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Synopsis
How do you top the first two In The Line of Duty films? Easy… bigger explosions, wilder fights and even crazier stunts! This time, two Japanese thieves have fled to Hong Kong with a tough J-cop (Cynthia Khan, Blade of Fury) hot on their heels. It's up to Hong Kong's finest to stop the villains before too much damage is done!
Picture 8/10
The third film In the Line of Duty series (and in 88 Films’ respective box set), Brandy Yuen’s and Arthur Wong's In the Line of Duty III, is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on a dual-layer disc. The 1080p/24hz high-definition presentation is sourced from a new 2K restoration performed by Fortune Star.
As with the previous two films in the set, the results are strong, though held back somewhat by a couple of things. Colors again lean icy with a slight teal slant that doesn’t feel right, but at least this time, as opposed to the previous two films, the colors don’t come off all that pasty, and the nighttime sequences still show solid range and depth in the shadows. Some minor filtering looks to have also been applied at varying degrees, yet the image doesn’t come off waxy looking, as Royal Warriors could. Grain still looks pretty good, and the finer details are still sharp, even in smokey nighttime sequences.
Again, as with the other films, the restoration work has been rather thorough, with no apparent signs of damage remaining, and the encode looks good. I’ve never seen the movie before this, but based on my experience with other Hong Kong films of the period on home video, I have a hard time believing the film has ever come off looking as good as it does here. Despite the little hiccups still present, I still found it to be a strong presentation.
Audio 6/10
88 Films includes two audio tracks, each in DTS-HD MA 2.0 monaural. The first, a Cantonese dub, is the better of the two, though it has limitations. It features a decent level of dynamic range but does get a little edgy during the louder moments. The English audio dub sounds decent but is flatter; the dialogue and action are all on the same level. Neither shows any heavy damage, however.
Extras 6/10
As with the other discs in the set, 88 Films includes an audio commentary featuring Frank Djeng, though this time, he is accompanied by Michael Worth (who also shows up in the track for the next film, following the two taking a sushi break). The two get into how the film is the first official one to use the In the Line of Duty title and get a little into the backstory behind that before talking about the film’s crueler and more violent nature (with surprisingly graphic nudity, too). This leads to a discussion about how the movie reflects the period and other films that fall into a category they call “gun-fu.” Darker American films like Tony Scott’s Beverly Hills Cop II also come up. As expected, they also get a little into Cynthia Khan and her career, even comparing her films to Michelle Yeoh and her previous ones. It trickles down a bit towards the end. However, they still throw in some fun bits, like pointing out how the same airport appears in the first four films of the series and naming the cameos (that feel out of place, as they point out), while also throwing in a funny little story about a visit they made to Shaw Studios. It might be the weakest track in the set, yet I still found some good information here.
88 also includes an archival interview with producer/actor/D&B Studio founder John Sham, recorded by Frédéric Ambroisine. The edit and overall presentation of the interview appear to be tied more to being a feature made for Yes, Madam!, and while there is discussion around that film, the interview ends up being a career overview in the end, with Sham talking about his early documentary work for television in Canada before getting into the events that led to him eventually founding D&B Studio. His film career started after meeting Tsui Hark and Ann Hui after moving to Hong Kong, and he recounts here his work with them and other filmmakers since. He also shares stories about first discovering Michelle Yeoh and recounts some of the essential films he was involved with, including I Love Maria (aka Roboforce). It’s a fun interview and runs a relatively brisk 26 minutes.
The disc then closes with a few trailers (the Hong Kong one and two English ones, the former of which is in a fairly rough condition, with all three giving away a lot of the action in the film) and the English opening and closing credits.
A step down after the impressive collection of material found on Yes, Madam! but enjoyable to go through nonetheless.
Closing
Not as strong as the previous disc in terms of supplements, but the presentation still comes out looking sharp
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