Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Skinny Tiger And Fatty Dragon is coming in February.
Odd Couple is eventually coming. The Year of Sammo!

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

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New Announcement | SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON; the buddy-cop action comedy starring Sammo Hung, Karl Maka and Lau Kar-wing, who also directs; will be released on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK from a brand new 2K restoration as part of the Eureka Classics range. Available from 21 February 2022 in a Limited-edition 2-Disc set (3000 copies only) featuring I AM THE WHITE TIGER; a documentary on the career of stuntman, martial artist, and action director Mark Houghton; making its worldwide debut on Blu-ray. PRE-ORDER now from the Eureka Store https://bit.ly/3ooNyes Zavvi https://bit.ly/3kNd6AZ
Sammo Hung invokes the spirit of Bruce Lee in this high-energy action-tribute, playing a cop obsessed with the physical legacy of “The Little Dragon”.
Teaming up with the infamous “Skinny Tiger” (Karl Maka – the ACES GO PLACES series), Sammo becomes the larger ‘half’ of a luck-starved, crime fighting duo forced to fight a running battle against a crime syndicate of triad gangsters.
Combining brilliantly choreographed fight sequences and infectious physical comedy, this tour-de-force comedy-adventure showcases incredible action tributes to the films of Bruce Lee. SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON makes its UK debut on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration!
Exclusive to this Limited Edition, Chiu Lee’s documentary I AM THE WHITE TIGER. Stuntman, action director, and martial artist Mark Houghton tells his story of breaking into the Hong Kong film industry, his struggle with injuries and depression, and the promise he made his teacher, the legendary filmmaker Lau Kar Leung.
LIMITED EDITION TWO-DISC BLU-RAY SET* CONTAINS:
Limited Edition of 3000 copies only | O-Card Slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling | Bonus Disc: I Am The White Tiger (2018, dir. Chiu Lee) | PLUS: A Collector’s Booklet featuring new writing by James Oliver
DISC ONE: SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON:
1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K restoration | Original Cantonese mono audio | Optional English dubbed audio | Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release | Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist / actor Robert “Bobby” Samuels | Brand new feature length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema | Brand new interview with stuntman and martial artist Mark Houghton | Archival interview with director Lau Kar-wing | Archival interview with actor, stuntman, and action choreographer Ridley Tsui | Deleted Scene | Trailers | *All extras subject to change
BONUS DISC: I AM THE WHITE TIGER
Documentary on the career of stuntman, martial artist, and action director Mark Houghton
SKINNY TIGER AND FATTY DRAGON (Eureka Classics) Limited Edition 2-Disc Blu-ray is available to PRE-ORDER NOW from the Eureka Store https://bit.ly/3ooNyes Zavvi https://bit.ly/3kNd6AZ

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Is Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon really worth a limited deluxe collectors set? I mean, I'll get it, but it just feels like an odd title to get all the bells and whistles.

In other news, I received my Cinematic Vengeance set today. I've only seen a couple of the movies in the set, so I can't wait to dive in.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

I want to check out the Cinematic Vengeance set… but I think I’ll wait for a regular edition. Not familiar with the titles.

Apparently, Eureka is going to have a HK release every month next year.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

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Sort of. It's a pretty good movie, with some excellent action scenes (particularly the salon and construction site fights), and seemingly they're releasing it because of Sammo. Karl Maka is actually really good in it, though, especially after coasting through his role in the fifth ACES GO PLACES film the year before. Makes me wonder if this title is as much about introducing him to western audiences – and the completists who now buy everything Eureka and 88 release – as sticking another Sammo title on the market. This way, when they inevitably put out an ACES five-film collection they'll have an audience already primed for one of its leads. SKINNY TIGER came near the end of a run of populist, upbeat, family-oriented and often slapstick action comedies that soon gave way to Stephen Chow's reign with his unique "mo lei tau" pictures, and it was Maka's last film of note before more or less disappearing from screens for a decade (apart from two small roles in 1991), returning in 2000 for a sad attempt to revive the formula in WINNER TAKES ALL with his ACES co-star Sam Hui. Definitely worth picking up, and the bonus doc really looks interesting; I've always thought Mark Houghton seemed like a decent guy but a troubled soul who was and still is a bit too sincere about the purity of classical martial arts, possibly to his own detriment.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

I tried getting into the Aces Go Places series... but just couldn't. A bit too silly for me. I do think that is definitely something prime for a nice release though.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

I'm familiar with the movie. Just felt odd that of all the Sammo movies they've released, this is the priciest deluxe edition of them all.

As for the title, I assume Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon is the original English title and that Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon was a tweak to cash in on Crouching Tiger? This is the first time I remember seeing it with the "and", but now I realize the 2000's HKL DVD was probably my only exposure to the movie.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

I don't remember it ever being renamed minus the "and", and I don't recall any North American home video releases. Wouldn't surprise me if HK Legends tweaked the name to cash in on CROUCHING – probably more Bey Logan bullshit (assuming he was with them at the time). Or maybe it was a throwback to DIRTY TIGER, CRAZY FROG!, which starred Sammo with Karl Maka in a supporting role, and was directed by the latter, although I doubt HKL would reference an even more obscure film.

Maybe the price increase is just related to the cost of everything going up nowadays? Who knows . . .

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

The HKL DVD definitely dropped the 'and'. Thinking about it more I'm positive it was a Crouching Tiger reference. Everything back then was tied to Crouching Tiger (or Kill Bill or The Matrix) if possible. As for it being a Bey Logan deal, my recollection is that while he did eventually become synonymous with the label, Brian White was the one driving the train.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

I've only watched half the movies so far, but I've already decided the set is worth it. The box is divided into two smaller sets, which I assume will be sold separately if these do well. I watched the Fearless Shaolin set. It includes Shaolin Kung-Fu, The Shaolin Kids, The 18 Bronzemen and Return of the 18 Bronzemen. I would say all of these movies are at minimum, solid examples of the genre. None of them really transcend it in any particular way, although The 18 Bronzemen (my personal favorite of this group) feels like a proof of concept for 36th Chamber of Shaolin. All 4 are fairly serious, as comedy had yet to take over the genre when these were made. Carter Wong, who is pretty awesome, features in 3 of the movies.

Getting back to 18 Bronzemen, do make sure to watch the reconstructed original HK version. The movie was re-edited fairly sloppily for its Japanese release (even incorporating footage from other movies!) and unfortunately that is the version that persists to this day. Eureka (and by Eureka, I mean the fans who do all the work for them!) reconstructed the original version from a myriad of sources. The video quality and aspect ratio shift over the course of the movie, but it is done as seamlessly as I've ever seen something like this done. This version is infinitely better than the Japanese version and going forward this will be the only one I watch.

I already know 7 Grandmasters (part of the other group of films) is the best film in the set. While I have a suspicion that the quality of the rest dip a bit, 5 or 6 out of 8 is a pretty great batting average for a set like this.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Of all the titles Eureka or 88 Films have released so far, this set offers the most promise of seeing other films like these – and also independent (i.e. non-Shaw, Golden Harvest, etc) Hong Kong films in general – finally getting the treatment they deserve. After years of being told by distributors both in Europe and North America that they were giving us the best available versions of these kinds of films – often in presentations that rated barely above bootlegs (pan/scan, scratchy prints, faded colour, English dubs only, burned-in subs – it's nice to have solid evidence that negatives and/or prints have probably existed all along but few distributors (or even fans working for them) could be bothered tracking them down. I remember seeing several of these films on sketchy U.S. DVDs back in the day, probably from shady labels like Xenon and the like, and assuming they used whatever extant prints that still existed, no matter how deteriorated.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if these labels start curating other collections of lesser-known films in similar fashion now. I'd particularly love to see themed packages of contemporary-set movies along side the more commonly available martial arts stuff: maybe a girls 'n guns collection (showcasing the likes of Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, Michiko Nishiwaki, etc. I their various team-ups), or a complete TROUBLESOME NIGHT collection (including ALWAYS BE WITH YOU), or maybe a "Gambling Vengeance" collection of Hong Kong's wholly unique gambling action pictured that proliferated between 1990 and 1993 which didn't star Chow Yun-fat or Stephen Chow (cool stuff like THE MIGHTY GAMBLER, THE FATAL GAME, KING OF GAMBLER, ALL FOR THE GAMBLERS, GAMBLING SOUL, QUEEN OF GAMBLER, ALL MIGHTY GAMBLER, GAMBLER VS. GAMBLER – man, this list could go on), or even the full IN THE LINE OF DUTY series (all seven – or eight, if you believe that – and not just the Michelle Yeoh entries). A lot of these films were cranked out quick 'n dirty for easy profits, and the HK home video releases weren't exactly pristine, but I wouldn't be surprised if diligent sleuthing turned up print materials in decent shape.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

The In The Line of Duty series (at least up to 5) is coming from 88 apparently.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

I'd heard some rumblings about that – which is why I mentioned all seven above. I don't know many HK fans who consider the sixth and seventh films unrelated. They're like extremely close cousins. Same production company as the first five, same producer as the 3-5, overlapping casts and crews, Cynthia Khan's character has basically the same name. I wouldn't be surprised if 88 releases those two separately in the future, though, to milk us for more money. There's no way the rights were an issue if they got the first five. :lol:

Further to my boxed set wish list above, I'd add the countless mid-tier and independent triad crime thrillers that came out all through the 80's and 90's. There's some seriously good stuff there that has never been on DVD, let alone Blu-ray. And with China just recently granting the powers-that-be in Hong Kong the ability to ban previously-released movies if they contradict the deliberately vague rules of the disgusting and paranoid national security law, I can imagine a lot of those movies will be off limits some day, even to outside distributors.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Are the In The Line of Duty movies being released separately? Part III and Royal Warriors are the only ones I would be interested in buying.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Dreadnaught is coming.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Dreadnaught! Nice! That was one of the only HKL DVDs on my want list that I never got my hands on back in the day. Odd Couple was the other one, so Eureka is really scoring big with me lately.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

There is a lot of Yuen Biao in store for next year.

Between Eureka, Arrow, and 88 we are in for a huge year of HK releases.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Running Out of Time coming (apparently the sequel will be included as well).

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Looks like Lady Whirlwind. Hopefully this means Eureka gets their hands on all the Angela Mao titles shout factory released on DVD back in the day.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

It definitely sounds like there will be more Mao releases forthcoming.

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Her films definitely need some love on Blu-ray!

Re: The Official Eureka / Masters of Cinema Thread
 

Shaolin Plot