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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Ban wo chuang tian ya" or Wild Search")

 

Directed by Ringo Lam
Hong Kong 1989

 

Chow Yun-fat gives a career best performance in Wild Search, his third collaboration with director Ringo Lam (City on Fire, Full Contact).

Yun-fat plays Lau, a widowed police officer investigating a gang of gun runners. When a shootout with the criminals leaves a woman dead, and her daughter the only surviving witness, Lau must protect the young girl from the ruthless gang that wants her dead.

A loose reimagining of Peter Weir’s 1985 film Witness, Wild Search showcases Ringo Lam’s often underrated versatility as a director. With beautiful cinematography by Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs) and a dreamy score by Lowell Lo, Eureka Classics is proud to present Wild Search in its UK debut on Blu-ray.

***

The police are staking out a Hong Kong flat, waiting to catch some major gun-dealers. While the suppliers are conducting their deal, they move in. Both buyers are killed in the gunfire, but not their young daughter. The suppliers escape, and as their ruthless boss covers his tracks, he goes after the girl, the only witness.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 18th, 1989

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: Eureka - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

Bonus Captures:

Distribution Eureka - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:38:58.349        
Video

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 40,766,719,137 bytes

Feature: 33,532,275,648 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

LPCM Audio Chinese 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
DUB:

LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Interview:

LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
Commentary:

LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Eureka

 

1.85:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 40,766,719,137 bytes

Feature: 33,532,275,648 bytes

Video Bitrate: 34.93 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
The Doyen of Dubs – a brand new and extensive interview with voice over artist Simon Broad, who has recorded English dubs for hundreds of Asian films and for many years was the chosen voice actor for Chow Yun Fat’s in all of his films that had English language releases. Audio plays over Wild Serach feature
Archival interview with actor Roy Cheung (17:11)
PLUS: A LIMITED-EDITION collector’s booklet featuring new writing by David West (NEO Magazine)

Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju) [First Print Run of 2000 copies only]


Blu-ray Release Date:
July 19th, 2021
Transparent Blu-ray Case inside Limited Edition O-Card slipcase

Chapters 10

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Eureka Blu-ray (July 2021): Eureka have transferred Ringo Lam's Wild Search to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "High-Definition transfer from the original film elements". The 1080P is fairly modest, a shade dull and soft but consistent and reasonably clean. It's a very decent HD presentation probably very accurate to its theatrical roots. Which is all we can ask. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate.

NOTE: We have added 35 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Eureka use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original Cantonese with the option of an English DUB - that is not fatally poor. Wild Search has plenty of aggressive scenes with massive gunfire that come through authentically flat but with intense depth and a score by Lowell Lo (John Woo's The Killer, Ringo Lam's Twin Dragons with Jackie Chan etc.), sounding clean with consistent dialogue in the uncompressed transfer. Eureka offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Eureka Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) who has done some wonderful commentaries - notably in Johnnie To's Throw Down, PTU and Tsui Hark's Time and Tide. He discusses Chow Yun-fat dubbing his own voice (as did Kwong Leung "Tommy" Wong) in Wild Search (Roy Cheung not DUBing his own voice here but, as a tidbit, providing the voice of Maggie Cheung's husband in Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood For Love!), the famous Volar nightclub in Hong Kong, that the entire film being shot on location, Chow's career, working with John Woo - using his eyes showcasing his intent, as well as the films of Elaine Jin, Cherie Chung (Peking Opera Blues), Cheuk Yan Chan (the little girl - later playing the role of Wonder Woman in Johnnie To 1993 'The Heroic Trio'), the subtle romance in the film conflicting with the intense violence, Ringo's explosive action style with bloody violence, how much Hong Kong has changed since the production and much more. It's filled with interesting details. There is also a brand new and extensive interview with voice over artist Simon Broad hosted by Frank Djeng. It is entitled The Doyen of Dubs and runs about 70-minutes and plays over the Wild Search feature. Simon has recorded English dubs for hundreds of Asian films and for many years was the chosen voice actor for Chow Yun Fat’s in all of his films that had English language releases. He discusses his work with director Godfrey Ho and many Ninja films that have become very kitschy with a cult following. He comments on losing his accent (achieving a neutral expression - American being being popular than British), doing commercials, working in The Philippines, Indonesia etc. I thought it was very interesting and he is very likeable. Eureka include an archival, 17-minute, interview with, perennial villain, actor Roy Cheung and the package has limited editions of a collector’s booklet featuring new writing by David West and an O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré.

Ringo Lam's Wild Search is an above average police actioner in the 80's Hong Kong style. The violence may be less-extreme than its contemporaries focusing on the characters. It seems restrained and has a decent story mimicking Peter Weir’s 1985 film Witness. There are some extreme stunts and a sweet, love-triangle, romance while capturing the glamour of Hong Kong. I did enjoy it. Nice to see this genre of film getting a release from Eureka Blu-ray and the package augmented with the supplements (commentary, impressive case etc.) Great stuff - let's have more!

Gary Tooze

 


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Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Eureka - Region 'B' - Blu-ray


 


 

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