You also have the ability to “bookmark” scenes by pressing the GREEN button and return to them by selecting them on the timeline. It lists the index chapters for the film and the commentary track, and you can also switch to the commentary track from here. This is a timeline that shows your current position in the film and you can jump through it using the arrows on your remote. You can open it from the pop-up menu, or by pressing the RED button on your remote. The one unique feature on this Blu-ray when compared to the DVD is Criterion’s Timeline. Theatrical Trailer, which, as one might expect from a Miramax ad campaign, doesn’t really do a good job of capturing the film. It’s interesting but runs only a 12-minutes and offers very little in the end.
The two tour the locations used in Chungking Express and talk about their work, including what would have been their newest film at the time, Fallen Angels, talking a lot about their style. Unfortunately the only other big feature comes from a 1996 episode of Moving Pictures, presenting an interview with Wong Kar-wai and director of photography, Christopher Doyle. He also enjoys pointing out locations and some of the unique features of Hong Kong (such as the escalator that plays a fairly big role in the film.) It’s informative and I’m glad I listened to it, but I can’t say it really added that much more to my appreciation of the film and in all I was a little let down by it.
He gives a decent analysis of the film and offers some interesting facts about the production, like how the original story was to have the four characters crossing paths constantly throughout (shooting schedules didn’t allow that,) and also gets into the careers of the actors, even the minor ones. Rayns thankfully keeps everything going and while I assume he has notes it doesn’t really sound like he’s reading from them, though at times it sounds like he’s trying to keep up with his own train of thought. I enjoy Rayns’ tracks overall (I especially liked his track for Vampyr) but I found this one to be just an average track. There is an audio commentary by Tony Rayns, recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2008. I have simply copied the supplement section of my DVD review for this review. Other than one feature which is exclusive to all of Criterion’s Blu-ray releases the supplements are the same across both the DVD and Blu-ray version. There’s more that could have been placed on here, like deleted scenes that can be found on YouTube, which makes the release a little more frustrating. All of that makes the small selection of supplements (all of two of them, not counting the trailer and booklet) a bit bizarre. This was a fairly big release for Criterion, one that had been on fan’s wish lists for years, and not only would Criterion release it on DVD but it would also be one of their first Blu-ray titles. Grabs have been downscaled somewhat but should provide an idea of the image quality.) (Screen captures below have been provided by DVD Beaver. But, in the end, the Blu-ray presents the strongest picture for the film. The DVD transfer is incredibly strong, and comparing it to the Blu-ray really only shows how strong it is. There is most certainly far more detail in the Blu-ray’s presentation, and film grain is more prominent, Criterion trying to keep the natural look of the film as best they can (which I and others definitely appreciate.) It’s also a much smoother, natural looking presentation, lacking any artifacts.Ĭomparing the two is unfair since Blu-ray has far more in the way of technological advantages than DVD. Where the Blu-ray wins out most obviously is in sharpness and detail.
#CHUNGKING EXPRESS FILM TV#
The Blu-ray on further inspection is still an improvement over the DVD, though the improvements are not going to be as obvious as other Blu-ray titles compared with their DVD counterparts (unless your TV is in the 50” range.) I can’t really detect a true difference in colours between the two, as both present rather vibrant, bright colours, and both contain nice deep blacks. This isn’t a knock against the Blu-ray, though, but rather real praise for Criterion’s DVD transfers, which upscaled do look better than most DVD transfers. They’re transfers are at heart the same thing, though it was obviously downscaled for the DVD release. I think what shocked me was at first glance there doesn’t appear to be much of a difference between the hi-def Blu-ray and the standard-def DVD.
#CHUNGKING EXPRESS FILM 1080P#
The image is presented in 1080p and has been enhanced for widescreen televisions. Criterion’s Blu-ray version of Chungking Express presents the film in the director’s preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1 on this dual-layer disc.
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