Long Arm of the Law (1 & 2) (88 Films) Blu-ray

[cooey]

Long Arm of the Law 1&2 (1984/87) [Own them on Blu-ray] - DELUXE HARDBOX EDITION

Presented together in one dynamite package comes The Long Arm of the Law and The Long Arm of the Law Part 2. Directed by Johnny Mak (To be Number One) and his brother, Michael Mak (Sex and Zen, Butterfly and Sword) respectively, these two movies are packed full of Hong Kong-style action sequences, thrills, and spills, and provide an explosive prelude to what would eventually become a quadrilogy of martial arts thrillers.

Release date: 25th September, 2023
Order: Amazon.co.uk

[NOSTALGY]

YES YES YES YES YESSSSSS!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have no words to express how happy I am (and most of you probably too) that 88 Films finally decided to get their hands on this Legendary saga (even though it's still lacking the 3rd film which is more of an Andy Lau action thriller than a LAotL one and Underground Express which is more of a propaganda piece that wasn't even restored by Fortune Star yet, at least to my knowledge).

Finally a good chance to shelve the good old Megastar, Deltamac and Joy Sales DVDs and get this insane looking edition. It's funny because each of the aforementioned DVDs complemented each other, actually. The Megastar DVD had translated subtitled parts when the Chinese text was shown on screen (at least for the 2nd part, can't confirm about the 1st film though). The Deltamac DVD had original mono audio which still sounds good despite the age while the Joy Sales DVD had the best picture quality (even better than the 2010s Kam & Ronson Blu-ray I would say, as this one looked way too grainy and had this awful 7.1 remixed sound) and extras (a set of original lobby cards, a photo gallery with the stills from the film and the original theatrical and newly edited trailers).

Would love to see the rest of the parts getting the same treatment although I doubt it will ever happen. I thought that when I saw the French Metropolitan DVD release of the first two films, just like this upcoming 88 edition. The distribution rights for the 3rd film seem to belong to China 3d Digital Entertainment while the 4th film, well... lucky if it even makes it on HK Blu-ray considering how critical it is towards Mainland China and how tense is the situation with this kind of topics there now.

[munin]

Originally Posted by NOSTALGY

YES YES YES YES YESSSSSS!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have no words to express how happy I am (and most of you probably too) that 88 Films finally decided to get their hands on this Legendary saga (even though it's still lacking the 3rd film which is more of an Andy Lau action thriller than a LAotL one and Underground Express which is more of a propaganda piece that wasn't even restored by Fortune Star yet, at least to my knowledge).

Finally a good chance to shelve the good old Megastar, Deltamac and Joy Sales DVDs and get this insane looking edition. It's funny because each of the aforementioned DVDs complemented each other, actually. The Megastar DVD had translated subtitled parts when the Chinese text was shown on screen (at least for the 2nd part, can't confirm about the 1st film though). The Deltamac DVD had original mono audio which still sounds good despite the age while the Joy Sales DVD had the best picture quality (even better than the 2010s Kam & Ronson Blu-ray I would say, as this one looked way too grainy and had this awful 7.1 remixed sound) and extras (a set of original lobby cards, a photo gallery with the stills from the film and the original theatrical and newly edited trailers).

Would love to see the rest of the parts getting the same treatment although I doubt it will ever happen. I thought that when I saw the French Metropolitan DVD release of the first two films, just like this upcoming 88 edition. The distribution rights for the 3rd film seem to belong to China 3d Digital Entertainment while the 4th film, well... lucky if it even makes it on HK Blu-ray considering how critical it is towards Mainland China and how tense is the situation with this kind of topics there now.

No way it will, even comedies are having their mainland jokes cut out of the HK Blus these days. But those seem dead in the water anyway, the last Panorama release of an older film was Scared Stiff more than half a year ago.

[ReSe2k]

never heard of these tbh but i will buy them anyways, more 80s action stuff is always welcome!

[DooK]

Originally Posted by ReSe2k

never heard of these tbh but i will buy them anyways, more 80s action stuff is always welcome!

These two movies are more story-oriented crime movies (especially the first movie) even though action scenes are present.

[ReSe2k]

Originally Posted by DooK

These two movies are more story-oriented crime movies (especially the first movie) even though action scenes are present.

That's fine too. I really liked the first Tiger Cage and City on Fire

[Mr_Orange]

Excellent, a definite purchase for me!

[alexrinse]

Now we're talking! Absolutely brilliant news.

[Jackie Scanlon]

I wonder if there will be an option to watch them without the totally out of place slapstick comedy scenes? (a rhetorical jest)


I've got the CMS Media blus of 1 and 2 which are fine, but - as previously mentioned - don't translate the onscreen text, so it will be nice to finally see what all that said.

I have a decent (and legit) HD download of 3 but it's definitely the weakest of the four, and 4 on VCD (which is only marginally better quality than the one that used to be on YouTube, which looked to be a laserdisc rip).

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by Jackie Scanlon

I wonder if there will be an option to watch them without the totally out of place slapstick comedy scenes? (a rhetorical jest)


I've got the CMS Media blus of 1 and 2 which are fine, but - as previously mentioned - don't translate the onscreen text, so it will be nice to finally see what all that said.

I have a decent (and legit) HD download of 3 but it's definitely the weakest of the four, and 4 on VCD (which is only marginally better quality than the one that used to be on YouTube, which looked to be a laserdisc rip).

I've only seen part III and that was on VHS back in 94 so I'm really looking forward to getting this release. I'm a huge HK film fan but many of them suffer from poor comedy IMO.

[Jackie Scanlon]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

many of them suffer from poor comedy IMO.

They do, but it's particularly egregious in the LAOTL films because of how nihilistic and fatalistic they otherwise are (although I don't remember there actually being any in 3, strangely enough).

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by Jackie Scanlon

They do, but it's particularly egregious in the LAOTL films because of how nihilistic and fatalistic they otherwise are (although I don't remember there actually being any in 3, strangely enough).

I've got a HK poster for Part 3 which makes it look very militaristic but can't remember anything about the film itself. Hopefully the entire series will eventually get releases.

Long Arm of the Law 3 Chinese A.jpg

[Darren75]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

I've only seen part III and that was on VHS back in 94 so I'm really looking forward to getting this release. I'm a huge HK film fan but many of them suffer from poor comedy IMO.

I wonder if the comedy is considered funny in the country of origin.

A lot of HK action flicks have so called 'comedy' that almost kills the movie entirely. Yes Madam, Dragons Forever and God of Gamblers spring to mind.

I'm in the UK and I hate American comedy films like Ace Ventura, Paul Blart, Anchorman and anything with Adam Sandler but, I think UK comedy films like The Life of Brian, Withnail and I and Hot Fuzz are quite good.

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by Darren75

I wonder if the comedy is considered funny in the country of origin.

A lot of HK action flicks have so called 'comedy' that almost kills the movie entirely. Yes Madam, Dragons Forever and God of Gamblers spring to mind.

I'm in the UK and I hate American comedy films like Ace Ventura, Paul Blart, Anchorman and anything with Adam Sandler but, I think UK comedy films like The Life of Brian, Withnail and I and Hot Fuzz are quite good.

I don't mind comedy films. For example I enjoy a lot of Chow Sing Chi's work. When you have an action film, such as the ones you mention, I don't appreciate the comedy for the most part. Magic Cop is being released soon and is a favorite of mine but there is potty humor tossed in the middle of the film that just doesn't fit. As for British comedy, Benny Hill is my favorite comedian. Started watching his show when I was in Jr. high back in the late 70's.

[Darren75]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

I don't mind comedy films. For example I enjoy a lot of Chow Sing Chi's work. When you have an action film, such as the ones you mention, I don't appreciate the comedy for the most part. Magic Cop is being released soon and is a favorite of mine but there is potty humor tossed in the middle of the film that just doesn't fit. As for British comedy, Benny Hill is my favorite comedian. Started watching his show when I was in Jr. high back in the late 70's.

If you haven't already checked them out then you may like The Goodies or Kenny Everett. They're similar to Benny Hill.

[navydavey]

Got mine from Amazon today.

Not sure when I'll dig into them (so there might be an explanation in the book or extras or something) but is there any news on the differences between the HK cut and the export cut for each film?

Seems minimal time difference according to the back but I haven't found much online to tell what the differences are.

I generally favour English dubs but curious to know what I'll miss out on if I go with the export versions.

[jtarvainen]

Originally Posted by Darren75

A lot of HK action flicks have so called 'comedy' that almost kills the movie entirely. Yes Madam, Dragons Forever and God of Gamblers spring to mind.

I‘ve only seem Yes, Madam! out of the ones you mention, but I thought the physical comedy in the action scene set in Tsui Hark’s character’s apartment was fantastic.

[Labor_Unit001]

Originally Posted by jtarvainen

I‘ve only seem Yes, Madam! out of the ones you mention, but I thought the physical comedy in the action scene set in Tsui Hark’s character’s apartment was fantastic.

It's arguably the best action scene in the whole movie!

[KrugerIndustrial]

I have the CMS Blu-ray with partially missing English subtitles. So this is a welcome upgrade for me.

[Broomey]

So sad to think that the well will soon dry up with Hong Kong remasters of modern day set films due to the Chinese Government. Just when we were getting some of the lesser seen classics and crazy Cat 3s.