It just feels like a very small release for the film.

IвЂ™m thankful Criterion didnвЂ™t feel the need to pull Quentin Tarantino in on this release (it was a favourite of TarantinoвЂ™s, was released in North America through his Rolling Thunder Pictures, and the previous DVD had his name and face pasted all over it like he made it) and went the route of a scholarly track, but I guess I felt there was more out there. ItвЂ™s a good read and may actually be the best part of the release.Д¬onsidering that it is a bigger title I guess I expected a little more. Theatrical Trailer, which, as one might expect from a Miramax ad campaign, doesnвЂ™t really do a good job of capturing the film.ДЄ booklet included with the release contains an essay by Amy Taubin, who gives an analysis and synopsis of the film and how it represents Hong Kong at the time. ItвЂ™s interesting but runs only a 12-minutes and offers very little in the end. The two tour the locations used in Chungking Express and talk about their work, including what would have been their newest film at the time, Fallen Angels, talking a lot about their style. Unfortunately the only other big feature comes from a 1996 episode of Moving Pictures, presenting an interview with Wong Kar-wai and director of photography, Christopher Doyle. He also enjoys pointing out locations and some of the unique features of Hong Kong (such as the escalator that plays a fairly big role in the film.) ItвЂ™s informative and IвЂ™m glad I listened to it, but I canвЂ™t say it really added that much more to my appreciation of the film and in all I was a little let down by it. He gives a decent analysis of the film and offers some interesting facts about the production, like how the original story was to have the four characters crossing paths constantly throughout (shooting schedules didnвЂ™t allow that,) and also gets into the careers of the actors, even the minor ones. Rayns thankfully keeps everything going and while I assume he has notes it doesnвЂ™t really sound like heвЂ™s reading from them, though at times it sounds like heвЂ™s trying to keep up with his own train of thought.

I enjoy RaynsвЂ™ tracks overall (I especially liked his track for Vampyr) but I found this one to be just an average track.

There is an audio commentary by Tony Rayns, recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2008. This is a fairly big release for Criterion so I was a little let down with what we do get here in the way of supplements, only getting a few items. Criterion is also releasing the film on Blu-ray and considering how good it looks in standard definition IвЂ™m quite excited to see it in high-definition (as of writing this I have not seen the Blu-ray disc yet.) But even if you are not equipped for Blu-ray yet youвЂ™ll still find the transfer here quite pleasing. ItвЂ™s an impressive looking transfer and IвЂ™m more than happy with it as IвЂ™m sure many others will. The transfer keeps the filmвЂ™s grain yet has very little in the way of damage. The Criterion transfer presents a rather gorgeous looking picture, presenting a generally sharp image (though the style of the film sort of gives it a bit of a soft edge) with bright, nicely saturated colours and strong blacks. I donвЂ™t recall the image on the Buena Vista DVD and donвЂ™t own it, but I have a feeling the image on here is far better than that previous release. The image has been enhanced for widescreen televisions. Criterion presents Wong Kar-waiвЂ™s Chungking Express in the aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (which is the directorвЂ™s preferred aspect ratio according to the booklet) on this dual-layer disc.

Chungking express bluray