Eureka: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Eureka: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son

#1 Post by yoloswegmaster » Thu Oct 21, 2021 10:09 am

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Two Hong Kong action classics from Sammo Hung, Warriors Two and Prodigal Son both depict a version of the real-life kung fu master Leung Jan, whose mastery of Wing Chun would make him a legend.

In Warriors Two, Sammo Hung and Casanova Wong play two students of master Jan (played here by Bryan “Beardy” Leung) who must use their skills to defend their town against an evil businessman and his gang of killers.

The Prodigal Son follows Leung Jan as a younger man (played by Yuen Biao). Lazy and spoilt, he believes himself to be a great kung fu master not realising that his father has been bribing his opponents to intentionally lose. After being humbled in a real fight, Leung Jan decides to become a real Wing Chun master!

Featuring some of Sammo Hung’s most memorable action choreography, Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son are not to be missed and make their UK debuts on Blu-ray from brand new 2K restorations!

SPECIAL FEATURES
  • Limited Edition Set - 3000 copies
  • Limited Edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling
  • Limited Edition reversible poster featuring original Hong Kong artwork
  • A Limited Edition collector’s booklet illustrated with rare archival imagery and featuring new writing by James Oliver; a reprint of Frank Djeng’s original liner notes for The Prodigal Son from the US laserdisc
    release; and reprints of Warriors Two’s original sales notes and theatrical flyer
DISC ONE : WARRIORS TWO - TWO VERSIONS OF THE FILM, BOTH FULLY RESTORED IN 2K
  • Warriors Two: Hong Kong Theatrical Version (95 mins)
  • Warriors Two: International Export Version (90 mins)
  • Original Cantonese mono audio (Hong Kong Version)
  • Optional English dubbed audio (Hong Kong and Export Versions) (Note: English audio was originally created for the shorter export version, when playing English audio on Hong Kong version, some scenes will
    still be Cantonese w/ subtitles)
  • Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release
  • Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist / actor Robert “Bobby” Samuels [Hong Kong Version]
  • Brand new feature length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema [Export Version]
  • Making of “Warriors Two” featurette
  • Stills galleries including rare production stills, artwork, and ephemera
  • Trailers
DISC TWO: THE PRODIGAL SON - FULLY RESTORED IN 2K
  • Original Cantonese mono audio
  • Optional English dubbed audio
  • Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release
  • Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist / actor Robert “Bobby” Samuels
  • Brand new feature length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
  • Archival interview with Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Frankie Chan
  • Archival interview with Guy Lai
  • Alternate English credits
  • Stills galleries including rare production stills, artwork, and ephemera
  • Trailers

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Eureka: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son

#2 Post by Finch » Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:48 pm

£13.50 per film is very fair; I don't understand the bitching by some on the other forum. I've seen neither before but felt very comfortable blind buying this set. Eureka have been on a fantastic roll with their Hongkong titles this year and in 2020. 2022 looks like more of the same. I only wish Kung Fu Bob was doing their covers instead of Darren Wheeling but Bob is evidently busy with the 88 Films commissions.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Eureka: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son

#3 Post by Orlac » Thu Oct 21, 2021 7:27 pm

By some, you mean Grim Tales right? He's a ninny.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Eureka: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son

#4 Post by Finch » Sun Oct 24, 2021 3:43 pm

irongod confirmed there are more Sammo Hung titles still coming.

WmS
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:46 pm
Location: Columbus, OH

Re: Eureka: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son

#5 Post by WmS » Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:51 am

Prodigal Son is an absolute pinnacle of fight choregraphy, and it's married to one of Sammo's best overall story/directorial efforts. It has Lam Ching-Ying in probably his best role and deftly splits between hard edged fighting and comedy. The tone shifts constantly, but in line with the story's development and the lead's growing awareness. Along with Pedicab Driver I'd say it's Sammo's best movie.

Warriors Two is not on the same level, but it pairs well as it's his other authentic Wing Chun movie. Casanova Wong is a good-looking dude and he can fight, but he's just not a leading man. Sammo mugs a lot. Beardy's always great, the training sequences are good, Lee Hoi San is a plus. I can't remember much plot, at one point Sammo hides behind a door? The final fight, though, is really memorable, because Fung Hak-on does a cartoon version of his excellent Mantis style while sporting an Eddie Munster wig.

I always get Warriors Two mixed up with The Odd Couple. That movie's fantastic.

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Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

The Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung, 1981)

#6 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Apr 25, 2022 7:46 am

DISCUSSION ENDS MONDAY, May, 9th

Members have a two week period in which to discuss the film before it's moved to its dedicated thread in The Criterion Collection subforum. Please read the Rules and Procedures.

This thread is not spoiler free. This is a discussion thread; you should expect plot points of the individual films under discussion to be discussed openly. See: spoiler rules.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

I encourage members to submit questions, either those designed to elicit discussion and point out interesting things to keep an eye on, or just something you want answered. This will be extremely helpful in getting discussion started. Starting is always the hardest part, all the more so if it's unguided. Questions can be submitted to me via PM.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: The Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung, 1981)

#7 Post by Mr Sausage » Mon Apr 25, 2022 9:44 am

Very much a film about the virtue of sacrifice, here the sacrifice of the ease and privileges of wealth for hard work and dedication. It’s a novel variation on the underdog-who-must-learn-kung-fu story, with the underdog being in fact the, er, overdog? The lead’s motivation is not primarily revenge (tho’ that does factor in later), but the need to save face and earn a reputation that had previously been bought, culminating in a fight with his shadow self. The film implies that authenticity lies with the underclass, but the underclass is represented mainly by performers and artists in the Peking Opera. Sammo is valorizing the art form he was dedicated to as a child. The workers are more comically greedy. The movie has some interesting gender bending, with Yuen Biao’s teacher specializing in female characters in the Peking Opera and often being the object of male lust. Less is made of this than in Tsui’s Peking Opera Blues or especially Swordsman II, but still, it’s interesting in a Sammo Hung film, whose gender politics often reduce to jokes where he cold clocks some woman.

Sammo films are often full of bizarre tonal shifts. Just think of The Magnificent Butcher, a light-hearted comedy whose third act is kicked off by an attempted rape that culminates in murder. In The Prodigal Son, it’s a brutal massacre of unarmed women and men while they sleep. It’s out of nowhere in a charming kung fu comedy. After that, you’d assume the film would change gears and become much harder and more driven, but it goes immediately back to comedy the very next scene, when the Sammo character is introduced.

Anyway, the fighting and acrobatics are phenomenal as expected, and the film has a dynamic visual sense, never falling into the flat shooting and blocking that often characterizes kung fu films from the era. I enjoyed this. It’s not quite as creative and oddball as Dreadnaught from the same year, but an excellent kung fu film.

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ando
Bringing Out El Duende
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Re: The Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung, 1981)

#8 Post by ando » Wed Apr 27, 2022 10:14 pm

Nearly a half hour in and Ching-Ying Lam (Yuen Biao’s teacher) has been the most impressive mover so far. None of the choreography is believable but evidently realism isn't the objective. It's full of fairly broad and deliberately stylized performances and seems best to watch in half hour segments as the main story has little to drive it other than the vainglory of our young hero. Also, the soundtrack has little to no modulation (a bit of an assault on the eardrums) though the musical scoring (mostly percussion) alongside the fighting sequences is impressive.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: The Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung, 1981)

#9 Post by Mr Sausage » Wed Apr 27, 2022 10:31 pm

You're right, realism by and large isn't the goal of fight scenes in Hong Kong martial arts movies. They're heavily stylized, often like dances (Peking Opera and traditional stances are big influences, especially pre-1980). Sammo and Jackie Chan would pioneer their own acrobatic, stunt-based style of martial arts around this time, and you can see a bit of that in this movie.

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ando
Bringing Out El Duende
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Re: The Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung, 1981)

#10 Post by ando » Wed Apr 27, 2022 10:48 pm

Mr Sausage wrote:
Wed Apr 27, 2022 10:31 pm
They're heavily stylized, often like dances (Peking Opera and traditional stances are big influences, especially pre-1980). Sammo and Jackie Chan would pioneer their own acrobatic, stunt-based style of martial arts around this time, and you can see a bit of that in this movie.
Quite. It’s the best aspect of the film so far, certainly the most effective as the fighting sequences are often laugh out loud funny. It’s the only film (that I’ve seen) where an expert kung fu practitioner literally clowns his opponent!

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: The Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung, 1981)

#11 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun May 01, 2022 6:41 pm

Mr Sausage wrote:
Mon Apr 25, 2022 9:44 am
The movie has some interesting gender bending, with Yuen Biao’s teacher specializing in female characters in the Peking Opera and often being the object of male lust. Less is made of this than in Tsui’s Peking Opera Blues or especially Swordsman II, but still, it’s interesting in a Sammo Hung film, whose gender politics often reduce to jokes where he cold clocks some woman.
This was my favorite element of the film, and worked well to at once emasculate Yuen Biao further and challenge our and his own notions of predictability in social encounters, while objectively demonstrating that this is all his own self-constructed narrative to humble himself against. If we and he anticipate to win as a guarantee or to be schooled by a highly-masculine idol to emulate in every aspect, we are surely mistaken, and this calls into question what other assumptions we make that cloud our peripheral vision with vanity or expectations when humility is the answer to most martial arts in a spiritual sense. It’s done comically but played into that piece of the arts that I don’t see as much of in these action-dominant enterprises. I loved how the teacher often scoffed at him with his own vanity and refuted a role as a two-dimensional variable to assist in Yuen’s self-actualization, keeping him right-sized and demanding he do the same, while being the star of his own movie - though the teacher was by far the most interesting character and appropriately hijacked the narrative with a scene-detour at every opportunity!

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: The Prodigal Son (Sammo Hung, 1981)

#12 Post by Orlac » Tue May 03, 2022 4:51 am

Prodigal Son is one of my favourite HK movies even though it is full of the grotesque gurning comedy I normally don't care for.

The HKL trailer for the UK DVD is awesome, but is careful to not let on it's (mostly) a comedy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzasaKdb4Qo

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