The Heroic Trio / Executioners - The Criterion Collection 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

Hong Kong has released some excellent films over the years. Whether romantic comedies, ghastly horror flicks, or over-the-top action blockbusters - audiences all over the world flock to Hong Kong cinema. There is one Hong Kong filmmaker out there who hasn't made it to the mainstream waves in the United States yet - Jonnie To. This director has an ocean of films, from romantic musicals to big-budget action movies winning numerous awards. But To hasn't journeyed to America yet for a big team-up of epic action proportions. This is strange because in 1993, To made back-to-back movies that fall into the superhero genre called The Heroic Trio and its sequel titled Executioners that could stand next to any MCU or DCEU film to date. With its early '90s action appeal mimicking some of the biggest US movies, The Heroic Trio and Executioners still holds up thanks to its absurd amounts of fun and excellent performances.

Only old-school film buffs would have heard of these two films, but since Michelle Yeoh has been winning all of the golden statues, The Heroic Trio and Executioners have big US release plans, showcasing a young Yeoh, fighting and acting her heart out in 1993. In its comic book-like, '90s action narrative, this story inspired Quentin Tarantino on his idea for Kill Bill where a mysterious villain known only as the Evil Master is kidnapping brand new babies for his nefarious plan to name one of them emperor under his tutelage. The Evil Master has an invisible being stalking the streets and homes of Hong Kong, snatching up babies where the police won't lift a finger to help. So it's up to three women to solve the crime, fight the bad guys, and save the newborns.

Who are these three women? One is named Tung who goes by the name Wonder Woman. She is married to the chief of police where she serves as a modest housewife, but by night, she's a vicious vigilante who can handle swords, knives, and Kung-Fu like Jackie Chan. There is also Chat, who has the handle Thief Catcher, where she is the comic relief of the group, due to her one-liners about being a ruthless bounty hunter who loves guns and explosions. Last but not least is Ching (Michelle Yeoh), who is the Invisible Woman in cahoots with The Evil Master. The similarities to the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad are uncanny. These three women set out to do the impossible, but not without supernatural and personal obstacles in their way.

The style of Hong Kong storytelling has been known to jump around quite a bit and not stick to a certain path of narrative. This is the case with The Heroic Trio and Executioners where the movie seems to exist to showcase the fantastic action beats and revel in the excellent physical performances of these three women. However, in between these moments, the story goes on the nose in its political, societal, and melodramatic tone to keep things exciting until the next big action sequence. Walking that fine line of the struggle of being good or bad, dealing with the police force, and being a good housewife is well and great, but to consistently slow things down to a crawl in an 88-minute action movie can get tiresome. Luckily, Jonnie To allows the action to breathe with some amazing visual effects and stunt choreography. And his tribute to films like Terminator 2 is such a blast to witness. Additionally, the cheekiness in the action scenes is like watching a spoof opera with stage-like sets and beautifully orchestrated fight choreography that dazzles and makes use of the comic forces. 

The Executioners came out several months later in 1993 and reunited the cast and crew for a sequel that dives into Mad Max territory. The Heroic Trio was fun to watch, Executioners has a much darker plot point where the world is now in a post-apocalyptic war, there is no government, and clean water has become the top commodity. The three women must spring back into action and save the day once again while attacking their personal demons again. With bigger and better visual effects, the tone of the movie just travels into darkness too much to have an exciting and sillier aesthetic this time around, even though Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, and Anita Mui provide top-notch performances as the Heroic Trio once again. And it proved Jonnie To had what it took to make a superhero franchise on that side of the world that is still discussed almost thirty years later.

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray 
The Heroic Trio and Executioners battle their way to The Criterion Collection with a three-disc set that features both 4K and Blu-ray Discs. There is one 4K disc and two Blu-ray discs. Both films are on the 4K discs where one film and one extra are on the other two. There is a fold-out poster of the new artwork of the film that also has cast and crew information, tech specs, and an essay about the movie. The new artwork features a watercolor print of the three fatal women with blades drawn that looks incredibly detailed. 

The Heroic Trio and Executioners come with both 2160p UHD 4K transfers and 1080p Blu-ray transfers in the same release. The 4K Disc is Region Free while the two Blu-ray Discs are Region A. These two movies do not come equipped with Dolby Vision or HDR capabilities, so the two different versions look more similar than not. According to the Criterion foldout booklet, these movies have new digital restorations from the original 35mm camera negative that were scanned in at 4K resolution.

Both films look amazing in this new transfer when compared to its release back in the early '90s. The color palette mixes very cool ingredients of blues, greens, and grays with the fiery warmer colors of red, orange, and yellow in bigger action moments. The black costumes look inky and rich against the warmer backgrounds. even instances of grey smoke or colder locations look fantastic such as the city streets of Hong Kong. Having HDR or Dolby Vision enabled would have upgraded these stylistic color choices even more, but in the presentation, as it is, the colors are somewhat subdued in both films. Still pops of neon reds, purples, and greens shine brightly. Skin tones are natural and the darker sequences provide zero murky shadows.

The detail is sharp and vivid throughout, revealing great closeups of individual hairs, facial pores, makeup applications, debris from explosions, and supernatural elements of textured bones and leather costumes. Wide shots don't typically look soft, but the use of different cameras in this movie gives way to alternate levels of detail where one image can be flat and the next would look like a modern film with nuanced detail at every corner. Its filmic image can look a little digitized at times, but overall, this still feels very much like movies from the '90s era. There are no signs of aliasing, or banding, nor any dirt or debris here. While the HDR and Dolby Vision are absent on these discs, the video presentation of these forgotten films looks amazing. 4/5

This release comes with three different audio options. There is a Cantonese LPCM Mono track that gets the job done that closely resembles the original audio mix. There is an upgraded DTS-HD 5,1 audio track in Cantonese as well which is the definitive way to go here. The third option is a funny and problematic English dubbed 2.0 stereo mix. All three sound decent enough, however, these films being in the action, superhero category - the 5.1 mix allows for more life out of the speakers. 

In the 5.1 audio option, the sound effects are more robust and provide the necessary low end of bass at every turn. Gunshots, sword clanks, knife throws, body hits, and vehicles driving all provide excellent energy to each speaker. The transition is fluid and the dynamic range is wide. The score and fantastical noises all enhance the audio track without drowning out any other sounds. The mono soundtrack has a limited heft to it, but can't necessarily get over the immersive hump that the 5.1 option can. The 2.0 stereo English dub is just hilarious and often has sync and tone issues. The bass has a wonderful rumble to it that never crosses into rocky territory. The Cantonese dialogue is clear and clear with great subtitles. 3.5/5

This is probably one of the most disappointing bonus features on a Criterion release. There are only 30 minutes of extras spread across two movies and two segments, none of which feature the director or the two remaining living actresses. Instead, there is a new interview with a film critic and one of the side actors of the film. Criterion has done better before.

• Superhero Sisterhood (HD, 18 Mins.) - Film historian Samm Deighan talks about both movies, Johnnie To, the actresses, and the overall tone of the movie. This was made specifically for the Criterion Collection.
• No Ordinary Actor (HD, 7 Mins.) - Actor Anthony Wong who plays Kau in the movies comes aboard to discuss working for To and his time spent on these films. Again, this was made for the Criterion Collection. 
• Trailers (HD, 5 Mins.) - Two trailers for the film. 
• Criterion Booklet - In the form of a fold-out poster, one side is the new artwork of the release, while the other side features tech specs, cast and crew information, transfer details, and an essay about the film. 

The Heroic Trio and Executioners are super-fun films to watch from Hong Kong where director Johnnie To explores the superhero and action genre in the early '90s. Despite some tonal issues, the action beats and performances from all three actresses including Michelle Yeoh are fantastic. The 4K + Blu-ray presentations are both good, however, the lack of HDR and Dolby Vision is a mystery. The Audio DT-SHD 5.1 Cantonese audio mix sounds great. The bonus features aren't the Criterion material that everyone has come to expect. 3.5/5 Recommended.

Order Your Copy of The Heroic Trio / Executioners on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray