Line Walker 2: Invisible Spy | Blu-ray (Well Go USA)
RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2020
On April 28, 2020, Well Go USA will be releasing the Blu-ray for Line Walker 2: Invisible Spy, the sequel to 2016’s Line Walker.
Line Walker 2: Invisible Spy is once again directed by Jazz Boon and stars Nick Cheung (The Trough), Louis Koo (Three) and Francis Ng (Enter the Warrior’s Gate).
In this action spectacle, a car crash sparks a war between local police and an international terrorist organization. After Superintendent Yip (Ng) and Inspector Ching (Cheung) arrest a hacker named Yiu involved in the accident, the two police officers are suspected by Superintendent Cheng (Koo) as double agents. Clues lead the three officers to the far foreign soil of Myanmar and Spain, but as the investigation continues the lines between who is good and evil become blurred.
Note: The Well Go USA Blu-ray edition of Line Walker 2: Invisible Spy will be manufactured on demand (MOD), giving fans the option of owning a physical copy, as opposed to streaming it.
Stay tuned for pre-order information.
And thus we have reached the end of the Louis Koo trilogy for June to August. Wonder which movies will be packaged together next in consecutive months LOL.
On April 28th, Well Go USA is releasing “Line Walker 2”, “Chasing the Dragon 2”, “Unstoppable”, and “Lucid Dreams” on blu-ray, however they will unfortunately be MOD versions (manufactured on demand). The discs will be burned rather than pressed.
It’s a bit weird, and I don’t know if Well Go has ever released movies in this fashion before. I’ve never bought a MOD disc myself but I think I’m going to pick up a couple of these to see what they’re like. Assuming the picture quality is still better than streaming (which is why I still buy physical) then it should be good enough.
Links:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Line-Walker-2-Invisible-Spy-Blu-ray/266993/
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Chasing-the-Dragon-II-Wild-Wild-Bunch-Blu-ray/242683/
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Unstoppable-Blu-ray/266994/
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Lucid-Dreams-Blu-ray/266992/
Dan, that’s good information. But how were you able to tell that these are MOD versions?
– The Blu-ray.com listings for those movies state that they are being released on “BD-R” instead of a normal BD
– The cover art shown on those movies also has the (very strange looking) “BLU-RAY EDITION” text at the top, which you’ll find on some other MOD releases
– And perhaps the most convincing: The Target.com store listings for Line Walker 2 and Unstoppable mistakenly list the studio not as “Well Go USA”, but rather “Allied Vaughn”, which is a MOD disc facility and distributor in the US
I’ve now pre-ordered both Line Walker 2 and Unstoppable, and I’m happy to put my foot in my mouth if this info turns out to be wrong. 😛 But I can’t imagine that Well Go will change plans this close to release.
That’s crazy weird lol You have some good investigative skills there. Still strange though. Very fishy.
Red flags…
– Chasing the Dragon II (title alone) and Unstoppable (Ma Dong-Seok’s star power) should have enough marketing buzz to give this a full, pressed disc run from Well Go USA.
– That bright blue color on the Blu-ray case (as you said, with the word “Blu-ray Edition” on it) is too low budget and bright for Well Go’s doing, EVEN if MOD.
I’m calling BS, but good to know though. Definitely let me know what arrives in the mail.
– This stuff is not even on Amazon (even thought Blu-Ray.com lists ’em as being under Well Go USA, but that may be a webmaster error). Not on Video ETA either.
I agree with you about Chasing the Dragon II (and to a lesser extent, Unstoppable). I feel like Chasing the Dragon was one of Well Go’s bigger releases (?), so I’d imagine that the sequel should have an actual pressed release too. I’m surprised that it doesn’t.
I also agree with you about the cheap-looking “Blu-Ray Edition” banner. I’ve never actually bought a MOD disc before though, and I’m kinda hoping that’s not what the final product actually looks like. (If the actual case ends up looking like that, it’s gonna be pretty ugly.)
Regarding Amazon: I’m not sure why they’re lagging behind, but the movies do happen to be listed on both Walmart and Target, as well as some other smaller retailers. I figure it’s a matter of time before Amazon follows suit.
The other thing that grinds my gears is the price – Target is charging a whopping $27.99 for each one, and Walmart’s charging $29.98. Seems a bit much to me, but I spoke to someone over on the Blu-Ray.com forums and they say this is actually the norm for MOD discs, and is one of the reasons why people loathe them. You’re paying a premium for a more cheaply-produced disc.
In the end, I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger if it wasn’t for the 2-for-1 movie deal that Target had going on (which appears to have just barely expired!). I ended up pre-ordering Shout Factory’s new 4K release of “Deer Hunter” for essentially free. (Looking forward to that one.)
We’ll see how this goes. If the MOD discs turn out to be total crap, then I’ll consider it a lesson learned.
Totally. I’ve seen MOD discs from lesser-known companies, and they all do low budget things like that “Blu-Ray Edition” stuff (and their tagged under some company that nobody has heard of). And the fact that it’s Target and Walmart getting “MOD” versions is shady – these “Food Drug Mass-Merchandise” usually wouldn’t accept nothing less than a press version.
Dan, received some confirmation. In short, you have been 100% correct. MOD releases.
I just contacted Well Go USA personally… they assured me that these are pressed on standard BD-25 Discs and not BD-Rs… hope they’re right. 🤷🏼♂️
But, yeah, those MOD prices aren’t worth the gamble. Might as well buy the official Hong Kong imports for those prices.
Thanks for the extra info, IJ.
Whoever you talked to at Well Go USA must’ve been confused, or misinformed. I received 2 of these movies in the mail today (Line Walker 2 and Unstoppable), and they definitely appear to be burned discs, NOT pressed.
Despite being MOD releases, I am mostly pleased though. The plastic cases and artwork are not as ugly as I worried they’d be. Print quality looks good, and as for the actual content on the disc, the quality of the video encode looks great.
I posted some additional info and photographs here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=17590515&postcount=17
Thanks for taking the time to take those photos Dan. You can’t deny the evidence at this point. Fill us in on how Line Walker 2 (the movie itself) is. I heard some good things about it.
Just finished watching this and I’m still trying to process how I feel.
It’s a greasy cheeseburger for sure. Star-studded cast, crazy action scenes, relentless pacing, and vibrant cinematography that shows off bustling cityscapes from various parts of the world. But there are aspects of the movie that don’t really sit well with me.
Admittedly, I’m more critical of mega-budget blockbusters than I am of indie films. I truly think there is an inverse relationship between how much “soul” a movie has, and how many oversized corporate logos are paraded in front of you before the movie actually starts (and this one has a total of 8 of them, I counted!)
Therein probably lies my criticism: The movie has very little soul, or personality. It takes itself way too seriously. There’s an absolutely ludicrous, convoluted plot going on, which isn’t a bad thing when handled properly, but unfortunately most of it is played off completely deadpan. Louis Koo and Nick Cheung are at the top of their game here, playing their straight-faced, business-suit, slicked-out personas; yet I think their characters could’ve been tweaked somehow to match the absurdity of what’s happening around them.
When you have an over-the-top action thriller like this, it probably helps to have some comic relief. Or some more personable characters. Or maybe just a sense of self-awareness? I’m not sure, but it feels like Line Walker 2 lacks all of these. It just floors the gas pedal without really thinking about what it’s doing. Some of the plot elements could’ve also used some more room to breathe, but instead of letting you soak them in, the movie insists on stringing you along from one action setpiece to another.
Maybe I’m being too negative. Let me emphasize: The action scenes are definitely crazy, and plentiful. And the actors – while not exactly stressing their creative abilities – have some legitimate chemistry going on between them. The movie might be worth watching just for those two elements alone.
There is a climactic car chase just before the finale that takes place in Spain during The Running of the Bulls. And by that, I mean they are LITERALLY DRIVING ALONGSIDE THE BULLS. Louis Koo and Nick Cheung are desperately trying to stay alive while a group of CGI bulls surrounds them and tries to get in on the action. If that doesn’t give you an idea of the kind of dichotomy I’m talking about, I’m not sure what else will.
Sidenote: The poor CGI rears its head pretty often here. I’m not just talking about bulls, but really basic stuff too, like explosions and vehicles. With the massive number of production companies involved with this movie, wouldn’t they have enough money to roll an actual car down a hill? Apparently not. Oh well.
I give this one a 6 or a 7. But you might enjoy it more if you stop caring and indulge like you would with a highly-processed fast food burger. Greasy indeed.
Thanks for the review Dan! I’ve been see-sawing about doing a double whammy with both this and the original, but I think I’ll pass. It’s the sidenote that did it, I just can’t handle CGI vehicles and explosions. ‘Golden Job’ was also guilty of this, mixing some stellar vehicular stuntwork with some piss poor CGI vehicles, the latter sadly damaging the integrity of the former. I’d honestly prefer it if they just leave car chases out of movies all together if at some point you need to throw a CGI rendered car on the screen, it’s never less than glaringly obvious. I’m trying to think of the last time I saw a CGI bull, and was going to say I’m drawing a blank, but then I remembered Miike Takashi’s ’13 Assassins’!