dust are very well articulated. What really caught my eye over and over again, though, was the variety of tones in reds in particular. Some of the opening assembly footage during the credits and then later in the scenes that officially introduce Chan can have a slightly orange tint, but things like red sports car(s) are incredibly vivid in what I'd almost call fire engine red. A nighttime racing scene may not have an abundance of shadow detail, at least in the backgrounds, but there is still a really appealingly observable gradation of blacks and grays. A lot of the latter part of the film plays out in either outdoor daytime or brightly lit environments, which helps to elevate both palette and detail levels.

Thunderbolt 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Thunderbolt features two LPCM 2.0 tracks, one in Cantonese and English, and another Export dub in English. The New Line dub is presented in English in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and may be the preferable track for many who prefer the surround activity it offers. There's definitely still a front heavy tendency in the 5.1 track, but the racing scenes can at least intermittently offer engagement of the side and rear channels. It's probably in the more forceful low end and actual LFE bursts that the 5.1 track makes itself best known. The stereo English dub sounds just a bit brighter on the high end and may be marginally louder. Dialogue is rendered cleanly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Thunderbolt 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Frank Djeng & FJ DeSanto


• Play Japanese Cut (HD; 1:37:06) is a shortened version with some differences in the Cantonese audio (in Dolby Digital 2.0).


• Breakout! Part 3: Thunderbolt (HD; 12:21) offers more discussion from Mars, David West, James Mudge and Paul Clay.


• A Thunderous Presence (HD; 8:32) is a 2025 interview with dubbing supervisor Paul Clay.


• Textless Outtakes (HD; 4:01)


• Alternate Export Credits (HD; 5:30)


• International Trailer (HD; 1:30)


• Japanese Jackie Trailers

Drunken Master II (HD; 1:51)




Rumble in the Bronx (HD; 1:28)




Thunderbolt (HD; 1:26)




Police Story 4: First Strike (HD; 2:04)




Mr> Nice Guy (HD; 1:49)




Who Am I? (HD; 2:13)

• Image Gallery (UHD)

Thunderbolt 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Thunderbolt is kind of undeniably goofy, and it's probably second tier Chan, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have some spectacular action scenes and in this case some fun racing footage. Technical merits are first rate and fans should enjoy having the slightly altered Japanese cut in 1080 as one of some appealing supplements. With caveats noted, Recommended.