The Criterion Collections Picks Up A Slice Of Sammo Hung Military Madness This December!
Every now and again, the guys and gals at Criterion – who are mostly known for releasing some rather high-brow cinema on Blu-ray – give action fans something special. Whether it’s their Police Story and Once Upon a Time in China releases or John Woo’s Last Hurrah for Chivalry, they certainly know their Hong Kong cinema. And so it should come as no surprise that, yesterday, Criterion announced they’ll be releasing Sammo Hung’s military actioner, EASTERN CONDORS, on shiny Blu-ray in December.
Region locked US residents have been waiting for this once, since the only decent releasee as of late has been the Region B Eureka! Entertainment disc, which saw the film in a three-movie set with The Magnficent Butcher and The Iron-Fisted Monk. Criterion’s release will be standalone and, per usual, is jampacked with special features.
Per Criterion:
Legendary actor-director Sammo Hung delivers a bazooka blast of pure adrenaline in this exemplar of Hong Kong action cinema at its most entertaining. Drawing inspiration from Hollywood war films like The Dirty Dozen, Eastern Condors follows a ragtag band of Asian American prisoners dropped into Vietnam on a secret suicide mission to prevent a cache of weapons from falling into the hands of the Viet Cong, who are more than ready for a fight. Propelled by a dynamic ensemble cast that includes the ever-charismatic Yuen Biao as a black-market trader and a superhuman Yuen Wah as a giggling martial-arts monster, this rip-roaring spectacle offers a nonstop barrage of turbocharged set pieces that defy death, logic, and gravity itself.
BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- New audio commentary featuring film critic Tony Rayns
- 2K digital restoration of the English-dubbed “export cut” of the film
- Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Sammo Hung
- Interviews from 2001 with Hung and actor Yuen Wah
- Eastern Condors Live!, an onstage performance from the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Pageant
- Teaser and trailers
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by film critic Sean Gilman
New illustration by Sam Hadley
