Reversible sleeve and double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
Six postcard-sized reproduction artcards
Collectors' perfect-bound booklet featuring new writing on the film by critics Priscilla Page and Sean Gilman, archival writing by critic Arnaud Bordas and an excerpt from an interview with John Woo conducted by Stéphane Moïssakis
DISC ONE - THEATRICAL CUT (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the Hong Kong Theatrical Cut
Original lossless Cantonese mono and Dolby Atmos audio, and lossless English mono audio
Optional newly translated English subtitles for the Cantonese audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English audio
Brand new audio commentary by film critic and Hong Kong cinema expert Frank Djeng
Deleted and extended scenes
Alternate boardroom ending
Alternate English opening and closing credits
Cantonese and English trailers
Image gallery
DISC TWO - FESTIVAL CUT (BLU-RAY)
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the Festival Cut
Original Cantonese lossless mono audio
Optional English subtitles
Extended Festival Cut, including footage previously exclusive to the Theatrical Cut
Option to play with the alternate boardroom ending
DISC THREE - EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
Brilliance with a Bullet, a brand new interview with director John Woo
The Long-Suffering Siu-Chun, a brand new interview with actor Fennie Yuen
Head Case!, a brand new interview with actor Waise Lee
Army of One, a brand new interview with regular John Woo collaborator Terence Chang
Apocalypse Woo, a brand new interview with editor David Wu
Tumultuous Times, a brand new interview with associate producer Catherine Lau
Hong Kong Confidential: Inside Bullet in the Head, a brand new interview with author and Hong Kong film expert Grady Hendrix
Apocalypse How, a brand new interview with author and historian Dr Lars Laamann
Archival interviews with John Woo, David Wu, actors Jacky Cheung, Waise Lee, Simon Yam, stunt coordinator Lau Chi-Ho and associate producer Patrick Leung
Deleted and extended scenes
Extended festival cut
Option to play festival cut with alternate boardroom ending
Archival interviews with John Woo, David Wu, actors Jacky Cheung, Waise Lee, Simon Yam, stunt coordinator Lau Chi-Ho and associate producer Patrick Leung
A really interesting non-American take on the Vietnam war. Though of course the title is alluding to the key scene in the film, which is a Russian roulette sequence that is obviously lifted straight out of The Deer Hunter. Though there is a bit of a twist on the outcome!
This movie is nuts. Woo essentially plays the narrative like a road movie that churns through every type and trope of crime pic before turning to The Deer Hunter, and we're only halfway done by then! It's as if Woo wanted to make ten different short films and spliced them together with violence as the glue. At certain points the heightened melodrama wears thin, but these moments are short-lived in the margins of indulgence. Hard Boiled has more memorably choreographed set pieces, but this might be even more impressive on a technical level of filmmaking excess
I saw the movie in theaters last October and the big action scene in its middle ended up getting the whole crowd laughing, because it's just an endless barrage of escalations. By that time, the movie is only halfway through and has already changed 5 times of tone and genre. I can only imagine how many more shifts the 2h45 cut had.
I found myself liking the movie more than when I first saw it 20 years ago though, but I forgot how shifting it was.
