The Corruptor - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Corruptor



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

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Movie
1999 was an incredible time to be alive. We had Star Wars: Episode One, The Matrix, Fight Club. Everyone was freaking out over Y2K, and the cost of gas was DIRT cheap. And the massive world of Hong Kong cinema was invading U.S. shores with big-name Chinese action stars like Jackie Chan, Jet Li ,and Chow-Yun Fat crossing genres and gaining huge traction in the West. After The Replacement Killers with director Antoine Fuqua, I was SUPER stoked to go see The Corruptors during the summer of my Junior year in High School, only to come away super disappointed. I was expecting the highly kinetic nature of previous Asian films by John Woo, such as The Killer or Hard Boiled. Only to get a buddy cop drama with a little bit of action at the end. I remember buying the Blu-ray from Warner years ago, and enjoying it a bit more than my high school experience, but still feeling underwhelmed. Now, some 27 years after I saw this in theaters, I have a new appreciation for the flick.

Even though The Corruptor did pretty badly with critics and fans alike back in 1999, I can kind of see why. Chow Yun-fat was known for his highly intense gun-fu films, and coming right off the back of The Replacement Killers (which desperately needs a 4K UHD release), and because New Line Cinema cut the trailer to look like a big, bold, John Woo-style action film, even though it only really had action at the beginning and end of the film. Pucci’s script was based on a real gang war in Chinatown during the early 90s, and he wanted to make a gritty cop drama instead of a wild action movie. And despite some action bracketing the film's opening and closing acts, Pucci kept his nose to the grindstone and really kept the drama high.

The story is pretty simple. A gang war between rival triads, the Tongs and the new in-town Fukienese Dragons, is causing chaos in Chinatown. People are getting caught in the crossfire, and the Chinese task force in New York is trying their best to keep the violence to a low rumble. Detective Nick Chen (Chow Yun-Fat) gets a fly in the ointment in the form of Danny Wallace (Mark Wahlberg), who is both a publicity stunt by the upper brass and also the new reinforcements that Chen has been asking for for months. And now the rookie cop is thrown right into the middle of things as women’s bodies keep showing up in dumpsters.

Now Detective Chen and Danny Wallace have to figure out a way to infiltrate the Triads and get to Uncle Benny (Kim Chan, who reprises his name and role as Uncle Benny from Lethal Weapon 4), the head of the Tongs. The only thing is, NO ONE wants to testify against the triad boss, and to make matters worse, Detective Chen has a secret of his own. He’s owned by the Tong, having gotten into bed with them years ago after taking some cash to turn his head the other way. And Chen is going to do anything he can to keep his new partner out of the Tong’s crosshairs. But that falls by the wayside after Danny decides to take a few “perks” from the Tongs, and now the two are both in over their heads trying to figure out how to take down their corrupting masters, while still making it out alive.

The Corruptor is less of a traditional action movie (as I mentioned above) and more of a cop drama with two men from two distinctly opposite ends of the experience spectrum dealing with the temptations and corruption that come from dealing with the Triads. And as the film goes on, Foley does a great job of centering everything around the relationship between Chen and Wallace. Chen is the beleaguered veteran who knows just how far the rabbit hole goes, and Wallace the upstart who is cocky as all get out, but green enough around the ears to be susceptible to the Tongs' influence. And both characters, while heavily flawed, show their own degrees of goodness throughout it all. While Chen is obviously worn down being an errand boy for the Tongs, there is this innate desire to fulfill his duties as a cop, and the same can be said in reverse for Wallace. Danny wants to be the best cop he can be (and even has a bit of a secret, belonging to IA, looking to find out what is going on), only to get corrupted by temptation from the Tonys, as well as the temptation to give Chen grace even when he knows he shouldn’t.

27 years ago I wrote The Corruptor off as a failed action movie when I was looking for Chow Yun-Fat to just blow stuff up with twin Beretta 92s. But looking back on the film nearly 30 years later, I have a new appreciation for what Foley did. It’s gritty, has that 90s charm, and works as a buddy action flick with some cool wire-work gunfights at the very end. And frankly, I like the slower pace of the film vs. Yun-Fat’s other works. It's one of those films that sort of got left in the past due to the negative critic and fan reception, but deserves a second look in this day and age as a misunderstood film.

Rated R for strong violence, language, and sexuality




4K Video: Video:
This is actually the first time that I think Toy Robot or Arrow (to my knowledge) has done a combo pack, as both this and Above the Law 4K discs are coming with a remastered Blu-ray as well. Warner/New Line Cinema’s aging Blu-ray was notoriously bitrate-starved, only taking up 29 gigs out of 50 back in the day. And it was never that GREAT of a disc. Blacks were mushy, colors dulled, and there was noticeable artifacting. This new disc has been restored by Toy Robot Video at 4K with a 4K / 16-bit master at Warner’s infamous MIP on the Warner lot. Then color grading and restoration was done in 4K at Duplitech to finish it all off.

The result is a film that looks wonderfully filmic and natural, while taking full advantage of the slightly grungy and dark aesthetic that Foley and Spanish cinematographer Juan Ruiz Anchia were going for. The film has a lot of wood and sepia tones, with ruddy facial features and a heavy black coating to everything. Daylight shots look very nice, with a bright look to them with punchy primary colors (especially reds) down in Chinatown. Fine details are noticeably better than the old Warner Blu-ray, and moderately better than the included remastered disc, with better texture and MUCH stronger black levels as well. This is a near-perfect-looking image, with minor grain spikes in a few spots (especially the aerial shots looking down, or in the night sky), but overall really pleasant to look at. I did notice that the included Blu-ray was distinctly brighter than the Dolby Vision enhanced 4K UHD disc, with a much more orange and brightened look all the way around, which strangely looks even brighter than the old Warner disc.


Audio:
I don’t know if it's the EXACT same mix as the 5.1 mix from the Warner Blu-ray, but it sounds really close to said track except for what seems like a little level boosting. Toy Robot’s new disc also includes a 2.0 DTS-HD MA as well as a SECOND DTS-HD MA 2.0 mix labeled as the LaserDisc mix. The LaserDisc mix sounds much brighter and more aggressive than the 2.0 mix, but I still think the 5.1 track is the one to listen to. It’s a loud, powerful, and aggressive mix that doesn’t let go the entire time. Gunshots sound appropriately thunderous, and the score flows effortlessly across all 5 main channels. LFE is punchy and tight, and the chaotic environment of Chinatown makes for really intense surround use.


Extras:
• NEW 4K restoration from the original camera negative
• NEW The Music of Chinatown, interview with composer Carter Burwell
• NEW Turning Toronto Into Chinatown, interview with production designer David Brisbin
• NEW Chow's Right-Hand Man, interview with action director Robert Samuels
• Archival Audio Commentary with director James Foley
• From the (Under)Ground Up, archival featurette of the making of The Corruptor
• UGK “Take It Off” Music Video
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spots

Final Score: ​

The Corruptor happened to be released at a time when Hong Kong coming to America was a HUGE thing, but had the issue of Chow Yun-fat’s Eastern productions sort of overshadowing it all. After decades in between watchings, I have gained a better appreciation for the buddy cop flick, as it showcases much more nuance and charm than I originally remembered. The 4K UHD and Blu-ray release from Arrow’s Toy Robot Video looks and sounds great, and the new extras are greatly appreciated. I know a lot of Toy Robot’s focus was on films that didn’t have the greatest of masters available, but this new restoration is a treat, breathing new life into the flick. Solid thumbs up as a fun watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Mark Wahlberg, Ric Young, Brian Cox,
Directed by: James Foley
Written by: Robert Pucci
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 (LaserDisc Mix)
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Toy Robot
Rated: R
Runtime: 110 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 9th, 2026

Recommendation: Fun Watch