88 Films Blu-ray Synopsis: From director and co-writer Corey Yuen (Righting Wrongs, Red Cliff, The Transporter) comes this high-octane tale of criminal gangs, betrayal and greed. Fleeing their impoverished homeland, brothers Ma Wing-Jing (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Ma Tai-Cheung (Yuen Wah) arrive in Shanghai to seek their fortune but become embroiled in the seedy world of big-city triads where Wing-Jing's once-insignificant life becomes an arrogant lust for power. This fabulous remake of Chang Cheh's classic The Boxer From Shantung (1972) from the legendary Shaw Brothers studios is given a makeover chock-full with stunts, fights and awe-inspiring action sequences. A must for collectors of martial arts cinema. (92 Mins)

 

Metrodome UK DVD Synopsis: After a severe drought, Ma Wing Jing (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and Tai Cheung (Yuen Wah) leave Shantung for Shanghai. They are forced to work as coolies. Ma – a fierce fighter – saves the life of crime boss Tam See (Yuen Biao), thereby earning the hatred of Tam's rival, Yang Shuang (Yuen Tak). Ma takes control of a club run by Yam Yueng Tien (Valerie Chow) and soon becomes a famous underworld figure. His swift rise to power leaves him ill-prepared to deal with Yang's cunning and he must pay a bloody price for his success. This gripping martial arts thriller combines state-of-the-art combat sequences with powerful characters and plot. (90 Mins)

 

Views: The gorgeous Takeshi Kaneshiro plays the legendary Ma Wing Jing in this Shaw Brothers remake of their 1972 hit film, The Boxer From Shantung starring Chen Kuan Tai. After arriving in Shanghai with his brother Ma Tai Cheung, the young fighter makes it his mission to become a big name in the criminal underworld. While working as a coolie, Ma Wing Jing has a run-in with local gang boss Tam See who is highly impressed with his guts and skills. Tam takes the Ma brothers under his wing as a mentor, eventually placing Wing Jing in charge of his biggest nightclub after the hero saves him from an attack by the infamous axe-gang. But as Ma Wing Jing quickly climbs the ranks, he gains the attention of a powerful rival who goes out of his way to bring the heroic new gangster down!

 

If I'm to be honest, I've never really figured out where I sit with Hero. While I'm such a huge fan of Chang Cheh's classic and the story it tells, I've often found this adaptation to be a little disjointed in some respect. Although it was produced (once again) by the powerhouse that is the Shaw Brothers studio, Hero fails to represent everything that made us fall in love with their finest films from yesteryear. Maybe it's the lack of polished studio-sets that were often bursting with vibrant colours and fine detail, or perhaps it's because the film is just typical of a 90's Corey Yuen Kwai flick; highly enjoyable in all respects while still a little rough-around-the edges. Although the film performed well at the box-office upon release, Hero often feels more like a TV movie than a big screen affair, often looking cheap and as if it was just thrown together. This could well have been due to the fact that the Shaw Brothers studio had been putting all their focus into television shows over the decade leading up to it – although it does boast some nice cinematography and a great score. Regardless, this new Blu-ray release from 88 Films has helped win me over and reminded me of just how much wonderful martial-arts-action is on offer. I've always been a huge fan of Corey Yuen Kwai, from his early days as a kung-fu star and choreographer to his awesome directorial debut with Ninja In The Dragons Den and onwards. It would be around 1990 when I started to notice a change of direction in his work – a period when he had started collaborating with writer/director Jeff Lau, a man known mainly for his wild comedies and outrageous action flicks. As the pair of them teamed up to write the script for Hero, it''s probably worth knowing what films Kwai directed in the period leading up it to help reason why the film ended up as uneven and comedic as it did. From All For The Winner to Saviour Of The Soul, Fong Sai Yuk to My Father Is A Hero, Corey Yuen was renowned for delivering exciting action-comedies throughout the nineties. The same year as he made Hero, the director joined forces with Lau a couple more times to make the underrated Mahjong Dragon and hilarious Black Rose 2 (which genuinely had me howling with laughter). So perhaps in all reality, a remake of a violently serious film such as The Boxer From Shantung was probably not the right project to follow up with, respectively. I guess, in essence, the comedic elements in Hero are often funny such as the scene when Ma Wing Jing (Kaneshiro) awakens on the boat after nearly being beaten to death. In a bid to remove any hatred left in him for what had happened – with the hope that they can make him forget about those he was fighting. This involves the lie that he was in a coma for 6 months, his mentor has become a teacher, his double-crossing girlfriend a sword-wielding nun, and his mortal enemy has now turned a new leaf as an award winning flamboyant singer. Other moments include seeing Yuen Wah in a kilt, and Corey Yuen joining Takeshi in a drum-off as their foot-tapping beats get the crowd dancing. Thankfully though, it never really distracts from the great action on offer and often helps break-up the lengthy melodrama when it comes about.

 

As Ma Wing Jing, Takeshi Kaneshiro does a great job and looks absolutely gorgeous at the same time. Sure, it's a far cry from Chen Kuan Tai's performance as the original character, but you can't help but fall for Kaneshiro's charm and energy as he grows from country bumpkin to feared gangster. Since his debut of Hong Kong cinema in Johnnie To's Executioners – the dark fantasy sequel to Heroic Trio – the heartthrob went on to make quite the impression in films such as Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, Sammo Hung's Don't Give A Damn (also with Yuen Biao), Jet Li's Doctor Wai & The Scripture With No Words, and others such as China Dragon, Downtown Torpedoes, House Of Flying Daggers, The Warlords, Red Cliff 1 & 2, and  Japanese films like The Returner and K20: The Fiend With 20 Faces. The ever wonderful Yuen Wah stars as his brother, Ma Tai Cheung, although it must be said that he was criminally underused as the comedy sidekick, given the crazy amount of talent the man has as a fighter. This was a pretty rough time for the star as his film career started taking somewhat of a dive in the mid-90s, with roles in lesser known films such as Drug Fighters and Leopard Hunting alongside Yukari Oshima, a non-action role in Vincent Kok's Only Fool's Fall In Love with Lau Ching Wan, and the entertaining Tough Beauty & The Sloppy Slop with his brother and Hero co-star Yuen Biao – an extremely low-budget remake of Police Story 3: Supercop that basically replaced Michelle Yeoh with Cynthia Khan, respectively. Thankfully, Yuen Wah and his fans would rejoice in 2004 (thanks to Stephen Chow Sing Chi) as the awesome Kung Fu Hustle reignited his star, allowing Wah to bag many great roles and cameos in films such as the Kung Fu Mahjong Trilogy, My Kung Fu Sweetheart, Dragon Tiger Gate, Twins Mission, City Under Siege, Kung Fu Wing Chun, Monk Comes Down The Mountain, Detective Chinatown 2, and a highly memorable role in Marvel's very own Shang Chi & The Legend Of The Ten Rings. Much like his aforementioned school brother, the mid-90s were also a bit of a bitch to the legendary Yuen Biao. Although he starred alongside Kaneshiro and Sammo in Don't Give A Damn, other titles such as Circus Kids, Hero Of Swallow, Dragon In Shaolin, and Tough Beauty & The Sloppy Slop were produced so cheaply that they hardly even made a dent at the box office. While it seemed that Biao's light in the cinematic world was also dimming, his performance as Tam See in Hero somewhat helped bring that back from the brink. The same year, Biao starred in Ricky Lau's action-thriller The Hunted Hunter (which I actually quite enjoyed) but once again, the low budget production values left somewhat of a sour taste in the mouths of his fans. Thankfully though, the star didn't pack it in and has went on to appear in films such as A Man Called Hero, Avenging Fist, No Problem 2, Rob-B-Hood, The Legend Is Born – Ip Man, My Kingdom, Tai Chi Hero, Sifu Vs Vampire and more. And last but not least, fellow school brother Yuen Tak joins the proceedings as the wicked Yang Shuang; the man who sets out to destroy both Ma Wing Ching and Tam See in the most dastardly of ways. Having worked with Yuen Kwai as an extra and fight-choreographer on Mahjong Dragon earlier in the year, Tak upped his screen presence for Hero as well as helping the director in the action department once again...

 

While flawed, it's fair to say that Hero offers up some pretty damn exciting fight scenes – all of which are evenly spread throughout the films running time, and handled by the hugely talented Corey Yuen Kwai and Yuen Tak. The first of these battles puts Takeshi Kaneshiro up against Yuen Biao in a friendly showdown of sorts, with a silver watch offered up as a prize. This is a great fight as the pair duke it out on a fast-moving horse and carriage – sometimes shifting onto the actual horse which often offers-up some unintentional comedy as each close-up shot reveals a blatantly fake horse. Regardless, it still makes for a fun watch with both stars delivering some fantastic moves – even though Kaneshiro is artfully doubled for most of the acrobatics. Another is when Biao tries to make his escape from the axe gang, which results in some brutal attacks and great kicks as he quickly finds himself outnumbered. Caught up in their chains and about to face his final breath, Biao is saved by Kaneshiro who enters the scene in glorious slow-motion and guns blazing. And while there is more in between, the best is definitely saved for last with the grand finale kicking off with a massive shootout – including a hugely memorable moment that sees Biao exit a coffin fitted with 10 shotguns. Once the bullets run dry, Biao and Kaneshiro go up against the psychotic Tak in a brutal and well-choreographed battle with some major fatalities! It's all very similar to the works of Corey Yuen Kwai from that era with plenty of exaggerated moves, random moments of wirework, and quick-fire editing that asks the audience to suspend their disbelief once again.

 

The ladies of the hour are played by Jessica Hester Hsuan and Valerie Chow, with the latter having starred in Chungking Express only a few years before alongside Takeshi Kaneshiro. Jessica, who starred in films such as Flirting Scholar, The Tigers: Legend Of Canton, and Mr. Mumble before this, plays the daughter of Corey Yuen's band composer and the love interest of Kaneshiro's hero. She would also star alongside Yuen Biao in the aforementioned thriller The Hunted Hunter the same year, and has appeared in a couple of David Lam's popular Storm series since. Valerie Chow stars as Yam Yeung Tien, the double-crossing gangsters moll who plays all the men of the story and ends up the scarred victim with nothing. Over the course of her decade in the film industry, Chow starred in 20 productions altogether from her debut in He Ain't Heavy He's My Father to Ghostly Bus, and High Risk to The Blade. Both actresses do a fine job in their roles, respectively and make for some entertaining moments. As flawed as it is, Hero definitely has its moments and also benefits from some gorgeous cinematography and a great soundtrack with music by Lincoln Lo, Raymond Wong, and William Wu – as well as songs from Josie Ho and a closing track by the wonderful Anita Mui. To me, this was probably the last greatest performance from Yuen Biao and for that reason alone, is a worthy enough reason to watch it!

 

Overall: Action-packed and funny, Hero isn't perfect but it does entertain!

 

88 Films Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Alternate Shots from Taiwanese Version, Trailers

 

Metrodome DVD Extras: Trailer, Photo Gallery, Cast Bio's

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Watch my unboxing video of this 88 Films release HERE