Ging chat goo si
1985 | 101 min | Not rated | Region A (B, C untested) | No Release Date
A police raid on a drug gang goes awry, and for detective Kevin Chan, nothing seems to go
right from there. Even when the gang boss is brought to trial, he is acquitted when Kevin's
evidence disappears from under his nose....
His personal war against crime has earned Kevin Chan a demotion from detective to traffic cop just as Hong Kong is hit with a wave of bomb scares. Chan unofficially follows up his own leads and tracks down the bombers, but not...
Jackie Chan is one of the most recognizable international superstars of the past several decades, but as with many
celebrities, that universal recognition didn't come easily. Chan had already been working in the Hong Kong film industry
since he was a child, and eventually gaining some adult work as a stuntman (including in such legendary fare as the
Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon). But as odd as it may seem to us now, there really wasn't that huge of an international market for martial arts
films back in the day (despite the success of the Bruce Lee outings), and Chan, once he matriculated into starring roles
himself, found his career hobbled and he actually left the film industry for a brief time in the late seventies. Despite a
couple of stellar opportunities (including a role in an early John Woo film, the brass ring seemed to be frustratingly out
of reach, even in Chan's native land. That finally all changed with the release of Drunken Master in 1978, and
that film became a formidable template for much of what was to follow in Chan's film career. Broad physical comedy
mixed with over the top action sequences and some incredible stunt work (always performed by Chan himself) became
the norm for many (maybe even most) Chan outings from then on, and the Police Story films are
certainly no exception. 1985's Police Story, also co-written and directed by Chan, was Chan's intentional choice
to mimic the high octane approach of American action films mixed with liberal doses of character based comedy (think Lethal Weapon with a Chinese accent).
And what could be more American than a sequel to an incredibly successful franchise starter—hence Police Story
2.
Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2:18). Some of these "scenes" are just a few seconds long. These are
windowboxed and appear
to
have been mastered from a video source.
Outtakes (480i; 2:40)
Alternate Ending (1080p; 3:34). As with the Deleted Scenes, this is windowboxed and appears to
have been sourced
from
video.
Extended Opening (1080p; 6:55) is once again windowboxed and looks like it was sourced from video.
There's a different credits
sequence and a long setup scene in the police station.
Police Story U.S. Trailer (1080i; 2:21). Guess what? Windowboxed and sourced from video.
Police Story Original Hong Kong Trailer (1080p; 2:45)
Note: These supplements are authored a bit strangely. It's impossible to skip through them—once you've
chosen one, you are locked
into either watching it or being forced to fast forward through them to get to the end.
Police Story 2
Police Story II Outtakes (480i; 2:06)
Police Story II International Trailer (1080i; 1:53) is windowboxed but does not have the sourced
from video look of some
of the supplements on Police Story.
Police Story II Original Hong Kong Trailer (1080p; 4:01)
Police Story II Alternate Outtakes (1080i; 3:14) are windowboxed and do look sourced from video.
Note: As with the Police Story supplements, it's impossible to chapter skip through these.
It will be at least a little disappointing to some fans of this franchise that only the first two films are included, but for many
the first Police Story is the best, despite its unabashedly cheesy elements. This Blu-ray two-fer has a few decent
extras, and the audio is generally quite good, but the image quality leaves quite a bit to be desired. Whether or not there's
a better release possible for these films will probably be hotly debated.
Shout factory has officially announced and detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of Jackie Chan's Police Story (1985) and Police Story II (1988). The double feature release will be available for purchase online and in stores across the United States on April ...
Jackie Chan: Police Story / Police Story 2 Blu-ray, Forum Discussions
