Police Story 3: Supercop (警察故事 III：超級警察) is a 1992 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed by Stanley Tong Gwai-Lai, and produced by Willie Chan Chi-Keung and Edward Tang, with distribution by Golden Harvest and Golden Way Films Ltd. The film starred Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Kenneth Tsang, Yuen Wah, Bill Tung Biu and Kelvin Wong Siu, with screenplay writers Edward Tang, Fibe Ma Mei-Ping and Lee Wai-Yee, and music composed by Richard Lo, Jonathan Lee, Chan Oi-Chun and Chow Kwok-Yi. The film was theatrically released in July 1992 for Hong Kong.
Note: As I’ve purchased the film a while back, this is more akin to a ‘delayed unboxing’ post but the photos were sorted at the time of its arrival.
Background:
“IN THE CRIME CAPITOL OF THE WORLD, THERE’S NEVER A COP AROUND WHEN YOU NEED ONE. BUT WHEN THIS COP’S AROUND, ONE IS ALL YOU NEED.
To infiltrate a drug cartel, police Inspector Chan Ka Kui (Jackie Chan, Rush Hour, Rumble in the Bronx) goes undercover in a Chinese prison. There, he earns the trust of Panther (Yuen Wah, Kung Fu Hustle), a cartel member, by breaking him out of prison. With the help of another undercover agent (Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), they travel to Hong Kong and join up with Panther’s gang. Ka Kui is accepted by the gang’s leader (Ken Tsang), but his operation is jeopardized when Ka Kui’s girlfriend (Maggie Cheung, Hero) accidentally reveals his true identity.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, April 2023.
It’s been half a decade since I watched the first two instalments of the Police Story series which were my first entry to Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong filmography, and it’s took me this long to finally watch the third instalment Supercop.
This is an interesting one because it’s Jackie Chan taking his police role outside of Hong Kong to other parts of Asia like China and Malaysia which is different but offers new ways to deliver the action and stunt work. The most famous stunt from what I can see is the helicopter sequence in the final act, but the zipline at the start was pretty fun to watch.
Michelle Yeoh is also in the film and this is also the first time I’ve seen her in the Hong Kong Asian Cinema scene and I’m well aware of her involvement with the In the Line of Duty series as well as a few other noteworthy films that Golden Harvest produced. She’s really good in the film and her stunts were pretty cool. I enjoyed this instalment, there are some pacing issues during the middle portion but the premise and final act was pretty good.
UK distributor Eureka Entertainment acquired the home video rights for Police Story 3: Supercop and were the first to release the film on 4K Ultra HD which was part of a trilogy box set with the previous two films, however UK distributor 88 Films also acquired the rights but for the United States and Canada territories. This does lead to a debate on which version to consider, especially considering the 4K disc is all region, and the big differences come from the colour timing and framing of the authoring work.
Deluxe Limited Edition Contents:
88 Films released Police Story 3: Supercop for the United States & Canada territories only and is one of their few releases that weren’t released in the UK (due to Eureka Entertainment owning the rights), and they went all-out with the packaging which is similar to Dragons Forever.
This deluxe limited edition release is presented with a rigid box featuring newly illustrated artwork by Sean Longmore, a 4K Ultra HD Amaray case housing the discs, 6 lobby card reproductions, a double-sided poster featuring the original Hong Kong poster artwork and the original Japanese poster artwork, and an 80-page perfect-bound book featuring two write-ups. The articles covered are ‘Meet the cop that can’t be stopped! An Interview with John Wakefield’ by Matthew Edwards and ‘Threenage Kicks: The Joy of Supercop’ by C.J. Lines.
The box art is clean with no ratings/information on all sides, with the wrap-around card covering the information, synopsis and specs. The artwork on the Amaray cases (both covers) do include information and specs on the back. The deluxe limited edition 4K Ultra HD release retailed for $44.95, with a standard edition 4K Ultra HD release followed suit not long after.
In a grey area, 88 Films did offer this release on their online store so UK owners were able to get their hands on the set including myself, which the price did include VAT to cover the import tax.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Slipcase featuring illustrated artwork by Sean Longmore
- 4K Amaray case packaging
- Info sheet for specification details
- 6 Lobby Card Reproductions
- Double-sided foldout poster
- 80-page illustrated book featuring new and archive articles by Matthew Edwards & C.J. Lines.
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 25th April 2023
The deluxe limited edition release for Police Story 3: Supercop contains the film on a single 4K Ultra HD disc and single Blu-ray disc. All the discs were encoded and authored by Fidelity in Motion on behalf of 88 Films.
This release features two versions of the film; the 96 min Original Hong Kong cut in Cantonese audio with newly-translated English subtitles and the classic English dub, and the 91 min International cut (known as Supercop) in English audio (using the classic English dub) with English SDH subtitles, both using a ‘brand-new’ 4K restoration from the Original Camera Negative. Various Cantonese audio tracks are included on both 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray discs; with original mono, a home video mix, and Dolby Atmos.
The 4K Ultra HD discs feature Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the 4K Ultra HD disc is playable to 4K players of any region. The regions for the Blu-ray disc however are locked to players set to B.
4K Ultra HD Specs:
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: Cantonese Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1) Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Cantonese ‘Home Video Mix’ DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English ‘Classic Dub’ DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 US International Cut: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 2.35:1 aspect ratio Dolby Vision HDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-100 |
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: Cantonese Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 5.1/7.1 Compatible) Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Cantonese ‘Home Video Mix’ DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 English ‘Classic Dub’ DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 US International Cut: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition format 2.35:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | A |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Cinema Expert Frank Djeng
- Hong Kong Trailer (04:05 runtime)
- English Trailer (02:10 runtime)
- US Theatrical Teaser (01:39 runtime)
- US Theatrical Trailer (01:38 runtime)
- US TV Spots (x7) (02:49 runtime)
- US Video Screener Promo (01:37 runtime)
- Japanese Teaser (00:41 runtime)
- Guy Laroche 1984 commercial with Jackie Chan & Michelle Yeoh (00:33 runtime)
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Cinema Expert Frank Djeng
- Flying High – Interview with Jackie Chan (19:21 runtime)
- Dancing With Death – Interview with Michelle Yeoh (23:12 runtime)
- The Stuntmaster General – Interview with Stanley Tong (19:33 runtime)
- The Fall Guy – Interview with Ken Lo (21:45 runtime)
- Stanley Tong Interview (2004) (17:16 runtime)
- Outtakes and Behind the Scenes (51:33 runtime)
- Hong Kong Trailer (04:05 runtime)
- English Trailer (02:10 runtime)
- US Theatrical Teaser (01:39 runtime)
- US Theatrical Trailer (01:38 runtime)
- US TV Spots (x7) (02:49 runtime)
- US Video Screener Promo (01:37 runtime)
- Japanese Teaser (00:41 runtime)
- Guy Laroche 1984 commercial with Jackie Chan & Michelle Yeoh (00:33 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Police Story 3: Supercop is available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray by 88 Films in the United States and Canada. The UK license is with Eureka Entertainment which is also available on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray.
The deluxe limited edition 4K Ultra HD release is no longer in print, but the standard edition 4K Ultra HD release is available to order from different retailers.
The Normanic Vault 
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