The Eureka! Entertainment Blu-ray Thread

[starschwar]

7 hours ago, AslanBey said:

Read the reviews; watched the original trailer --> definite purchase for me. Thanks.

I dont expect "drunken master 2 fighting" or "odd couple choreo" or "bruce lee charisma"  from a 70s classic. But since I watched through shawscope vol 1 (especially king boxer and boxer from shantung) I'm careful and more questioning my purchases concerning pre '76 productions. I definitely understand and appreciate the value of those movies and also understand the love for them. But begging your forgiveness: I didnt like king boxer not even a little bit concerning the fighting. The finale of boxer from shantung was nice to watch, but not because of the fighting. Elsewise I was totally bored out. (I think a big problem was as always my expectations. I was told that king boxer etc. are great movies and so on.)

I don't see what all the fuss is about for King Boxer, either.  I know it's important because it was the first one to be released in the US, but it's a relatively unremarkable movie on its own.  It's fun to see the origin of Tarantino's re-reuse of the Ironside theme, though.

 

Boxer from Shantung worked a lot better for me, but I see it as a crime drama first and Kung Fu second.  Kind of like Michael Mann's heat.  I wouldn't consider that to be a great action movie, but a solid drama that has a few choice action beats (and Al Pacino going to inappropriate lengths to be a cartoon character).

 

On topic, Skyhawk is one of those movies I've heard about forever but haven't really gotten to seeing.  It's not one I'm in a rush to get to, but I will sooner or later.  Much respect to Kwan Tak Hing for returning to Wong Fei Hung time and again after decades. 

[kuenfist]

For those who are unsure about Skyhawk i can promise you will not be disappointed when it comes to fight action. Altough the movie is still done in the block and punch era of 1974 the fight choreographie done by Sammo Hung is fresh and fast and you see some real good fu action done by Carter Wong ( he do some high kicks in here too !!! ) and particulary Whang Ing-sik as the bad ass. Sammo has some good fights too. In supporting roles you see Wilson Tong and Lam Ching-Ying. At that time the Golden Harvest movies where a lot better when it comes too fight choreographie without weapons than the Shaw Brothers ones. The changing at Shaws started first with the movies of Liu Chia Liang as a director. Don't expect Shapes style here like in the Ng See Yuen or Yuen Woo-Ping movies this started 2 years later in 1976 with The Secret Rivals and The Spiritual Boxer. What you see here are hard fast hand-to-hand foot-too-foot combat in most of the time very realistic way. The director of the movie korean born Cheng Chang-Ho made some classics like Temptress of a Thousand Faces, Valley of the Fangs, The Swift Knight, King Boxer for Shaw Brothers before he go to Golden Harvest. Skyhawk and Broken Oath are his best movies at Golden Harvest. Wish he had done more but after Evil Spirit a korean horror movie in 1980 he ended his career as a director and became a producer in korea and taiwan for fu action movies. Highly recommended.

[Darth Kermit]

On 5/25/2023 at 10:53 AM, Ah_Tao said:

The cover arts...are equally as valuable!!!!!

Personally I find Darren Wheeling's artwork to be rather boring. It's always the same composition, just with a different highlighted color. 88, Arrow, and VinSyn typically have much better artwork from people like our very own @KUNG FU BOB and Tony Stella. More variety and they fit the films better imo.

[sifu iron perm]

Darren Wheeling has some nice pieces especially poster  designs and magazine cover art.

 

 

 

 

[ChillyChong]

On 5/28/2023 at 12:48 PM, kuenfist said:

For those who are unsure about Skyhawk

Thx for solid arguments. Was unsure but not anymore.

[legendarycurry]

1 hour ago, Darth Kermit said:

Personally I find Darren Wheeling's artwork to be rather boring. It's always the same composition, just with a different highlighted color. 88, Arrow, and VinSyn typically have much better artwork from people like our very own @KUNG FU BOB and Tony Stella. More variety and they fit the films better imo.

I find Wheeling's Spooky Encounters and Mr Vampire covers are especially good. The alternate takes he drew with a scared Sammo for the Spooky Bluray are even better. His stylistic choice of a highlight color work especially well for films in a series I think or boxed sets. I like how each ITLOD film has a different color associated with it for example. His more simplified design idea for the Hopping Mad collection's booklet was neat

 
 

[Darth Kermit]

2 hours ago, legendarycurry said:

His stylistic choice of a highlight color work especially well for films in a series I think or boxed sets. I like how each ITLOD film has a different color associated with it for example.

I can agree on this, it certainly is nice to have matching artwork for a series of films (though I went with 88 for the boxset and book), however I have at least 6 films not from a series where it's just the same thing but with different colors. And the spines are all just a title and a splash of color. Like Shaolin Plot, Skyhawk now, and several others all look the same with only difference being color.

[ChuckXL]

On 5/27/2023 at 4:02 PM, starschwar said:

I don't see what all the fuss is about for King Boxer, either.  I know it's important because it was the first one to be released in the US, but it's a relatively unremarkable movie on its own.  It's fun to see the origin of Tarantino's re-reuse of the Ironside theme, though.

I hope you get to watch King Boxer again someday and that it hits you differently. It's so good.

[starschwar]

4 hours ago, ChuckXL said:

I hope you get to watch King Boxer again someday and that it hits you differently. It's so good.

To be clear, I do not dislike the movie.  I just don't find it to be exceptional in any specific way.  But believe me, I had a great time with both Shawscope sets and fully intend to go down that road again at some point. 

[legendarycurry]

19 minutes ago, starschwar said:

To be clear, I do not dislike the movie.  I just don't find it to be exceptional in any specific way.  But believe me, I had a great time with both Shawscope sets and fully intend to go down that road again at some point. 

I saw King Boxer last year as part of the ongoing Bolo filmography quest I have. I liked it, mostly because Lo Lieh is awesome in it, but I get if it isn't everyone's favorite, I enjoyed but didn't love it. Not every movie considered a classic by many  must be loved by all.  To me Iron Monkey with Donnie Yen is OK but not an all time classic, I think House of Traps sucks, I don't like Tsui Hark's The Blade, Dragon Lord is watchable but far from great   etc etc, none of these opinions mean I am wrong or not a legit fan of the genre. People have different tastes and that's a good thing .

[Drunken Monk]

In my opinion, the Mr. Vampire Sequels set may be one of my favourite boutique Blu Ray releases. I was absolutely blown away to discover that I loved Mr. Vampire 2, Mr. Vampire II and Mr. Vampire Saga Part 4. Part 2 is the weakest of the bunch due to it including some naff E.T.-like subplot but besides that, it's wonderful. Parts 3 and 4 and LOADS of fun. Just a good time from start to finish: comedy, stunts, action, supernatural elements... Top notch.

I haven't watched Vampire vs. Vampire yet but I have heard some scathing reviews with a handful of people saying it's easily the worst of the bunch. But I hope to watch it tomorrow.

[HeavenSword]

A quick warning to anyone who hasn’t seen Mr. Vampire 3 yet: Billy Lau’s character is a DICKHEAD.  Of all the HK films I’ve watched I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to punch someone more than him . Like I seriously got angry at one point . Thankfully he dosent return in Mr. Vampire 4 and we get the excellent Chin Ka Lok instead, so im pretty excited to see that one. 

[ShawAngela]

17 hours ago, Drunken Monk said:

In my opinion, the Mr. Vampire Sequels set may be one of my favourite boutique Blu Ray releases. I was absolutely blown away to discover that I loved Mr. Vampire 2, Mr. Vampire II and Mr. Vampire Saga Part 4. Part 2 is the weakest of the bunch due to it including some naff E.T.-like subplot but besides that, it's wonderful. Parts 3 and 4 and LOADS of fun. Just a good time from start to finish: comedy, stunts, action, supernatural elements... Top notch.

I haven't watched Vampire vs. Vampire yet but I have heard some scathing reviews with a handful of people saying it's easily the worst of the bunch. But I hope to watch it tomorrow.

If you can, you should also try to get The musical vampire, it's an excellent mix of funny situations and martial arts. I laughed a lot when I watched it many years ago.

[Drunken Monk]

3 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

If you can, you should also try to get The musical vampire, it's an excellent mix of funny situations and martial arts. I laughed a lot when I watched it many years ago.

I think I have this one on my hard drive somewhere, along with Vampire's Breakfast. I'll seek it out.

[legendarycurry]

9 hours ago, HeavenSword said:

Billy Lau’s character is a DICKHEAD

Is there a film he is in where this isn't the case?

[clanarchy]

5 minutes ago, legendarycurry said:

Is there a film he is in where this isn't the case?

Good question I definitely can’t think of an answer to that!

[BigDruDogg]

I’m really excited that Eureka is releasing Revenge, in 2 weeks. Samurai movies are one of my all-time favorite genres. I really hope they can put out a few more, if this one does well.

 

[HeavenSword]

43 minutes ago, legendarycurry said:

Is there a film he is in where this isn't the case?

He actually wasn’t annoying in Millionaires Express and The first Mr. Vampire ( from what I remember ) , but after Mr.  Vampire 3 I feel like I need to apologize to Dean Shek. 

[ironfistedmonk]

2 hours ago, HeavenSword said:

He actually wasn’t annoying in Millionaires Express and The first Mr. Vampire ( from what I remember ) , but after Mr.  Vampire 3 I feel like I need to apologize to Dean Shek. 

 

I can't stand him at the best of times, thanks for the warning!

[legendarycurry]

2 hours ago, HeavenSword said:

He actually wasn’t annoying in Millionaires Express and The first Mr. Vampire ( from what I remember ) , but after Mr.  Vampire 3 I feel like I need to apologize to Dean Shek. 

I respectfully disagree. I like both of these films, but Billy was not a fave in them and rather grating. It's not personal though, maybe he is a great person offscreen.

[KenHashibe]

On 6/2/2023 at 6:20 AM, legendarycurry said:

Is there a film he is in where this isn't the case?

I revisited Eastern Condors recently, and it probably has his most dignified role. He seems to be a beloved actor in HK; He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Mr Vampire which has him doing his usual schtick.

[Yggdrasil]

On 6/2/2023 at 2:47 PM, BigDruDogg said:

I’m really excited that Eureka is releasing Revenge, in 2 weeks. Samurai movies are one of my all-time favorite genres. I really hope they can put out a few more, if this one does well.

 

Have you seen the fabulous  Lone Wolf & Cub series? or read the manga? @BigDruDogg

Edited June 3, 2023 by Yggdrasil

[BigDruDogg]

7 hours ago, Yggdrasil said:

Have you seen the fabulous  Lone Wolf & Cub series? or read the manga? @BigDruDogg

Oh Absolutely! When I was growing up the movie Shogun Assassin was one of my absolute favorites, I later found out when I got older it was loosely based on LW&C, so I tracked those down and ended up buying the entire manga run! It was amazing, I even went further down the rabbit hole and started buying a bunch of Kazuo Koike other works.

In the 90s when I was living in the dorms a friend of mine introduced me to Kurosawa films, and they instantly starting becoming my new obsession (The Samurai ones in particular) I knew then that Chanbara films were my real obsession!

That's why anytime I see a Samurai film announced (Samurai Wolf 1&2) on Blu-Ray or whatever, I get that Old School Excited feeling

I own the DVD of Revenge from AnimeiGo , I'm really looking forward to revisiting the Blu-Ray I haven't seen it in years. I hope Eureka or someone will be able to get the rights to some of the titles AnimeiGo had... Sleepy Eyes of Death would be amazing!! 

Sorry for the Rant

[Yggdrasil]

2 hours ago, BigDruDogg said:

Oh Absolutely! When I was growing up the movie Shogun Assassin was one of my absolute favorites, I later found out when I got older it was loosely based on LW&C, so I tracked those down and ended up buying the entire manga run! It was amazing, I even went further down the rabbit hole and started buying a bunch of Kazuo Koike other works.

In the 90s when I was living in the dorms a friend of mine introduced me to Kurosawa films, and they instantly starting becoming my new obsession (The Samurai ones in particular) I knew then that Chanbara films were my real obsession!

That's why anytime I see a Samurai film announced (Samurai Wolf 1&2) on Blu-Ray or whatever, I get that Old School Excited feeling

I own the DVD of Revenge from AnimeiGo , I'm really looking forward to revisiting the Blu-Ray I haven't seen it in years. I hope Eureka or someone will be able to get the rights to some of the titles AnimeiGo had... Sleepy Eyes of Death would be amazing!! 

Sorry for the Rant

Don't worry about it. I had the same thing. While growing up in boarding school in the 80's, I remembered this Japanese film with a cart with spikes on it. I had no idea what the film was until I bought it when it was released on DVD as Shogun Assassin in the 90s.

It wasn't until the dawn of the internet and blu ray, that I imported the region A blu ray set of the entire series. 

I still have the little pocket sized manga. 

Even though I like a good old fashioned Samurai film, I'm just not interested in black and white films. Watching Laurel & Hardy is about my limit with b/w.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Yggdrasil

[BigDruDogg]

8 hours ago, Yggdrasil said:

Even though I like a good old fashioned Samurai film, I'm just not interested in black and white films. Watching Laurel & Hardy is about my limit with b/w.

It's definitely an acquired taste, I personally love B&W films, Film-Noir is another one of my favorite Genres and that's a must, but I completely understand, most of my friends and my brother are the same way, my wife asked me the other day...why would you buy a 4K movie in B&W...

Edited June 4, 2023 by BigDruDogg