Tag: Wuxia

Look, Up in the Air, It’s a Flying Swordsman Coming to Home Video This Week!

Ultimately, The Flying Swordsman plays out like a video game on steroids, and those familiar with Bushido Blade may see similarities.

The Flying Swordsman DVD
Available to pre-order on Amazon USA

Well GO USA
Release Date: Jan 9, 2024

Hidden in some secret valley are untold riches, and for The Flying Swordsman (雪山飞狐之塞北宝藏 / The Hidden Fox) to find it, he will have to defeat other treasure seekers for it! They’re all after this pirate’s bounty, as I like to call it, but for Hu Yidao (Ben Ngai-Cheung Ng) who is the sacred guardian of an iron box that contains the key to finding this place, he won’t give up those secrets easily!

Emperor Tian Guinong (Gang Wang) wants it and even tries to trick this master into giving it up. However, the people he sends die, and time passes where its legend only grows. This setup is rather mighty, because without a knowledge of this history, this film feels like every other wuxia style motion picture I’ve seen. What’s different about this work is a storytelling technique rarely used. Lots of flashbacks reveal what was, as Tao Baisui (Ray Lui) embarks on the same quest. As for what’s presented, it’s a very stylish martial arts film where the heroes and villains are very much involved in a game of hunting each other down!

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It’s all Hi-Yah High Stakes Action with Unboxing Shaw Brothers Classics Volume 4!

There’s lots to unpack and unravel in this latest release from Shout! Studios for fans of Wuxia style cinema. We look at what’s included in Shaw Brothers Classics Volume 4!

Shaw Brothers Classics Volume 4 Box
Available to order through Amazon USA

Over winter break, I received a lot of packages from the PR firms representing of various studios, and a few direct from the distributors themselves. As the past unboxing videos have revealed, there was a lot for me to go through! Over Boxing Day, I did the opposite and posted my unboxing video of Shaw Brothers Classics Volume 4 from Shout! Studios (formerly Shout! Factory).

There will be a follow-up written piece to go into greater detail on the new featurettes that’s been made exclusively for this set. There’s certainly a lot to unpack, and to give this set its fair diligence, I’d rather not speed through the content since it goes into academic detail. Also, there’s a lot of reflection from those folks who worked for this studio to digest too!

For those curious in what the past volumes are like, my review can be here by following through with this link.

It’s a Retro Kickass Wuxia A Go-Go with Shaw Brothers Classics Volumes 2 & 3 in Review.

Yes, another Shaw Brothers Classics set is coming, and in volume four, it’s sure to mirror what the prior release offers, and we look back at those!

Shaw Brothers Classics Vol 4 Box
Volume 4 available to preorder on Amazon USA

The Shaw Brothers Studios are well known for being able to pump out kung fu movies faster than I can say Hi-Yah! And early this year, Shout! Studios has been releasing the best of them to celebrate this company’s legacy! Although their founding and 100th anniversary is two years away, I’m glad fans worldwide are getting something to whet appetites sooner than later. There are three volumes of the Shaw Brothers Classics one can now buy, and with a fourth along the way, I definitely want to own them all!

I’m liking this release over Shawscope, an unwieldy set which I think is tough to store because it’s a book! What the cube offers can easily be filed side by side with regular blu-rays on the shelf. The main reason I’m excited for this set is because of the new material that’s included–audio commentaries and short documentaries–do a great job to explain why that selected film or performer matters! Also, for a few titles, an English and Cantonese dub is also offered.

As for the packaging, not only do we get reproductions of the original posters in the case, but also, I’m not as concerned whether the films are using past remasters or this American side distributor has done further work.

Continue reading “It’s a Retro Kickass Wuxia A Go-Go with Shaw Brothers Classics Volumes 2 & 3 in Review.”

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All’s Not Well When Trading an Eye for an Eye, The Blind Swordman In This Wuxia Epic!

The fight is not over and Blind Cheng’s next adventure after Eye for Eye: The Blind Swordsman won’t be coming soon. He’ll need to rest after this film!

Eye for an Eye The Blind Swordsman Blu-ray Case
Available to stream on Hi-Yah or purchase on Amazon

Well GO USA

Blind Cheng (Miao Xie) is a bounty hunter by trade, and is known as a knife-catcher by his peers. In Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman, this warrior gets taken in by a pretty face who wants to hire him to enact some revenge. Her family got assassinated and she wants revenge! Although Ni Yan (Weiman Gao) gets by working at a way stop, a diner, she wants some justice and hires this tacker.

Although this setup feels more like a story set in the wild west, what’s presented in this Tang dynasty tale works just as well. The only difference lies in adding in a layer of political turmoil in the mix. And as for why it matters here, the common folk are at ends meet.

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Nothing New Exists in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, A Review and Afterhoughts

This movie doesn’t truly offer a complete Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles experience as the comics and past works define it; it’s more hip hop than anything else.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem Movie PosterSpoiler Alert

Perhaps the big reason the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been a long-running hit is because it regularly gets revised to recognize what each new generation is into. Because the latest film, subtitled Mutant Mayhem, is more hip hop and ethnically diverse than anything else, today’s target audience is most likely to enjoy this take. 

However, long-time fans won’t all be interested in director Jeff Rowe’s vision and Seth Rogen’s narrative choices. As for what I enjoyed from it is the grunge art. This style isn’t all that different from the early comic books. Although it’s not as dark, the Island of Dr. Moreau style of elements are at least a step in the right direction. The rough textures and lower frame rate the film presents itself on the big screen helps make the work look like claymation. Sadly, no effort was put into making it all come alive in 3D. The addition had barely enough pop.

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New Gods: Yang Jian. Breaking Down the Bonus Features.

We look at the video extras that are included in this home video release of New Gods: Yang Jian, and yes, there’s even a foldout poster included!

New Gods Yang Jian Blu-ray + DVD
Available to pre-order on Amazon USA

Available to Stream on Amazon Prime, Google Play and Youtube and coming to Home Video on April 25th, 2023 courtesy of Shout! Factory.

It would be a shame if all the work put behind building the world presented in New Gods: Yang Jian gets limited to one movie. What’s presented as extras in the home video release gets into the finer points of why many realms exist. In the press interview with Ji Zhao, the director, he simplified the plot to be about this individual who can see the truth, but doesn’t fully understand what it all means.

The other details revealed help with how this works relates to New Gods: Nezha Reborn. Although he doesn’t say much about whether more films in this world will come, I hope it’ll one day happen.

Continue reading “New Gods: Yang Jian. Breaking Down the Bonus Features.”