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Last Hurrah for Chivalry



Before he became known as the master of the bullet-riddled heroic tragedy, John Woo sharpened his trademark themes and kinetic action choreography with this whirlwind wuxia spectacle. Unaware they are caught in a deadly game of deception, a pair of rambunctious swordsmen (Wai Pak and Damian Lau) join forces to help a nobleman (Lau Kong) in his quest for vengeance. Paying thrilling homage to his mentor, martial-arts innovator Chang Cheh, Woo delivers both bravura swordplay set pieces and a bloodstained interrogation of the meaning of brotherhood and honor in a world in which loyalty is bought and sold.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• 2K digital restoration, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed monaural soundtracks
• Alternate English-dubbed tracks
• Audio interview with director John Woo
• New interview with Grady Hendrix, author of These Fists Break Bricks
• Trailer
• New English subtitle translation
• PLUS: An essay by scholar Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park

Frank Djeng confirmed on his Instagram that he has done the subtitles for this release.

what's insane to me is how Djeng wasn't called on for more. he would've added a lot of value to this release I think

Barely 15 minutes of supplemental features is a huge letdown.

Also no comparison to the Eureka disc's image? If not a substantial improvement, the commentary alone makes the UK release preferable

MitchPerrywinkle wrote: Wed Mar 08, 2023 5:05 pm Barely 15 minutes of supplemental features is a huge letdown.

5 of that being a trailer. just pitiful at this point

At at least with the last few HK action releases they went through the motions a little more convincingly.

therewillbeblus wrote:Also no comparison to the Eureka disc's image? If not a substantial improvement, the commentary alone makes the UK release preferable

Aren't they sharing the same 2k restoration anyway ?

Criterion will do a color correction pass on an existing master sometimes. Looking at these screenshots, though, it looks like they just used it as is.

Okay, so there's zero reason to get the Criterion

I should clarify that I don't have the Eureka handy to compare, but it looks like a lot of the other Fortune Star 2Ks that are now getting US releases -- Magnificent Warriors, Knockabout, stuff like that

I know some people had issues with the subtitles on some of Eureka's early Hong Kong titles, but I can't remember if this was one of them (if it is one of them, then the newly translated subs by Frank Djeng should be an upgrade.)

I don't recall any subtitle issues when I watched the Eureka, but I admittedly don't focus nearly as much on them in HK action cinema, especially when the story is rather formulaic and its pleasures are sourced elsewhere