Wutang distribution of: kung fu movies , Mystery of Chess Boxing

[Xample]

I watched a movie called Mystery of Chess Boxing (aka Ninja Checkmate) about fifteen years ago. I had it on VHS. But I can't remember who produced it. I do remember WUTANG being all over the movie's cover.

I also remember owning something called Killer Bees. That one also had WUTANG on the cover. I had Invincible Armor, and another pei mei movie but lord if I can't remember the name of it. I owned a movie that had an opening scene of shaolin being burned down (i didn't like that one because I had a fear of catching fire when I was younger and couldn't watch the whole movie as it triggered my phobia). But I wonder what that one is called too.

I heard 'wutang" -- the rap group purchased these movies and distributed them. But not sure if that's true.

[Guest Markgway]

Bootlegs promoted by Wu Tang Clan.

[QueMuchita]

Not sure what your question is

[Xample]

Bootlegs promoted by Wu Tang Clan.

Wow they were bootlegging those? It also had Wutang written on the cover so I thought it was a brand. But I couldnt find any traces of that brand anywhere so I couldn't figure it out. That's crazy. They actually sold those bootleg movies at a kung fu video store in Chicago.

[Xample]

Not sure what your question is

No worries, then. The question has already been answered.

[The Silver Fox]

Some' WuTang' releases aren't too bad though, Shaolin Drunkard is a pretty decent widescreen print, 5 Element Kung Fu is okay if I remember correctly.Golden Killah(Golden Mask) is acceptable.

It seems that the the 'Wutang' release are a subsidiary of GZ -I've always been a little unclear on these companie(s)!

Maybe somebody can clarify this, are Ground Zero and Xenon the same company?The WuTang line are for the most part are poverty row type releases yet Xenon has some very decent releases-such as Hell's Windstaff,Traitorous,Iron Monkey. Another line that has good releases is Crash Masters -Dragon the Hero,Mars Villa,2 Great Cavaliers etc. .

Sorry this is rambling but are these all basically one company with bunch of different names with releases varying in quality?

[popsjnr]

The Wu Tang label developed from the now defunct Eastern Heroes, who I worked for, for 2 years (2 years too many!!). All the titles you named were first released by Eastern Heroes on video in the mid-90's-some of them were later rebranded to cash in on the Wu Tang hip hop craze. Also Rarescope is another company to rise like a pheonix out of the dying flames of Eastern Heroes video, although thanks to the recent riots in London, Rarescope went back into the fire....

Some of the releases are ghetto it is true...but if the master copy isnt in pristine order then there is nothing you can do. Things like Hells Wind Staff, Traitorious etc are transferred from the 35mm cinema print-hence the decent quality and picture ratio---Iron Monkey is a German video release (Germany ALWAYS had the most stringent attitude to picture quality in video) that has had the English soundtrack dubbed over it. Most of the other are just bog standard video prints-from Ocean Shores etc.

As for the legality of the releases themselves, as I expect the rights in HK have long since lapsed-this is a moot point. I reckon anyone could release an old school indie, and get away with it!!! Some of these more obscure titles might never have seen the light of day if not for these companies, so they're cool by me!!!

[andy338]

I thought that Eastern Heroes were great in that as has been mentioned they released many films that probably wouldn't have come out otherwise. The films were of varying quality but they were reasonably priced and overall I enjoyed seeing (often for the first time) some of the lesser known classics that the major companies would overlook due to lack of star names. Looking back we had a great time in the UK with HKL, Soulblade, Vengeance Video and Dragon video all regularly bringing films out and I wonder if now that Cineasia has brought back the HKL label Eastern Heroes might consider a comeback in some form.

[The Silver Fox]

Thanks for the info Popsjr, that is some interesting stuff.

[Killer Meteor]

I thought that Eastern Heroes were great in that as has been mentioned they released many films that probably wouldn't have come out otherwise. The films were of varying quality but they were reasonably priced and overall I enjoyed seeing (often for the first time) some of the lesser known classics that the major companies would overlook due to lack of star names. Looking back we had a great time in the UK with HKL, Soulblade, Vengeance Video and Dragon video all regularly bringing films out and I wonder if now that Cineasia has brought back the HKL label Eastern Heroes might consider a comeback in some form.

Eastern Heroes was the company that released "widescreen" versions of Jackie chan films that were just the 4:3 video transfers with black bars on top and bottom!

[andy338]

Eastern Heroes was the company that released "widescreen" versions of Jackie chan films that were just the 4:3 video transfers with black bars on top and bottom!

I know but as I said their releases gave me a chance to see stuff that i'd not seen before and for that I thought they did a good job, besides I grew up watching grainy old vhs tapes of kung fu movies so the quality didn't bother me too much anyway.

[blue_skies]

sorry to stray further off topic but is there any difference between the Eastern heroes two movies on one disc and their single releases of the same titles?

[andy338]

sorry to stray further off topic but is there any difference between the Eastern heroes two movies on one disc and their single releases of the same titles?

I have this very reasonably priced double bill with Seven Grandmasters & Eagles Claw on it appears to be identical to the single disc version of Seven Grandmasters so i'd say yes they're probably all exactly the same.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Skool-Double-Bill-DVD/dp/B0000BXBZQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1324576394&sr=1-1

[blue_skies]

I have this very reasonably priced double bill with Seven Grandmasters & Eagles Claw on it appears to be identical to the single disc version of Seven Grandmasters so i'd say yes they're probably all exactly the same.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Skool-Double-Bill-DVD/dp/B0000BXBZQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1324576394&sr=1-1

I'm glad you said that because some of those double bills are a hell of a lot cheaper than buying just one of the singles, let alone 2. I just wondered in case the quality was better then if I like the films end up buying twice, which I don't want to do.

[Asmo]

I have the double bill of the Victim/Traitorous and the single of the Victim. While I've never really sat down to compare them, I remember them being pretty much the same sans the Cantonese track on the double bill (the Cantonese track was only on the single release).

[Xample]

Hey guys, I just wanted to say thank you for answering my question and for the follow up responses.

[Xample]

i actually found one of those old wutang clan titles:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000059H7J/ref=s9_qpp_gw_p74_g74_ir02?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-7&pf_rd_r=11KYMG850D9T335N3JQ6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938451&pf_rd_i=507846

hmm... it also includes an introduction by wutang. interesting.

I dont imagine the quality to be all the good, i bet.

[Rock_Bottom]

Those are for sure terrible quality - very few of those releases are any good (actually none that I can remember).

Are you looking for those titles, or just anything Kung Fu?

[Xample]

Those are for sure terrible quality - very few of those releases are any good (actually none that I can remember).

Are you looking for those titles, or just anything Kung Fu?

Killer Bees and there was a shaolin movie that I wanted but can't remember the title for the life of me.