Cine Asia is riding high on its action titles this season especially with the proliferation of Wu Jing hit, Wolf Warrior 2. They’re stacking up once again this time for the upcoming home release of 2015 period martial arts drama, The Final Master, a film resonant with action and intrigue in its narrative with organic fervor from action director and filmmaker Xu Haofeng with a script based on his own literary work.
In 1930’s China, Wing Chun master Chen She (Fan Liao, Assembly, Chinese Zodiac), arrives in Tianjin, a city famous for martial arts. With plans to open his own kung fu school, he must first train a student to defeat eight of the city’s masters, legitimising himself as a teacher. But when he is caught up in local politics and an underworld power struggle, Chen finds himself at odds with dangerous people and will fight to protect what he holds most dear.
The film earned multiple nominations in varying categories and was even awarded for Best Choreography at the 33rd Golden Horse Awards in 2015. It’s easy to see why that is, with our celebrated director applying his nimble touch to the very techniques and timing therein to the fights. Founded on Liao’s suave, alpha male portrayal of an Wing Chun master, the fights are brilliantly paced between fast and fluid movements with tactful handling of the various distinctive weapons involved.
Xu’s next will be The Hidden Sword following its rollout in China last year while you are more than welcome to catch any of his titles (i.e. The Sword Identity, Judge Archer) wherever movies are sold. That will also include The Final Master when Cine Asia releases on DVD, Blu-Ray (comprised of character cards for its first round of releases only) and Digital Download.
Also starring are Jia Song (Shock Wave Tunnel, Red Cliff), Shih-Chieh King (Brotherhood of Blades II), Yang Song (Judge Archer) and martial arts movie veteran Chen Kuan Tai (Dragon Tiger Gate, Blood Brothers, The Hidden Sword).
Peep the latest home release artwork and stills below and be sure to get your pre-orders in at
HMV or
Amazon’s UK portal.
