Once a Thief (1991)
縱橫四海
Action, Comedy, Thriller, Crime • 1h 49m
Overview
Three orphans grow up to become art thieves under the tutelage of a crime boss. Romance complicates matters when the trio are double-crossed.
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed
Arrow 4K Blu-ray, mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.
Director: John Woo
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed
Arrow 4K Blu-ray, mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.
Director: John Woo
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray (part of a trilogy box set)
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray > Disk Kino/WCL China import
review: Disk Kino
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: John Woo
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray (part of a trilogy box set)
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray > Disk Kino/WCL China import
review: Disk Kino
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: John Woo
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray (part of the trilogy box set)
Director: John Woo
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray (part of the trilogy box set)
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray, correct grade and archival extras missing from the Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Criterion LaserDisc, both Arrow 4K Blu-ray and Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray are worse.
Criterion USA LaserDisc [CC1397L]: Original Cantonese mono.
Best Cantonese mono still was from Criterion LaserDisc, as the Shout one was boosted with clipping, with some filtering and losing dynamic range over the Criterion LD.
There’s no need for other Cantonese audio, as all 5.1 remixes are extremely bad and not worth including.
For English Dub the Shout offered the best, it was pure mono. All other 5.1 remixed of said dub are also terrible and offer no value, only less fidelity and more echo.
Director: John Woo
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray, correct grade and archival extras missing from the Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Criterion LaserDisc, both Arrow 4K Blu-ray and Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray are worse.
Criterion USA LaserDisc [CC1397L]: Original Cantonese mono.
Best Cantonese mono still was from Criterion LaserDisc, as the Shout one was boosted with clipping, with some filtering and losing dynamic range over the Criterion LD.
There’s no need for other Cantonese audio, as all 5.1 remixes are extremely bad and not worth including.
For English Dub the Shout offered the best, it was pure mono. All other 5.1 remixed of said dub are also terrible and offer no value, only less fidelity and more echo.
Director: John Woo
Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode, though the difference in either is not major.
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Director: John Woo
Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode, though the difference in either is not major.
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray > Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber US Blu-ray, see caps
Capelight and Arrow both have good compression, but Capelight has the edge. Kino is very poor.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Image Entertainment LaserDisc
(Arrow is a port of the LD track, see spectrograms)
Capelight and old Arrow BD included the original stereo mix, but with excessive noise reduction rendering it much less detailed. Kino only included a downmix of the 5.1 remix.
The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in AC3 form.
Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray > Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber US Blu-ray, see caps
Capelight and Arrow both have good compression, but Capelight has the edge. Kino is very poor.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Image Entertainment LaserDisc
(Arrow is a port of the LD track, see spectrograms)
Capelight and old Arrow BD included the original stereo mix, but with excessive noise reduction rendering it much less detailed. Kino only included a downmix of the 5.1 remix.
The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in AC3 form.
Director: Richard Fleischer
Director: Richard Fleischer
Director: Joel Schumacher
US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray has both the original Dolby Stereo 2.0 mix in its best quailty and the original Dolby Stereo 4-track discrete stems in 4.0.
Director: Joel Schumacher
US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray has both the original Dolby Stereo 2.0 mix in its best quailty and the original Dolby Stereo 4-track discrete stems in 4.0.
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Directors: Jackie Chan & Benny Chan
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Directors: Jackie Chan & Benny Chan
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Arrow 4K Blu-ray from the Jackie Chan Boxset
Director: Takashi Miike
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Original matrixed DTS Stereo mix: 2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
5.0 surround remix: 2009 Shout! Factory US Blu-ray
Arrow includes three audio tracks, matrixed stereo, discrete 4.0, and a 5.0 surround remix. Unfortunately, only the first one is usable. The 4.0 desyncs partway through. The 5.0 has incorrect (lower) pitch. Fortunately, the matrixed stereo track sounds great, but it is still a major disappointment.
There has been no replacement disc announced. See nicwood's BR post.
Director: Takashi Miike
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Original matrixed DTS Stereo mix: 2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
5.0 surround remix: 2009 Shout! Factory US Blu-ray
Arrow includes three audio tracks, matrixed stereo, discrete 4.0, and a 5.0 surround remix. Unfortunately, only the first one is usable. The 4.0 desyncs partway through. The 5.0 has incorrect (lower) pitch. Fortunately, the matrixed stereo track sounds great, but it is still a major disappointment.
There has been no replacement disc announced. See nicwood's BR post.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Director: Lo Wei
Director: Lo Wei
More Action on Blu-ray
2017 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray and subsequent 4K Blu-rays are notorius for being heavily denoised and smoothened. Alternatively, 35mm scans for the theatrical cut is also available.
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre-2017 transfer, but has DNR.
2017 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray and subsequent 4K Blu-rays are notorius for being heavily denoised and smoothened. Alternatively, 35mm scans for the theatrical cut is also available.
For the Ultimate Edition with the T-1000 searching John's room and the happy future ending, the 2009 Skynet Blu-ray, which is the older pre-2017 transfer, but has DNR.
High seas for the recreated Theatrical Cut
High seas for the recreated Theatrical Cut, Disney 4K Blu-ray is disappointing
High seas for the recreated Theatrical Cut
High seas for the recreated Theatrical Cut, Disney 4K Blu-ray is disappointing
OG: "4K83" or "OTD83" on the high seas
Special Edition: "4K97_VI" or "D+97_VI" on the high seas
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: "4K83" or "OTD83" on the high seas
Special Edition: "4K97_VI" or "D+97_VI" on the high seas
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
OG: "4K83" or "OTD83" on the high seas
Special Edition: "4K97_VI" or "D+97_VI" on the high seas
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: "4K83" or "OTD83" on the high seas
Special Edition: "4K97_VI" or "D+97_VI" on the high seas
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
2010 US Kino Lorber or 2012 UK Artificial Eye
2017 JP Kadokawa Blu-ray has the best encoding out of all the older discs.
Kino Lorber and Artificial Eye Blu-ray use the same master, between the two the PQ on Kino's release is slightly better, but the difference is negligible.
The 4K restoration (Criterion, 4K etc) are cropped to 2.35:1, have revisionistic colour grading and other changes.
Caps: old master, old master vs 4K restoration
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
2010 US Kino Lorber or 2012 UK Artificial Eye
2017 JP Kadokawa Blu-ray has the best encoding out of all the older discs.
Kino Lorber and Artificial Eye Blu-ray use the same master, between the two the PQ on Kino's release is slightly better, but the difference is negligible.
The 4K restoration (Criterion, 4K etc) are cropped to 2.35:1, have revisionistic colour grading and other changes.
Caps: old master, old master vs 4K restoration
Director: Ronny Yu
Director's Cut: Hong Kong Edko Films Blu-ray
International Theatrical Cut/US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-ray
Director's Cut: Hong Kong Edko Films Blu-ray
International Theatrical Cut (aka. Unrated Cut): Universal Blu-ray
US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-ray, Starz Streaming for open matte
Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: Disney+ Streaming in Singapore, Singapore Disney DVD for open matte
Thai Theatrical Cut: Disney+ Streaming in Thailand, Thailand Disney DVD for open matte
Director: Ronny Yu
Director's Cut: Hong Kong Edko Films Blu-ray
International Theatrical Cut/US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-ray
Director's Cut: Hong Kong Edko Films Blu-ray
International Theatrical Cut (aka. Unrated Cut): Universal Blu-ray
US Theatrical Cut: Universal Blu-ray, Starz Streaming for open matte
Hong Kong Theatrical Cut: Disney+ Streaming in Singapore, Singapore Disney DVD for open matte
Thai Theatrical Cut: Disney+ Streaming in Thailand, Thailand Disney DVD for open matte
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray / US GKIDS Blu-ray
US GKIDS Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub
US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the older Funimation English dub
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray is an upscale, but has less compression artifacts
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray / US GKIDS Blu-ray
US GKIDS Blu-ray for the Amazon English dub
US OOP Funimation Blu-ray for the older Funimation English dub
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray is an upscale, but has less compression artifacts
Directors: Hideaki Anno & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Mahiro Maeda & Masayuki
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
Directors: Hideaki Anno & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Mahiro Maeda & Masayuki
Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
Directors: Katsuichi Nakayama & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Mahiro Maeda & Hideaki Anno
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray for both the original Japanese and the Amazon English dub
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray has higher bitrate and better encoding than the Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
Directors: Katsuichi Nakayama & Kazuya Tsurumaki & Mahiro Maeda & Hideaki Anno
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray for both the original Japanese and the Amazon English dub
US GKIDS/UK Anime, Ltd. 4K Blu-ray has higher bitrate and better encoding than the Japan King Records 4K Blu-ray
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