Bullet in the Head [Blu-ray]

It's nice to see that Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo has enough faith in his talents -- and his audience -- to allow Bullet in the Head to run 136 minutes. It is nicer to report that this ambitious Vietnam-era drama never, but never drags. Set in 1967 Saigon, the film spotlights three young men, fugitives from the Hong Kong police, who run a brisk black-market operation. The crux of the film is a test of loyalty and friendship; when the chips are really down, will it still be "all for one and one for all"? A lengthy sequence in a POW camp is almost unbearably tension-filled. American prints of Bullet in the Head have been sliced down to 100 minutes; even in truncated fashion, the film is well-worth having.