Blu-ray Review: Wild Search

For decades now, Chow Yun-fat has been one of the most familiar faces in Hong Kong cinema. He started out in low-budget movies during the 1970s but first made his name in John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow a decade later. Also starring in the sequel and City on Fire, The Killer and Hard Boiled. Whilst he’s gone on to have a sparkling career, for many fans this period is the one which they look back on with the most fondness. Wild Search is another popular outing from this era.

Lau (Yun-fat) is a cop hot on the heels of a gang of gunrunners. The widower is poised to make his big arrest when there’s a gunfight which results in the death of one of the suspects. Leaving her young daughter behind who is the only surviving witness. The child’s aunt Cher (Cherie Chung) comes to collect her and sparks up a connection with Lau. When the bad guys return to clean up loose ends, he must protect her at all costs.

Wild Search has all the elements of a great Hong Kong action film. There is our hero, drunk, downtrodden and at odds with his bosses. Then there’s the girl, beautiful, smart and the perfect foil for his inadequacies. Last but not least are the bad guys, determined, angry and numerous. Chow Yun-fat’s third collaboration with director Ringo Lam (City on Fire, Full Contact) doesn’t quite have the story to match all the elements but Wild Search is still quality entertainment.

Special features:

Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju) [2000 copies]
1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a High Definition transfer from the original film elements
Optional English dub
Original Cantonese audio
Optional English Subtitles
Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
The Doyen of Dubs – a brand new and extensive interview with voice over artist Simon Broad, who has recorded English dubs for hundreds of Asian films and for many years was the chosen voice actor for Chow Yun Fat’s in all of his films that had English language releases.
Archival interview with actor Roy Cheung
A LIMITED EDITION collector’s booklet featuring new writing by David West (NEO Magazine) [2000 copies}