Crime Story

I experienced some problems with playback on this Region 2 DVD from Hong Kong Legends. My stand-alone player would freeze on the menu screen, while my friend's played the disc no problem, but only in full-screen such that, in the end, I had to watch it on my iBook laptop for something closer to the proper widescreen experience.

As it is, the transfer is not one of Hong Kong Legends' best, with many scenes showing considerable grain. Given the absence of a Mandarin language track, as is usually included on HKL discs, along with Cantonese and English dubs, and the fact that the film was in distribution limbo for some time prior to this DVD release, this might be put down to HKL having fewer, poorer quality materials to work from than is usually the case.

As such, the DVD needs a good extras package more than most HKL product. Thankfully it gets one.

Bey Logan's feature length commentary is one of his best yet, enthusiastic, informative and brimming with background detail on all aspects of the film, from the cast and crew, to the disagreements between Wong and Chan over the course the film should take, to the differences between the Hong Kong, Taiwanese and (dubbed) Miramax versions.

One piece of particularly noteworthy background is the use of The Walled City as a locale within the film. Through historical accident this small district remained under Chinese jurisdiction throughout Colonial rule with the consequence that, between the establishment of the Communist regime in 1949 and its ultimate demolition around the time of Crime Story, it was literally a lawless no-man's land.

Other extras include the UK and Hong Kong trailers for the film, trailers for The Young Master, Project A Part 2 and My Lucky Stars (the former two for what appears to be US releases on the back of Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon, etc) and interviews with screenwriter Teddy Chen (7 minutes) and action director/stunt arranger Bruce Law (25 minutes), in which they talk about their respective crafts and experiences of the industry and the film itself, illustrated by representative and scene-setting film clips.