The Heroic Trio / Executioners – The Criterion Collection (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo)

Theatrical Release Dates: Hong Kong, 1993 (The Heroic Trio, Executioners)
Directors: Johnnie To (Both Films), Ching Siu-tung (Executioners)
Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, Damian Lau, Anthony Wong Chau-sang, James Pak, Paul Chun, Yen Shi-Kwan (The Heroic Trio), Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, Damian Lau, Anthony Wong Chau-sang, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Lau Ching-Wan, Paul Chun, Kwan Shan (Executioners)

Release Date: February 20th, 2024
Approximate Running Times: 88 Minutes 17 Seconds (The Heroic Trio), 97 Minutes 43 Seconds (Executioners)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono Cantonese (Both Films), DTS-HD 5.1 Cantonese (Both Films), Dolby Digital Mono English (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region Free (4K UHD), Region A (Blu-ray)
Retail Price: $59.95

The Heroic Trio: "Thief Catcher (Maggie Cheung), Wonder Woman (Anita Mui), and Invisible Girl (Michelle Yeoh) are kick-ass crusaders who must overcome their dark pasts in order to defeat an evil, baby-snatching eunuch terrorizing the city." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Executioners: "Following a devastating nuclear attack, Hong Kong’s supply of clean water has fallen into the hands of a masked maniac (Anthony Wong) intent on seizing political power—forcing the three fearless fighters to settle their differences and unite to stop him." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (The Heroic Trio - 4K UHD, Executioners - 4K UHD), 4.25/5 (The Heroic Trio - Blu-ray, Executioners - Blu-ray)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "These digital restorations were created from the 35mm original negatives and scanned in 4K resolution."

The Heroic Trio and Executioners come on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 91.2 GB

Feature: 42.7 GB (The Heroic Trio), 46.9 GB (Executioners)

The sources for these two films are comparable; both are in great shape. Flesh tones look healthy, and colors look very good when compared to these two films’ previous home video releases. Image clarity and black levels are strong, and compression is very good. That said, both of these films get new transfers that easily beat previous home video releases.

The Heroic Trio comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 33.2 GB

Feature: 27.4 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source as the 4K UHD does for its transfer.

Executioners comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 33.2 GB

Feature: 30.2 GB

The Blu-ray uses the same source as the 4K UHD does for its transfer.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 Cantonese - Both Films), 4.5/5 (LPCM Mono Cantonese - Both Films), 3.25/5 (Dolby Digital Mono English - Both Films)

Each film comes with three audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in Cantonese, a LPCM mono mix in Cantonese, and a Dolby Digital mono mix in English. The DTS-HD 5.1 track offers a robust experience that takes full advantage of the sound spectrum. The mono Cantonese track’s also great; the dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise, these tracks sound great. The weakest are the English mono tracks, which lack the depth the other two tracks have. Included are removable English subtitles for the Cantonese-language tracks.

Extras:

Extras for The Heroic Trio include a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 53 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with English and Cantonese text), and an interview with film critic Samm Deighan titled Superhero Sisterhood (17 minutes 53 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with English subtitles for Cantonese film clips).

Extras for Executioners include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 3 seconds, Dolby Digital mono with English and Cantonese text), and an interview with actor Anthony Wong Chau-sang titled No Ordinary Actor (7 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles). 

Other extras include a leaflet with cast & crew information, an essay titled To the Power of Three written by Beatrice Loayza and information about the restorations.

Summary:

Directed by Johnnie To, whose other notable films are All About Ah-Long, Running Out of Time, The Mission, Fulltime Killer, PTU, Breaking News, Thrown Down, Election, Election 2, and Exiled.

The Heroic Trio: Three women with extraordinary powers join forces against an evil entity who is stealing babies.

The Heroic Trio is a superhero-themed film that does not resemble the crime films that Johnnie To is most known for. It is a film with larger-than-life characters whose actions often defy reality. That said, it is also a film that draws heavily from Wuxia films.

One of the draws of The Heroic Trio is its exceptional action sequences, which feature spectacular stunt work. That said, one of the action sequences' shortcomings is their brevity. In a film where action sequences take center stage, it does a great job when it comes to exposition.

The main attraction is the three leads: Michelle Yeoh (Supercop) in the role of Ching, aka the invisible woman; Anita Mui (Fight Back to School III) in the role of Tung, aka the wonder woman; and Maggie Cheung (Police Story) in the role of a bounty hunter named Chat, aka the thief catcher. All three actresses deliver phenomenal performances. Another strength of these characters is that each of them has unique fighting skills and weapons. Another performance of note is Anthony Wong Chau-sang (The Untold Story) in the role of Kau, a psychopath enforcer for the main villain.

Though most fantasy films have sinister characters, I was surprised by how dark The Heroic Trio is tone-wise. Besides the main premise of new-born babies being abducted, there are flesh-eating children, and Kau’s weapon of choice is a flying guillotine.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where The Heroic Trio does not deliver, and then there are some. The narrative is a seasoning blend of exposition and action, and pacing is never an issue as things move along briskly. Also, it is hard to imagine how someone cannot enjoy a film like The Heroic Trio; it has all of the elements that Hong Kong’s most celebrated films are known for. Ultimately, The Heroic Trio is a highly entertaining film that more than fulfills its main goal of entertaining.

Executioners: Set in the near future, Executioners picks up where The Heroic Trio left off.

Though the three leads, Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung, and Johnnie To, all return for this sequel, in the case of the latter, he only co-directed this time around. The result is a film that is inferior to its predecessor in every way.

Despite carrying over the three female characters as heroes from its predecessor, Executioners feels like a sequel in name only. It is almost like someone had the idea of taking these three characters and placing them in a post-apocalyptic setting. And despite there being some information about how things went from The Heroic Trio to Executioners, no amount of backstory is going to save the latter.

Where The Heroic Trio’s action sequences were influenced by Wuxia cinema, this time around there is limited hand-to-hand fighting, with guns being the main weapon of choice. That said, when it comes to tone, Executioners is somehow darker than its predecessor.

From a production standpoint, despite having an ample amount of resources and three phenomenal actresses in the lead roles, Executioner is a film filled with missteps. One of its most glaring shortcomings is a narrative that has too many lulls. Ultimately, Executioners is a film that disregards everything that made The Heroic Trio such a great film.

The Criterion Collection gives The Heroic Trio and Executioners a first-rate release that comes with solid audio/video presentations and a trio of informative extras, recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a VLC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer