ching siu tung

THE SWORD – Eureka Blu-Ray Review: A Glimmering Old-School Lesson On Grade-A Wuxia Cinema Through A Subversive Lens

Celebrated television veteran Patrick Tam has only directed a small number of films throughout his career, which spans close to half a century. He’s been a filmmaker in several aspects of the word, and this is undoubtedly signified on one of his earliest pieces, the 1980 wuxia action drama, The Sword. Lee Mak-Yin (Adam Cheng) is a noble, lone swordsman who has studied martial arts and pugilism under a revered master. He is now on a journey to find a particular master with whom he can share a duel, in order to gauge his own skills and possibly complete his training. Along the way, he meets a rambunctious young woman named Ying-Chi (Jade Hsu) who herself is in pursuit of an enemy one evening. After a brief scrimmage, Ying-Chi reluctantly joins Mak-Yin on their journey together, arriving at an inn where Mak-Yin just happens to bump into Siu-Yiu (Jo Jo […]

DUEL TO THE DEATH Wields A Fully-Loaded Limited Edition 2K Restoration On Blu-Ray This Fall

Lee B. Golden III

You can always count on niche banners to keep up the posterity on classics for physical media, including Eureka Entertainment which has been on a roll with a variety of genres in its output since 1981. Their latest brings forth martial arts cinema legend Ching Siu-Tung’s 1983 wuxia hit, Duel To The Death, which makes its return to physical media via the UK-based distributor and packed with a bevy of special features to make the purchase worth your while. Our own Vance Ang took to the dashboard for his own providential thoughts in a review he remarkably posted way ahead of this announcement. As genres, horror and thriller films manage to build up the tension, where a violent final act reaches a crescendo that will stay in the consciousness of the viewer for many hours, if not days or even weeks. Yet Duel is neither horror nor thriller. Evidently, there are some […]

DUEL TO THE DEATH Retrospective: A Refreshing, Indelible Bookmark In Wuxia Cinema

Vance Ang

It may look like just another early 80s period style martial arts film, with a title that immediately denotes the key theme and purpose of the film. Yet, Duel to the Death (referred to in this review as Duel) manages to surprise the audience. Duel has cheesy moments of melodrama (common in many Hong Kong films of this era) but the way the film builds its tension through its bleak narrative makes it more masterful than it initially presents. Personally, these style of films with wire-fu, long gowns and stylized sword play have never been, my choice of a martial arts film. In the 80s and 90s, martial arts cinema preference for me, and no doubt for many of you, was dominated by movies starring Jean Claude Van Damme, Jeff Speakman and Mark Dacascos, and with frequent dives into movies with legends like Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris. There was […]

JADE DYNASTY: Watch The Final Trailer For Ching Siu-Tung’s New Wuxia Epic

Lee B. Golden III

Action legend Ching Siu-Tung may not have earned favor with his previous effort on The Sorceror And The White Snake. He’s making amends nowadays with his latest, Jade Dynasty, stemming from the work of novelist Xiao Ding and with a new trailer in our midst as the film inches closer to its September 13 release in China. As for the film, we get actor Sean Xiao in his debut lead role starring as Zhang Yiaofan, a kind hearted boy whose life is thrown into chaos following the massacre of his village. Save for two other survivors, including his childhood friend whose proficiency lands him in the auspices of a Taoist priest, Zhang is taken in by a different sect to become a master of his own skillset. …I pretty much had to summarize all that from a simple search online which was much more simpler than I thought it would […]

Chung Siu-Hing’s NEW ETERNAL WAVE Remake In Production Starring Aaron Kwok

Lee B. Golden III

Director Peng Wang is said to have left a mark in history with the release of his 1958 espionage flick, The Eternal Wave. That mark was eventually still felt when a ceremonious announcent was made early last year for the upcoming remake, New Eternal Wave, now underway as of last December. Beijing’s Nanhai Films is producing the remake with The Assassin (1993) and Mark Of Youth (2013) helmer Billy Chung Siu-Hung, whose version will reportedly differ in some aspects compared to the original. The film forsees the story, set in 1930, of two Communist Party of China agents who orchestrate fake a marriage in order to rebuild communications in the wake of Japan’s occupation of Shanghai at the time. Actor Aaron Kwok, following his latest rewarding performance in The Monkey King 2 3D, will be joined by Zhao Li-Ying, Zhang Lanxin, Simon Yam and Zhang Han with Ching Siu-Tung (Kung […]

THE RAID And THE AVENGING FIST Make The Cut For Well Go USA's Latest Of Re-Releases!

Lee B. Golden III

Well Go USA is simultaneously releasing two Asian classics this October to DVD. I’ve only seen one of these and its Andrew Lau and Corey Yuen’s The Avenging Fist, which does make a dodgy, but notable effort in pushing the envelope for visuals. With this, I’ll be looking forward to the reinstallation of Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-Tung’s The Raid film of yesteryear as well. We can never have enough of these, I guess. Read Tuesday’s announcement and check out the classic trailers for both until official trailers arrive! PLANO, Texas. (August 18, 2015) – Well Go USA Entertainment brings two action-packed, martial arts classics back for fans of awesome Asian cinema when the adventure comedy THE RAID (1991) and the sci-fi fantasy THE AVENGING FIST (2001) debut on DVD October 6. Each film is available separately. THE RAID Synopsis: The time is 1930s. China is in a state of […]