The 88 Films Blu-Ray Thread

[KUNG FU BOB]

Never go anywhere without your all-region player. I learned this the hard way, and haven't made that mistake again since.

So a couple of weeks ago I put in 88's release of THE SEVENTH CURSE, which I haven't seen in probably 20 years, hoping it would still be fun upon a rewatch. It's uncut (unlike my ancient Universe or Megastar DVD), looks amazing, and still manages to shock and surprise me over and over and over again. This is such a perfect example of everything I love about Hong Kong cinema; irreverent, imaginative, filled with memorable characters as played by a terrific who's who cast of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest actors, insane, unpredictable action, over-the-top spectacles, and colorful locations. There really is nothing quite like the best of hey-day era Hong Kong cinema, and this one has all the exploitation elements in place: kung fu, nudity, blood and gore, monsters, shootouts, explosions, vehicular mayhem, and black magic. What more could you ask for in a tightly-paced cinematic (rough-hewn) gem?

I must mention, included here is a stunt (

Spoiler

involving a jeep plowing into a bunch of people

) that actually made me gasp and cover my mouth in stunned horror! No CGI back then, folks. That's real stunt-people flying through the air (and glass... and fire... and off of giant statues) and risking life and limbs. It was even better than I remembered, and I'm hoping to show it to my son soon.

Big thanks to 88 for the cool extras too, including a wonderful interview with star Chin Siu-Ho that's over two hours long!  He is extremely forth-coming (perhaps too much for some people in our current social climate ) and relates stories and thoughts about Chui Sau-Lai, Chang Cheh, Maggie Cheung, Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li, Lam Ching-Ying, fighting an animal (KILLER'S NOCTURNE), the honest truth about his career, typecasting, martial arts training, entering the business, the effect of government censorship on things he's appeared in, and the lengths to which RIGOR MORTIS's director Juno Mak requested his cast go to for the film. The interview is an episode (or actually, 2?) of an online show where a big HK movie fan has famous guests. I wish there were some more info about the host, his name, etc. Whoever found/suggested this be included (Frank? Irongod2112?) I thank you. Please try to include other interviews from this guy's show on future releases. I'm guessing the show isn't normally subtitles, and that the excellent subs were only created for this release. I'd love to see more.

Anyway, watching this film in all its blood-cursed glory was a welcome bright spot for me, and I've started listening to the audio commentary while I work.

[ShawAngela]

4 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Never go anywhere without your all-region player. I learned this the hard way, and haven't made that mistake again since.

So a couple of weeks ago I put in 88's release of THE SEVENTH CURSE, which I haven't seen in probably 20 years, hoping it would still be fun upon a rewatch. It's uncut (unlike my ancient Universe or Megastar DVD), looks amazing, and still manages to shock and surprise me over and over and over again. This is such a perfect example of everything I love about Hong Kong cinema; irreverent, imaginative, filled with memorable characters as played by a terrific who's who cast of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest actors, insane, unpredictable action, over-the-top spectacles, and colorful locations. There really is nothing quite like the best of hey-day era Hong Kong cinema, and this one has all the exploitation elements in place: kung fu, nudity, blood and gore, monsters, shootouts, explosions, vehicular mayhem, and black magic. What more could you ask for in a tightly-paced cinematic (rough-hewn) gem?

I must mention, included here is a stunt (

  Hide contents

involving a jeep plowing into a bunch of people

) that actually made me gasp and cover my mouth in stunned horror! No CGI back then, folks. That's real stunt-people flying through the air (and glass... and fire... and off of giant statues) and risking life and limbs. It was even better than I remembered, and I'm hoping to show it to my son soon.

Big thanks to 88 for the cool extras too, including a wonderful interview with star Chin Siu-Ho that's over two hours long!  He is extremely forth-coming (perhaps too much for some people in our current social climate ) and relates stories and thoughts about Chui Sau-Lai, Chang Cheh, Maggie Cheung, Chow Yun-Fat, Jet Li, Lam Ching-Ying, fighting an animal (KILLER'S NOCTURNE), the honest truth about his career, typecasting, martial arts training, entering the business, the effect of government censorship on things he's appeared in, and the lengths to which RIGOR MORTIS's director Juno Mak requested his cast go to for the film. The interview is an episode (or actually, 2?) of an online show where a big HK movie fan has famous guests. I wish there were some more info about the host, his name, etc. Whoever found/suggested this be included (Frank? Irongod2112?) I thank you. Please try to include other interviews from this guy's show on future releases. I'm guessing the show isn't normally subtitles, and that the excellent subs were only created for this release. I'd love to see more.

Anyway, watching this film in all its blood-cursed glory was a welcome bright spot for me, and I've started listening to the audio commentary while I work.

Could the show you are referring to be the TVB show Be My Guest ?

[KUNG FU BOB]

2 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

Could the show you are referring to be the TVB show Be My Guest ?

I'm not sure as the title was in Chinese and I don't recall if it was translated into subs. The host is male, looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties, was slightly plump, and wore glasses. Is that what the host of BE MY GUEST looks like?

[chen lung]

The Chin Siu-Ho interview came from here.

The 88 Films release contains the longer Japanese version (also the English version), whereas most media contains the Hong Kong one.

[ironfistedmonk]

So Blue Jean Monster, that's an interesting title, anyone seen this one?

[lastninja]

9 hours ago, ironfistedmonk said:

So Blue Jean Monster, that's an interesting title, anyone seen this one?

Have seen it on Mei Ah VCD ages ago (still have it here somewhere).

But I can hardly remember it. All I know is that Amy Yip makes a memorable appearance in a scene that can only happen in a Hong Kong film.

[KUNG FU BOB]

9 hours ago, ironfistedmonk said:

So Blue Jean Monster, that's an interesting title, anyone seen this one?

 

On 8/17/2023 at 8:13 PM, KUNG FU BOB said:

THE BLUE JEAN MONSTER features a rare starring role for Shing Fui-On, aka. "Big Silly Head", the main baddie in John Woo's THE KILLER. This one is pure Hong Kong entertainment- off-the-wall craziness! I rented this from a Chinatown shop in the early '90s based solely on the amusing title, and soon after my (future) wife and I were watching in sheer amazement at the eye-popping insanity on display. Great action (Phillip "The Lizard" Kwok and Paul Wong Kwan who lent his skills to PROJECT A, TIGER CAGE, and many more), irreverent humor, gorgeous ladies, and madcap mayhem. I can't wait to see this one in glorious HD. Any announcement on the extras yet?

 

[PandaPawPaw]

I watched the extended cut of Heart of a Dragon and during the car park fight there is a really odd part where JC throws 2 punches which miss.

Now I guess there's nothing wrong with it but it just seemed kind of odd to keep it in unless they later realised that the punches were off and didn't add the punch sound?

Also during the car chase later on there is a really bad case of undercracking! It looked ridiculous!

[Drunksnake]

3 hours ago, PandaPawPaw said:

I watched the extended cut of Heart of a Dragon and during the car park fight there is a really odd part where JC throws 2 punches which miss.

Now I guess there's nothing wrong with it but it just seemed kind of odd to keep it in unless they later realised that the punches were off and didn't add the punch sound?

Also during the car chase later on there is a really bad case of undercracking! It looked ridiculous!

I always assumed it was two high feints, which he then follows up with a low punch to the gut if I remember correctly.

[Gung Fu Movie Guy]

On 8/27/2023 at 12:31 PM, PandaPawPaw said:

 

Also during the car chase later on there is a really bad case of undercracking! It looked ridiculous!

Sadly a lot of Hong Kong movies undercrack car chases. Check out 'thunderbolt' the race track scenes are painful to watch

[lastninja]

You guys mean "undercranking", are you?

[PandaPawPaw]

14 minutes ago, lastninja said:

You guys mean "undercranking", are you?

HAHA I only just noticed.

[andy338]

I recently asked 88Films if there would be a standard edition of last years deluxe edition Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin and they replied saying that there wouldn't be as they no longer have the rights. When they released Snake in Eagles Shadow last year they said it would only be available for 1 year as they only had the rights for that length of time. When companies buy films does it depend on the individual title how long they have it for or are they bought in batches? I'm curious as it's made me reconsider purchasing some of their older films now just in case they go out of print and are no longer available.

[JCFan2024]

3 hours ago, Gung Fu Movie Guy said:

Sadly a lot of Hong Kong movies undercrack car chases. Check out 'thunderbolt' the race track scenes are painful to watch

I never heard of the term Undercracking, nobody does crack in HK cinema only a few though.

[Chorake]

19 minutes ago, JCFan2024 said:

I never heard of the term Undercracking, nobody does crack in HK cinema only a few though.

Master With Undercracked Fingers

[ChillyChong]

Crack shadow boxers

[PandaPawPaw]

Crack on Meals.

Crack Lord.

Armour of God II: Operation Crack.

Police Story 3: Super Crack.

Crack Hunter.

[BigDruDogg]

1 hour ago, PandaPawPaw said:

Police Story 3: Super Crack.

sounds like someone I used to date...

[Drunken Monk]

2 hours ago, JCFan2024 said:

I never heard of the term Undercracking, nobody does crack in HK cinema only a few though.

The term is undercranking and it essentially means speeding footage up. It's been used as a tool for decades.

[Gung Fu Movie Guy]

35 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

The term is undercranking and it essentially means speeding footage up. It's been used as a tool for decades.

 'undercranking is shooting film at a lower frame rate then the standard 24 FPS. First time I ever saw it was when keystone cops was shown on tv when I was a kid. No one does it more then Donnie Yen. Saw the Hi-yah trailer for 'Fist Of Fury' no wonder I've never watched the vcd boxset I have of the series.

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 8/27/2023 at 7:31 AM, PandaPawPaw said:

I watched the extended cut of Heart of a Dragon and during the car park fight there is a really odd part where JC throws 2 punches which miss.

Now I guess there's nothing wrong with it but it just seemed kind of odd to keep it in unless they later realised that the punches were off and didn't add the punch sound?

Also during the car chase later on there is a really bad case of undercracking! It looked ridiculous!

Those two punches always caught my attention too. Odd.

I agree, the car chase scene would've played better with less undercranking. Some of the worst uses of this technique that I've seen are Sammo's cameo in BLADE OF FURY and every action scene in Donnie Yen's TV series FIST OF FURY. The latter of which was rendered unwatchable for me.

 

On 8/27/2023 at 10:50 AM, Drunksnake said:

I always assumed it was two high feints, which he then follows up with a low punch to the gut if I remember correctly.

Me too, but it still looks weird.

 

6 hours ago, Gung Fu Movie Guy said:

Sadly a lot of Hong Kong movies undercrack car chases. Check out 'thunderbolt' the race track scenes are painful to watch

 

26 minutes ago, Drunken Monk said:

The term is undercranking and it essentially means speeding footage up. It's been used as a tool for decades.

And "undercracking" is what an unskilled chiropractor does.

No offense intended @Gung Fu Movie Guy, just enjoying the minor misspelling.

 

2 hours ago, andy338 said:

I recently asked 88Films if there would be a standard edition of last years deluxe edition Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin and they replied saying that there wouldn't be as they no longer have the rights. When they released Snake in Eagles Shadow last year they said it would only be available for 1 year as they only had the rights for that length of time. When companies buy films does it depend on the individual title how long they have it for or are they bought in batches? I'm curious as it's made me reconsider purchasing some of their older films now just in case they go out of print and are no longer available.

Every deal is different. With SNAKE IN THE EAGLE'S SHADOW, it was such a small window, but 88 Films didn't want to miss the opportunity to release that classic. They had to jump through some hoops though, and the time limit put a lot of pressure on them. If they'd had more time they surely would've done a lot more for that one.

From what I've gathered, sometimes a distributor has some time left on their license, but sub-leases it out to another company to do a limited release as the original company doesn't want to rerelease it and feel they've got what they wanted from it. I suspect that this was the case with the recent Ronin Blu-rays of the Jet Li movies that Miramax once had.

Yes, sometimes companies try to force a distributor to license a few turkeys along with a great title in a batch sale so that they can charge more.

It's hard to say what will go OOP and when. I've been caught off guard in the past with quite a few Shout Factory titles I put off buying, and suddenly you can only get them with jacked-up prices from eBay (this happened to me with INVADERS FROM MARS, I, MADMAN, and RED SCORPION). I bought the set of the Peter Sellers PINK PANTHER films via pre-order (I grew up with them and love 'em). But (at least it seemed so) not long after it was released a friend I had recommended it to said he tried to buy it but it was already OOP.

[starschwar]

4 hours ago, PandaPawPaw said:

Crack on Meals.

Crack Lord.

Armour of God II: Operation Crack.

Police Story 3: Super Crack.

Crack Hunter.

 

We're doing this.

 

Half a Loaf of Crack.

Snake in the Eagle's Crack (international title: Snakes on Cocaine)

Crack of Dragon (the title is about Sammo's bath scene)

Miracles; Mister Canton, and Lady Crack

The Accidental Crack (the jury did not buy this explanation)

Crack the World in 80 Days (slowest apocalypse movie ever)

 

[andy338]

14 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Those two punches always caught my attention too. Odd.

I agree, the car chase scene would've played better with less undercranking. Some of the worst uses of this technique that I've seen are Sammo's cameo in BLADE OF FURY and every action scene in Donnie Yen's TV series FIST OF FURY. The latter of which was rendered unwatchable for me.

 

Me too, but it still looks weird.

 

 

And "undercracking" is what an unskilled chiropractor does.

No offense intended @Gung Fu Movie Guy, just enjoying the minor misspelling.

 

Every deal is different. With SNAKE IN THE EAGLE'S SHADOW, it was such a small window, but 88 Films didn't want to miss the opportunity to release that classic. They had to jump through some hoops though, and the time limit put a lot of pressure on them. If they'd had more time they surely would've done a lot more for that one.

From what I've gathered, sometimes a distributor has some time left on their license, but sub-leases it out to another company to do a limited release as the original company doesn't want to rerelease it and feel they've got what they wanted from it. I suspect that this was the case with the recent Ronin Blu-rays of the Jet Li movies that Miramax once had.

Yes, sometimes companies try to force a distributor to license a few turkeys along with a great title in a batch sale so that they can charge more.

It's hard to say what will go OOP and when. I've been caught off guard in the past with quite a few Shout Factory titles I put off buying, and suddenly you can only get them with jacked-up prices from eBay (this happened to me with INVADERS FROM MARS, I, MADMAN, and RED SCORPION). I bought the set of the Peter Sellers PINK PANTHER films via pre-order (I grew up with them and love 'em). But (at least it seemed so) not long after it was released a friend I had recommended it to said he tried to buy it but it was already OOP.

Yeah I got caught out with a load of Hong Kong Legends titles that i'd been putting off getting due to finances and then they disappeared off the shelves and were only available on ebay for over £40 each so i'm trying to make sure that doesn't happen again. I suppose I thought the JC Lo Wei films would be around for a while as some are supposedly getting a re-release so I was surprised when they said Snake & Crane was no longer under license, in my local HMV they still had the original release in stock a few weeks ago as well as the deluxe edition.

[Daxtreme]

I know I'm like one month late but I want to chime in on Inspector Wears Skirts. I think you shouldn't so readily discard this movie because it has less action.

First of all, the action in the movie (when it happens) is legitimately great. After all, the action was choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stuntmen Association (There aren't that many, I made a list of such movies). You should always watch movies choreographed by the JCSA pre-2000 if "insane action that you can't find anywhere else" is what you're looking for (aren't we all?)

Second, you might actually like the comedic parts? I thought they were somewhat different from what I'm used to with HK movies. It's more light-hearted, definitely focused on the women and their feelings, it was interesting, at least to me. I surprisingly liked this movie, the whole thing.

I say give it a shot.

As for me, I will be buying this release.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Daxtreme

[JCFan2024]

Legend of the Crackhead Master.