Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

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Finch
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Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#1 Post by Finch » Thu Aug 30, 2018 10:58 am

New Announcement! ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA TRILOGY, Tsui Hark’s dazzling kung-fu trilogy starring Jet Li, will be released as part of the Eureka Classics range on Blu-ray from 26 November 2018, sourced from brand new 4K restorations and presented in a Limited Edition 4-Disc Box Set featuring a Collector’s Booklet. Available to PRE-ORDER now http://po.st/4jtepf

Tsui Hark’s phenomenal ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA trilogy finally arrives on Blu-ray in the UK from brand new 4K restorations! Starring Jet Li as the real life Cantonese folk hero, Wong Fei-hung, a physical embodiment of traditional Chinese values and moral incorruptibility, this martial-arts epic charts China’s transition into the modern-world as it gradually abandons its old traditions and begins to accept the inevitable encroach of Western cultures.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA – In 19th century Canton, Wong Fei-hung battles ruthless imperialist forces determined to subjugate his country and enslave his people, leading to a climactic fight sequence still regarded as one of the best ever filmed.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II – Wong Fei-hung faces off against the White Lotus Cult, a dangerous xenophobic group seeking to drive all European influence out of China, as well as a corrupt military officer, played by Donnie Yen in his breakthrough role.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA III – Wong Fei-hung travels to Peking and is forced to enter a martial-arts contest in order to prevent an assassination attempt against a prominent Chinese diplomat who wants to showcase traditional Chinese martial-arts, and restore national pride.

With action sequences choreographed by the legendary Yuen Woo-ping, the Once Upon a Time in China series is a glorious high-point in martial-arts filmmaking, and Eureka Classics is proud to present Tsui Hark’s original trilogy, as well as ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA AND AMERICA (which saw Jet Li return to the Wong Fei-hung role after a four-year gap) for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK in a special Limited Edition 4-Disc Box Set loaded with extra content.

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tenia
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon A Time in China 1-3 Boxset

#2 Post by tenia » Thu Aug 30, 2018 11:08 am

Details of the boxset content is available from Amazon :

BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

Special Limited Edition Box Set
1080p presentations of all three films, sourced from brand new 4K restorations and making their UK debuts on Blu-ray
Original Cantonese audio tracks (original source audio tracks and restored 5.1 options available)
Optional English audio tracks | Optional English subtitles
Once Upon a Time in China and America [100 mins, HD] the final chapter in the Once Upon a Time in China series, with Jet Li making a triumphant return to his most iconic role
New audio commentaries on Once Upon a Time in China I-III by martial-arts cinema expert Mike Leeder
A new video essay by Travis Crawford
New Interviews with key Cast & Crew (more info TBC)
The Legend of Wong Fei-Hung [48 mins] a three-part featurette on the legendary folk hero
Archival interview with actor and Shaw Brothers veteran, Yen Shi-kwan [10 mins]
Archival interview with Jet Li [10 mins]
Archival interview with Donnie Yen | Archival Q&A with Jet Li [10 mins]
Archival interview with director Tsui Hark [23 mins]
Archival interview with actor John Wakefield [11 mins]
Making of Once Upon a Time in China and America [25 mins]
Stills Galleries
Trailers
ALL EXTRAS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Box set exclusive Collectors booklets featuring new essays, and an abundance of archival material and ephemera

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What A Disgrace
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#3 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Aug 30, 2018 3:57 pm

Eureka Classics may soon be worthy of its own board.

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domino harvey
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#4 Post by domino harvey » Thu Aug 30, 2018 4:01 pm

Probably not, but maybe we should start allowing Eureka threads in the MoC sub proper rather than this one since they've upped their releases

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swo17
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#5 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 30, 2018 4:04 pm

Yeah, and maybe no need to say "Eureka" at the start of all of them, since they're already distinguished by not having spine numbers

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colinr0380
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#6 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:21 pm

These three films are all great and the core of the Jet Li series (probably the films he is most famous for, though the Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk films made at around the same time are also great), though the third is on a slightly smaller scale than the first two. I do really like the way that they are interweaving the martial arts elements in with romance as Wong Fei-Hung gets tentatively involved in a romance with Aunt Yee ("Aunt" apparently not meaning quite the same thing in this context! Though that relationship is something that does mean that they cannot acknowledge their attraction directly), featuring the much admired 'only touching through shadow in candle light' scene. And also the films are trying to do a bit of historical depiction as well, mostly of the influence of Western powers, goods and culture, as Aunt Yee is the 'modern woman' with Western dresses, tripod cameras and an interest in medicine and steam trains contrasting against Wong Fei-Hung's more ancient arts, which usually come in to save her when she gets into trouble, especially in the second film when a religious cult runs a demonisation campaign against corrupting Western culture and incites city-wide riots against foreigners and foreign sympathisers.

I have not yet had the chance to see them but some day I would love to see the rest of the series make it to a DVD or Blu-ray release, as following this the series continued with Once Upon A Time In China IV, V and the 1996 TV series with Wenzhuo Zhao replacing Jet Li (though Rosamund Kwan reprised her role as Aunt Yee in Part V). Tsui Hark did not direct Part IV but co-wrote it and then returned to direct part V and the TV series. Then in 1997 Jet Li (and Rosamund Kwan) returned with Once Upon A Time In China And America (aka Part VI, set in the US and dealing with the historical theme of Chinese immigrant labour used to build the railroads across the United States), which was directed not by Tsui Hark but by Sammo Hung.
Last edited by colinr0380 on Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#7 Post by Mr Sausage » Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:31 pm

Part VI is pretty bad, like a low budget comedy western made for tv. The fights aren’t bad, but excessively over-cranked and confusingly edited.

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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#8 Post by colinr0380 » Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:42 pm

Ah, I see from the extra features that Once Upon A Time In China and America is actually included as a bonus feature! That has bumped this up on my to buy list quite a bit! At least that is all of the Jet Li starring Wong Fei-Hung films together, even if I'm tempering my expectations based on Mr Sausage's comments!

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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#9 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Mon May 18, 2020 4:35 pm

Discontinued now as per the Eureka page.

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Finch
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#10 Post by Finch » Mon May 18, 2020 9:17 pm

A standard edition is probably and hopefully going to be announced over the summer as I haven't had the means to get a copy yet. They've done standard editions for the Jackie Chans. I'm actually surprised this set didn't sell out sooner.

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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#11 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Tue May 19, 2020 11:14 am

This is what I'm hoping too. I'm really kicking myself for holding off so long - that box design was quite lovely and I'll really miss that booklet - since it wasn't that expensive in retrospect and I'd planned on getting it since I finally had money now. (Prioritized the Fuller box first instead of just ordering this with it.) But looking on Amazon at the various dvd/blu editions out there I'd hope that Eureka would do that standard edition since it looks like a pretty popular title.

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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#12 Post by WmS » Tue May 19, 2020 11:48 am

I hope so as well. I just can't afford to keep up with everything I'd like to, we're so lousy with box sets and special editions. I get that the economically reprints or bigger runs don't make much sense, but If the format's about to die, at least it had a glorious last gasp.

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tenia
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#13 Post by tenia » Tue May 19, 2020 12:07 pm

I'm also wondering if a non-LE re-release would drop Once Upon a Time in China and America.

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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#14 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue May 19, 2020 12:21 pm

I haven't seen any actual breakdown of the set, but my understanding is that the disc with Once Upon a Time in China and America also includes some extras related to the series as a whole, so they would either have to drop those as well or reauthor the discs for the original trilogy to include them (which seems unlikely). If certain extras were going to be exclusive to the original box, I would hope that Eureka would've been forthright enough to designate them as such.

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tenia
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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#15 Post by tenia » Tue May 19, 2020 12:57 pm

It's on its own disc and only contains it 25 min making of and 2 trailers. IIRC, the making of is quite focused on this movie's making and isn't more general. However, the disc is included in the 3rd movie's case, so they would have to re-design the back cover.
However, while Eureka's product page isn't updated, Amazon's one is only claiming the booklet to be LE exclusive, so it might just be that.

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Re: Eureka: Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

#16 Post by swo17 » Tue May 19, 2020 1:03 pm

There are actually three separate booklets, one in each case

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