Comparison between the cut Hongkong Laserdisc by Ocean Shores (Cat. II) and the uncut German DVD by Shamrock Media (not rated)

- 2 cuts
- Length: 2.5 sec.



The third part of the Angel film series (which should all be known by fans of Hong Kong action movies of the 80s) was a problematic case in terms of censorship for a long time. It was rather annoying that you apparently couldn't get a completely uncut version anywhere in the world. Only in 2010 an uncut version could be compiled thanks to the remarkably good-looking master copy, which was used for the Czech DVD for the first time (in February 2012 also used for the German DVD). This version wasn't that new though, the US DVD, released some years earlier, and the Dutch tape for example were identical to it - but due to lousy quality and full-screen view almost unbearable. Moreover, the completeness of this version was doubted at that time, because some shots in the finale in the Malaysian video release were a little bit longer (which is also contained in the extras of the German DVD). In turn, other parts were censored in this version and in the end it is just to be seen as an Asian alternative version.

In Hong Kong, the country of production, the movie was released on video, Video CD and Laserdisc only in the version which is mentioned in the following report. It is more or less complete and in contrast to, for example, the old German video version still rather good-looking, but two parts are also clearly censored. A murder with the knife was stripped down to the bare necessities (just one stab instead of three) and the bloody details at the beginning of the final head shot were removed.


Moreover, both versions contain some minor master errors, always less than 0.5 seconds (irrelevant single frames at the beginning/end, no complete shots). Therefore the HK LD runs 3 seconds longer in total, but because this is no relevant material, it's not mentioned in the report.



The runtime information is in the order Hong Kong LD / German DVD.



Thanks go out again to Mr. White, who helped out with the comparison material!

Logos

The logo of the production company at the beginning is only shown on the Czech/German DVD, so they run 21 seconds longer.

Here's a comparison of the two title displays to show the difference of the picture. It has to be mentioned that the display on the German DVD is self-made...

HK LD	German DVD

...as can also be seen in comparison to the Czech DVD.
Opposed to that is the US DVD. The shot is missing completely to simplify matters. Right at the beginning there's the cheap-looking additional display "Midnite Angels 3" in red on a black background.

US DVD	Czech DVD

74:14 / 74:32-74:33

The HK version only shows the first stab. The uncut version shows two further stabs and blood splashes.

1.1 sec.

85:56 / 86:15-86:16

Only the later part of the shot of the slow motion head shot is visible in the HK version - the bloody hit at the beginning is missing, the movie sets in when her head is falling back (no blood visible anymore).

1.4 sec.

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Another look at the bonus clip on the German DVD, which shows the little extra snippets from the Malaysia/Singapore VHS.

The first extra scene can be found in the main film at 75:55. Before the truck's side hatch opens and the shooting starts, the security chief is shot in the back. He turns to the side and shoots another attacker. At the end of the shot, you can see his bleeding back (or at least guess it, given the poor image quality). With a frightened expression on his face, he then turns to the side door of the truck.

Note: Part of the big shootout is identical, but bonus clip 00:37 / 76:24-77:16 is missing a part that appears in the main film, in which the president is shot and calls for reinforcements.


In bonus clip 00:46-00:49 / 77:26, you see someone with a headshot go down (presumably the beginning of the shot was already missing here), followed by two harmless shots of gunfire.

In bonus clip 00:54-00:57 / 77:31, several soldiers fall to the ground during the retreat and one is shot in the head from the front.

In bonus clip 01:01-01:04 / 77:35, more soldiers are shot down in a longer shot.

Another shaky side shot in bonus clip 01:05-01:08 / 77:36.

Various other shots from bonus clip 01:09-01:20 / 77:37: After the shot of the White House, countless other baddies are shot down, with one of them even being used as a human shield in between. After that the clip ends abruptly.