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Comparison between the HD Main Cut and the reconstructed original cut, both included on the American Blu-ray released by Error 4444
2 differences
City Warriors from 1988 is an interesting example of Hong Kong cinema from that era. After a busy career in front of the camera with the Shaw Brothers, Johnny Wang Lung-Wei also took the director’s chair from 1985 to 1992. His works were mostly characterized by uncompromising harshness and a certain bleakness. In addition to Hong Kong Godfather, known for its wild finale, and the infamous shocker Escape from Brothel, there was also, among others, this very City Warriors. Archetypal villain Dick Wei appears here, quite unusually, as a quasi-hero and ex-mercenary who is on a straightforward path of vengeance.
Even in Hong Kong, it was only available on VHS and Laserdisc, but not on DVD. Worldwide, releases were similarly scarce; the only DVD edition was a bootleg naturally based on the Laserdisc. Since July 2026, it’s available on Blu-ray in the US from the label Error 4444 (known for e.g. Fatal Termination and Centipede Horror) in the label’s shop as a Limited Edition with extras, and will likely be released as a standard edition later. This Blu-ray means a second version is now unexpectedly entering the picture. The main feature is the HD master, which was provided by the licensor with Mandarin audio. According to the audio commentary, it could not be verified whether this version of the film was released in Taiwan or, for example, Singapore; in any case, this version is slightly shorter than the one known from the earlier Hong Kong releases. There is also a completely alternative training scene here. As a bonus, the original version was reconstructed using the same master as a basis and inserts from the Laserdisc, featuring the complete Cantonese audio. Ultimately, it doesn’t make a huge difference which version you watch, and this is definitely not classic censorship - especially since all the tasteless and bloody scenes were also included uncensored in the HD main master. Either way, it’s commendable that Error 4444 offers both versions on the disc.
Running times are listed according to the following format 08:35 / 08:35-08:52
The dead woman is visible for one (actually insignificant) moment longer, then Supt. Chan gets on the bus. He sees the body, closes his eyes in shock, and spits to the side. 16.8 sec
Alternative 13:52-14:22 / 14:08-14:46 In the training flashback, the first shots (up to the close-up of the legs) are still identical, but then a longer section is completely different. In the HD main version, Lok Hans’s group walks around shirtless, and there’s a brief training fight in which Lok wears boxing gloves. Eventually, there’s a smooth fade-out from a shot of him.
In the reconstructed original version, there is another close-up of the legs, after which the fighters are shown wielding rifles and bayonets instead. During the exhibition fight, Lok uses the weapons to knock down his attacker - with the knife shielded in front - which at least clearly illustrates that the blade would otherwise have landed primarily on his opponents’ necks. As noted in the audio commentary, this fits better with his character’s backstory as an army veteran. Here, too, there’s a smooth fade-out at the end.
Original version is 7.1 seconds longer Curiosity: The final shot is simply frozen for about a minute with music playing. Apparently, there were supposed to be closing credits here, but they are missing in both versions of Error 4444.
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