It is hard to imagine that in the UK, Police Story 3 Supercop was only ever released onto VHS, it was never released for whatever reason on DVD or Blu-ray. Now Eureka has released this special edition Blu-ray taken from a new 4K remaster with great extras.
In Police Story 3, Chan Ka-Kui is now a regular cop who is called upon to infiltrate a dangerous and deadly gang in mainland China who are smuggling drugs through Hong Kong. To help him go undercover he is joined by Inspector Yang Chien-Hua (Michelle Yeoh) as they get more involved to stop the gang the stakes get more and more dangerous.
With a big budget and handing the director’s duties over to Stanley Tong here, we get a film which is all about the stunts as much as the fight action and the two leads have great chemistry together. Michelle Yeoh almost steals the show and gets to show her stuff in numerous scenes and stunts. What helps also is that this was one of the first Hong Kong action films to be shot in synch sound which gives it a sense of realism and class. The story does slow down at times but every action scene builds up nicely from the gun battle at the drug dealer’s jungle headquarters through to the amazing climax set in Malaysia, with the car, train and helicopter chases.
The new 4K remastered Blu-ray from Eureka looks stunning with great depth and clarity. The colours look balanced and overall this is a top-notch transfer. There are four standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese: LPCM Mono, Cantonese: LPCM 2.0 and English: LPCM Mono. All are fine and clear.
Extras a plentiful and are –
- Limited Edition slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [3000 copies]
- Reversible sleeve artwork featuring new and original poster artwork
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut [96 mins] from a brand new 4K restoration of the original film elements
- Limited Edition set of lobby cards [3000 copies]
- 1080p HD presentation of the alternate US version [91 mins]
- Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Original Cantonese mono audio, as well as an optional alternate Cantonese audio track featuring original, unaltered, sound effects
- Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Brand new Cantonese Dolby Atmos Surround Sound Audio
- Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Classic English dub track
- Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Brand new audio commentary with Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and F.J. DeSanto
- Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Brand new audio commentary with action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
- US Version – “American English” dub track, which does include Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh voicing their own characters
- US Version – Original Cantonese audio
- Newly translated English subtitles
- Brand new interview with Stunt Coordinator and Action Film Historian John Kreng
- A new featurette on rarely seen Jackie Chan video games, Kung Fu Master & Fists of Fire by Arne Venema
- A new featurette on the filming locations of the Police Story trilogy
- Archival interview with Jackie Chan (20 mins)
- Archival interview with Michelle Yeoh (23 mins)
- Three archival interviews with director Stanley Tong (Combined runtime approx 65 mins), including a half-hour interview from the 2005 Cannes Film Festival courtesy of the Frédéric Ambroisine Video Archive
- Archival interview with Jackie Chan’s long-time bodyguard and co-star Ken Lo (21 mins)
- Outtakes (50 mins) – a huge selection of NG (“No Good”) shots from the film
- Trailers
- A Limited Edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver, as well as archival materials, imagery, and ephemera [3000 copies]
A 5 Star release of a Hong Kong action classic that amazingly is now 30 years old but still holds up as a truly terrific action film only Jackie Chan and his team could do. The film is also available in 4K UHD in a special Police Story Trilogy Box Set. The film is also getting a Blu-Ray / UHD USA release from 88 Films.
FILM – 9 PICTURE – 10 AUDIO – 8 EXTRAS – 10
