Non-MoC Eureka Titles

[Finch]

Amazon leaked two of the three titles TBA from Eureka today: limited editions of Larry Cohen's The Ambulance, and The Diabolical Dr Z (aka Miss Muerte) as part of their Eureka Classics line.

[Peacock]

Jess Franco finally enters the collection!
Shame it’s not a new to Blu title.

[Grand Wazoo]

Amazon leaked two of the three titles TBA from Eureka today: limited editions of Larry Cohen's The Ambulance, and The Diabolical Dr Z (aka Miss Muerte) as part of their Eureka Classics line.

I wish Franco was under the Masters of Cinema banner just so Domino's head would explode.

[reaky]

I’m still hoping for a Jean Rollin-style Indicator programme of deluxe Franco releases. I know he’s in the Fu Manchu box, but where’s my hard case UHD of Barbed Wire Dolls with 80-page perfect-bound book and poster?

[Orlac]

I’m still hoping for a Jean Rollin-style Indicator programme of deluxe Franco releases. I know he’s in the Fu Manchu box, but where’s my hard case UHD of Barbed Wire Dolls with 80-page perfect-bound book and poster?

We know Indicator has the Rollin ZOMBIE LAKE, which he completed for Eurocine after Franco quit production, so it may well be they have access to the Franco titles Eurocine owns. This includes Franco's early Spanish horrors like THE AWFUL DR ORLOF and DR. ORLOFF'S MONSTER (which were substantially altered for their French versions), plus various assorted movies such as THE BARE-BREASTED COUNTESS and OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES.

Mind you, Vinegar Syndrome recently released the Eurocine/Franco flick CANNIBALS (which Eurocine licensed to Blue Underground for DVD) under its Italian variant version WHITE CANNIBAL QUEEN, which presumbly VS got from the Italian rights holders, so it can be messy!

[Orlac]

Jess Franco finally enters the collection!
Shame it’s not a new to Blu title.

Hopefully this means Eureka will also release the Gaumont-owned Franco title ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS as the compression is screwed up on the Kino release.

[yoloswegmaster]

SPECIAL FEATURES

Limited Edition Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition exclusive bonus disc [2000 copies]
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Sam Gilbey [2000 copies]
Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on Sammo Hung [2000 copies]
1080p HD presentations from brand new 2K restorations of the original Hong Kong theatrical cuts of all three films
Bonus Disc exclusive to this set only - 1080p HD presentations from brand new 2K restorations of the extended international versions of The Manchu Boxer and Shanghai, Shanghai
Original mono audio tracks
Optional English dubs
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary on The Manchu Boxer with East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist & filmmaker Michael Worth
New audio commentary on Paper Marriage with genre cinema experts Arne Venema and Domoni Ting
New audio commentary on Shanghai, Shanghai with Frank Djeng and producer/writer F.J. DeSanto
New interview with Paper Marriage director Alfred Cheung
Trailers

[Finch]

King of Beggars with Stephen Chow and Full Moon High by Larry Cohen are the two Eureka Classics titles for January.

[DeprongMori]

Does anyone know if Eureka ever makes their booklets available as PDFs? (And if so, where I might snag one.) I recently picked up Larry Peerce’s The Incident, but it’s a later printing without the booklet. I was hoping to read the essays.

[Finch]

The Invincible Eight (Lo Wei) is Eureka Classic's March title.

[Finch]

Wheels on Meals UHD coming from a new 4k restoration as per Eureka's social media feed

[Finch]

Non-MoC titles for June are

MADHOUSE (aka The Revenge of Dr Death)

EMPIRE OF THE ANTS

[What A Disgrace]

In August, a four film Angela Mao set, containing The Angry River, Stoner, The Tournament and The Himalayan.

[Finch]

Wheels on Meals 4K confirmed for Nov 23

SPECIAL FEATURES
- Limited Edition Hardbound Set [3000 copies]
- Limited edition hardcase featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore
- Limited edition 60-page collector’s book featuring a new essay by Rachael Nisbet on Lola Forner and writing on Wheels on Meals by James Oliver and Scott Harrison
- Limited edition double-sided poster
- New 4K restoration by Eureka Entertainment from the original camera negative
- Optional “Spartan X” presentation of the film
- Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this 4K release
- Original Cantonese audio track, available in original mono (LPCM) and restored DTS-HD MA 5.1
- Optional English audio from the film’s original international release, featuring an alternate (and much funkier) soundtrack, available in original mono and 5.1
- Alternate English dub track from the film’s 2006 DVD release, available in 5.1
- Custom audio option featuring the original Cantonese dialogue track mixed with the alternate soundtrack from the international release
- New “hybrid” audio track created for this release
- New audio commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- New audio commentary by action cinema expert Arne Venema and filmmaker Domting
- New interview with Wayne Wong, author of Martial Arts Ecology
- New video essay by Hong Kong cinema expert Gary Bettinson
- On Giant’s Shoulders – archival interview with Sammo Hung
- Additional archival interview with Sammo Hung
- Born to Fight – archival interview with Yuen Biao
- Jet Fighter – archival interview with kickboxing champion and martial artist Benny “The Jet” Urquidez
- King of the Ring – archival interview with martial artist Keith Vitali
- The Inside Track – archival interview with director and action choreographer Stanley Tong
- Additional outtakes footage
- Original theatrical trailer
- International release trailer
- Original Japanese Spartan X trailer

[therewillbeblus]

If anyone hasn't grabbed this yet, it's one of my favorite Eureka HK releases. Just a blast from beginning to end. My initial thoughts:

The comedy trio of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao is really effective, giving off a similar vibe to the Yes Madam! dynamic of social buddy humor amongst the three young hoods, as opposed to Dragons Forever's (despite that film sharing the same trio of players as here, their comic timing in playing off of one another is at its zenith in this earlier entry). Maybe that's just because it's rare to find interpersonal broad comic shtick as consistently successful in HK cinema, so I'm lumping incongruous work together, but you could do with worse company than Yes Madam! as a parallel. Anyways, the bifurcated narrative is edited together in a smooth fashion until the arcs come together, with neither side wearing out its welcome. Even Lola Forner' character's quirks are fleshed out early on, when she's still mysterious and not yet a key player beyond the 'enigmatic woman', organically alluring the audience to her charm right with the infatuated principals.

And that's really where the film shines in every respect: the attention to detail, in all their forms, never feeling extraneous or superfluous to the idea behind the shot or scene. The film's mise en scene and interventions for interpersonal engagement are way more intricately conceived than they need to be. The result is a film that at times functions like a screwball/slapstick exercise with occasional Keaton/Tati levels of inspired, subtle background gags; and other times, there are long-winded pitches to structured punchlines; or isolated absurd interplay (the worm quiz is gold), all blended into creating an eclectic palette that's unpredictable when it comes to which style of comedy (or action, given the range there, and long wind-up between specific martial arts set pieces) is going to infiltrate our senses at any given moment. A real treat, and one that I suspect will only yield greater rewards on repeat viewings.