Once a Thief - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

John Woo, a name synonymous with stylish action and balletic gunfights, has dabbled in comedy before, so it's not shocking to see him attempt a heist comedy with Once a Thief. Unfortunately, the bigger surprise is how much the movie stumbles under the weight of its own absurdity. Even masters trip on their own shoelaces once in a blue moon, and this is a big misstep. But with a career spanning decades and 23 directing credits up to this point, the occasional misfire is practically inevitable, an ill-advised attempt to inject levity into his usual bullets-and-brotherhood formula. It may not be a complete disaster with Woo bringing his signature style to this heist venture, but it lands with a resounding thud, feeling more like a series of disconnected, zany ideas than a cohesive story. Ultimately, the movie never quite figures out what it wants to be, leaving audiences to wonder why they should care.

The most glaring issue in this breezy caper, which follows a trio of high-end art thieves overcoming double-crosses, romance and a load of chaotic silliness, is its struggle to properly balance the comedic beats with random bursts of kinetic action. And all the while trying to follow the typical heist movie template. The slapstick gags are sporadic and haphazard, feeling largely out of place next to Woo's signature gunplay. It's more ineptly and embarrassingly executed than funny or the least bit charming. It’s just an awkward tonal tug-of-war where nobody wins. Tragically, much of this dead weight comes from Chow Yun-Fat’s character, who spends an uncomfortable chunk of the time acting the clown for no one else's amusement but his own. It is less inspired physical comedy and more like a typically charismatic actor reduced to a court jester. The action sequences may be competently staged, but they feel oddly disconnected from the rest of the story, resulting in a jarring and tonally inconsistent movie.

Co-written by Woo, the story centers on a love triangle between the brooding James (Leslie Cheung), the goofy Red Bean Pudding (Chow), and the caught-in-the-middle Red Bean (Cherie Chung). Their backstory of orphan criminals groomed to become skilled burglars of priceless artwork attempts to ground the silliness and inject some emotional stakes. But the heavy-handed melodrama never feels genuine or adds heart to the trio's dilemma of facing off against those who betrayed them. We're meant to feel the weight of the betrayal, but it comes off too soap-operatic to stick the landing. Woo does a decent enough job of making the implausible action sequences somewhat entertaining and believable, which is his trademark skill, after all. But Once a Thief runs out of steam pretty quickly and never recovers, failing to rise to the occasion and leaving viewers wondering if the real crime was the script itself.

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray
Shout! Factory brings Once a Thief to 4K Ultra HD as a two-disc collector's set under their "Hong Kong Cinema Classics" label, spine number #26. Housed inside a black, eco-elite keepcase with a glossy slipcover, a Region Free, triple-layered UHD100 disc sits comfortably opposite of a Region A locked, BD50 copy of the film with all the special features. At startup, the UHD disc goes to a generic menu along the bottom with music playing in the background and a static photo.

Coming from a fresh remaster of the original 35mm camera negatives, Woo's heist comedy pilfers a fantastic-looking picture that is leaps and bounds superior to its HD predecessor. The HEVC H.265 encode is significantly sharper with cleaner, distinct lines in the clothing, buildings, furniture and various objects decorating the background. The native 4K transfer also arrives with great contrast and brightness balance, boasting crisp, vivid specular highlights throughout and accurate, true black levels with excellent shadow details. The Dolby Vision HDR presentation flaunts a deeper, fuller palette with reds and blues looking particularly rich and more animated, providing the 1.85:1 image with a lively, energetic appeal that nicely complements the story's comedic elements. Facial complexions also appear healthy and lifelike, revealing pores, tiny wrinkles and negligible blemishes in the entire cast. (Dolby Vision HDR Video Rating: 92/100)

As with the other Woo releases on 4K, Shout! Factory offers two DTS-HD Master Audio mono soundtracks to choose from: the original Cantonese and an English dub. Dialogue reproduction is crisp and precise from start to finish. The midrange is surprisingly extensive and clean into the higher frequencies, and the low-end adds a welcome palpable feel to the action. Overall, the lossless mix is solid and an appreciable improvement over the imported Blu-ray. (Audio Rating: 78/100)

Since the movie is notoriously known for being difficult to find on home video, all the supplemental material is new and exclusive to this UHD edition. They are all housed in the accompanying Blu-ray disc, and only the commentary track is shared between the formats. 

• Audio Commentary with film producer and Asian-film critic James Mudge
• Stealing Some Shots (HD, 27 min) is an interview with cinematographer Poon Hang-Seng
• Handling a Heist (HD, 24 min) is an interview with director John Woo
• Thoughts About Thievery (HD, 21 min) is an interview with screenwriter Clifton Ko
• Once a Star, Always an Icon (HD, 17 min) is an interview with film critic and historian Frank Djeng
• Art of the Steal (HD, 10 min) is an interview with editor David Wu
• Heists and Lows (HD, 8 min) is an interview with producer Terence Chang
• Hong Kong Confidential (HD, 8 min) is an interview with author Grady Hendrix
• Archival Interview (1080i/60, 7 min) is an interview with star Kenneth Tsang
• Trailer (HD)

John Woo tries his hand at the heist comedy with Once a Thief, a poorly executed attempt to blend slapstick and action but only ends up stumbling under the weight of its own absurdity. With entertaining enough performances by Chow Yun-Fat, Leslie Cheung and Cherie Chung, the melodramatic story loses steam pretty quickly and fails to steal the show thanks to a tonal inconsistency that never finds its balance or figures out exactly what it wants to be. Thankfully, the 4K Ultra HD edition from Shout! Factory arrives with a gorgeous-looking Dolby Vision HDR presentation, an excellent pair of DTS-HD Master Audio mono soundtracks and a healthy collection of bonuses that are exclusive to this release. Overall, the UHD package is ultimately For Fans Only.

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