Eureka Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis: Just as the kung fu film seemed to be losing steam as the 1970s came to a close, a new generation of martial arts stars rose to the top of Hong Kong cinema. Amongst them were Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan and the irrepressible Sammo Hung, who found fame as the director and star of The Iron-Fisted Monk, The Magnificent Butcher and Encounter of the Spooky Kind. Presented here are three films spanning Hung’s career, from a supporting role in The Manchu Boxer to stardom in Paper Marriage and Shanghai, Shanghai. In Wu Ma’s The Manchu Boxer, Hung (who doubles up as the film’s fight choreographer) plays the villainous foil to a roaming martial artist who enters a boxing tournament to defeat a gang of bandits. Then, in the action comedy Paper Marriage, Hung stars as a down-on-his-luck Chinese boxer living in the United States who is paid to marry an immigrant from Hong Kong (Maggie Cheung). She wants to gain American citizenship, but he just wants to keep the loan sharks off his back. Finally, in Shanghai, Shanghai, a young man (Yuen Biao) goes looking for his brother, a police officer, in the big city – and also finds himself embroiled with a ruthless gangster played by Hung. From traditional kung fu to romantic comedy to a tale of cops and crooks with shades of the “heroic bloodshed” films so popular in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Manchu Boxer, Paper Marriage and Shanghai, Shanghai exhibit Sammo Hung’s enormous range and chart his rise from supporting player to top-billed star. Eureka Classics is proud to present all three films for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK.

 

Views: Much like their previous Sammo Hung collection, released many years ago and featuring the movies The Iron Fisted Monk (1977), The Magnificent Butcher (1979), and Eastern Condors (1987) – which kind of made no sense having the latter in there, and robbed all of these classic movies the chance to have their own beautifully presented release – Eureka Video have only went and done the same thing again with this latest release of Sammo Hung movies under the title of Triple Threat. This time, it's three lesser seen flicks starring the big man (at least here in the UK) such as The Manchu Boxer (1974), Paper Marriage (1988), and Shanghai Shanghai (1990). Now, personally, it would have made more sense to release The Manchu Boxer in the first set along with the two kung fu classics, and put Eastern Condors in this collection with other his other modern works – Paper Marriage and Shanghai, Shanghai. Now that would absolutely have been more of a 'triple impact' and a better trio of titles overall that showcase the many talents and genres of the great Sammo Hung. But alas, that is not the case! Thankfully though, this Triple Threat collection is, at least, a much more attractive piece all over than the previous one which is all thanks to the talented Sam Gilby and his incredibly beautiful and colourful cover art. His display of Sammo Hung as different characters from each movie was the perfect way to present this collection, although it does hurt my heart a little more when I think just how amazing Sammo from Eastern Condors would have looked on there instead of The Manchu Boxer, as mentioned...

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The first film of the set is The Manchu Boxer, a 1974 kung fu flick directed by the late and prolific Wu Ma – who also has a small starring role in the film. It tells the tale of Chen, a pacifist expert fighter, who gives up fighting on his father's demands. But after his friend is killed by a ruthless Korean warlord just to gain ground in a local martial-arts competition. Naturally, Chen steps up to the mark to get revenge and stop the tyrant from winning! While it's great to see this obscure Golden Harvest classic getting some attention, The Manchu Boxer just isn't that great to be honest. And while I know many Golden Harvest titles featuring Sammo from this period have already , been released by Eureka, I'd have been happier seeing the likes of Bandits from Shantung (1972), Stoner (1974), or The Association (1975) in its place representing Sammo as a bit-player and choreographer. The problem is, The Manchu Boxer is pretty much just the same old-same old – we've seen it all before. Still, it does have it's moments I guess with some exciting martial arts fights and a pretty exciting grand finale. Popular kung-fu star and Bruce Lee film regular, Tony Lau Wing, leads the way and looks great in action, while the feisty Tai Min Ming gives him a run for his money, in what was only her second film appearance. Sammo himself plays one of the right-hand men of the villain alongside his old friend and regular co-star, Wilson Tong. Aside from a few Hong Kong actors, the rest of the cast is filled out by a number of Korean actors – having been shot there. This includes the prolific Kim Ki Joo who has appeared in many classics including The Angry Guest (1971) and King Boxer (1972), and had worked with Sammo many times in When Taekwondo Strikes (1973), The Skyhawk (1974), The Association (1975), Broken Oath (1977) and more. While I really enjoy Wu Ma as an actor, I never did think much of him as a director – and this is a great example why. While he had co-directed many great Shaw Brothers classics with his mentor Chang Cheh, The Manchu Boxer would only be his third as a solo director. It's also worth noting that a young Tai Bo – character actor of many Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung movies – worked his second role as an assistant director here. And while I had some concerns of the restored print of The Manchu Boxer, it's only fair to say that it has never looked better. The (Hong Kong version) film is accompanied by an audio commentary from Frank Djeng and Michael Worth who deliver their usual, slow-paced informative piece on the film and everyone involved. An unrestored original trailer of the movie is also featured, which really highlights how bad the film looked before it's 2K treatment and is worth checking out prior to watching the feature.

 

Next up is Paper Marriage, a late 80s action-comedy starring Sammo Hung and Maggie Cheung as a Chinese couple in Canada faking their marriage to pass immigration. Sammo plays a down on his luck ex-boxer with a gambling problem, and a lot of debt due to the alimony requirements by his ex-wife. He tries anything and everything to make more money such as medical trials, gambling, partaking in boxing matches, and more gambling. But when he is offered the chance to fake a marriage in order for the 'bride' to get a green card, he jumps at the chance believing it is easy money. When her real true love double-crossers them and Sammo realises he's not getting paid, he throws a distraught Maggie Cheung out of his house. But when she returns with a large bag of money, the pair agree to work together and put it to good use. Unfortunately, the thugs who lost it, will stop at nothing to get to it back, and soon, they arrive on his doorstep in full force! I really enjoy Paper Marriage – it's always been an underrated piece of Sammo Hung's extensive filmography, yet gives us one of his best comic performances and some powerhouse fight scenes that are just a joy to watch. The film was directed by the wonderful Alfred Cheung, who makes a cameo as Maggie's double-crossing boyfriend and had just directed Sammo the year before in the comedy film, To Err Is Humane. Of course, Alfred has worked with him many times throughout the years, appearing in things from Millionaires Express (1986) to Pedicab Driver (1989), The Medallion (2003) and more. He's also the man behind Yuen Biao's fantastic On The Run (1988), the popular Her Fatal Ways (1990) series, and Manhattan Midnight (2001) to name but a few. The great Maggie Cheung is hilarious in her role as Jade, while Sammo's action starlet wife, Joyce Godenzi, makes an appearance as his caring ex. Fight fans will be pleased to see the brilliant Billy Chow (as Godenzi's new boyfriend) in action, with Philip Ko Fei appearing as a boxing challenger to Sammo, the incredible Dick Wei as the main bad guy, while Chin Kar Lok and Hsiao Ho show up for the action-packed ending. While it has fewer fight scenes throughout the film, those included are still great to see – choreographed by the wonderful Lam Ching Ying and Yuen Wah. As before, the film is accompanied by an audio commentary and unrestored trailer. This time, Arne Venema and Domoni Ting deliver the insights and laughs, making for a fun track with plenty of informative notes and trivia on this fantastic film!

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And then we have the brilliant Shanghai, Shanghai – probably my favourite of the three. Directed by the wonderful Teddy Robin Kwan, whose previous directional effort to this was the incredibly entertaining Legend of Wisely/Legend of the Golden Pearl (1987), Shanghai Shanghai tells the tale of a country boy called Little Tiger who arrives in Shanghai in search of his older brother, Big Tiger, who is a leading police officer. However, upon arrival, Little Tiger gets drawn into a violent robbery that puts him in the sights of Shanghai's top gangsters. Now, along with his new circus friends and brother, the kung fu kid must fight for his life and help bring justice to the streets of Shanghai! With ball busting action courtesy of the late-great Corey Yuen Kwai, Yuen Tak and Dion Lam, this 1990 period piece that shares very many similarities to Jackie Chan's Miracles which came out just a year before. And I can't help but feel that – had Golden Harvest really thought about it – Shanghai, Shanghai would have made the perfect sequel/side-story to that Chan classic. First of all, their stories of a country boy arriving in the big city to get pulled into crime and climbing the ranks is almost identical – they absolutely could have set them both in the same place and did, in fact, reuse certain sets from Jackie's production for this. In Miracles, the great Lo Lieh stars as double-crossing gangster Fei whereas here he has now become successful with his own nightclub (although now known as Pai). Not only that, but eagle-eyed viewers of Miracles would have caught the quick cameo from Yuen Biao as a begging country bumpkin – the perfect connection of the arrival of his Little Tiger character in the big city. And all could well have worked if it wasn't for those pesky kids – Anita Mui and Louis Roth – both of whom play very different characters in both movies, with Mui starring here as an ass-kicking revolutionist and love interest to Big Tiger, played by the much loved George Lam. Perhaps, in another timeline, that was the case. But as it stands, Shanghai Shanghai is still very much a fantastic action feature. Ozzing his best bad guy vibes since the 70s, Sammo Hung plays the films 'big bad', getting to trade moves with Yuen Biao in the grand finale – and it's absolutely worth the wait. Crime story (1993) director Kirk Wong makes an appearance as another gang boss, while Mang Hoi, Sandy Lam, Sam Wong, and Yuen Tak star as Biao's circus buddies. And finally, stars such as Tien Niu, Lawrence Cheng, Dion Lam, Wan Seung Lam, and the aforementioned Louis Roth help flesh things out. The Hong Kong version comes with an audio commentary from Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto. It's a little lethargic for the most part until Frank starts reading his notes and picks up the pace, but he does deliver some fun trivia. As with the rest, the unrestored original theatrical trailer accompanies it, running just over 3 minutes in length and looking a little better than the others.

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Of course, all the movies are presented in full HD from gorgeous new 2K restorations – although I did feel that a number of scenes in The Manchu Boxer looked strained at times – and presented with the usual multi-language options and audio commentaries. The set comes with three discs in all with the Hong Kong cut of The Manchu Boxer and Paper Marriage sharing disc one, Shanghai Shanghai on disc two, and the extended versions of The Manchu Boxer and Shanghai Shanghai on the third. I guess it's worth noting that while the Hong Kong version of The Manchu Boxer runs at 86 minutes, the extended international version delivers an extra 7minutes - although I honestly couldn't tell you the exact scenes included just yet. I do know, however, that I enjoyed this one a bit more second time around. And with Shanghai Shanghai, the Hong Kong version comes in at 88 minutes, while the extended version runs at 93 minutes. But again, I feel that Eureka have missed a trick here or just threw this release together without a second thought! Why did they not combine both versions of The Manchu Boxer on disc one, allow Paper Marriage and any extras to have disc two, then put both versions of Shanghai Shanghai on the third? I mean, does that not make the most sense? Regardless, what's done is done and these are small gripes, I suppose, to be able to have this great release in my collection. And finally, the only other extra feature that comes with the release (housed on disc one), is Happily Ever After – a 21 minute interview with Paper Marriage director Alfred Cheung, which was just fantastic. Delivered in English, Cheung reveals some great memories on the production such as Sammo's fear of heights, rebuilding his house in Hong Kong, and how boring Edmonton was to shoot in. In a nutshell, Eureka Video's release of Triple Threat is a great piece overall, and even if their thought process, execution and choice of movies made no sense whatsoever – I can't deny the fact that I'm very happy to get more Sammo Hung in HD, which is always a joy!

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