| Video: The Region 1 DVD appears to be sourced from the same master as the Hong Kong edition. The movie is presented in its theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 (it's closer to 2.25:1, actually) with anamorphic enhancement. The picture transfer is reasonably, though not exceptionally sharp. Fortunately, I noticed little distracting edge enhancement. Compression quality is acceptable. Black level is a little on the light side, but shadow detail is very good (this isn't a particularly dark film) and colors look fine. It's a decent-looking disc all around, if not exactly eye-popping.
In direct comparison, the U.S. disc looks very slightly softer than the HK release, and if you really strain to see it in the fine details of the image seems to have a tiny bit more edge ringing. Both issues could be attributed to inferior compression quality, but the difference is very small. Both discs have some speckling on the source elements towards the beginning of the movie.
Audio: The original Cantonese-language soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby 2.0 Surround. Annoyingly, the disc defaults to the 2.0 track unless you choose otherwise in the menus. The DTS-ES mix found on the Hong Kong disc has not been included. Nonetheless, this is an energetic soundtrack with gunfire ricocheting between the left and right rear speakers all the time. Some deep bass provides a nice kick during gunshots and explosions. I would not call it reference quality, but it's a perfectly fine action movie soundtrack.
English subtitles have been provided in a large, garish white font. The translation seems adequate, with a few noticeable typos and grammatical mistakes but nothing severe enough to affect its overall coherency.
Extras: The disc opens with an irritating public service announcement that can fortunately be skipped using the Chapter button on your remote.
The Palm Pictures DVD comes with basically the same small selection of bonus features found on the Hong Kong release, given English subtitles for the first time. We start with an unexciting 2-minute deleted scene in non-anamorphic widescreen. Following this is a 3-minute Making of Breaking News featurette, straight from the movie's Electronic Press Kit. It's a fluffy promotional piece, but some of the footage of To directing the action scenes is interesting. Finally, we get a theatrical trailer in 2.35:1 non-anamorphic letterbox with English subtitles below the frame.
Also included are some random previews for unrelated releases from the same studio.
For ROM supplements there are a couple of weblinks to the Palm Pictures home page and the official Breaking News web site.
Final Thoughts:...Palm Pictures is asking $19.99 MSRP for the DVD, with many retailers marking it down to around $17.99. Normally I would say that's a fine deal, except that the Hong Kong release of the movie is all-region NTSC, has slightly better picture quality and a DTS track, and can still be purchased for around $15. On the other hand, the U.S. disc has a quote from me on the front cover, which of course should make it exponentially more appealing to film connoisseurs everywhere. Whichever one you choose, both are highly recommended. | 
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