Import Corner: The Police Story Trilogy (Eureka!) 4K Blu-ray Review + Packaging Shots


The Police Story films are some of the best films Jackie Chan has made and Eureka! has brought the first three films to 4K blu-ray in this awesome package with tons of special features.

Studio: Eureka!
Release Date: December 14th, 1985 (theatrical) (Police Story) / August 20th, 1988 (theatrical) (Police Story 2) / July 4th, 1992 (Police Story 3)
Run Time: 1 hour 40 minutes 31 seconds (theatrical), 1 hour 27 minutes 20 seconds (American cut) (Police Story) / 2 hours 1 minute 53 seconds (Extended cut), 1 hour 45 minutes 44 seconds (theatrical), 1 hour 35 minutes 31 seconds (export cut) (Police Story 2) / 1 hour 36 minutes 30 seconds (theatrical), 1 hour 31 minutes 10 seconds (American cut) (Police Story 3)
Region Code: FREE
Picture: 2160p (2.35:1 aspect ratio) (theatrical) (Police Story and Police Story 3), (Extended cut) (Police Story 2) / 1080p (2.35:1 aspect ratio) (American cut) (Police Story and Police Story 3), (theatrical and Export cut) (Police Story 2)
Sound: Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Cantonese LPCM 1.0 , English LPCM 1.0 (theatrical), English LPCM 1.0, Cantonese LPCM 1.0 (American cut) (Police Story) / Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Cantonese LPCM 1.0, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Extended cut), Cantonese Dolby Digital 1.0, English Dolby Digital 5.1 (theatrical), Cantonese Dolby Digital 1.0, English Dolby Digital 1.0 (export cut) (Police Story 2) / Cantonese Dolby Atmos, Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Stereo (home video mix), Cantonese LPCM 1.0 (original mix), English LPCM 1.0 (export dub) (theatrical) (Police Story 3), English Dolby Digital 5.1, Cantonese Dolby Digital 1.0 (American cut) (Police Story 3)
Subtitles: English (all films)
Slipcover: Yes (hard box)
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Yuen Chor, Bill Tung (Police Story) / Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Bill Tung, Lisa Chiao Chiao (Police Story 2) / Jackie Chan, Michelle Khan, Maggie Cheung, Ken Tsang, Yuen Wah, Bill Tung, Josephine Koo, Wong Siu (Police Story 3)
Written by Jackie Chan, Edward Tang (Police Story and Police Story 2) / Ma Fibe, Yee Lee Wai (Police Story 3)
Directed by Jackie Chan (Police Story and Police Story 2) / Stanley Tong (Police Story 3)
Rating: BBFC: 15 (martial arts violence) (all films)


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Poster



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What's It About?

POLICE STORY (dir. Jackie Chan, 1985) – considered by Jackie Chan himself to be his best film in terms of pure action, POLICE STORY stars Chan as “super cop” Chan Ka-Kui, who goes up against a notorious crime lord in a series of escalating set-pieces that resulted in many of Jackie’s stunt team being hospitalised

POLICE STORY 2 (dir. Jackie Chan, 1988) – Demoted to traffic cop after the events of the first film, Chan Ka-Kui is reinstated to the detective unit when a deadly gang of explosive experts blow up a building and threaten to blow up more if their demands are not met. Featuring yet more bravura stunt work, and even more injuries to its cast and crew, POLICE STORY 2 is to this day considered one of the best action films ever

POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP (dir. Stanley Tong, 1992) – Action superstar Michelle Yeoh (EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE) joins the series as Inspector Yang Chien-Hua, who teams up with Chan Ka-Kui to take down an international drug ring. With some of the most outrageous stunt sequences ever committed to film, POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP is an action masterpiece that must truly be seen to be believed.
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Video/Audio

So, many people out there are mad about the color grading of POLICE STORY 1 and 2. It is true that the color grading for the first two films tends to lean toward a yellowish color, but I don't think that it does too much damage to the overall look of the film. I have seen the first two POLICE STORY films many times, and the color grading can look odd at times, but it never took any enjoyment I had with the two films. 

Both films look great with some caveats. Out of the first two films, the first film looks better. The image is stronger overall with detail being really high. There is a shot during the shanty town raid at the beginning of the film that shows Chan standing behind a wall in cover. The detail in his hair and his clothing is so fine that you can see the stitching in the clothing. Colors are amazing as well. The HDR does render everything a bit too dark in places, but overall it does a pretty good job. 

POLICE STORY 2 on the other hand is weird. The image is very soft in many scenes which downgrades the image a bit. The image is supposed to be soft, but the HDR makes it weird looking. Once the film gets going, the softness lets up a bit and the image starts looking better. Detail isn't as high as it was in the first film and the image is even darker than the first film, but overall it looks nice. 

Now, POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP is a completely different story. This film looks incredible. The HDR here doesn't darken the picture too much as it did with the other films. Darker blacks and bolder colors are on full display here. Detail is high in every shot of the film and everything from the skin tones to the colors themselves, look true and accurate. I have never seen SUPERCOP look this good. This is easily the best-looking film in the set.

Each film comes with a bunch of different audio tracks for the different versions of the films. Both versions of POLICE STORY are lossless and sound great. The alternate versions of POLICE STORY 2 and POLICE STORY 3 are lossy but still sound pretty good. 
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Extras/Packaging

Police Story (1985)

Commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto
Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Export Cut (1h 27m, HD, 2.35:1)

Alternate and Extended Scenes (13m 48s, HD, 2.35:1)

1. Extended Opening
2. Extended Press Conference Intro
3. Extended Ending
4. Shot Extensions

Jackie Chan Stunts Promo (4m 41s, SD, 1.78:1)
Interview with Jackie Chan (19m 34s, SD, 1.78:1)
Original Theatrical Trailer (2m 47s, HD, 2.35:1)
Original Export Trailer (2m 26s, HD, 2.35:1)
4K Restoration Trailer (3m 13s, 4K, 2.35:1)

Police Story 2 (1988)

Commentary by Frank Djeng and FJ DeSanto
Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema

Original Hong Kong Theatrical Cut (1h 45m, HD, 2.35:1)

-Play with Cantonese Mono
-Play with English 5.1
-Play with Commentary by Miles Wood and Jude Poyer

Export Cut (1h 35m, HD, 2.35:1)

-Play with English Mono
-Play with Cantonese Mono

Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show: Jackie Chan (41m 8s, SD, 1.33:1)
Interview with Benny Lai (15m 31s, SD, 1.78:1) in Cantonese with English subtitles
Outtakes (5m 14s, SD, 2.35:1)
Original Hong Kong Trailer (4m 1s, HD, 2.35:1)
Original Export Trailer (2m 15s, HD, 2.35:1)

Police Story 3: Supercop (1992)

Commentary by Frank Djeng and FJ DeSanto
Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema

Supercop - US Version (1h 31m, HD, 2.35:1)

-Play with English 5.1
-Play with Alternate Cantonese Audio

John Kreng Interview (22m 35s. HD, 1.78:1)
The Ultra Violent Jackie Chan Video Games (11m 11s, HD, 1.78:1)
Police Story Location Guide (11m 21s, HD, 1.78:1)

Archival Interviews

-Flying High: Jackie Chan (19m 23s, SD, 1.78:1) in English
-Dancing with Death: Michelle Yeoh (23m 14s, SD, 1.33:1) In English
-The Stuntman General: Stanley Tong (19m 35s, SD, 2.35:1) In English
-The Fall Guy: Ken Lo (21m 47s, SD, 1.78:1) in Cantonese with English subtitles
-Stanley Tong 2004 Interview (17m 18s, SD, 2.35:1) in Cantonese with English subtitles
-Stanley Tong 2005 Interview (31m 9s, SD, 1.78:1) in English

Outtakes (51m 33, SD, 2.35:1) No audio from the film, just music plays over the footage

Trailers and Promos

-Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer (3m 2s, SD, 2.35:1) in Cantonese with English subtitles
-Japanese Teaser Trailer (43s, HD, 2.35:1) in Japanese with English subtitles
-UK English Export Trailer (2m 12s, HD, 2.00:1) in English
-US Theatrical Teaser (1m 41s, HD, 2.35:1) in English
-US Theatrical Trailer (1m 40s, HD, 2.35:1) in English. I swear this and the teaser trailer are the same.
-US TV Spots (2m 51s, HD, 1.33:1) 5 spots. In English
-US Video Promo (1m 39s, HD, 1.33:1) In this promo the narrator says "hot off the heels of First Strike) I guess since the VHS of Supercop came out after First Strike hit theaters, they are technically right, but Supercop hit US theaters in July of 1996 while First Strike came out in US theaters in January of 1997. Let's not even talk about the Hong Kong release dates.

One of the things that were missing from Eureka's POLICE STORY double feature blu-ray set from a few years ago was an audio commentary track for the two films. There was one on the Export Cut of POLICE STORY 2, but none on the main feature nor any on the first POLICE STORY. This set rectifies this with each film getting two brand-new commentary tracks. One track is with Frank Djeng and FJ DeSanto while the other track is with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. These tracks are just wonderful as usual. Djeng and DeSanto cover more of the technical and behind-the-scenes aspects while Leeder and Venema bring their own experiences working in Hong Kong to the proceedings. Each of the tracks feel like these guys are talking to us in a conversation and it makes the tracks easy to listen to. The first POLICE STORY gets an export cut, titled POLICE FORCE along with some deleted scenes, a vintage interview with Jackie Chan and a bunch of trailers.

POLICE STORY 2 comes with the aforementioned audio commentary tracks, three versions of the film, and an episode of the SON OF THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE FILM SHOW: JACKIE CHAN. This was a UK-based show that would cover a different topic of genre film in every episode. The show would usually visit its subject on the set of their newest film and then cover their background. It's a nice show that I wish there was more of. A reel of outtakes and trailers round out this disc.

POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP gets the lion's share of special features. Again we get the two commentary tracks, along with the US version of SUPERCOP, which is how I have watched the film all these years. This version is cut by five minutes but features Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh dubbing their own characters, something that was very rarely done in Hong Kong. There is an awesome featurette about the violent Jackie Chan video games that were released in the mid-90s, a location guide, and a slew of interviews with Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, and Stanley Tong. There are also 50 minutes of silent outtakes. A bunch of trailers, including the awesome US trailer, are included as well. 

You may be asking yourself: I have the previous Eureka! blu-ray release, is there anything missing from this release that was on that release? Yes, there are two things that are missing from that release and one thing that is different. 

The big thing missing is the Japanese version of the first POLICE STORY. Apparently, Fortune Star didn't like the fact that this version was on that release, and Eureka! was not allowed to include it on this 4K release. Is it that big of a deal? Not really. I mean, it would be nice to have all available versions on this release, but this isn't a dealbreaker. Here is a breakdown of what is different in the Japanese version.

The next thing missing is the Alternate Video Trailer for POLICE STORY 2. Again, not a big deal, but worth noting nonetheless.

The final thing to be aware of is that the blu-ray release had two different outtake reels for POLICE STORY 2. On this release, they have been combined into one outtake reel. 

This 4K blu-ray set from Eureka! looks great. The three films come inside a hard box featuring brand new artwork from RP "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien that is just beautiful. Inside the box, you will find three 14mm black 4K blu-ray cases, one for each film. Each of the cases features that film's original theatrical poster with some inner artwork that you will never see because the 4K blu-ray cases are not see-through. Each disc features a shot from that film. Last but not least is a 100-page booklet featuring writings on each film along with production stills and posters for each film. 
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Overall

The POLICE STORY TRILOGY is one of the best things that Jackie Chan has ever made. Each film feels different from the last one while still maintaining some continuity between them. They also feature some of the best fight scenes of their era. POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP ups the ante by adding some of the most insane stunts that Chan has ever attempted. The 4K blu-ray set from Eureka! has a few things that some might see as problems, but overall this is a nice that any fan or collector will be proud to own.
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Packaging






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