Police Story 4: First Strike (Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits) - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Police Story 4: First Strike (Jackie Chan's Breakout Hits)



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
It’s only now in my middle age that I realize just how badly the American film production companies treated Jackie Chan’s breakout hits in the 90s. Much like Rumble in the Bronx, Police Story 4: First Strike was HEAVILY altered for the American audiences, cutting nearly 20 minutes out of the movie to change the film up from an action oriented spy movie, into a super fast paced action movie that utilized a brand new dubbing and a new score turn it into a slapstick comedy. Sure, there was plenty of comedy in the Hong Kong cut, but it goes from adding to the plot, to BEING the plot if you know what I mean. Luckily for us, as the 4th film in the Jackie Chan’s Breakout Hits box set, Arrow had gone out of their way to include new remasters for both the International cut (known as Jackie Chan’s First Strike) AND the original Hong Kong cut, along with a ton of juicy extras.

Watching First Strike, I have to admit that I feel nostalgia for the 80s and 90s action movies. We seem to have hit a cultural dead zone since about 2007-2009, but I still think that Hong Kong action movies during the 80s and 90s were PEAK for their genre. To this day the amount of sheer physicality and passion that went into making these movies is unparalleled. And while First Strike is a mid tier Jackie Chan film, it is light years better than 90% of the action slop that we get shoveled down our throats the last 15 years or so.

Jackie Chan plays Hong Kong cop, Jackie Chan (yes, it was super common back then to have Jackie Chan playing a fictional version of himself) and has been tasked by his superiors (played by Bill Tung, a staple of Jackie’s Hong Kong productions) to retrieve a nuclear device that is being sold by a defector. Linking up with the new Russian FSB, Jackie and his cohorts try and apprehend the double agent. But as fate would have it, the double agent is a bit more than the Russian’s let on. Turns out he’s a CIA agent who was forced by the Russians to act as a double agent, and now the head of the FSB section that Jackie is Liaisoning with wants said spy (played by Jackson Lou) dead. Now, with the FSB hunting him too, Jackie and Jackson (Jackson Lou) have to take down the FSB’s thugs and make it out alive.

Blending a mixture of classic Hong Kong Police Story action, James Band gadgets and mystery, and good old fashioned comedic action, First Strike is a blast of a film. It may objectively not be his best works, but even a mid tier Jackie Chan movies is better than most action films today. The Hong Kong cut is a revelation, as the American International cut was heavily altered to the point of nearly being unrecognizable. For some of his films it’s just some minor re-edits (like in Mr. Nice Guy), but here there were some massive cuts made. Huge portions of the underwater fight sequence were edited out (some of that I can see why, the fight sometimes extends too long, and gets a bit 3 Stooges esque), as well as huge portions of the backstory for why Jackson is doing what he’s doing as a double agent. Needless to say, the Hong Kong Cut is a distinctly better film over the International cut. I still like the International cut for how silly and cheesy it is, but the Hong Kong cut makes for a much more cohesive and logical spy story over all.

I do chuckle a bit that this was one of Nathan Jones first films to my memory, and both he and the other Russian goon (who played in Rumble in the Bronx) walk around with ill fitting oversized suits with huge shoulder pads to make them look even bigger. The action is top notch though, with some great action sequences throughout, and that final underwater fight sequences is one of the best of the 90s. About the only fight that beats it is the unbelievable rooftop fight in Who Am I?. Out of all the Police Story films, this is probably his biggest budgeted one, but also the weakest. It sometimes doesn’t know whether it wants to be a silly film, an action film, or a spy/thriller. And the tonal changes can sometimes be for the worth. And while I still think that Police Story 3: Supercop is by FAR the best film in the franchise, First Strike is a fun bit of 90s action that just works way more often than it misses.




Rated PG-13 for plentiful action/violence (International Cut) / Not Rated by the MPAA (Hong Kong Cut)




Video: Video:

As has been mentioned in the previous 3 films in this set, Arrow has gone back to the OCN and restored all of these films with a 4K transfer. Presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, First Strike looks absolutely killer. Almost 5/5 in my books. The old Warner Blu-ray of the International cut looked great back in the day, but this one curb stomps that old transfer quite handily. There’s plenty of nuances and fine detailing that stand out over the 1080p disc of olden days, especially in the snowy land of Ukraine where the highlights in the white snow really pop, or the neon colors of the Australian water park outfits. I didn’t find any compression issues whatsoever, and outside of a few scenes that look out of focus on the edges (this has been a common theme with all the films in this box set to a certain extent due to the filming style used, but this one by far is the least amount, which I’m super happy with), and the black levels look superb even in the underwater fight. All in all, this is a NEARLY perfect looking transfer.







Audio:

As is the case for most of the films in this box set, there is a plethora of audio options to choose from. The International cut features the same 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix that we’ve had for years on the Blu-ray, as well as a trimmed down 2.0 Stereo track of that same mix. This was the one most of us grew up with, where Jackie redubbed all his lines that were in Cantonese, and everyone else was dubbed as well. The Hong Kong cut gets a Mandarin LPCM 2.0 track as well as an English/Russian/Cantonese mix which is effectively the original theatrical mix. Here Jackie speaks a mixture of English and Cantonese depending on who he is talking to, and some Russian mixed in for the FSB thugs. The 5.1 mix naturally is a bit bigger and more bombastic, but the hybrid language track on the Hong Kong cut is my personal favorite. It’s a solid mix, with no signs of distortion or anything, though I DID notice a few lines of dialog that dipped a bit as people turned away from the boom mics. That being said, it does everything asked of it well.









Extras:

Disc One: Hong Kong Cut

• Commentary by Frank Djeng & FJ DeSanto
• Breakout! Part 4: First Strike
• Textless Outtakes
• Image Gallery

Disc Two: International Cut

• Additional Scenes from TV Version
• Striking Out
• US Theatrical Trailer

Final Score: ​

First Strike was always one of my favorite childhood films growing up (I still remember walking to the grocery store to rent this on VHS back in the day), but growing up I find that Jackie’s body of work usually outclasses this one by a moderate amount. But that still doesn’t keep me from loving this bit of Hong Kong From Russia with Love with all my heart. To my knowledge we haven’t ever had the uncut version of the film before, at least domestically. And I’m absolutely ecstatic to finally get it, as it is a distinct upgrade over the Americanized International cut. As Per usual, Arrow has included both cuts in the box, so both sides can be happy. Recommended.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Jackie Chan, Jackson Lou, Annie Wu, Nathan Jones, Bill Tung
Directed by: Stanley Tong
Written by: Greg Mellott, Elliot Tong, Stanley Tong
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English LPCM 2.0 (International Cut), English/Russian/Mandarine LPCM Stereo (Hong Kong Cut), Mandarin LPCM 2.0 (Hong Kong Cut)
Subtitles: English SDH, English
Studio: Arrow
Rated: NR/PG-13
Runtime: 107 minutes (Hong Kong Cut) / 84 Minutes (International Cut)
Blu-ray Release Date: June 30th, 2026

Recommendation: Fun Watch