5 Star

Martial Arts Master Class.

Before the rise of the martial Arts comedy king that is Jackie Chan (Jackie Chan’s Police Story & Police Story 2, Jackie Chan’s PROJECT A & PROJECT A PART II, City Hunter, Wheels on Meals) in the West,  there was a master of the fists and feet that stayed in the East and that was the awesome Sammo Hung (Game of Death, Enter the Fat Dragon, Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon). This marvellous release shows ten years of Hung’s work including his directorial debut (The Iron-Fisted Monk).

Iron Fisted Monk sees Hung as Hawker/ Rice Beater Six a young man who was sent to a Shaolin Temple by the Iron Fisted Monk (Chan Sing, Shaolin Vengeance, Return of the Kung Fu Dragon) in a time that the land is run by ruthless Manchu official (Fung Hak-on, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow) who has a penchant for raping young women and beating old men to death. Hawker doesn’t have to do all the chores of the monks and spends his time trying to impress his master (James Tien, Fist of Fury). But Hawkers enthusiasm for revenge means that he absconds from the mountain temple but his master catches him and he is forced to take the four tests (You’ll See). Now Hawker is free to deal with the rapist.

Magnificent Butcher  sees Lam Sai-wing (Sammo Hung), also known as Butcher Wing, a student of Master Wong Fei-hung (Kwan Tak-hing, Dreadnaught). Unknown to Butcher his younger brother Lam Sai-kwong (Chiang Kam, The Flag of Iron)  is looking for him and he has his new wife Yuet-mei (Tong Ching, Drunken Master) in tow. 

Ko Tai-hoi (Fung Hak-on), the son of Master Ko (Lee Hoi-sang, The Banquet, Lightning Fists of Shaolin) and rival to master Wong, sees Yuet-mei and lusts for her. This brings Butcher, his brother and the son of a master all together and as a bonus we have the real drunken master/Beggar King (Mei Sheng Fan, The Buddhist Fist).

The first fifteen minutes of this film are just mesmerising as the two masters test there skills and it carries on throughout the film.

Finally the slightly different Eastern Condors, where a very slimmed down Hung leads a team of Chinese American soldier convicts into Vietnam to blow up a weapons cache left behind by the Americans. Why would they do this, it is not out of the kindness of their hearts but, U.S. citizenship and $200,000 each a real incentive. Once in enemy territory they are met by Cambodian guerrillas led by (Joyce Godenzi, The Raid), they find a small village where they meet Weasel (Biao Yuen, The Avenging Fist) and his demented ‘Uncle’  Yeung Lung (Haing S. Ngor, The Killing Fields).

Now they must take on the Vietnamese military who have a very strange General.

This triple package is a must for any Martial Arts fan and a great way to get into it. Spellbinding.

Three Films With Sammo Hung is available on Blu-ray

BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES:

 

Stunning 1080p presentation of all three films on Blu-ray, from brand new 2K restorations and in their original widescreen aspect ratios.
Original Cantonese mono tracks for all three films
English audio options, all three films include the option of classic English dubs from the films original international releases, and the newer English dubs produced for later home video releases
The Iron-Fisted Monk – Fully Restored Cantonese mono track, with original sound effects reinserted after being absent from previous releases
The Magnificent Butcher Alternate Cantonese mono track featuring a unique mix and different music cues
Eastern Condors: The Export Version [94 mins] Presented in 2K, a shorter edit of the film released to international markets
Newly translated English subtitles (optional) for all three films
Brand new audio commentaries on Eastern Condors and The Magnificent Butcher by martial-arts cinema authority Mike Leeder and filmmaker Arne Venema
Brand new audio commentary on The Iron-Fisted Monk and Eastern Condors by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
Multiple interviews with Sammo Hung, talking about his work on each film
Interview with actor and stuntman Yuen Wah, talking about his work on Eastern Condors
Interview with Yuen Woo-ping, talking about his work on The Magnificent Butcher
Eastern Condors Live! a live performance from the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Pageant
Trailers for all three films
O-Card Slipcase
Limited Edition Collector s booklet [First Print Run of 2000 units ONLY] featuring new writing on all three films by James Oliver