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Rumble in the Bronx AKA Hong faan kui (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Studio Canal Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (3rd April 2014). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the movie from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** No one brings more death-defying entertainment to the screen than fearless martial arts superstar Jackie Chan (Rush Hour 2). In this awe-inspiring and highly amusing action-thriller, Chan outdoes himself with the most eye-popping stunts ever filmed, each more amazing than the last. Chan plays Keong, a Hong Kong cop who gets more than he bargained for when he visits relatives in a crime-ridden section of New York. Soon Keong is brawling with Mafia kingpins and unleashing his lethal skills on unsuspecting thugs. From the first astonishing action sequence to the last, in which Chan is matched against a giant hovercraft in a deadly show of brute strength.
Video
Studio Canal have released the Jackie Chan action-fest "Rumble in the Bronx" onto Blu-ray in the United Kingdom using the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. The transfer is 1080p, and uses an AVC MPEG-4 encode. There is no doubt about it, this is the best I have ever seen this movie look, but Studio Canal have made a horrible mistake that really affects the quality of this transfer. The brightness and contrast levels are absolutely horrendous and far too high. This sometimes results in a softer feeling picture, and blacks can be far from deep, with the most noticeable scene for this problem being when the bad guys looking for their diamonds stop Jackie Chan in the stairwell of the apartment block. Apart from this major problem, the transfer is surprisingly good, especially when it comes to fine details and clarity. You can see every blemish in Jackie's face including faint marks from old injuries, and some of the long shots, such as when the van of colourful balls is pushed off the multi-story car park, shows decent background detail. There's some minor artefacting here and there, but no major scratches, so without the ridiculous brightness levels, this would be a pretty exceptional catalogue title - as it is though, you'll be disappointed. Of course, you can change the settings of your TV to compensate, but that is a personal choice, and one I didn't make. The disc is region B locked, and the feature is the shorter international version with previous BBFC cuts waived (89:35).
Audio
Two audio options have been included on this release: - English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - English LPCM 2.0 Stereo After pondering for a couple of brief moments as to why the surrounds were deftly quiet, I realised the LPCM track plays by default, which is an increasingly annoying thing some of the bigger companies have been doing. Still, when I knocked it over to the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, I was quite happy. The LFE and surrounds are well utilised throughout, and you feel every punch, kick, and ski to the nuts. Channel separation is strong and directionality technically fine, with environmental noises such as crowd noise and the supermarket being smashed up by the thugs making for an immersive, but far from reference quality, sound field. There's no damage to the track such as scratches or drop outs, and I noticed no signs of background hiss. No subtitles are available.
Extras
None whatsoever.
Overall
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