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Bullet in the Head
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 3:01 pm
by Finch
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
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
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 3:26 pm
by Finch
New to Arrow disc extras:
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
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 8:54 pm
by colinr0380
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!
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2026 11:30 pm
by Finch
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2026 3:47 am
by therewillbeblus
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
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2026 9:29 am
by tenia
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.
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2026 12:38 pm
by Finch
I remember the POW scene being pretty harrowing. My order of this and Magellan and Ping Pong is being held up by Ping Pong (I briefly forgot not to add 88 Films' titles to a bundle and of course they delayed it by a month) so I'm not getting a chance to revisit for a few more weeks. It's always been a favorite of mine, second perhaps only to The Killer.
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2026 1:11 pm
by Mr Sausage
Oh Bullet in the Head is nuts even for this director. It’s a crime film, a war film, and, somehow, a Hollywood musical (with the songs elided or replaced by violence). It’s exhausting to experience, freely plagiarizes from popular films, is barely coherent, yet somehow makes virtues of those flaws. I don’t know how to explain it. Woo seems on a mission to test the limits of his own vitality, layering themes, stories, characters, and genres overtop each other until the film becomes a palimpsest of Hollywood as seen through the cracked lense of Hong Kong. The movie never even tries for authenticity, like it’s about how Woo sees how Hollywood sees the world. I can’t say it’s my favourite Woo just because it’s so punishing to watch, but I’d never dispute someone who thought it was his best. It’s a masterpiece.
The movie was originally planned as the third Better Tomorrow film before Woo and Tsui fell out. In a fit of pique, Tsui decided to make that movie himself, preempting Woo. I don’t think A Better Tomorrow III is one of Tsui’s best, let alone better than the first entry, but it’s fascinating to compare it to Woo’s version of the same basic story. And while Tsui does a poor job aping Woo’s style, he does make his film into a rebuke of Woo’s hypermasculinity even as he plays the action movie conventions to exhausting extremes.
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 1:56 am
by Finch
It's possible I wasn't in the right frame of mind revisiting the film today even though I'd been looking forward to it. I found it too grim even when it's full of striking images like the top down shot from the descending helicopter as Simon Yam cradles Jacky Cheung in his arms. Woo has never been subtle but Cheung in particular is like fingernails on chalkboard. Tony Leung gives the one resonant performance in this thing. I'm honestly considering returning my limited edition to Orbit for store credit. I do want to see the longer festival cut first though and sit with it for a bit. Maybe after the triple loss of both my parents and my dog in the past eight months, I just can't with this kind of gruelling experience anymore. I might actually put Last Hurrah for Chivalry second after The Killer and Hard Boiled in third for rewatch value.
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 2:03 am
by therewillbeblus
I'm sorry for your losses, Finch. I can see how a movie like this would be triggering. It's brutal
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 2:27 am
by denti alligator
Damn, I’m so sorry Finch. Difficult personal experiences absolutely make some films (or music or poems) hard to engage with.
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 3:24 am
by Finch
Thank you guys. It's been a rough last few months. Things are looking up a little but it'll take time to come to terms with the loss, and I found a lot to sympathize with in the deciding on what to watch thread. I'm increasingly more hesitant to blind buy stuff and even before all those family losses, I found myself selling films that are known for their abrasiveness. Got rid of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and others, for example, in the horror genre. If Fire Walk With Me didn't have that comforting last scene, it might have been too much for me at this point. Lost Highway and Blue Velvet are non starters and I wouldn't even contemplate owning something like Salo or Audition, despite their very obvious merits.
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 4:21 am
by dwk
Finch sorry to hear about your loses. I lost my mother in 2022 to cancer and then my father last September to complications from a stroke. To top it off, back in April, I got the news that my dog has liver failure, so I have no idea how much time I've got left with him. (To say that the last decade has been rough for me and my family would be an understatement.)
My mother was key to my love of movies, so it was some time before I got back into them at all. Something that was probably aided by my own health issues. Spending 50 days in a hospital bed gives you plenty of time to watch films. (My mom was a big reader too, and since her death I've found it much harder to read. My concentration just isn't there.)
Re: Bullet in the Head
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 7:12 am
by nicolas
Very sorry to hear about your losses, Finch and dwk!