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UK 3-disc Blu-ray set 
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Comparison between the reconstructed export version on the British Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment (bonus material) and the original export version on the French DVD (identical to the German DVD) For Dr. Wai in "The Scripture with No Words", Jet Li starred for Hong Kong superstar director Ching Siu-Tung (Duel to the Death, A Chinese Ghost Story, Swordsman II). Unfortunately, the project was plagued by misfortune: a fire destroyed sets worth around 10 million Hong Kong dollars, allegedly affecting almost one-third of the already shot footage. The scriptwriters were promptly rehired, and a rather dubious contemporary framing storyline was devised. This storyline is what one sees in the Asian version, whereas for the international release, the maximum was extracted from the original material. For the British audience, the DVD contained the Asian version with original language and subtitles, while in Germany, only the international version was known, and in France, both versions (in better quality than in Germany/UK) were released on DVD at the time. The extensive differences between the Asian and international versions will be addressed in a separate report. What's important here is that this history once again posed problems when for the HD releases. From Hong Kong, Fortune Star currently only offers the Asian version as a new scan. Thus, on the Blu-ray premiere available since November 20, 2023, in the UK, this version is the main movie. For a while, this was unconfirmed, and in forums like Blu-ray.com, users mentioned attempts to include the international version on the Blu-ray. Fortunately, this has indeed happened. However, this version is a patchwork edition, using the HD master as its base but frequently shifting to SD material at numerous points, often only for brief moments, as these export-exclusive scenes were not available in HD. Therefore, we took a closer look at earlier releases of the "original" export version. Indeed, a few minor differences in the frame area were found because this reconstruction effort was inevitably challenging. However, there's nothing "critical," and it's executed better than, for instance, the Vingear Syndrome's reconstructed Mandarin version of Righting Wrongs. It's more a sidenote for "sticklers" like us, but for interested viewers, the British Blu-ray is certainly recommended. Sidenote: The set also has a reconstruction of the US version with SD inserts of Hitman and for My Father is a Hero the additional scene of the Hongkong laserdisc is included, but unfortunately the additional bits of the Taiwanese version are not. Runtime details are arranged according to the scheme Other company logos at the start. The identical logos at the end obviously also come from different sources.
Blu-ray 17 sec longer
Here are two screenshots from the first few minutes. Unfortunately, the image on Eureka's international version is a little zoomed in, so that in the first two shots, for example, riders are lost on the side or the bull's horn is slightly cropped. Incidentally, these two shots follow directly after each other and because the first one is longer in the international version, it was obviously completely inserted from a different image source. The second comes from the HD master, so that a difference in the coloring is already more clearly visible here.
The paradox is that the Asian version of Eureka shows the correct/full aspect ratio. Apparently, the entire film was zoomed in a little because of the inserts of the international version, even though these inserts would indeed have been available on the French DVD in the original aspect ratio.
Since otherwise shots are often simply shortened in the Asian version, the reconstruction of Eureka often switches briefly from the HD source to the SD material right in the middle of shots.
Here are three exemplary comparison images from the rest of the movie: The picture on the French DVD is often somewhat darkened and details are generally lost compared to the new HD restoration. In some cases, however, the Blu-ray also has a somewhat questionable color scheme, as the third image from the 65th minute shows.
For comparison, here are two of these shots from the old German DVD first edition - cropped to the visible picture format, because the DVD is actually not anamorphic and thus offers huge black bars (letterboxed picture).
05:30 / 04:59-05:00 After Jet lowers his arm, you can see the two of them for a moment longer. 1 sec
06:02 / 05:30-05:31 A few inconsequential frames during the scene transition. 0.5 sec 08:29 / 07:52-07:53 The tracking shot down to the skyline begins a little earlier. 1.4 sec 08:38 / 08:02 Strange editing mistake: To compensate for the shortened beginning, the Eureka version switches back to the picture master of the international version at the end of the shot, which means that a short part is simply repeated. On top of this, the image is a bit stretched, making this change of image source in the middle of the shot all the more noticeable. The two consecutive frames of the Eureka version are shown again. + 1.5 sec
10:24-10:25 / 09:42 In the Eureka version, a shot of the street begins a little earlier. Note: This moment is included on the German DVD and is therefore an exclusive missing part of the French DVD. + 1 sec
51:20 / 48:56-48:57 End/beginning of two shots. 1.2 sec
52:33-52:34 / 50:07 The French DVD is again missing a brief moment during the escape by train. Note: Included on the German DVD. + 0.7 sec
54:27-54:28 / 51:56 At the end of the scene, a view of the train is a moment longer in the Eureka version. Note: Included on the German DVD. + 0.8 sec
65:48-65:49 / 62:47 The last shot at night starts a moment earlier. Note: Included on the German DVD. + 0.7 sec
Immediately afterwards, the international version actually fades smoothly to the next scene (close-up of the aircraft turbine). In the Eureka version, it is a hard change between the shots, as the previous scene at night was missing in the HD master.
At the beginning of the following scene inside the airplane, a few frames are nonsensically duplicated in the Eureka version, while the correct international version showed more in the surrounding bits. 66:48 / 63:44 When Rosamund holds up the card on the plane, the Eureka version switches to the other image source in the middle of the shot. However, a few frames are missing. 0.5 sec 81:39 / 78:00 A shot of Takeshi is a few insignificant frames longer. Note: Included in the German DVD. + 0.5 sec The Eureka version still has a reference to Fortune Star after the identical credits.
Other differences with a duration of < 0.5 sec each were not listed in the cut report. Slipcase and cover / reverse cover of the UK Blu-ray box:
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