International superstar CHOW YUN-FAT (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) makes his Hollywood debut with Oscar®-winner MIRA SORVINO (1995 Best Supporting Actress, Mighty Aphrodite) in THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS, a fierce and explosive action thriller from director ANTOINE FUQUA (Training Day). After he betrays Mr. Wei, the ruthless crime boss who hired him to avenge his son’s death, professional killer John Lee (Yun-Fat) goes on the run. Enlisting the aid of beautiful document forger Meg Coburn (Sorvino), Lee attempts to return to his family in China before they are victimized by his betrayal. But Wei’s army of “replacement killers” is hot on his trail, and now both he and Meg are targets of their impressive firepower. With both sides fully armed and determined to fight to the death, an ultra-violent shoot-out breaks out when they finally face off against each other. It’s “a seamless fusion of Hong Kong action-adventure style and cool” (The New York Times) that will blow everyone away – including you!

For thoughts on The Replacement Killers, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

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Video Quality

The Replacement Killers comes to Blu-Ray again courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment, but it is at best a serviceable presentation. The Theatrical Cut of the film was previously released in a two-pack by Mill Creek from a dated master provided by Sony following an earlier release of the Extended Cut by Sony themselves. We are 15 years out from the debut of the film on the format and 9 years since the last Mill Creek release. After all of this team, this newest release once again features the Theatrical Cut derived from the same old master. Sony has been on a roll with cranking out gorgeous new 4K restorations, and it feels like it is past time that we had a 4K UHD release of both cuts. Maybe one day…

Compared to other recent releases from the company, this release does not suffer quite as much in terms of compression artifacts and macroblocking. They are definitely still present, just not quite as forthright as other discs. The image retains some texture in small aspects of the photography such as costumes and interior settings. The colors are one of the standout aspects of the disc, as particular elements of the environment pop off the screen with a nice vibrancy. Skin tones fall a bit more on the side of warm and unnatural, and the presentation offers up some fairly unimpressive black levels. The disc experiences a decent amount of black crush, but once again it is not as overwhelming as some of the discs from the company. Mill Creek Entertainment has provided a Blu-Ray disc that is a fine step up from DVD, but it does not quite hit it out of the park like a new master may have.

Audio Quality

The film oddly comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track instead of the DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track from previous releases. While this track is not particularly poor, there is no doubt that the activity is notably restrained throughout. Dialogue comes through clearly without being overwhelmed by any of the other sounds. Environmental effects play a substantial role in the film, and this track cannot quite come alive as it needs to with the lack of surround channels. This is an action-packed movie that cannot hit as hard without the dedicated subwoofer. Mill Creek Entertainment has taken a step back when it comes to the audio presentation.

Special Features

There are no special features provided on the disc, but this release is part of the Retro VHS Collection which initially ships out with a special slipcover.

Final Thoughts

The Replacement Killers is a dumb yet fairly entertaining action tale which boasts more positive elements than negative. The direction of Antoine Fuqua is very solid throughout with a formidable command of the action set pieces. The performances get the job done without really leaving much of an impression. What really serves as a mark against the feature is the truly lackluster script which hits all of the major cliches of the genre. Mill Creek has released a value-priced Blu-Ray sporting a passable A/V presentation and no special features. This needs a fresh master, but if you are desperate to own this one you are probably better off searching out one of the older releases with better audio.

The Replacement Killers is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Mill Creek Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.