Why So Blu?

The Heroic Trio / Executioners – The Criterion Collection (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

At a time in the 80s/90s, when Hong Kong cinema was making names out of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, Donnie Yen, and many others, it’s not as though women were left out of the conversation. Already stars in their own right, the combined talents of Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Michelle Yeoh led to two very stylish, comic book and fantasy film-influenced films, The Heroic Trio and its sequel, Executioners. Both movies originally released in 1993; director Johnnie To has been honored by the Criterion Collection once again, with a 4K UHD released for both films in one killer set, complete with new transfers, extra features, and more.

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The Heroic Trio:

Here’s the deal – Invisible Woman (Yeoh) is kidnapping newborn babies destined to be emperors. She’s delivering them to the Evil Master (Yen Shi-Kwan), who has his own plans for them. The police don’t know what to do, so the city’s only hope lies in the hands of a few powerful women. One is Tung, aka Wonder Woman (Mui), a noble crime fighter and the mild-mannered wife of a police inspector when out of costume. There’s also Chat, aka Thief Catcher (Cheung), a shotgun-toting bounty hunter who brings a bit of humor with her hard-boiled nature. Invisible Woman is conflicted for various reasons, but perhaps the three can unite to stop Evil Master.

The draw of a film like this is pretty straightforward, as you have three talented performers who interact, fight, and have fun with each other. On top of that, while To is still transitioning more into the focused, prolific auteur he would eventually evolve into, one cannot deny his efforts to deliver a heavily stylized action flick, clearly taking influence from 1989’s Batman, The Terminator, and other popular Hong Kong action efforts, among other things. The result is a splashy, fantastical adventure that hammers in on the concepts that make Hong Kong action flicks unique.

With each of these characters having some form of a tragic backstory, the melodrama that usually accompanies these films is in full form. Add to that a sense of darkness informed by the style of the city (which is like Hong Kong meets Gotham City) and the nature of the villains (they’re stealing babies!). With that in mind, the tonal whiplash may affect some not used to these types of movies, but the momentum never really lets up, so if we’re not adjusting to learning about these characters, it’s because it’s time for another fight, or some over-the-top scene involving the villains, or perhaps it’s time to focus on the inept men featured throughout these films.

Like many martial arts-focused films of this kind, trying to dive into the material and find deeper meaning is not really the point. Yes, there are some progressive ideas on display (though all three ladies have already proven themselves to be a big deal outside of this feature), but the movie primarily serves as a way to deliver an elaborately designed, somewhat ambitious action-adventure full of cool stunts and set-pieces. You can feel the glee in this one, as it aims to deliver a lot of fun and succeeds, heroically so, in fact.

 

Video:

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Layers: BD-100 for the 4K disc, BD-50 for the Blu-ray discs

Transfer Details: These digital restorations were created from the 35 mm original camera negatives and scanned in 4K resolution.

Clarity/Detail:  With a 4K presentation, The Heroic Trio looks as good as it ever has, overtaking whatever previous home releases were made available. Given the flashy nature of the film, there’s plenty to admire regarding the use of color, the costumes, and other facets better informed by the level of detail now made clearer. Still, as a film of a certain budget level, there is the thought that shining a light on obvious sets only highlights the limits of the production. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily speak to the transfer itself, as we’re still getting a solid presentation of what’s available here.

Depth: Depth is fine. The character spacing registers as well as it needs to, which is helpful for a cast using balletic martial arts moves to fly around screen.

Black Levels: Black levels do enough to add to the atmosphere, with no sign of significant crushing.

Color Reproduction: While not the most vibrant film out there, plenty is going on in distinguishing the various characters thanks to costume choices. And, as mentioned, the city comes alive thanks to its specific design choices, which are full of colors as well.

Flesh Tones: A good level of facial detail can be found whenever the action pauses.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

 

Audio:

Audio Format(s): Cantonese LPCM Mono, Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English

Transfer Details: The original monaural theatrical mix for the Heroic Trio was provided by Media Asia.

Dynamics: Between the music, the fighting sound effects, and the character dialogue, this is a full-sounding audio track that maximizes the auditorial experience one would want out of this.

Low-Frequency Extension: Sampling the 5.1 track, a decent amount of oomph comes with the moments involving the sub-woofer.

Surround Sound Presentation: Sampling the 5.1 track, it provides what’s necessary to capture the separation between channels.

Dialogue Reproduction: Everyone registers as they should here.

 

Executioners:

Arriving in the same year but aiming to pull a Road Warrior, Executioners abandons the previously seen comic book-inspired city in favor of a post-apocalyptic environment where the world is now ravaged by war and social strife. It’s also running short on water, which is part of what brings the Heroic Trio back together. That said, Wonder Woman is now a mother, having given up her crime-fighting days. Meanwhile, Invisible Girl is actively working to make up for her past misdeeds while under the influence of Evil Master. Thief Catcher, however, is still out to make a profit in exchange for her efforts.

While an obvious comedown from the first due to a striking change in environment and less emphasis on fun, there’s still good to see in this sequel effort from To and co-director Ching Siu-tung. While the production design is not as inspired, the action set-pieces are still a joy to watch. There’s creativity on display that feels not unlike how horror filmmakers do all they can to make a low-budget and limited means look like something special. Even with a homemade feel to some of what’s taking place, Executioners aims for an admirable level of scale.

Of course, having the continued presence of Mui, Yeoh, and Cheung goes a long way for a film that chose not to simply rest on doing more of the same. The dramatic shift in setting means adjusting in some ways, but the interactions between the stars, watching them come to blows or fight off others, and getting a general feel that this is a unique scenario all allow Executioners to feel like it has just enough to offer. Plus, Anthony Wong returns from the first film to play some sort of ridiculous Frankenstein/Quasimodo character that has an element of fun to go along with everything else here.

While seemingly even more of an effort to promote a heavy dose of style over substance (despite not being as splashy), Executioners gets by on bringing in so many involved from the previous film that what it lacks is made up for by enthusiasm of getting to pull off a hard-left turn like this.

 

Video:

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Layers: BD-100 for the 4K disc, BD-50 for the Blu-ray discs

Transfer Details: These digital restorations were created from the 35 mm original camera negatives and scanned in 4K resolution.

Clarity/Detail:  Largely the same as the first, though less vibrancy given the setting. Still, there’s enough clarity to take in the sparse locations and boxed-in indoor environments. It speaks to how the film looked when it was filmed, which, like it or not, means justice was done for a film full of visible wires, cheap apocalyptic sets, and other elements that give it a loose yet personal touch.

Depth: Depth is fine. The character spacing registers as well as it needs to, which is helpful for a cast using balletic martial arts moves to fly around screen.

Black Levels: Black levels do enough to add to the atmosphere, with no sign of significant crushing.

Color Reproduction: While it traffics in yellows, browns, and subtle greens, there’s enough here to really see what’s needed to pop, and when colors do surface, they are quite vibrant.

Flesh Tones: There’s a good level of facial detail to be found as the film focuses more on dirty Western faces.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

 

Audio:

Audio Format(s): Cantonese LPCM Mono, Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0

Subtitles: English

Transfer Details: The original monaural theatrical mix was provided by collectors dedicated to properly preserving Hong Kong cinema. The 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered by Media Asia.

Dynamics: Between the music, the fighting sound effects, and the character dialogue, this is a full-sounding audio track that maximizes the auditorial experience one would want out of this.

Low-Frequency Extension: Sampling the 5.1 track, a decent amount of oomph comes with the moments involving the sub-woofer.

Surround Sound Presentation: Sampling the 5.1 track, it provides what’s necessary to capture the separation between channels.

Dialogue Reproduction: Everyone registers as they should here.

 

Extras:

Sadly, the extra features section leaves much to be desired. While the two features presented are nice, they also have me wanting so much more. Thoughts from To, Yeoh, or Cheung would have been very welcome (Mui sadly passed away abruptly in 2003), let alone more thoughts on the films from the various experts in Hong Kong cinema who surely would have jumped at the opportunity. I can understand that circumstances make these requests difficult, but I still hoped for more. The extras can be found split between the two Blu-ray discs in this 3-disc set. The terrific cover art is by Alice X. Zhang.

Features Include:

Blu-ray Disc One – The Heroic Trio:

• Superhero Sisterhood (HD, 17:53) – Critic Samm Deighan discusses both To films, their meaning, the performers involved, and more. In English.
• Trailer (HD, 2:26)

Blu-ray Disc Two – Executioners:

• No Ordinary Actor (HD, 7:05) – Actor Anthony Wong discusses his Hong Kong acting career and role in the To films. In English.
• Trailer (HD, 2:36)

PLUS – An essay by critic Beatrice Loayza

 

Summary:

For those into the most fantastical and over-the-top side of Hong Kong cinema, there’s plenty to enjoy about The Heroic Trio films. Particularly at a time when superhero films have such a clear formula or visual approach, this is a really fun look back to when filmmakers were just making it up and figuring this stuff out to the best of their abilities, given what was available. The 4K presentation is pretty solid, with the video transfer doing what’s possible with what’s available. I wish there were more features but fans of this film or those interested still have a good amount of fun now open for them to experience with this set.

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