After Detective Stan ‘Zeedo’ Zedkov (Michael Rooker) kills the son of ruthless crime boss Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsang), contract killer John Lee (Chow Yun-Fat) is sent to exact revenge for the mobster. But when John sees that his target is a 7-year-old boy, he refuses to go through with the job, which turns him into a fugitive and his family into targets. John seeks the help of forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) to create the travel documents he needs to get back to China to protect his family, but in doing so, she also joins Wei’s hit list. Wei has hired a duo of professional assassins’ (Danny Trejo, Til Schweiger) to eliminate John and Meg, and carry out the job that John refused to do. John now feels torn between getting home to protect his family, and stopping these replacement killers from killing Meg, an innocent boy and anyone else who gets in their way.
I’m not sure if I had seen The Replacement Killers before, but I quite enjoyed this film. The movie holds up quite well almost 25 years later. It’s an exciting buddy action film, where here the odd couple of reluctant partners are a cocky forger who doesn’t trust anyone, and a highly-skilled assassin who both needs her help, and feels responsible for getting her pulled into his deadly situation. Chow Yun-fat and Mira Sorvino have great chemistry and make a fun duo. Both hold their own when it comes to the action sequences, which have this nice blend of East meets West, with both martial arts and gunfire to keep things exciting and interesting. At under 90 minutes it’s a quick watch, but also never drags, and is definitely one I’ll watch again and again.
Sony had previously released The Replacement Killers on Blu-ray 15 years ago, but Mill Creek has re-released the movie as part of its popular Retro VHS line, with a fun slipcover that makes it look like an old rental VHS tape. Like the majority of Mill Creek’s Retro VHS releases, this disc is barebones, just offering a basic menu with Play and Subtitle On/Off options. While Sony’s release contained the extended cut of the film and 5.1 surround audio, Mill Creek’s re-release bizarrely opts for the theatrical cut and a 2.0 stereo audio track. The new disc also loses all of the bonus material from the previous release, though these had been DVD carryovers anyway. While some purists may prefer the original theatrical cut offered here, it’s still disappointing to see the lack of an immersive audio track.
That said, the video presentation is still quite good, with a generally clean and detailed picture. There is the occasional white fleck of dirt here and there, but nothing that detracts from the enjoyment of the film. I did notice a couple issues with the subtitles, such as one line where Meg tells John his passport is going to cost $1K, but the captions state, “What you need is going to cost you. At least a grant.” The audio track is more than sufficient, providing clear dialogue and utilizing the stereo channels to add some dimension to the action, however, it doesn’t have that really immersive feeling of a surround track.
The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard Blu-ray keepcase, with a Retro VHS slipcover that makes the release look like a classic VHS rental tape. The details on these slipcovers are really fun, and the design even extends to the spine as well, allowing these discs to displayed like a collection of VHS tapes on your shelf.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:27:34)
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.40:1
- Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
- Subtitles: English SDH
Extras:
-
There is no bonus material included on this disc.
Final Thoughts:
The Replacement Killers features a great cast, and is a fun action movie that holds up really well 25 years later. It’s a bit disappointing to see that Mill Creek has only provided the theatrical cut and a stereo audio track on this re-release, and also dropped all of the bonus material from Sony’s previous disc. If you already own the Sony disc, there’s no need to double-dip, unless you also want to own the theatrical cut on disc. First time purchasers may want to try to seek out the Sony disc if you’re interested in the extended cut or surround sound audio, but Mill Creek’s release is still a solid and affordable option to enjoy the movie, and includes a fun retro slipcover that looks great on your shelf.
REPLACEMENT KILLERS RETRO VHS BD
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