The Bonus Disc:
Nearly 20 years after the release of the first film, a 2016 package called “Rush Hour Trilogy” gives us all three movies on Blu-ray. While 1998’s Rush Hour and 2007’s Rush Hour 3 have been out on BD for years, the “Trilogy” set brings us the format debut of 2001’s Rush Hour 2.
For full information on the individual movies, please consult my reviews of those sets via the links above. Please note that the picture and sound grades found at the top of this article represent an average for the three discs.
As mentioned, the “Trilogy” gives us the first US Blu-ray release of Rush Hour 2. The “Trilogy” versions of Rush Hour and Rush Hour 3 are the same ones found on their own, so don’t expect changes/remastering from the “Trilogy” releases of those two flicks.
Though this article covers the trilogy as a whole, I want to concentrate mainly on the package’s final platter. Called “Bonus Disc”, it includes a only one component.
Brett and Jackie Look Back at the Rush Hour Trilogy runs 20 minutes, 27 seconds includes new interviews with director Brett Ratner and actor Jackie Chan. Filmed separately, they tell us about the first movie’s genesis development. They also go over cast, performances and interactions, Ratner’s methods, and various aspects of the series.
On its own, “Look Back” gives us some good observations. However, it feels redundant, as we hear most o this material elsewhere. The individual Blu-rays include a great array of bonus materials, so there’s only so much Ratner and Chan can add in a 20-minute piece. “Look Back” has its moments but fails to give us much that’s new.
Almost 20 years after the franchise debuted, the three Rush Hour movies present mild entertainment at most. They have occasional moments of value but seem awfully inconsistent. The Blu-rays give us generally positive picture and audio along with a nice allotment of supplements.
With a list price of less than $25, the “Rush Hour Trilogy” set offers a great deal for fans. However, that’s less true if viewers already own the Blu-rays for the first and/or third movies, as the “Trilogy” includes the same discs that have been on the market for years.
This makes the “Trilogy” worthwhile mainly for fans who don’t own the Blu-ray versions of Rush Hour and/or Rush Hour 3. However, even those who only want Rush Hour 2 won’t suffer too much – because the “Trilogy” costs less than $25, it’s not going to zap those fans’ wallets too much. I’m not wild about the movies themselves, but the “Trilogy” is a good package at a very nice price.
