Fallen Angels: US BluRay by Kino International

This BD contains the remastered version of Fallen Angels, which was released on DVD for the first time in Japan in 2006. Korea and Hongkong followed soon and in 2009, this version finally reached the US. It was released by Kino International on a Special Edition DVD which wasn't so special at all because the video was encoded interlaced. (Their two previous releases of the movie had been progressive, I think. But since I don't own them myself, I'm not sure about it.) One year later, Kino International is the first label worldwide to release a HD version of the movie. This time, they manage to get it right. The disc even comes in an amaray case which itself is packaged in a fine looking cardboard slipcase. Moreover, the disc is region-free.

Are we still partners?

MENU
The menus used to look so trashy on the 2009 DVD release... As if they had been put together at last minute - which they probably were. The background of the menu is basically the same on this BD too, but this time the quality is much better. Black looks like black now and not like grey. Furthermore, the menu really benefits from the BD technology, as the viewer is now able to examine the whole content of the disc without any intersections between different menus.

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(I was able to capture the background of the BD menu only. If you want to see how it looks on your screen, go here.)

IMAGE AND SOUND
The image quality (1080p, MPEG-4 AVC) is - in consideration of how WKW shoots his movies - very good, a strong and clean transfer. There's only one aspect that seems strange. There is a lot of grain in the picture, which is nice, as it maintains the natural look of the film. Yet at times, parts of the picture look a bit flat, as if there was some DNR applied. I can't say this for sure, but one thing is certain: If DNR was used, then this was done by WKW and not by Kino International, since former releases of this remastered version look similar regarding that aspect. The aspect ratio of the movie is 1,80:1.
Fallen Angels benefits from the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. It sounds full and rich with the exception of one scene in an ice cream truck where the dialogue is somehow pretty hollow. Otherwise it sounds perfect. Needless to say, there are optional English subtitles available.
Additionally, here are some technical aspects:

Size: 25.870.374.912 bytes
Length: 1:39:00
Total Bitrate: 34,84 Mbps
Video: MPEG-4 AVC Video / 31017 kbps / 1080p / 23,976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
Audio: Chinese / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2041 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitle: English / 28,168 kbps


BONUS FEATURES
The aren't a lot of bonus features, but what is there is interesting. Looking back, most previous editions of Fallen Angels didn't even contain any extras except for a trailer. On this release, there are three featurettes and an interview with cinematographer Christopher Doyle. These were released for the first time on a Japanese WKW collection a few years ago. Then they made their western debut on 2009's Kino International DVD. Here's a short summary of what we get: "Only You" (8min) contains deleted scenes which seem like an alternate ending to the movie. WKW also explains, how Fallen Angels is a counterpart to his previous movie Chungking Express. "Whom You Miss" (4min) is an interview with Chen Man Lei, the guy who plays He Zhiwu's father in the movie. My favorite quote: "I've watched Fallen Angels twice and I still don't know what it's about." "A Beautiful Evening" (4min) is about the visual style of the movie. Here we get to see some more deleted shots. The interview with Christopher Doyle (7min) is like any other interview of they guy pretty interesting. As always, Doyle seems squiffy, but what he says is absorbing. And even here, some deleted shots are intercut. These four bonus features are technically presented in windowboxed 1080i, but they're upscaled from 480i. The featurettes contain burned-in English subtitles.
And there's more. We get one trailer each for Fallen Angels and Happy Together, both in 1080p. The trailer for Fallen Angels looks old and its quality is nowhere near the quality of the remastered movie on the disc. Interestingly, the trailer's credits have been rendered newly:
In my opinion, the reason why the whole trailer wasn't compiled from bits and pieces of the remastered movie is simply because it contains shots that are not in the actual movie. Maybe these shots couldn't be rediscovered. The trailer for Happy Together was indeed compiled from its remastered version. Anyway, in terms of the cut, it's similar to the old trailer. The image quality is stunning (!) and makes me looking forward to the HD release of the movie in June 2010.

EDIT (June 2010): In direct comparison to the remastered BD of Happy Together the HD trailer is inferior (more grain, higher contrast). It WASN'T recompiled from the remastered version.

At last, there is a gallery of 32 stills from the movie. Nothing special, but nice to have it here anyway.

CONCLUSION
Easily the best release of Fallen Angels ever. This image and sound quality has never been reached on any of its previous releases. The fine selection of bonus features is what makes this disc even more special. The only thing one could wish for is a booklet but we seldom get that, I know. Anyway, this is the Fallen Angels release to own!

You can find more reviews and screencaps of this BD on bluray.com, dvdtalk.com, www.dvdbeaver.com and asianblurayguide.com.