Region 4 Winners and Losers

    This disc appears to be nearly identical to the UK Region 2 release by Hong Kong Legends, the only difference being a few extra trailers for other releases from that company. The Region 2 release is also coded for Region 4.

    There was a Region 3 Hong Kong release from Mega Star. This had the film in 2.28:1 but not 16x9 enhanced. Apparently the picture quality was not as good as the Hong Kong Legends release, but it was not cropped. There were cast and crew biographies, a film synopsis and a theatrical trailer. There was no English soundtrack, but there was a Mandarin surround track. This disc is no longer available.

    A newer Region 3 release from IVL has two original trailers plus trailers for the first two sequels. It also includes photo galleries and some outtake footage. It is in the correct aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and is 16x9 enhanced, and also includes a Mandarin surround track and a Cantonese DTS track, both in 5.1. There is also a Cantonese 2.0 mono track. This disc is not available by itself, but comes as part of a three-disc set with the first two sequels. A 62 page booklet is included in the set.

    The German Region 2 release features an interactive DVD-ROM game and a German surround track, but no English subtitles.

    Unless you really want the DTS audio, the Hong Kong Legends release seems to be the best. Given that it is practically identical to the Region 2 release, there is no reason not to plump for the Region 4 version.