Eureka Video Blu-ray Synopsis: Widely considered the greatest classical weapons movie ever made, Odd Couple stars Sammo Hung, Lau Kar Wing (also directing) and Bryan 'Beardy' Leung Kar Yan (Dreadnaught, The Victim) in a classic tale of rivalry and vengeance. Two ageing masters of the spear and sword engage in an epic mountaintop battle every ten years, but the outcome invariably ends in a draw. Realising that neither one of them will ever outclass the other, they agree to take on a younger student and train them to champion their cause, thus putting an end to their longstanding rivalry. Showcasing some of the most intricate and explosive weapons choreography ever seen, this masterpiece remains a quintessential classic from the Golden Age of Hong Kong Cinema, and now makes its UK debut on Blu-ray. (96 Mins)

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Hong Kong Legends UK DVD Synopsis: Two ageing masters of the spear and sword engage in an epic mountaintop battle every ten years, but the outcome invariably ends in a draw. Realizing that neither one of them will ever outclass the other, they agree to take on a younger student and train them to champion their cause, thus putting an end to their longstanding rivalry. Unexpectedly, fate drives them into open conflict with a powerful enemy, and both masters and their students are propelled into the fight of their lives! Showcasing some of the most intricate and explosive weapons choreography ever seen, this masterpiece stands head and shoulders above many of it's competitors, and remains one of the quintessential classics from the age of Hong Kong Cinema!! (92 Mins)

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Eastern Heroes UK VHS Synopsis: An eternal conflict is the premise for this martial arts masterpiece. Sammo Hung (Martial Law, Eastern Condors) and Lau Kar Wing portray old rivals who meet every ten years to find out whose weaponry skills are better: the sword (Sammo) or the spear (Lau). As the contest always ends in a draw the two ageing warriors decide to take on pupils to continue the once a decade duel. In a novel twist Sammo plays Lau's younger student and vice versa, thus making way for untold comic possibilities. Skilful balletic duels between the sword and spear rival even the best work of Jackie Chan and Liu Chia Liang in their intricacy. (90 Mins)

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Views: Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Wing play two old kung-fu masters that feel the need to duel once every ten years, even though they know that every fight results in a draw. In a bid to name someone the winner, the warriors agree to each find a student and teach them their finest styles so that they can battle it out and claim victory for their master. But along the way, the masters and their new students have a run-in with an old opponent who is on a trail of vengeance, which leads to a brutal showdown in the art of spear and sword with deadly consequences!

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I just love Lau Kar Wing's Odd Couple! It opens with a typical Shaw Brothers-esque display of moves and weapons against a black background - winking at the viewers to note how it's mocking the very genre it slides into, before quickly becoming a wacky kung-fu comedy that features some of the greatest weapons work ever committed to film that still highly entertains even over 40 years later. The late 1970's were an incredible time for Hung as a director and star, from his directorial debut with Iron Fisted Monk in '77 through to Enter The Fat Dragon, Dirty Tiger Crazy Frog, Warriors Two, Incredible Kung Fu Master, Knockabout, and The Magnificent Butcher (from Yuen Woo Ping) – it seemed that there was no stopping this, already well-established, martial arts superstar. While the comedy is often hilarious and the fight scenes, such as the physicality of the moves and choreography, are undoubtedly outstanding, there still seems to be a little repetitiveness about the whole thing – something I guess that couldn't be avoided given the basic storyline of the film. One of those behind the script is none other than famed writer/actor/producer/director Raymond Wong Pak Ming – delivering what would only be his 4th title as a new writer, and one of the five penned by him that same year including the kung-fu comedies Crazy Partner and Crazy Couple – with Crazy Crooks following in 1980. The great Lau Kar Wing already had hundreds of titles under his belt by this stage of his career, both as an actor and a choreographer – including the previous years Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog which was also from the short-lived Gar Bo Films. As the director of Odd Couple though, as well as the co-star, Lau does a fantastic job in bringing a true classic to fans of Hong Kong cinema with what would only be his third film as a director following He Has Nothing But Kung Fu and Dirty Kung Fu. Of course, Lau would work with Sammo over the decades on a number of amazing titles, but wouldn't direct him again until the awesome Skinny Tiger, Fatty Dragon in 1990 of which he also co-starred as the main villain - but I guess Odd Couple is the film that really gives us more bang for our buck as both stars play dual roles with old Sammo (the King of Sabres) taking a young Lau Kar Wing as his student, and old Wing (the King of Spears) taking on a young Sammo Hung. It's a hilarious pairing either way, with both actors flexing their comedic chops and each getting to show some incredible martial arts skills – both as student and teacher, which makes for a highly entertaining show. 1979 would also see the pair star alongside each other in the equally fantastic Knockabout with Yuen Biao – a Golden Harvest production that saw the majority of this cast stick around for more kung-fu fun – with Lau Kar Wing starring in a total of 7 films overall that year and the burly Sammo Hung in 4, including the fun Incredible Kung Fu Master and Yuen Woo Ping's aforementioned classic, The Magnificent Butcher.

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The amazing Leung Kar Yan stars as Scarface – impressing fans once again with some incredible moves and a highly memorable performance. I'm a huge fan of Leung's – a man who has starred in over 150 films and an actor that rarely disappoints. By the time Odd Couple had come about, Leung had been in the business a good 5 years already, winning fans over since his debut in the Shaw Brothers hit Shaolin Martial Arts and almost 30 other titles including Marco Polo, Five Kung Fu Daredevils, Eagles Claw, Enter The Fat Dragon, Warriors Two, and Knockabout – with the latter 3 really kicking-off his relationship with Sammo Hung. 1979 would see him star in 6 films altogether including the fun Sleeping Fist, Cantonen Iron Kung Fu, and the Karl Maka directed His Name Is Nobody alongside Lau Kar Wing once again. As well as being the producer of Odd Couple, the brilliant Karl Maka pops up in a hilarious role as a challenger to the King Of Sabres, reducing his time on screen and number of roles behind the camera in this follow-up Gar Bo project to Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog. Along with his co-stars, Maka spent the most of the year sharing the screen with them all in some way or another, directing Iron Fists alongside His Name Is Nobody, as well as producing. And while the US educated, bald-headed superstar would work with Lau and Hung a number of times during this period it would be another number of years before they would all gather again for the fun Lucky Stars Go Places, then later again in Skinny Tiger & Fatty Dragon (also released on Blu-ray by Eureka Video). Popular stuntman and star of Jackie Chan's Dragon Lord and the brilliant Lackey & The Lady Tiger, Mars, stars alongside Billy Chan as the wacky assistants to each of the old masters and the late Dean Shek shows up in yet another crazy role complete with wacky costume and ticks. Fans can also keep an eye out for Peter Chan Lung, brother of co-star Billy Chan, who pretends to be the King Of Sabres that gets a fun fight against Karl Maka, as well as the wonderful Chung Fat, Lam Chin Ying, Yuen Miu, Lee Hoi Sang, Yeung Sai Gwan, Huang Ha, and many others who appear throughout - including Yuen Biao who doubles Lau Kar Wing and others for their more intricate moves.

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The abundance of amazing fight-action is handled by it's main stars Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Wing, along with Yuen Biao and Lam Ching Ying – and no doubt a host of other names as Sammo began to pull together his infamous stunt team around this period. Of course, the main focus of the action sequences is the weapons work – something the team wholeheartedly achieve with some incredible moves that come across on a level that challenges Lau Kar Wing's very own brothers Shaw Brothers epic, Legendary Weapons Of China, although pre-dating that film by a few years. Saying that, I've always wondered did the sword and spear battle between the Lau brothers in Challenge Of The Masters a few years earlier, inspire Kar Wing to make this classic. Regardless, it's fair to say that the martial action on display here helps nestle Odd Couple as one of Hong Kong cinema's finest kung-fu classics that, although not perfect, stands strong today as a quality piece of entertainment. While all the fights (for the most part) are pretty damn amazing throughout, two of the highlight fights for me would have to be the attack on the old masters by Scarface with his men in the restaurant, and the awesome grand finale between the young students and the Leung once again – with that particular battle leading into an energetic and impressive showdown between young Lau and Hung themselves. These two fights offer some incredible moves and acrobatics, with Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Wing both making their weapons dance around them flawlessly as they go up Leung Kar Yan – with the latter bringing a fantastic screen presence as the deadly bad guy of the piece proving, once again, to be pretty incredible for a man who's never had any formal kung-fu training.

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It's also worth noting that the late and talented Chu Yat Hung joins the team as the assistant director of the film. Starting in the industry as a script supervisor in the early 1950s, Chu made her first appearance as a bit-player in the 1955 film Backyard Adventures, before making her first move as an assistant director four years later and then her debut as a director in 1967 with You Are The One I Love. Chu followed this up with the first live-action film of Old Master Q in '75, then The Mad Mad Mad Sailors about 6 years later – long leaving her job as the script supervisor of 112 films behind her in the late 60s. But the majority of her career would see Chu continue to work as an assistant director, putting her talents to use on a huge number of classic titles such as The Man From Hong Kong, Game Of Death, Dirty Tiger Crazy Frog, Warriors Two, Knockabout, By Hook Or By Crook, Aces Go Places, Legend Of Wisely, the Happy Ghost Series, Gambling Ghost, and so much more including Ronny Yu's Bride With White Hair 1 & 2. Between them all, and crammed somewhere in-between their time with Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and Cinema City, this talented team of stars and film-makers gave fans a genuinely fun and fantastic kung-fu comedy with Odd Couple, that has never looked better than this 2K restored Blu-ray release from Eureka Video – and a film that I'll be returning to again and again!

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Overall: Awesome fight sequences and fun comedy, backed by a wonderful cast, Odd Couple is a highly entertaining piece of kung-fu cinema!

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Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary with Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng & Bobby Samuels, Interviews with Lau Kar Wing & Leung Kar Yan

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Hong Kong Legends DVD Extras: Audio Commentary with Bey Logan, Interviews with Lau Kar Wing & Leung Kar Yan, Trailers

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Watch my unboxing video for this Eureka Video release HERE