Police Story 1+2 Blu Ray Box Set – Review


POLICE STORY BLU RAY REVIEW

Fans of the Police Story films have had to wait a long time to get a True HD, English friendly release and now Eureka in the UK have released this special edition box set of Police Story 1 + 2 (sadly not Police Story 3 Supercop where a different company has the UK rights) with a ton of special features.

First Police Story. Made in 1985 this came after his success with Project A and a disastrous Hollywood movie called The Protector, Jackie Chan said after that bad experience he wanted to make a cop film his way and Police Story was the result.

Jackie plays Chan Ka-Kui an honest Hong Kong cop who is assigned to protect a Triad boss’s girlfriend-turned-informer but finds himself framed for the murder of a dirty cop and ends up going on the run and trying to prove his innocents. What sets the film apart from his earlier movie was the contemporary Hong Kong setting and the amazing stunts he and his stuntmen perform, especially in the amazing finale at a shopping mall.

police story 1 and 2 blu ray set

This Blu ray released by Eureka is from a new 4K master and is far superior to the upscaled version released in Hong Kong some time ago. It has rich colours with a decent grain structure. Blacks are solid, a little dark in places but overall this is fabulous transfer. Audio has a wide range of options. You have the original solid Cantonese mono, a 5.1 remix which does not work very well as well as the English dubbed track. Subtitles are clear and easy to follow.

You have 3 different versions of the film to choose from original Hong Kong cut (HD 100 mins), Japanese theatrical cut (HD 105 mins) and American cut called Police Force (SD 84 mins). The Japanese cut has extra footage mainly at the start of the film and the end with slightly different outtakes. As it was taken from the Theatrical print it also has forced Japanese subs on the side of the image. The Police Force version is cut down, English dubbed only and a different music score.

Extras are plentiful and a lot of them ported over from the old HK Legends DVD.

  • Interview with Jackie Chan (20 mins). Interesting interview in which he talks about the film, stunts and his moviemaking style.
  • “Jackie Chan Stunts” Promotional trailer. A collection of clips from some of his most famous stunt sequences.
  • A collection of trailers
  • A collector’s booklet with new essay and some rare pictures.

police story 2 blu ray review

Police Story 2 starts off where number one ended with Jackie’s character demoted to traffic cop after the shopping mall incident and still having an up and down relationship with his girlfriend played by Maggie Cheung. After battling the gangster from the last film who want revenge things turn even more serious with a ransom plot and bombers who will do whatever it takes to get their hands on some free money.

While the film is still great fun it has a more disjointed feel than the first but still has some great action especially the fights in the restaurant and children’s playground. The end is set in a fireworks factory, so cure lots of explosions and crazy stunts.

The New Blu ray is again taken from a new 4K remaster and looks good if a little soft in places. Colours are more subdued but every version of this film I have seen has always looked a little murky. Don’t get me wrong this is again the best it has ever looked and is a massive upgrade from any previous release.

jackie chan police story 2

The version released in HD is the longer cut of the film and it does tend to slow the pace down at times. Audio has again original Cantonese mono, and a Cantonese or English dubbed 5.1 remix.  Again there are three versions presented on this disc, The Longer Cut (HD 121 mins), The Hong Kong theatrical cut (SD 101 mins) and the UK Video version (SD 90 mins).

Again lots of great extra’s –

  • “Jackie Chan” – Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show (40 mins). Fantastic documentary hosted by Jonathan Ross on the career and stunts of Jackie Chan. This documentary is what got a lot of people into the great man to start with and is a very welcome extra.
  • Archival Interview with Benny Lai (15 mins). Interesting interview with the high kicking villain.
  • Different Outtakes and Trailers
  • Collectors booklet with new essay and rare pictures.

Overall a fantastic package that fans have been waiting a long time to see. Not perfect but the best you will see for some time to come.

BOX SET IS LOCKED TO REGION B

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