Eureka Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis: The Miracle Fighters is a comedic tale of taoist magic directed by the martial arts maestro behind Drunken Master, The Magnificent Butcher and Iron Monkey – the legendary Yuen Woo-ping! During the Quing dynasty, marriage between Manchu and Han people is outlawed. When it is discovered that high-ranking official Kao Hsiung (Eddy Ko) has taken a Han wife, the Emperor informs him that he will be forgiven – but only if he kills his beloved before the court. When he refuses, Kao Hsiung is marked for death by the powerful Sorcerer Bat (Yuen Shun-yi) and forced to watch as his wife is slain before his eyes. Kao Hsiung flees, kidnapping the Crown Prince during his escape – but soon the prince is dead, and Kao Hsiung is forced to silently replace him with another young boy. In adulthood, that innocent child – Shu Gut (Yuen Yat-chor) – finds himself relentlessly pursued by Sorcerer Bat, and turns to two quarrelling taoist priests in the hope of protecting himself with their magic. Made in the same mould as its contemporaries Encounter of the Spooky Kind and The Dead and the Deadly, this riotous kung fu fantasy was followed by a number of equally entertaining thematic sequels including Taoism Drunkard and Young Taoism Fighter. Eureka Classics is proud to present The Miracle Fighters on Blu-ray from a brand new 2K restoration. (100 Mins)

 

Universe HK DVD Synopsis: The high priest used the prince as his vehicle to power, but his plot failed. The prince died. He then set up an orphan as the substitute. The young man escaped and became and became the follower of an eccentric and quarrelsome couple. He learned the supernatural powers and fought the high priest. They all had the power to work different kinds of miracles. Most of the effects are out of our expectation. (92 Mins)

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Views: Made in 1982 under the Golden Harvest banner and Yuen Woo Ping's own Peace Film Group, The Miracle Fighters still proves today to be one of Woo Ping's most inventive and imaginative pieces to date – a surreal martial arts-comedy that sees Stephen Chow-type comedy blended with real kung fu. After marrying a woman of Han, Royal Guardsman Kao is attacked by his own men and forced to go on the run. In order to escape, Kao takes a young prince hostage – inadvertently killing him while on the move. Over a decade later, he is still in hiding, guilt ridden and drunk, but has helped bring up an orphan by the name of Shu Geng. At the same time, the powerful evil Bat Sorcerer is still trying to track Kao down and find the prince. Mistaking Shu Geng for the dead royal, the Bat Sorcerer kills Kao but loses Shu in the process. Taking refuge at the home of a crazy old couple of sorcerers, Shu starts to gain some knowledge of their magical powers in between their bickering – building up the skills to face the evil Bat Sorcerer and take revenge once and for all!

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Having already impressed as a director with kung fu classics such as Snake In The Eagles Shadow, Drunken Master, Dance Of The Drunk Mantis, The Magnificent Butcher, The Buddhist Fist, Dreadnought, and the incredible Legend Of A Fighter, the acclaimed and award winning Yuen Woo Ping took things to another level with this fantasy kung-fu comedy. With shades of Sammo Hung's Encounters Of A Spooky Kind and The Dead & The Deadly, Miracle Fighters is crammed with wild magical showdowns, outstanding choreography, and clever editing. Produced by Raymond Chow, the film sees the infamous Yuen Clan together once again with duties both in front of and behind the camera. These include the brilliant Yuen Cheung Yan who stars as the cranky old woman sorcerer – a role he would play time and time again throughout his career, and not just in the Miracle Fighters sequels. Yuen Yat Chor, also known as Simon Yuen Junior, stars as the talented Shu Geng, while his brother Brandy stars as the scene stealing man-child in an urn; doubling up duties in a second role as a henchman of the Bat Sorcerer along with his brother Yuen Leung Chu. Of course, the Bat Sorcerer is played with glee and menace by the wonderful Yuen Shun Yi who, as always, impresses in another villainous role and, finally, Woo Ping even manages to pay respects to their late father in the form of a piece of art that still enjoys a drink of wine.​ They are joined by the incredible Leung Kar Yan who plays the male variation of Yeung Cheung Yan's crazy character. Of course, Leung had joined forces with the Yuen Clan the year before in the highly entertaining Dreadnought, soon followed by Legend Of A Fighter and The Postman Fights Back, with the latter two coming out the same year as this. The prolific and fantastic Eddy Ko stars as Kao, the royal guard made to be the bad guy and, once again, highly impresses with his kung fu and is a joy to watch as always. The highly recoginisable Wong Ha appears as the character of the Rainmaker, and kung fu actors Tino Wong, Chu Kong, Wong Wai Fong, Lam Moon Wa, and Shaw Brothers star Lau Fong Sai,also show-up throughout.

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Made in a period when most Hong Kong stars and film-makers were about to step away from the traditional kung-fu genre, with Jackie Chan giving us Dragon Lord before moving onto Project A, Sammo Hung delivering Carry On Pickpocket while preparing Winners & Sinners among others, and the likes of Aces Go Places, Don't Play With Fire, Security Unlimited, Zu: Warriors From The Magic Mountain, and many others coming to light, The Miracle Fighters still won over enough of a fan base to encourage Yuen Woo Ping and his brothers to deliver the first sequel just a year later with Shaolin Drunkard, known as Miracle Fighters 2 to some – which would see Woo Ping return as director and the Yuen Clan co-star and choreograph once again. 1984 would see the second sequel, Taoism Drunkard (sometimes known as Miracle Fighters 3) follow, this time with Yuen Cheung Yan directing as well as reprising his wild granny role, with the Yuen Clan choreographing and starring yet again. Oddly, this would be produced by none-other than Lo Wei who would also deliver the 3rd sequel of the series the same year, called The Young Taoism Fighter. While Jackie Chan regular Chen Chi Hwa directs, Yuen Yat Chor and Yen Shi Kwan would return to star while the Yuen Clan would handle the fight action one more time.​ While it would be another four years before another sequel of sorts would appear, this time from Taiwan under the name of New Miracle Fighters – the only directorial effort of actor Robert Kwan Hung – it would take Yuen Woo Ping until 2017 before he would return to the original film with his self-directed re-invention The Thousand Faces Of Dunjai; a CGI heavy fantasy written and produced by Tsui Hark. Unfortunately, the film failed to light-up the box office or leave the same lasting impression as the original did, proving that even a big budgeted FX filled modern day production such as this was no match for the originality, creative genius, and talents of Yuen Woo Ping and his brothers in what they had given us over 40 years ago!

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Overall: Brilliantly made and highly entertaining with some fantastic kung-fu action, The Miracle Fighters is one of Yuen Woo Ping's most inventive pieces and well worth seeing!

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Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: 2K Restoration, Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng, Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, Archival Interview with Yuen Woo Ping, Interview with Assistant Director Fish Fong, Interview with John Kreng, Stills Gallery, Trailer

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Universe DVD Extras: Trailers​