Carrying on their stellar release schedule, Arrow Video has now unleashed John Woo’s Bullet in the Head on 4K and Blu-Ray.
While The Killer and Hard Boiled are arguably his most well-known works, Bullet in the Head is his most complex.
Part action film, part war film, part coming-of-age tale, it mixes all of this in a blender, and it largely works once the frenetic opening is out of the way.
Set during the Vietnam war, the film follows B, Fai and Wing (iconic actors Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Jacky Cheung and Waise Lee), three best friends fleeing from Hong Kong to seek their fortune as smugglers.
In Saigon, they join forces with fellow expat Lok (Simon Yam) and double-cross the ruthless gangster Luong to steal his gold and rescue nightclub singer Sau-ching (Yolinda Yan) from his clutches.
The gang must fight their way out of the country in a nightmarish odyssey where each new battle pushes them beyond their limits and threatens to destroy their friendship.
The action sequences are stunning as expected, but it is the raw and visceral scenes in Saigon which really linger here. This is a film with consequences, and the fallout is visceral.
This bumper edition includes a slew of features, including two separate cuts of the film plus the usual mix of archival features and some new ones, such as interviews with cast and crew.
For fans of Woo’s golden period this is an essential purchase and for those who slept on it first time around, seek it out.
Bullet in the Head is available now in 4K and Blu-Ray formats from Arrow Video.
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