In my previous review here, I mentioned that finding this movie on DVD was hard and in fact the only legal copy now available was from Germany under the name “Der Mann von Hong Kong”. Well that has now been changed with Umbrella Entertainment (based in Melbourne) now releasing a new higher resolution scan of the film on DVD and Bluray. Whilst I cannot comment on the quality of the new DVD, the Bluray is a feature packed disc that provides more bang for your buck. If you’re a fan of this film and you do not own a Bluray player, then I can only suggest that you break open the piggy bank and pick one up as the Bluray is the best way to go for this film. Compared with the new DVD release, the Bluray contains a lot of extras that the DVD does not have, and no, Im not talking about just a commentary but try a handful of additional films by the Director Brian Trenchard-Smith all in SD thrown in for good measure.
The Bluray contains the following extras:
- Audio Commentary
- The making of The Man from Hong Kong
- Newsreel Footage
- Uncut Not Quite Hollywood interviews
- Interview with Brian Trenchard-Smith
- Trailers of the film
- Deathcheaters in SD plus additional commentary
- Stunt Rock in SD plus additional commentary and Promo Reel and Trailers
- Kung Fu Killers in SD
- Dangerfreaks in SD plus trailer
- The Stuntmen in SD
The last five are feature length films all in SD. As a comparison the new DVD only contains a trailer.
So now to the important part. How does it look and sound? Compared to the German DVD (which from my understanding is the same transfer as the original Madman DVD release), the Bluray is superior in all aspects. Colours are bold as is the contrast both of which bring the image to a new level not seen since its release in 1975 but it’s not, for obvious reasons, up to spec with other modern Bluray releases. Whilst there is no information about the new remaster, my guess is that the new 4K scanning was probably done on the same master film as the old Madman/German DVD as opposed to a newly restored version and in some ways looks similar to the recent Bluray release of Road Games (reviewed here). But still, it looks better than any release prior to today and probably the best it will get without some serious $$ being spent on it.
The audio is also much better compared to the German DVD and has less of a “dubbed” feel to it and also brings out greater detail, for instance the bus we see in front of Uluru/Ayres Rock has more of a distinct bus sound to it which is not present on the German DVD though some sections are not as good and can have that “dubbed” sound to it, but generally speaking it’s a good improvement.
Overall, if you like the movie this is a must buy. It is a great upgrade from the DVD and you get a whole host of extras. I have watched the first additional movie called Deathcheaters which is basically about two movie stuntmen who get asked to steal some goods from another company overseas in real life. The opening segment of the film is really, really good if you like some car action but it gets a bit flat after that yet it’s still far from a terrible movie. The others I have not watched at this stage.
Bottom-line, go buy it before this one sells out cause from what I have heard there was a huge demand for the Bluray when it was first released at the end of October 2016.
It does feel like an Aussie James Bond film, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteLooks great visually on the Blu-ray, simply brilliant cinematography! The hang gliding scenes over Sydney Harbour; the thrilling car chase in the National Park...The best is, of course, the opening scenes at Ayers Rock which is just magnificent! You posted your review originally in July '16, now you've actually been there and even climbed up the Rock, does it make you appreciate the film or the location even more?
According to IMDb, the film was intended to star Bruce Lee! Do you reckon it would've been a bigger hit at the box office if Lee was in this?
The opening sequence was awesome and having been there i can appreciate it more knowing how steep the climb really is, how close to the edge they were and not just that but acting out the fight scene as well. Sadly the vast majority of people have probably never heard of the film but it does have a following.
DeleteBruce Lee may have been better cause Jimmy Wang Yu was apparently terrible to work with and got on the wrong side of pretty much everyone. Jimmy did the acting etc fine but you can sense that tension between the cast. Anyway, its a great Aussie flick and glad to finally have the bluray :)