Police Story (1985) / Police Story II (1988)

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by Bandit Tajomaru

Too bad they also couldn't rescue Police Story 3.

Been there done that

[Vanguard]

Originally Posted by Bandit Tajomaru

Has the 4k remastered Police Story 3 been released in anywhere in Asia with English subtitles yet?

It has not unfortunately. Only the Japanese release with Japanese subtitles.

At bare minimum, I hope it gets a Asia wide release with English subtitles.

[Vanguard]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

Been there done that

Doesn't that have the Cantonese track, but no subtitles? Super weird.

Also, I think it is cut by four minutes to 91 from its original 95

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by morris_schaffer

No, I don't think the PS movies as a whole attain greatness in the action realm

Police Story 1 is one of the greatest action movies ever made.

[gates70]

Never seen these so I'm in!

[super56k]

Jackie Chan in his prime is like watching a modern day Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton at work. Incredible skill both in front of and behind the camera. PS1 and 2 are bona fide action classics. Already own the Eureka releases, but happy to see Criterion getting in on it too for region A only people. May even double dip if the special features offer something unique.

[Keung]

Originally Posted by morris_schaffer

No, I don't think the PS movies as a whole attain greatness in the action realm

No, that's why tons of Hollywood filmmakers have ripped them off. You're in the minority with that opinion. Jackie Chan changed action films for the better on more than one occasion.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by Vanguard

Doesn't that have the Cantonese track, but no subtitles? Super weird.

Also, I think it is cut by four minutes to 91 from its original 95

It is the US cut and English dub. I remember reading an interview with someone from Criterion and they mentioned they licensed the film for laserdisc thinking they could present it in its original cut/original audio but they, as it obviously turned out, weren't allowed to do that.

It'd be nice if they could strike a deal with Lionsgate and the owner's of the Miramax catalog to include Part 3 in the Blu-ray release (ala the Qatsi trilogy), but I doubt if that will happen.

[McCrutchy]

I would expect that a key difference between these and the Eureka discs will be Jackie Chan's direct involvement with them. Saying that, I don't expect Criterion or Chan to deviate all that much from what Fortune Star has already done, so the color grading and so on will probably remain identical, unless Chan has any issues with the masters.

Originally Posted by 88mph

Also I seem to recall a few more recent Criterion releases dropping original audio mixes and just going with 5.1 upmix. So they might not bother with the original mono altogether if they aren’t handed them from FS.

As I recall, Criterion generally only exclude original audio mixes at the request of the filmmaker. So in this case, it will probably be down to how Jackie Chan wants the films to be presented. I would guess he'll probably want Cantonese language tracks (and possibly the English dubs, which may or may not be lossless 5.1), but whether they will be remixed to 5.1 is another question. It could well be a situation where each film has Cantonese: LPCM Mono, Cantonese: DTS-HD MA 5.1 and English: DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks.

[Joppers]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

I would expect that a key difference between these and the Eureka discs will be Jackie Chan's direct involvement with them.

Really? Do you think that is likely?

I've been buying HK films for a long time and I don't recall him doing a lot of contemporary interviews.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Joppers

Really? Do you think that is likely?

I've been buying HK films for a long time and I don't recall him doing a lot of contemporary interviews.

I think it's pretty likely that he at least sits down for an interview, yes. If he wasn't the director of these films and instead simply acted in them, then perhaps not, but given that he filled both roles in these films, I think his involvement would be pretty important to both him and Criterion.

[Xapi3]

Originally Posted by Joppers

Really? Do you think that is likely?

I've been buying HK films for a long time and I don't recall him doing a lot of contemporary interviews.

Aren’t you forgetting that Criterions are “Director Approved”? Lmao Jackie probably won’t even know these are getting released.

[sapiendut]

Originally Posted by morris_schaffer

The stuntwork is of course much celebrated and rightly so, but the storytelling isn't exactly compelling, the bad guys aren't really on the level of say Hans Gruber, there are some woeful attempts at humour which stops at least one PS installment dead in its tracks for some time. Now I know that some of the action has a little bit of slapstick, and some of it works, but some of it definitely doesn't.

I admire the action and Chan a lot, and I can enjoy these movies somewhat, but take out 'Chan doing his own stunts', and precious little remains.

I don't even think the shopping mall stunt, which was posted a few posts above, is all that thrilling, because in my opinion the movie itself isn't. I don't feel mortal danger in that scene, perhaps because of how it's been shot, perhaps because the narrative isn't super propulsive, perhaps because there's a comical quality to much of the movie, perhaps because the stunt felt like showing off and he didn't really need to slide down that christmas tree (as far as I recall). I like the one with the bus a lot more as it feels more dynamic with more thrilling camera angles.

Bruce Willis jumping off Nakatomi Plaza using a fire hose was far more exciting to me, regardless of whether he did or didn't do it himself. No, I don't think the PS movies as a whole attain greatness in the action realm, but Chan deserves all the credit in the world for doing this stuff for real. That said, you gotta wonder, when an action movie's really great, would it matter if you knew that the actor wasn't doing is own stunts? Provided it wasn't obvious of course.

I see action movies in 2 ways:

An action movie with actions

An actor’s movie with story around it (like Jackie Chan movies and most Tom Cruise movies)

[Keung]

Originally Posted by Joppers

Really? Do you think that is likely?

I've been buying HK films for a long time and I don't recall him doing a lot of contemporary interviews.

I think he did an exclusive interview for Dragon Dynasty’s DVD release of Police Story. We've heard enough about these films from him anyway. What more can be said? New interviews with Brigitte Lin and/or Maggie Cheung would be great.

[Spotty]

If these are the original length HK cuts, I am all in!

I have several Fortune Star DVD imports, but the English subtiles can be a bit confusing...

So would love to finally get a definitive version of these films!

Would also be delighted to find a definite HK cut release of Police Story 3 and 4 as well!

[morris_schaffer]

Originally Posted by Keung

No, that's why tons of Hollywood filmmakers have ripped them off. You're in the minority with that opinion. Jackie Chan changed action films for the better on more than one occasion.

Ripped them off how? Could you perhaps elaborate on that?

I understand Chan could be an inspiration to some. Are you saying that nowadays actors are more eager to do their own stuntwork than they were before because of Chan? That some of Chan's techniques have been appropriated by Hollywood stuntmen? Which isn't 'ripping off' but rather bowing their heads at the man and respecting the groundwork he laid before.

In any case, I said I admired the hell out of the man and what he did. I just don't feel his movies are complete to me as really great action classics are.

For sure, he makes them work, he makes them enjoyable, he is the main catch. Alas, I would argue his stuntwork is the only catch. They don't offer anything else to me like the great action movies do.

[Shingster]

Originally Posted by LordCrumb

If any company can get access to stuff from hard ass companies, it's Criterion.

Originally Posted by Markgway

And that's the key sentence. Criterion may have a different contract which allows them more control over their output. That said, they didn't fix the grading on the King Hu films, so I'm not sure there's any reason to assume they'll do it here, even if 'allowed'.

Yeah exactly, if anyone has the stroke to tell Ritrovata where to stick it, it's Criterion, and if anyone is in a position to argue with Fortune Star, it's Criterion given that they probably aren't planning a slew of subsequent HK film releases that will require them to maintain an amicable relationship with Fortune Star to pull off, but will Criterion pull their collective thumbs out of their collective assess and make demands? I'm not entirely hopeful of that tbh!

Originally Posted by morris_schaffer

Ripped them off how? Could you perhaps elaborate on that?

Hollywood films have been lifting scenes from Chan's films for years. Tango & Cash copied the end of the bus sequence where Chan fires the gun into the air and the stuntment go flying out the vehicle, and Michael Bay reproduced the shanty town car chase shot for shot in Bad Boys II.

Police Story is an incredibly iconic and influential picture. As people have already stated, it's that "silent-era" physicality that makes Chan so special, his ability to take a location and imagine creative and borderline lethal action setpieces really sets him apart. For good bone-crunching fisticuffs Chan plays 2nd fiddle to the likes of Sammo, Lau Kar Leung, and Yuen Woo Ping, but when it comes to slapstick and insane stuntwork, Chan is in a league of his own.

Police Story is nothing like Die Hard, nor is it trying to be that kinda Rio Bravo type action movie, so not sure why you felt the need to compare the two really. Police Story is an action comedy that has stuntwork like you have never seen before, smaller scale but playful in a sandbox way and actually believable compared to Die Hard's Hollywood spectacle. I happen to think Die Hard is the greatest action film of all time, mostly for its staging, performances and plot though, in terms of just the action I would rate Police Story much higher.

[monwobbbo]

Originally Posted by morris_schaffer

Ripped them off how? Could you perhaps elaborate on that?

I understand Chan could be an inspiration to some. Are you saying that nowadays actors are more eager to do their own stuntwork than they were before because of Chan? That some of Chan's techniques have been appropriated by Hollywood stuntmen? Which isn't 'ripping off' but rather bowing their heads at the man and respecting the groundwork he laid before.

In any case, I said I admired the hell out of the man and what he did. I just don't feel his movies are complete to me as really great action classics are.

For sure, he makes them work, he makes them enjoyable, he is the main catch. Alas, I would argue his stuntwork is the only catch. They don't offer anything else to me like the great action movies do.

first i have to ask what your idea of "classic" action films are? "rip off" may be a bad term for this. borrow or be influenced by is more like it. the Van Damme movie Knock Off is a total knock off of Jackie's films with JCVD trying to be Jackie. hollywood action films are filled with larger than life action that couldn't actually be done. for many this defines what is "cool" in a action film and they can't accept Jackie's (or HK) style that relies more on things that can actually be done (no matter how unlikely).

[Keung]

Originally Posted by Shingster

Hollywood films have been lifting scenes from Chan's films for years. Tango & Cash copied the end of the bus sequence where Chan fires the gun into the air and the stuntment go flying out the vehicle, and Michael Bay reproduced the shanty town car chase shot for shot in Bad Boys II.

Let’s not forget they copied the part of Jackie speeding through glass display cases on a motorbike almost shot-for-shot in Rapid Fire.

[Shingster]

Yes! I'd forgotten that one! Man I haven't seen Rapid Fire since the 90s! I'm sure the collective here can come up with more examples though!