Showdown (aka Duel: Final Round) (2016) - Contemporary re-make of 'Drunken Master'!

[One Armed Boxer]

Remaking 'Drunken Master' as a contemporary movie (hell, remaking 'Drunken Master' at all!) may seem like a ridiculous idea on paper, however that's exactly what Korean director Sin Dong-yeop has done with his latest movie, 'Showdown'.  Check out my full review for it below - 

http://cityonfire.com/showdown-aka-duel-final-round-2016-review/

[AlbertV]

I see YesAsia has the Region 3 Korean DVD of the film.

https://www.yesasia.com/global/duel-the-final-round-dvd-korea-version/1055853695-0-0-0-en/info.html

[laagi]

Why does this still have no (english subbed) release... What the hell! This looks awesome.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 2, 2019 by laagi

[laagi]

Awesome it is if I may quote myself...

Which makes it all the more infuriating that fast forward to 2023 and this still hasn't had a proper release with english subtitles?!

Anyway, 'Showdown' has everything a martial arts fan could ask for! Good fights, training montages and a pinch of comedy.

I can see that some will be tempted to call this a "cheap" Drunken Master knock off. I'd argue if anything it's a wonderful homage to an absolute classic of the genre.

With a crisp runtime of only 90 minutes there's barely anything to nag about. If I had to it's probably the location of the final showdown (pun intended) which unfortunately takes place in a Seoul club of all places.

Not that it's a bad choice per se but the constant flickering lights made it a bit hard to watch. But that's really nitpicking.

If anyone who works for Well Go USA or a similar company give this movie a proper release already for christ's sake! After all we're talking about drunken boxing here one of the most popular on screen styles ever created.

@One Armed Boxer I'm not sure how good your memory of this is. However I noticed a outtake during the end credits which teases a fight between Poong-ho and Han Jae‑hee on a helipad. Did I miss something? Because the version I watched sure as hell didn't feature that fight

Edited April 23, 2023 by laagi

[One Armed Boxer]

11 hours ago, laagi said:

@One Armed Boxer I'm not sure how good your memory of this is. However I noticed a outtake during the end credits which teases a fight between Poong-ho and Han Jae‑hee on a helipad. Did I miss something?

The short answer is - not good.  Honestly I don't recall, however the helipad can be seen in both the English language poster as well as the Korean DVD cover, so possibly it was used as a promotional photoshoot for marketing purposes? Either way, glad you finally got around to giving it a watch and enjoyed it as much as I did!

[laagi]

1 hour ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Either way, glad you finally got around to giving it a watch and enjoyed it as much as I did!

Believe me I didn't have this much fun with a Kung Fu flick in a long time.

Yes, those are exactly the shots I meant. Damn! Now it's bugging me out.

Maybe there was an alternative end fight on top of a skyscraper?! Would've been pretty sweet.

I know this may be a dumb question but do you think fans would actually buy this on Blu Ray?

Include a nice cover art courtesy of our very own @KUNG FU BOB and put some nice extras on the disc.

Also marketing could be fairly easy. Just add Drunken Master to the title and you're good to go LOL.

Edited April 23, 2023 by laagi

[One Armed Boxer]

1 hour ago, laagi said:

I know this may be a dumb question but do you think fans would actually buy this on Blu Ray?

Include a nice cover art courtesy of our very own @KUNG FU BOB and put some nice extras on the disc.

Also marketing could be fairly easy. Just add Drunken Master to the title and you're good to go LOL.

Agreed...just re-title it 'Drunken Master 2016' and it's ready for release!

As for if fans would buy it, I'm sure some would, but I think it's far from being a sure thing in terms of delivering a return on investment. Thanks to the awesome work of 88 Films, Eureka!, Arrow etc. titles from the golden age of Hong Kong action cinema are still very much the hot sellers right now, so a 2016 DTV flick from Korea with no recognizable names could be a tough proposition.

I'd say its best bet would be for Media Blasters to pick it up. I mean last year they released 'Shark: The Beginning' and 'Slate' on Blu-ray out of nowhere, movies which share similar characteristics as 'Showdown', but again I can't recall a single member posting that they'd picked them up in the "What's Your Latest Purchase?" thread. In any case they'd still have to cough up additional funding since, unlike those 2 titles, as far as I'm aware this one has never been English subbed.

[laagi]

5 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

In any case they'd still have to cough up additional funding since, unlike those 2 titles, as far as I'm aware this one has never been English subbed.

The version I watched had what seemed to be official english subs. So there's some hope for a proper release I guess.

I wrote the distributor in Korea Curious if I'll actually get a reply.