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yoloswegmaster wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:59 pm OTR is now confirmed to be forthcoming since 88 Films has sent it for review to the BBFC.

Yaaayyy! \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/ \:D/

feihong wrote: Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:15 pm Legendary Weapons is a good film with a lot of cool visuals. Not my favorite Lau Kar Leung film, but a very worthwhile one.

Flag of Iron is a middle-grade Venoms movie––not as wacky and inspired as The Daredevils or House of Traps, nowhere near as accomplished as Shaolin Rescuers or The Rebel Intruders, but not as boring as Kid with the Golden Arm or The Magnificent Ruffians. I remember literally nothing of the plot––it was not vivid. But when the flags come out and everyone starts doing somersaults in slow motion, it was a pretty decently good time. Still, I would put it on the forgettable side of the Venoms canon. Personally, I wouldn't spend $30 on a blu ray of the film, if it came down to it. Maybe $10.

The Flag of Iron is pretty much a remake of Chang's earlier, far superior, Duel of the Iron Fist, only now with flags, stupid costumes, and this time no women naturally! It's not one of my fave Venoms pictures, I much prefer Kid with the Golden Arm.

That's funny. I didn't even remember enough plot from Flag of Iron to make that association. Duel of the Iron Fist, or The Duel, is one of Chang's best, imho. Ostensibly, since none of the Venoms are really movie stars on their own, the filmmakers can make them heroes or villains, can kill them off unexpectedly or have them turn traitor on one another, in a way you can't with big movie stars. Ti Lung would never suddenly turn out to be the bad guy in a Shaw Bros film, but any of the Venoms might, at any time (though Philip Kwok usually ends up being one of the heroes). Chang may even decide to kill them all off if he chooses (the Daredevils in particular has a somewhat shocking ending for such a light and frothy film). In some of the Venoms films, that works well to create some level of suspense. The Five Venoms and The Rebel Intruders have some of the best surprise turns like this, and Legend of the Fox freights a lot of uncertainty around character allegiances in this way. But some of these films really demonstrate the lack of a charismatic central star, and in comparing Duel of the Iron Fist and Flag of Iron, you definitely see that effect at work. Ti Lung and David Chiang demand our attention in the former, and the Venoms kind of fail to in the latter.

One of the first videos I ever saw on Youtube was this magnificent montage - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACe1QqF ... hannel=j1y

Kim Newman mentioned in his commentary for Michael Venus's Sleep that he has recorded a commentary for Pupi Avati's Zeder. I believe 88 Films is working on some Pupi Avati films?

88 Films first UHD is going to be the Drive (the one directed by Steve Wang and starring Marc Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison not the NWR one). Based on this, there is speculation that the circled items on the teaser image are UHDs (or at least potentially UHDs)

The Seventh Curse is coming in June:

Plus Corey Yuen's Hero, Human Lanterns, and Sergio Sollima's Violent City.

The Seventh Curse is a real treat for those interested in practical effects goo. Like Lam Ngai Kai's other films, it really goes all out for the violent special effects, while ignoring things like a sensical plot. Not that it matters as the film is so outrageous and sort of minute by minute exciting, it makes you not care that the film makes little sense. Maggie Cheung is great in it too as a spunky reporter. The one Lam film I'd love to see released on HD is The Cat, but I'm not holding my breath.

How is Corey Yuen's Hero? (Elegant Dandy Fop and feihong are the HK resident experts here) I think it's a remake (I can't for the life of me remember the title of the film it's based on right now, and I'll kick myself later). Consensus on the HK film sites I've found seems to be that it's a fine if not great film.

Great news about The Seventh Curse! Hopefully this will be the first time the film has been released uncut on home video in the UK.

They are also releasing 'Martial Club', 'Zone Troopers', 'Mardi Gras Massacre', and 'The Killer Meteors'.

dwk wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 7:25 pm 88 Films first UHD is going to be the Drive (the one directed by Steve Wang and starring Marc Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison not the NWR one). Based on this, there is speculation that the circled items on the teaser image are UHDs (or at least potentially UHDs)

This could be true as OldPangYau on the other forum has hinted at the circled 'DF" being a 4K release. He's worked on the Hong Kong titles for 88 Films, so I would guess that they are re-releasing 'Dragons Forever' on 4K. Since there is a high chance of 'Dragons Forever' receiving a 4K release, here is a list of HK titles that have 4K restorations that have a realistic chance of getting a UHD release:

Spoiler

Miracles: The Canton Godfather (88 Films)
Armour of God (88 Films)
Police Story (Criterion/Eureka)
Police Story 2 (Criterion/Eureka)
Police Story 3 (no release but rumored to be getting one this year)
The Lucky Stars Trilogy (Eureka)

Hopefully this news kicks Eureka into gear and they start to release any of the previously-released and future HK titles on UHD.

The Infernal Affairs trilogy has 4K restorations. They were with Tartan in the UK so I'm guessing they're up for grabs there; they're also not listed in Miramax's catalog anymore, so a U.S. release could be a possibility as well. There's also a 4K restoration of The Phantom Lover, but I doubt any Western label would see fit to give it a UHD.

The Valiant Ones is long overdue for a release and a 4K restoration has popped up at festivals, but I have no idea what the rights situation is. Golden Harvest produced and distributed it, but apparently Hu retained ownership, while GH kept The Fate of Lee Khan.

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:19 pmThe Valiant Ones is long overdue for a release and a 4K restoration has popped up at festivals, but I have no idea what the rights situation is. Golden Harvest produced and distributed it, but apparently Hu retained ownership, while GH kept The Fate of Lee Khan.

Does that mean the rights have fallen with the estate? Was it something the Taiwan Film Institute was involved with? Were A Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn in a similar rights issue where the estate was involved? I hope the rights for this have been squared off as I have a poor looking DVD of this I've avoided watching hoping that an HD version will pop up. I really want to see Sammo Hung as a pirate!

Finch wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:59 am How is Corey Yuen's Hero? (Elegant Dandy Fop and feihong are the HK resident experts here) I think it's a remake (I can't for the life of me remember the title of the film it's based on right now, and I'll kick myself later). Consensus on the HK film sites I've found seems to be that it's a fine if not great film.

I actually haven't seen Hero. I've seen most of the early films of Corey Yuen's career, but haven't really seen his work past The Bodyguard from Beijing. I've been curious to see that and So Close for a while, but have never gotten around to it. I also think Takeshi Kaneshiro is a tremendous actor, so I'd see that for him alone.

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:56 pm

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:19 pmThe Valiant Ones is long overdue for a release and a 4K restoration has popped up at festivals, but I have no idea what the rights situation is. Golden Harvest produced and distributed it, but apparently Hu retained ownership, while GH kept The Fate of Lee Khan.

Does that mean the rights have fallen with the estate? Was it something the Taiwan Film Institute was involved with? Were A Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn in a similar rights issue where the estate was involved? I hope the rights for this have been squared off as I have a poor looking DVD of this I've avoided watching hoping that an HD version will pop up. I really want to see Sammo Hung as a pirate!

I believe the rights were reverted back to King Hu, as he had deposited the negatives for the film to the Hong Kong Film Archive back in the mid-90s (and they were the ones who performed the restoration for it). I don't think he would have been allowed to do that if the rights were owned by Golden Harvest or another company.

Finch wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:59 am How is Corey Yuen's Hero? (Elegant Dandy Fop and feihong are the HK resident experts here) I think it's a remake (I can't for the life of me remember the title of the film it's based on right now, and I'll kick myself later). Consensus on the HK film sites I've found seems to be that it's a fine if not great film.

Not an expert myself, but since nobody answered...

It's The Boxer from Shantung (1972) directed by Chang Cheh & Pao Hsueh-li, which is in the ShowScope Vol. 1 from Arrow.

Thanks sabbath! Did you see the movie and did you like it? (Hero that is; I do quite like Boxer from Shantung)

Finch wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:07 am Thanks sabbath! Did you see the movie and did you like it? (Hero that is; I do quite like Boxer from Shantung)

I'm afraid I haven't. But I'm quite excited about the announcement because The Boxer from Shantung is my no.1 favorite Chang Cheh film and I luuuve Corey Yuen's Righting Wrongs as well as some of his other efforts. And of course, the presence of Takeshi Kaneshiro and Yuen Biao wouldn't hurt, either. I'm expecting a good but not great film as you said, since the hopeless 6-70s Shaw films fan in me says they could never top the original.

Incidentally, the protagonist of the film, the real-life Muslim horsetrader/horse racer/martial artist Ma Yongzhen, has several other TV/screen portrayals other than the two Shaw Brothers films, including Furious Slaughter (1972) starring Jimmy Wang Yu as Ma, which came out the same year The Boxer from Shantung did. I heard a lot of good things about it from Jimmy Wang Yu fans and that's the one Ma Yongzhen film I want to see most. (I know it's on YouTube in 240p with English dub, but...)

Kaneshiro and Biao make me pretty excited about the release too.

Re: Jimmy Wang Yu, I really hope someone, either 88 or Eureka, releases his Flying Guillotine film so I can replace my old Australian import.

Cory Yuen's "Hero" is a little underwhelming. Yuen Biao gives a surprisingly subtle performance, and the scenes with him have fantastic choreography––and Valerie Chow––noted for her extended cameos in Chungking Express and The Blade––gives a decent performance. But the film leans heavily on Takeshi Kaneshiro, playing the Chen Kuan-Tai role, and Takeshi is not quite up for it. He looks very self-conscious, and it looks like the fight scenes wear him out. The drama in general feels a little remote from what we're seeing on–screen, and the Kaneshiro-focused action scenes without Biao (of which there are several) lack focus and clarity.

Another very similar period film from the same era, Shanghai Grand, while similarly disjointed and abrupt in its mis en scene, has much more vivid scenecraft, more convincing performances, and better period recreation. Neither film is quite a classic, I don't think. But if tasked to choose between them, I'd probably choose Shanghai Grand (of which there is also a hi-def transfer from somewhere) most of the time. I saw the film initially because I was following Cory Yuen's directorial credits, and it quickly disabused me of the feeling that Cory Yuen was some sort of surefire quality auteur. Gone was the invention of Yes, Madam!, She Shoots Straight, Righting Wrongs, Savior of the Soul, and the Fong Sai Yuk movies; in its' place, there was––not a terrible movie, certainly, but one you'd hardly measure against those remarkable films––suggesting that as a director, Yuen had peaked and was on a sort of a downhill slide. Subsequent movies, like The Avenging Fist and DOA: Dead or Alive I think kind of prove that assessment out.

Finch wrote: Wed Feb 09, 2022 1:46 am Kaneshiro and Biao make me pretty excited about the release too.

Re: Jimmy Wang Yu, I really hope someone, either 88 or Eureka, releases his Flying Guillotine film so I can replace my old Australian import.

There are two issues preventing Master of the Flying Guillotine getting a proper release. One is that the German band Neu does not want their music in the film (at least without proper payment) and the other is that the negative for the longer version was worn out between the 2002 and 2004 DVD releases -the latter is anamorphic but other wise much worse looking.

yoloswegmaster wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 6:08 pm

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:56 pm

The Fanciful Norwegian wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:19 pmThe Valiant Ones is long overdue for a release and a 4K restoration has popped up at festivals, but I have no idea what the rights situation is. Golden Harvest produced and distributed it, but apparently Hu retained ownership, while GH kept The Fate of Lee Khan.

Does that mean the rights have fallen with the estate? Was it something the Taiwan Film Institute was involved with? Were A Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn in a similar rights issue where the estate was involved? I hope the rights for this have been squared off as I have a poor looking DVD of this I've avoided watching hoping that an HD version will pop up. I really want to see Sammo Hung as a pirate!

I believe the rights were reverted back to King Hu, as he had deposited the negatives for the film to the Hong Kong Film Archive back in the mid-90s (and they were the ones who performed the restoration for it). I don't think he would have been allowed to do that if the rights were owned by Golden Harvest or another company.

This was explained to me in the early aughts by the director and vice-director of the UCLA Cinema/television Archive in this way, and I've seen it supported in the book King Hu in his own words––essentially, Hu brought the two concepts for The Fate of Lee Khan and The Valiant Ones to Golden Harvest, and they agreed to co-produce the movies and Golden Harvest would own one, and King Hu would own the other. Golden Harvest wanted The Fate of Lee Khan, which they thought would be more commercially viable, and King Hu got ownership of The Valiant Ones. Hu thought he was getting the better of the deal, but The Valiant Ones didn't apparently make him the money he hoped it would, and Hu wasn't able to keep his production company solvent. Four years later, when he makes the "mountain" films, that's a production deal which is I believe initiated by the South Korean government, and Hu doesn't end up retaining any rights to those pictures, reflecting how hard it had become for Hu to raise funds for his movies. After Hu's death a foundation was set up in his name, with funds from his estate and I believe some funding from Terence Chang (whose plans to produce Hu's proposed masterpiece, The Battle of Ono, were scrapped by Hu's untimely death just before production was scheduled to commence), with the mission of organizing Hu's films and sorting out the rights issues, and generally promoting the pictures in a retrospective way. The King Hu Foundation apparently raised funds for a restoration of The Valiant Ones in late 90s/early aughts, and the restoration costs left them without a lot of funds to do anything else, including promoting the restoration. According to the people at UCLA at the time I talked to them, The Valiant Ones was the only film the King Hu Foundation was certain that they owned, and I believe they've never tried to assert ownership of any of the other films. Unlike Dragon Inn and A Touch of Zen, The Fate of Lee Khan and The Valiant Ones were Hong Kong productions, so I don't think it's likely the Taiwan Film Institute would be involved in their restoration. As someone who's chased these films down for decades trying to see them all (and––much harder––to see them with English subtitles), it's been quite surprising to see a majority of the key King Hu films suddenly get restorations and home video releases in the space of a few years––partly because they are owned by many different companies, as they were made in so many varied production schemes, and in various countries, to boot. Kind of incredible that Come Drink with Me, Dragon Inn, A Touch of Zen, The Fate of Lee Khan, Legend of the Mountain, Raining in the Mountain, and All the King's Men would get restorations one after the other (I believe Four Moods and The Wheel of Life have also had restorations recently, but no blu ray releases). But The Valiant Ones I believe is in a pretty different position than the other films; because it has been owned by a company not positioned to capitalize on its' release, and that may explain why it has taken longer to arrive. I haven't heard of the film changing hands, but the King Hu Foundation has been quiet now since the early aughts. But this new restoration sounds promising. The film is fun, and easily on a level with The Fate of Lee Khan and Hu's other classics of that era.

Thank you all for your replies! I think I'll try watch Hero first before committing to buying.

Orlac, that's a shame about Flying Guillotine.

Can't wait for 88's release of The Killer Meteors. It's not a good film by any means, but where are you going to see Jackie Chan cackle maniacally after seeing a man explode?

Righting Wrongs is also coming with a new Cynthia Rothrock interview: