NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were obtained directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Let's start right off with a quote from an old interview with Christopher Doyle:
We began the interview looking over some DVDs of Chris Doyle's work with Wong Kar-wai. He picked up the Hong Kong import of Days of Being Wild, their first collaboration. "You have to get the Japanese version," he remarked. "The color is wrong on this one. It's not green enough. It was all green, but then they kind of 'corrected' it when I wasn't there. They took away the green because they thought I didn't know what I was doing."

NOTE: (Thanks Jason):  Some comment I like to talk about is the "green haze" (very noticeable) on Mega Stars release of Days of Being Wild. If I remember correctly, the green haze is there on purpose even when I watch it in cinema when the movie is first released. It is also pointed out by WKW in some magazine (again if I remember correctly) that the green haze all over the movie is a style to make it a look of "old" so to simulate the 60's feelings.

Like In the Mood For Love, this new 4K restoration on Blu-ray shows a heavy green cast over the visuals. Bathed in jade-green hues (the clock capture below shows it most prominently) - it truly looks painterly and advances significantly in terms of detail and texture. Some viewers always want 'true' colors - but this is more akin to impressionist art conveying a feeling and the heavy green is accurate. Whether you like it or not, this is how, I feel, it was meant to look. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate.

NOTE: We have added 32 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

Regarding the 'Alternate' cut - it states: "This digital transfer of a 35 mm print of Days of Being Wild features an altered prologue sequence and different edits during the final scenes of the film." and amounts to a curiosity as the quality is poor - plenty of marks and damage in the 'alternate' opening and the transfer, itself is not premium - and has burned-in English and Chinese (simplified) subtitles and lossy audio.

The audio for the feature is via an uncompressed linear PCM mono track in the original Cantonese. The score is by Terry Chan with a Cantonese cover of Anita Mui performing Jungle Drums, Los Indios Tabajaras and some Xavier Cugat. Overall it is clear and more consistent - within the boundaries of the original production. Criterion add optional English subtitles (see samples below) on their Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

As well as the 'Alternate Version' there is an 11-minutes worth of edited footage from a 2005 appearance at the National Film Theatre in London where cinematographer Christopher Doyle discusses his craft and recalls his work on Days of Being Wild. There is also a short piece entitled 'Maggie Cheung Man Yuk' - illustrated excerpts from an August 1994 British Film Institute audio interview with Maggie Cheung features the actor discussing her work in Days of Being Wild. Lastly, is a trailer for the film. The World of Wong Kar Wai Blu-ray set has deluxe packaging, including a perfect-bound, French-fold book featuring lavish photography, an essay by critic John Powers, a director’s note, and six collectible art prints.

Themes of identity and longing permeate Wong's Days of Being Wild. The director is a master of tone - establishing it, setting it and maintaining it. Fringe people - restless - drifting inhabit the screen - seeking but never finding - interspersed with lush tropical forests and empty, lonely spaces. Another masterpiece and an essential addition to the World of Wong Kar Wai Blu-ray set. I LOVED seeing this again looking as intended - wow.  

Gary Tooze

***

ADDITION (Blu-ray - September 08'): As reviewers we seem to be in a constant battle to separate grain, dirt and noise. Days of Being Wild was shot with stock that doesn't support a dramatically detailed image. It will never look that way no matter how much we'd like. This new single-layered Blu-ray from Mega Star (film taking up 21.78 Gig) seems to reproduce the existing heavy grain 'feel' as well as one could expect. Fans who may be expecting brilliance of color and crystal clear sharpness will surely be disappointed - and never satisfied with the way this film will always look. A big positive is that it seems to maintain the 'green-ness' that cinematographer Chris Doyle was talking about at the very bottom of these comments. This Blu-ray still seems to carry some dirt over from the source but overall I thought the representation was better than I have seen so far (on my system). It's little things I noticed this time - like the luster of Maggie Cheung's hair and sweat on skin.

The audio (DTS HD?) is quite a bit superior to the SD-DVDs - if you go by my ear. It's full of life, very clean and at times spreads some buoyancy with the encapsulating music wonderfully presented. This positively enhanced my viewing. Like the image, the subtitles are, likewise, imperfect - at times the translation seems very awkward ("Do you bring girls home oftenly?" is still there with many other faux-pas) and they can move at a rapid clip for standard reading. The film though doesn't project an extensive use of dialogue (more imagery focused I think) and I wouldn't say this ruined my viewing but it is a definite flaw.

No extras save some trailers (two in HD). No advanced supplements at all.

It comes down to the fact that of Blu-ray having different missteps than the other releases. I rarely notice PAL speedup but I did with Maggie's voice and the music on both the Tartan releases. The Kino is brightened - The Scholar edition a total mess. I know there are other SD-DVDs out there of Days of Being Wild but those below are all we have compared.

I've come to the conclusion that there may never be a definitively 'perfect' digital representation of this film... although we can still hope. Mega Star's Blu-ray gave me my most enjoyable viewing of Wong Kar Wai's film to date - whether it is the most faithful to theatrical is anyone's guess. I didn't see it in the cinema but suspect that it may very well be. I hope the, clickable, screen caps below give you an indication of how it will look on your system. You may find, like I did, that the inherent grain can be very ingratiating - enough to forget the noise and dirt - ohh it's there - (or at least pretend it is grain as well). And the subtitle grammar errors? - well, I've seen it so many times - I don't require them as much. That's just me though.