Region 4 Winners and Losers

    The UK-based Hong Kong Legends have released two editions of the film in Region 2, a Special Collector's Edition and the Platinum Edition. I have twice come across throw-away comments that the Platinum Edition video transfer is not as good as the original single disc Special Collector's Edition, but I have found no detailed explanation of the differences. The single-disc version included the following extras not found on the Platinum Edition:

• Animated Biography Showcase for Yuen Woo Ping and Donnie Yen
• Two Interview Galleries for Yuen Woo Ping and Donnie Yen

    The single disc edition is also apparently coded for All Regions. The Platinum Edition appears to be identical to the new Region 4.

    The US Region 1 comes from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, and is of the American cut of the film, so about four minutes are missing and it has a new score by James L. Venable. This includes interviews with Quentin Tarantino and Donnie Yen, as well as a medley of the score from the film. Given that the film has been re-edited for Americans, I could not recommend this release, and the relative lack of extras also counts against it. It is also missing the DTS soundtrack.

    Another US release comes from Tai Seng, reportedly coded for All Regions. While a widescreen transfer, it is not 16x9 enhanced and has only mono soundtracks.

    An All Regions release from Deltamac in Hong Kong has a transfer that is not 16x9 enhanced, and just stereo soundtracks.

    On that basis, the Hong Kong Legends edition seems to be the best available. Whether the reported differences in video quality between the single-disc and Platinum disc editions are material or not, the video quality on the latter is still excellent and the extras package is superior. You could not go wrong with the new Region 4 release.