Undeclared War – Vinegar Syndrome Archive (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1990
Director: Ringo Lam
Writer: Nam Yin, Timothy R. Long, Louis Roth, Deborah Grant
Cast: Danny Lee, Olivia Hussey, Peter Liapis, Vernon Wells, Rosamund Kwan, Kwong-Leung Wong, Victor Hon, David Hedison

Release Date: January 31st, 2023
Approximate Running Time: 106 Minutes 52 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Cantonese/English/Polish/Russian, DTS-HD Mono Mandarin/English/Polish/Russian
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $44.98

"After a Polish diplomat and his family are murdered by a radical terrorist organization, CIA agent Gary Redner tracks the violent extremist group to Hong Kong on a personal mission of revenge. Once in Hong Kong, the "rough-and-ready" Gary is reluctantly partnered with "by the book" Special Branch Inspector Bong, in order to track down the terrorists before their next horrific attack. While the two men do not see eye to eye professionally nor culturally, they must put aside their personal differences and work together in order to take down the terrorist organization as well as the group's mysterious and ruthless leader, known only as Hannibal." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm original camera negative."

Undeclared War comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.6 GB

Feature: 30.2 GB

The source used for this transfer is in excellent shape. Colors and flesh tones look correct, image clarity, black levels and compression are solid.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Cantonese/English/Polish/Russian), 4.25/5 (DTS-HD Mono Mandarin/English/Polish/Russian)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Cantonese, English, Polish, and Russian, and a DTS-HD mono mix in Mandarin, English, Polish, and Russian. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, balanced, and robust when they should. Included are removable English subtitles for all dialog that is not in English and removable English SDH subtitles for all of the dialog.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an interview with actor Vernon Wells titled  The Business of Revolution (23 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an interview with composer Noel Quinlan tilted Undeclared Score (17 minutes 27 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable English SDH subtitles), an audio commentary track with film historian and author Samm Deighan, reversible cover art, a double-sided poster, and a slipcase limited to 5,000 units.

Summary:

Undeclared War was directed by Ringo Lam, whose other notable films include City on Fire, Twin Dragons, Wild Search, Full Contact, and Burning Paradise. Where most of Ringo Lam’s films up to that point in his career were confined to Hong Kong Undeclared War is an international production that takes place in Warsaw, Poland, and Hong Kong. Also, the cast is a mix of international and Hong Kong actors.

Though Undeclared War has many of the elements that are associated with late 1980s Hong Kong crime films, the result is a film that is unlike anything that Ringo Lam has directed before or since. And nowhere is this more evident than with the criminals in Undeclared War, who are a different breed than those seen in Hong Kong films.

The narrative revolves around a terrorist organization that the CIA has been tracking around the globe. From there, the various law enforcement agencies join forces to capture the head of the terrorist organization. Now in Hong Kong, authorities are in a race against time to capture the head of the terrorist organization before he strikes again.

Undeclared War has a strong cast that features several recognizable faces. Notably, Vernon Wells (The Road Warrior) played Hannibal, the head of a terrorist organization, and Olivia Hussey (Black Christmas) played Rebecca Eche, a woman who is key to him pulling off his plans in Hong Kong. Vernon Wells oozes the qualities of a cold-blooded bad guy as he steals every moment he is in, while Olivia Hussey’s character is not much more than a secondary one. Other standout actors are Danny Lee (The Killer) in the role of Inspector Bong and Rosamund Kwan (Once Upon a Time in China) in the role of a reporter named Ann Chang.

Ringo Lam was one of Hong Kong cinema’s premier action directors. And though he more than proves he is up to the task with the action sequences, he also more than delivers when it comes to the dramatic moments. Ultimately, Undeclared War is a solid action film that fans of Neo-Noir cinema should thoroughly enjoy.

Undeclared War gets an excellent release from Vinegar Syndrome Archive that comes with a solid/video presentation and a pair of informative extras, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer