7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
Lau is a widowed police officer investigating a gang of gun runners. When a shootout with the criminals leaves a woman dead and her daughter the only surviving witness, Lau must protect the young girl from the ruthless gang that wants her dead.
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Cherie Chung, Roy Cheung, Paul Chun, Feng KuForeign | 100% |
Drama | 10% |
Crime | 10% |
Romance | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Cantonese: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Ringo Lam's "Wild Search" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng; exclusive new audio interview with voice-over artist Simon Broad; and archival interview with actor Roy Cheung. In Cantonese or English, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".
Detective Lau
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wild Search arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.
The release is sourced from an old and quite unconvincing master. Its biggest weakness is a very odd framing that routinely eliminates vital visual information. Usually, the missing information is in the upper part of the frame, but there are likely some other balance issues as well. You can see examples of improper framing in screencaptures #3, 24, 25, and 26. Delineation and depth are not too convincing either, with darker footage typically revealing most of the big fluctuations. Grain tends to be noisy and loose, so on a larger screen you will easily notice that density isn't optimal. Colors are stable, but saturation and balance can be improved. There are minor stability issues. I noticed shakiness and a few loose frame transitions. There are no distracting large debris, damage marks, cuts, warped or torn frames to report. (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).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit) and English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
I viewed the film with the original Cantonese track. Clarity and sharpness were very good. During the action footage dynamic intensity was quite nice as well, though I would not be surprised if eventually the audio is remastered and dynamic balance becomes slightly better. The dialog was very easy to follow and the English translation was excellent.
I much prefer the pure action films that Ringo Lam and Chow Yun-Fat made together because they have tremendous energy and look great. Wild Search has some quality material as well, but there is too much sentimentality in it for my taste. This recent release from Eureka Entertainment is sourced from an old and shaky master, so if you decide that you want to have it in your collection, find a way to rent and test it first.
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