Wild Search – Eureka Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1989
Director: Ringo Lam
Writer: Yin Nam
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Cherie Chung, Roy Cheung, Paul Chun, Cheuk Yan Chan, Feng Ku, Kwong-Leung Wong, Kong Lau, Frankie Chi-Hung Ng, Elaine Jin

Release Date: July 19th, 2021
Approximate running time: 98 Minutes 58 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: LPCM Mono Cantonese, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK)

"Chow 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." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "a High Definition transfer from the original film elements".

Wild Search comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.9 GB

Feature: 31.2 GB

The source used for this transfer looks excellent. Color saturation, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid.

Audio: 4.5/5 (LPCM Mono Cantonese), 4.25/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Cantonese and a LPCM mono mix in English. though both audio tracks are in great shape. The Cantonese language track sounds more robust than the English language track. That said, dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the Cantonese language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an archival interview with actor actor Roy Cheung (17 minutes 11 seconds, LPCM stereo Chinese with non-removable English subtitles), an audio interview with voice over artist Simon Broad titled The Doyen of Dubs (69 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival), a limited edition O-card slipcase (2000 copies only), and a twenty-four page booklet (2000 copies only) with cast & crew information, an essay titled Ringo Lam and the Dark Side of Hong Kong’s Boom Years written by David West and information about the transfer titled Notes on Viewing.

Summary:

Ringo Lam was a Hong Kong filmmaker who rose to prominence in the mid-1980s by directing action/crime films dubbed Heroic Bloodshed. Also, like many of his contemporaries, he would go to Hollywood in the mid-1990s. His notable films include City on Fire, Twin Dragons, Full Contact, and Burning Paradise.

Hong Kong, like most film markets outside of America, makes films that are either inspired by or outright clones of successful Hollywood films. Case in point: Ringo Lam’s Wild Search, a film that is very loosely inspired by Peter Weir’s Witness.

Though there are many elements in Wild Search that are associated with Heroic Bloodshed films, there were several shootouts between cops and criminals. The result is a noticeably more subdued film when compared to Ringo Lam’s other action/crime films from this era of his career. That said, Wild Search is more of a melodrama than an in-your-face action or crime film, which dominated Hong Kong cinema in the late 1980s.

Wild Search was the third of five films that Chow Yun-Fat (The Killer) made with Ringo Lam. The first is City on Fire, and the last is Full Contact. Chow Yun-Fat was one of Hong Kong cinema’s biggest draws at the time he appeared in Wild Search. And, once again, he delivers a perfectly pitched performance that switches the focus of the story. He portrays a chain-smoking, alcoholic police officer named Lau who is emotionally devastated by the death of his wife. This character is then given a purpose when he becomes attached to a young girl whose mother was murdered, and from there he forms a romantic bond with the girl's aunt.

Another performance of note is Cherie Chung (Once a Thief) in the role of the sister of the murdered woman who becomes attached to Lau. This character forms an interesting dynamic with the Lau character, which serves as the heart and soul of Wild Search. She delivers a nuanced performance that perfectly complements Chow Yun-Fat’s.

From its opening moments, Wild Search establishes a good momentum that propels the narrative forward, and its explosive, fire-engulfed finale puts an exclamation mark on the events that preceded. Though there are a handful of tense shootouts, what really makes Wild Search work as well as it does is how it effectively blends lighthearted moments with tense ones. Another strength of Wild Search is Ringo Lam’s solid direction. Finally, Wild Search is a satisfying blend of melodrama and action that demonstrates why Ringo Lam was one of the best directors working in Hong Kong cinema during the 1980s and 1990s.

Wild Search gets a first-rate release from Eureka Video that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a trio of insightful extras, highly recommended.

Note: Eureka Video has released a standard version that does not come with the O-card or the booklet.

Written by Michael Den Boer