L'enfer des armes (Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind)

[apollo828]

Hi. I don't know how this slipped past my radar but this film came out last month. I love it and have been waiting for the Blu for awhile. Alas, I think it's almost sold out everywhere. I managed to order a copy from Librairie Ombres Blanches. All the other sites I saw (Amazon, FNAC, Potemkine, Rakuten, etc.) either didn't list it or appeared to be sold out. Even Spectrum's web store didn't list it! As is, if anybody's looking for this release, I suggest they snag a copy ASAP. It looks like those 1000 copies went flying pretty quickly.

Interestingly, despite not being English-friendly (not an issue for me but obviously for some), there is an English-language commentary from the Podcast on Fire team, so presumably Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon.

Also, as expected, the director's cut footage is still missing. The DC bits are taken from a tape made by Tsui Hark, the director, which appears to be the only copy of the DC that remains. As expected, it looks rough. (It was also used on the DVD that came out many years ago.) It's still watchable.

I'll come back later with some more thoughts on the set, once my copy arrives.

EDIT 1: It arrived fairly quickly, much to my surprise. Here are my initial thoughts.

At a glance, the restoration is fine. It won't blow you away, especially if you already have the French DVD set from awhile back. It's definitely a proper HD restoration, with little-to-no DNR that I noticed. It's also a bit soft. I'd imagine that's just how the film was shot back in the day. In the end, the mere fact that this was restored at all, given the film being radioactive in HK well before Beijing came in and instituted a de facto ban on certain films being shown domestically (international is still okay, at least for now), makes me thankful that this film was restored at all.

I haven't compared the audio yet to any other releases. As is, it's fine. A bit shoddy, like the video, but this wasn't a big budget epic.

The DC footage is still taken from Tsui Hark's tape. I don't know offhand if it's a fresh transfer or the same transfer from the late-90s (French VHS documentary) or mid-00s (French DVD). They did deinterlace it, apply inverse telecining, and properly convert the footage to 16x9. The results are still ugly. There's very little that can be done about that, beyond maybe some careful upscaling in Topaz or some other video enhancement tool. As is, it's still watchable.

As usual for French releases, no English subs. Not a problem for me but something to keep in mind.

Here are the extras. Anything not in French has soft French subs.

Disc 1 (Theatrical / International cut):
- 70 minute excerpt from the "Podcast on Fire" episode where Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon discussed the film. Presented as an audio commentary. English.
- Presentation by Hong Kong film expert Artaud Lanuque, discussing the film's political and societal backdrops. French.
- Interview with actor Albert Au ("Paul"). Cantonese and English.
- Interview with actor Paul Che ("Kao"). English.
- Interview with assistant director O Sing-Pui. Cantonese.
- 2024 French re-release trailer. Cantonese (hard French subs).

Disc 2 (Director's cut):
- 41 minute archival doc from the 1999 French tape, discussing the film's production and censorship history. French, English, and Cantonese (hard French subs).
- Archival introduction by filmmaker Christophe Gans, from the DVD. French.
- Presentation by lecturer (?) Panos Kotzhatanasis, discussing the film's censorship history. English.
- Interview with director Tsui Hark. English.
- Interview with film lecturer Kristof van den Troost. English.
- Interview with co-writer Szeto Cheuk-Hon. Cantonese.

There are a handful of extras from the original French DVD that aren't included.

- Theatrical cut introduction by filmmaker Christophe Gans. French.
- HK theatrical trailer.
- Lo Lieh interview. English.
- Lo Lieh animated filmography.
- Tsui Hark animated filmography.
- Stills gallery.
- French trailers for other HK Video releases.

The DC may have a mastering error. It's missing a couple of text cards before the main title card, as seen on the DVD. The translated text is:

"In article 3 of the 1956 law dealing with dangerous objects, explosives are classified as 'dangerous objects of the first kind.' People possessing such objects are called...."

I'll send a message to Spectrum and see what they say about that.

In the end, I think this release is a must-own if you're a fan of the film. If you're happy with the DVD, I suppose this isn't a massive upgrade. Still, between the new extras, the resolution bump, lossless audio, and mere fact that this film still pisses off certain authorities, I highly recommend it, especially if you understand Cantonese or French, or can get your hands on English subs (or you know how to grab and translate the French subs).

EDIT 2: Okay, it looks like there are some other issues with the DC Blu compared to the DVD. There are some sound issues and odd editing choices, and it looks like the conversion from a 25 fps PAL source didn't slow the footage back down to 24 fps. (My guess is that Spectrum used either the DVD or the original tape transfer - assuming it was a PAL source - with some extra filtering.) The Blu's still worth buying. It's just not quite the definitive release, based on the new errors. Who knows, maybe I'll make my own definitive version based off the Blu and a properly slowed-down/filtered DVD.

[Tiger Tanaka]

had not idea it came out and went so fast. too bad