The recent Fox/Fortune Star wave comprises some old school Kung Fu, Horror, comedy, and straight up down and dirty revenge flick. The titles are SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS (ENCOUNTERS OF THE SPOOKY KIND), WINNERS AND SINNERS, HAND OF DEATH, WARRIORS TWO, and LEGACY OF RAGE. While not all A-list titles, each has some serious star power and well worth a watch.
HAND OF DEATH (1976) stars Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung and is directed by John Woo. Led by a Shaolin traitor, the Manchus attack the Shaolin Temple and slaughter all they can find. It is up to Tan Tao Liang, one of the few survivors, to avenge his master's death and avenge the monks who had been killed in the ambush. HAND OF DEATH is an old school Kung Fu movie that may not be what is expected considering all the talent involved. While not up there with the best by any of performers, it is definitely worth a watch to see them at the early stages of their careers.
LEGACY OF RAGE (1986) features Brandon Lee and an entire cast of recognizable faces. Brandon is framed for a crime he didn't commit by his best friend, played by Michael Wong. While Brandon is in prison, his girlfriend fleas to escape Michael's advances. Brandon serves his time but seeks Michael out to settle the score when he is released. LEGACY OF RAGE isn't wall to wall action but it works as a down and dirty revenge movie. It's styled like many of action movies that came out of Hong Kong in the '80's. This is worth watching not only for an early performance by Brandon Lee, but by appearances of several well known faces. From Bolo Yueng, Ng Man Tat, Shing Fui On, are just a few well known actors that appear.
WINNERS AND SINNERS (1983) stars Sammo Hung and has some brief scenes with Jackie Chan. More comedy than action movie, WINNERS AND SINNERS offers some truly funny moments and is really fun to watch if you like Hong Kong comedies. Five men get arrested for different crimes and make a pact to stick together while serving time. When they get out, they start a cleaning service and go legit. Unfortunately, they unknowingly get mixed up in a counterfeit money scheme between two rival gangs. While not many, the actions scenes are very well done.
WARRIORS TWO (1978) stars Sammo Hung and Casanova Wong. Casanova Wong plays a cashier at the local bank who overhears of a murder plot against the mayor. When the killers realize that he is aware of the plot, they kill his mother in order to flush him out. He teams up with Sammo Hung who begs his master to take him under his wing and instruct him so that he may take revenge. The master, Leung Tsan (Leung Kar Yan), does not believe in revenge but eventually gives in. WARRIORS, TWO has plenty of action as well as some comedy. The martial arts performances are top-notch and you can see why this is considered a classic movie.
Spooky Encounters (Encounters of the Spooky Kind) (1981) - Sammo Hung stars in this Kung Fu/Comedy/Horror flick. He is known throughout the land as a brave, courageous man. His wife is cheating on him, so her lover plots to have Sammo killed. The plot entails having Sammo stay in a crypt overnight while a priest raises a dead body to take care of Sammo. Unbeknownst to the priest, his own friend alerts Sammo because he does not believe the power should be used to perform evil.
I really like this movie. If you aren't used to Hong Kong's take on the reanimated dead, you'll have to unlearn what you know from other zombie movies you've seen. This movie was probably the first to marry all these genres into one and it was certainly groundbreaking at the time. There are some laugh out loud moments as well as some creepy ones. This is classic Sammo Hung and one of his best.
WARRIORS TWO
THE HAND OF DEATH
As with practically all the previous FOX/Fortune Star releases, this wave also has for the most part excellent source prints. WARRIORS, TWO, LEGACY OF RAGE, and SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS, are just about perfect. THE HAND OF DEATH while good has occasional specs in the print. The colors sometimes look a little muted in some shots. This is hardly unexpected since this movie is from 1976 and is still probably the best it has ever looked. While WINNERS AND SINNERS is free of any print damage, it does have occasional color shifting.
The transfers are also well done. All are anamorphic and hold up well on the bigger screen. WINNERS AND SINNERS opens with a night scene that is a little murky looking but that is the only complaint. Each one of these DVD's are probably the best any of these titles has ever looked.
LEGACY OF RAGE
WINNERS AND SINNERS
Each one of these DVD's come with the original mix tracks as well as Dolby and DTS tracks in the original language as well as English. The original soundtrack is Cantonese for each movie with the exception of THE HAND OF DEATH which has a Mandarin track. I am happy to say that for the most part I didn't find any sync issue with the mono tracks. There is an occasional instance in SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS where the dialogue is slightly off and it seemed in each occasion when Sammo's wife spoke. I found the overall mix more pleasing than the Hong Kong Legends release. It doesn't sound as "tinny". What at first appears to be missing dialogue in LEGACY OF RAGE turns out to be the omission of the F--- word. This is a constant on each soundtrack regardless of language or mix. I haven't seen another version of the movie to say whether this was always like that. The mono tracks are fine otherwise, all mixed well and free of the additional foley that is frequently placed in the Dolby and DTS mixes. Of course, if you prefer Dolby or DTS mixes, you have the option. *One additional note is that after writing this review I had found out from various forums that WARRIORS TWO has music replaced in one of the teahouse scenes. There is a Cantonese version of "Don't be Cruel" playing in the background. Since this was the first time I have seen this movie I wasn't aware. The mono mix also appears to be a downmix of the 5.1 track.
SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS
LEGACY OF RAGE
This wave does not have dubtitles. Subtitles are different than the spoken English dub. In all cases, they are free of spelling and grammatical errors and are easy to read. The timing is well done with the exception of WINNERS AND SINNERS in which there are a few instances where the subtitles seem to lag by just a hair. Not terribly distracting but noticeable.
WARRIORS 2
THE HAND OF DEATH
Each DVD has new and the original trailers as well as the new trailers for the other movies in this wave. The new trailers can be a little silly after awhile because they all have the same format. I wish I had the chance to make trailers for these!
Conclusion -
If you have been happy with the previous Fox/Fortune Star releases, you
will be very happy with these. I wholeheartedly recommend SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS
and WARRIORS TWO. These are just excellent movies and this is the best
the have ever looked for those in Region 1. While not thrilled about the
replaced music and mono track used in WARRIORS TWO, I still recommend
it if you have a widescreen monitor. If you enjoy Hong Kong comedy, I
also recommend WINNERS AND SINNERS. It has some laugh out loud moments
and the few actions scenes it has are very good. LEGACY OF RAGE is a decent
movie and is good for an '80's style action flick. Maybe not enough action
for some but well worth watching to catch all the stars who make an appearance.
THE HAND OF DEATH while not great is still worth a watch to see what John
Woo, Sammo Hung, and Jackie Chan were doing early in their careers.
As far as quality and quantity, FOX is pretty much the leader of the pack for those in North America. Even though these DVD's lack any extras, the movies themselves are given a good presentation and the price is also very good. I look forward to the next wave.
Matt - 4/1/05
WINNERS AND SINNERS
SPOOKY ENCOUNTERS
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