Eureka: The Police Story Trilogy

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Sadly, the Cantonese mono track on Police Story 1 is NOT the original but the weird Media Asia re-mix that was used on the HKL DVD. Music constantly drowns out sound effects and dialogue, and some of the sound effects are not genuine. This is clarified by comparing this with the bona fide English dub and the Japanese print as an extra.

This bugs me more than any discrepancies in color grading does. It seemed to be a big thing for a while to remix mono Hong Kong films in sloppy 5.1 with new sound effects. I remember watching Yes, Madam and all the gunshots were digitally clear and sharp while all the dialogue sounded like quickly dubbed audio from the era. Eureka has been so good about their previous Hong Kong releases, but why did it have to be the one I was looking most forward to?

[tenia]

A blu-ray.com member, who has seemingly been quite strongly supporting Eureka for their Fortune Star releases, has stated on blu-ray.com's release topic that he tracked a usable original mono track and supplied it to Eureka for an upcoming replacement program. However, I don't think Eureka has communicated yet about the program itself, so I would wait an official announcement about that.

However, it re-assures me about the lengths Eureka is willing to go to get this right (because replacements for this kind of reasons are extremely rare) and in keeping my pre-order, but also makes it all the more frustrating that they were contractually prevented to alter the 4K masters and correct the color scheme, yet have to dig out themselves the original mono track because Fortune Star were incompetent on this matter.

[Apperson]

That blu-ray.com member is responsible for supplying basically all the alternate presentations for both films as well as the original mono for PS2 (which you'll notice no one has been complaining about), apparently he's credited in the booklet as his screen name but I haven't had time to look.

[DeprongMori]

I wish they had sorted out the issues before starting mass shipments. I just received notice that my order was shipped from Amazon UK. Sigh.

Just hoping they are more meticulous before shipping on their “Project A” release, which I am looking forward to far more than the “Police Story” release.

[tenia]

The blu-ray.com member stated they might have overlooked the PS1 mono track status because the Iron Monkey one was okay. It clearly will serve as a lesson that every element for each movie needs to be double checked, and it certainly looks like they will do so.

[J Wilson]

From Eureka's Facebook page:

Eureka has been made aware of some audio dropout issues on a limited number of copies of Disc 1 (POLICE STORY) featured in our JACKIE CHAN’S POLICE STORY & POLICE STORY 2 Box Set. If you have recently purchased this product and have been affected by this issue then please contact us as soon as possible via our customer services email customer@eurekavideo.co.uk with a proof of purchase (e.g. copy of invoice or despatch note), full name and address, and we will happily replace the disc for you.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Much of the discussion on blu-ray.com is revolving around the color timing, which is apparently very suspect.

[tenia]

Much of the discussion on blu-ray.com is revolving around the color timing, which is apparently very suspect.

PS2 is affected by Ritrovata's debatable grading, especially darker scenes. I'd be more lenient that usual with the day scenes though, but they also show the yellow-ish bias Ritrovata gives to their color restorations. I however think other Ritrovata restorations have much more pronounced grading issues than this one.

PS1 is, to me, less affected. It also shows some biases, but I found it to be rather light, though still recognizable. However, outside of the 5.1 track dropouts, the mono track turned out to be a remix and not the original one, and the subtitles still contain some typos.

The dropouts and the mono track at least will be fixed for the replacement discs.

These are unfortunate, and regarding the gradings unfixable since Fortune Star didn't allow tweaking the materials here, but at least, the "disc-related" technical issues will be at least mostly fixed through this replacement, which is a really good thing because this release otherwise feels so thorough I'm wondering how it can be legit ! The amount of content and alternative cuts are usually the kind of stuff you only find on bootleg fan releases (even if licensing limitations still prevented a few cool stuff like re-creating the alternative cuts from the 4K restorations), and it's absolutely marvelous Eureka managed to include so much here for the 2 movies.
Hell, even the booklets are full of stuff I never thought would be included here !

[J Wilson]

I only received my set a couple days ago, so I haven't watched either yet to judge, but it sounds like tweaking TV settings can mitigate some of the color issues if desired. I agree about this release being so loaded that it seems bootleg, though. After sitting through my HK blu-ray copy of A Chinese Ghost Story recently, with its gibberish subtitles, getting a release like this of an HK classic is amazing.

[Cronenfly]

So is this worth it once the problem discs have been fixed? I was hoping this release would be definitive, which extras-wise it probably is.

[tenia]

The grading of the 2nd movie is a pain in the butt, but the release otherwise totally worth it and definition wise, the new restorations are tremendous.

[Cronenfly]

I’m just curious, can anyone speak to the content of the booklets? At this point I’m likely never going to see them but it would be nice to know what’s in them. That information does not seem to be readily available anywhere that I can see.

[Finch]

Specs for the UHD of the trilogy:

SPECIAL FEATURES

Limited Edition hardcase [4000 copies]
Limited Edition hardcase featuring new artwork by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentations of all three films across 3 Ultra HD Blu-ray Discs in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Reversible sleeve artwork for each film, featuring limited edition individual sleeve designs by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien
100-PAGE perfect bound collector’s book featuring essays by James Oliver on each film, as well as archival materials, imagery, and ephemera
Worldwide UHD debuts for all three films, and the first time Police Story 3: Supercop has been available on home video in the UK since the VHS era
DISC ONE – POLICE STORY (1985) 4K (2160p) UHD presentation of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut [100 mins] | 1080p HD presentation of the alternate “Police Force” export cut of the film [88 mins] | Hong Kong Version – Original Cantonese mono audio, as well as optional restored 5.1 DTS-HD MA | Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Classic English dub (original mono) | 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 | Police Force Version – Option of either the classic English dub track or a rare alternate audio track featuring the original Cantonese audio mixed with the Kevin Bassinson score | Newly revised English subtitles | Archival interview with Jackie Chan [19 mins] | Alternate and Deleted Scenes | Archival “Jackie Chan Stunts” promo | Trailers, including the films’ original theatrical and export trailers
DISC TWO – POLICE STORY 2 (1988) 4K (2160p) UHD presentation of the Extended cut of the film [121 mins] | 1080p HD presentation of the original Hong Kong theatrical version [105 mins] | 1080p HD presentation of the alternate export version [95 mins] | Extended Version – Original Cantonese mono audio, as well as optional restored 5.1 DTS-HD MA | Extended Version – English dub presented in restored 5.1 DTS-HD MA | Extended Version – Brand new audio commentary with Asian film experts Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and F.J. DeSanto | Extended Version – Brand new audio commentary with action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema | Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Original Cantonese mono audio | Hong Kong Theatrical Version – Archival audio commentary with Miles Wood and Jude Poyer | Export Version – Classic English dub track | Newly revised English subtitles | “Jackie Chan” episode of Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show [41 mins] – documentary on Jackie Chan’s early career from cult film documentary series, presented by Jonathan Ross | Archival interview with actor and stuntman Benny Lai [15 mins] | Outtakes |Trailers, including the films’ original theatrical and export trailers
DISC THREE – POLICE STOR Y 3: SUPERCOP (1992) 4K (2160p) UHD presentation of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut [96 mins] from a brand new restoration of the original film elements `\ 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, including 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 | New featurette on rarely seen Jackie Chan video games, Kung Fu Master & Fists of Fire by Arne Venema | 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) | Archival interview with director Stanley Tong (20 mins) | 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
***All Extras Subject To Change***

Packaging for Supercop Blu-Ray:

[dwk]

According to Brandon Bentley, Fortune Star are being much more lenient, and allowed them to do a reconstruction of the Hong Kong cut of Police Story 2. Shame Eureka isn't including it in 4K.

[Computer Raheem]

With the announcement of the US cut being included as a bonus feature, here's hoping that a Region A-equivalent release of Supercop is on the way (and a 4K set of all three films as well, while we're at it).

[yoloswegmaster]

According to Irongod, Eureka paid for a brand new restoration of Police Story 3. Hopefully this an improvement over the previous restoration in regards to the color timing, since the previous one had that horrific Ritrovata tint to it.

[andyli]

More like a new grading, I guess? Not that I doubt the financial power Eureka has to fund a 4K restoration from scratch, I just find it utterly unnecessary.

[tenia]

Same here, the "original" 4k restoration was very competent except for its obvious Ritrovata'ed grading. Colo-correcting it to remove the lab's signature would be plenty enough.

[yoloswegmaster]

I'm certain that Eureka would have mentioned it in the specs if all they did was do a new color re-grade from the previous 4K restoration, especially since they had explicitly mentioned that they had done a new color grading for their release of 'The Bride With White Hair'.

[jtarvainen]

So is this set the only place where one can get the original Hong Kong cut of PS2 in HD?

Also, do you know if the remixed mono track on PS1 was ever fixed?

Thanks!

[dwk]

Criterion included an HD scan of a theatrical print of the Hong Kong cut of PS2 in their Blu-ray, but this is currently the only way to get the Hong Kong cut sourced from the 4K restoration.

[swo17]

This set is like 4 cases thick, but whoever did the wrap for it didn't get the memo. Still looks very nice though!

[Finch]

Something had to have gone down behind the scenes because the J-card misprinting isn't the only packaging issue. The covers for PS1 and 2 look like bootleg covers and the inside has a photo print across even though they are housed in black keep cases. It's just a mess as a presentation, outside of KFB's cover on the front. KFB hasn't posted on the other forum for a while, either. Their reasoning for skipping his reverse artwork sounded uncharacteristically strange for them, too. If there'd been a disagreement with KFB about meeting deadlines and they needed more time to do more aesthetically pleasing covers of their own (presumably the contract for the UHD editions precluded Darren Wheeling from stepping in late?), I don't think anyone would have minded very much if they'd delayed the release by a month. At the end of the day, the presentation of the films themselves is what matters most and there the hard work seems to have paid off, but the overall impression of the set is a little shoddy.

[tenia]

I too wonder what happened here. It doesn't really feel like Eureka's usual MO to just let go of such obvious approximations instead of delaying by a few weeks the release to sort it out (especially when it wouldn't have meant missing a particular timing here, like Christmas). It also doesn't help that this is Eureka's first UHD releases and you'd want think they'd prefer the delay than having some people remembering their first UHD releases having approximations like these.