88 Films

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: 88 Films

#126 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:50 am

I hadn't seen Knock Off in at least 20, probably closer to 25 years, so I had no recollection of just how far-tilt gonzo the camerawork and editing choices are, giving the effect of imbibing a vertiginous hallucinogen. I don't think it's necessarily a film that retains a consistent energy from beginning to end, but I appreciate how the initial loose and lackadaisical structure gradually builds itself into a formula of relentless vigor. The first half hour presents with an overall messy setup, and the film doesn't prepare the audience (despite knowing this is clearly a Van Damme actioner) for how and when the tone will shift into our expectations. Even then, scenes oscillate from contrasting high-stakes intensity to slowed scenes of humor as breaks to catch a breath. There isn't a consistency to the directorial choices at all; action can opt for a blurry off-balance feel or sobering clarity of hyperfocus; setpieces are occasionally interrupted, scenes unfinished into slapdash montage. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether this is the work of someone who doesn't know how to make a movie, or knows exactly what kind of movie they want to make and refuses to play by the rules of film grammar, while also staying grounded within a conventional composition. Count me among the group who finds it great fun- there's a genius to the audacity here that is impressive, though I completely understand why it bombed with critics. Oh, and Rob Schneider is legitimately good in this, and not just because he's paired with a bunch of bad acting!

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 88 Films

#127 Post by Finch » Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:33 pm

New restoration of Armor of God dated for November.

SPECIAL FEATURES AND TECHNICAL SPECS:

DISC ONE

NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE ORIGINAL HONG KONG THEATRICAL CUT OF THE FILM
NEW Audio Commentary with Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng
NEW Audio Commentary with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
NEW Audio commentary by Kenneth Brorsson & Phil Gillon of the Podcast On Fire Network
NEW The Art of Action with Scott Adkins & Matt Routledge
NEW Jackie Chan on VHS - The VPF Years with Steve Lawson
NEW Rise of the Phoenix - Radek Sienski on Armour of God
Celebrity Talk Show (1989) 今夜不設防 Season 2 Episode 02 - 成龍) (Subtitled)
Short film High upon High – The Armour of Funk (2016). Produced as a 30th-anniversary music video and was shot at the original location from Armour of God
High Upon High - behind the scenes with Andy Long Nguyen & Side-by-Side
Hong Kong Movie Tours - Then & Now
Japanese Closing Out-takes
Interview with in-house Golden Harvest editor Peter Cheung
Archival interview with Jackie Chan
Archival interview with Willie Chan
Trailers
Hong Kong Cantonese Trailer (Subtitled)
Hong Kong Mandarin Trailer (Subtitled)
English Trailer
Exclusive Blu-ray Trailer
Audio/Subtitles:
NEW Remastered English subtitles
NEW and exclusive audio option] 2.0 Hybrid Cantonese / English (Lorelei)
NEW and exclusive audio option] 2.0 Hybrid Cantonese / English (Flight of the Dragon)
Cantonese 2.0 Mono (Original Theatrical Mix) Lorelei with newly-translated English Subtitles
Cantonese 2.0 Mono (Original Theatrical Mix) Flight of the Dragon with newly-translated English Subtitles
Cantonese 2.0 Mono (Home Video Mix) Lorelei with newly-translated English Subtitles
Cantonese 2.0 Mono (Home Video Mix) Flight of the Dragon with newly-translated English Subtitles
Classic 2.0 English Dub (Lorelei)
Classic 2.0. English Dub (Flight of the Dragon)
Modern English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

DISC TWO

International Cut [88 mins approx]
Original Classic English Dub
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature

ADDITIONAL CONTENT AND SPECS

Limited Edition two-disc set
Rigid slipcase with brand-new artwork from R.P. "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien
Reversible sleeve with alternative Hong Kong poster artwork
Double-sided foldout Poster
Six Replica Lobby Cards
An 88-page perfect-bound book featuring 3 new essays + selected archive materials featuring:
Eastern Heroes - by Tim Murray
Jackie Chan, a trademark designed to succeed by Thorsten Boose
Pixelated Punch: The Early Video Game Years of Jackie Chan by Audi Sorlie plus an Interview with Thorsten Nickel
REGION-B "LOCKED"

Image

How does Armor of God stack up against, say, Drunken Master and Project A?

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: 88 Films

#128 Post by yoloswegmaster » Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:51 pm

It's pretty weak compared to Project A and Drunken Master, and in what might be a hot take, I much prefer Armour of God II. I watched it 3 years ago and outside of the fight with the 4 female assassins, I honestly can't remember anything that happened in it. However, this release looks great for the people who are fans and I'm honestly jealous that AoG II didn't get a grand release like this one.

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colinr0380
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK

Re: 88 Films

#129 Post by colinr0380 » Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:53 am

It is much sillier than Project A and Drunken Master. Think Roger Moore era Bond (with all the gadgets. The first Armour of God has a small Sinclair C5-style car featuring in one scene that tries very hard to make it look really cool and cutting edge, if still silly and impractical) meeting the first two Indiana Jones films. I enjoy the Armour of God films a lot and whilst Operation Condor has the most impressive set piece (i.e. the wind tunnel fight scene), the first film is very entertaining itself (i.e. the parody of an Indiana Jones escape from tribesmen scene, just done in a big plastic ball), and probably has the funnier jokes. That fight sequence on and around the big banquet table is a particularly great mix of fighting and comedy. I still have not logistically figured out entirely how Jackie jumps from a mountain onto a hot air balloon at the end though, except just to put it down to the magic of editing!

Armour of God is the other Jackie Chan film (after Police Story) that the SpaceHunterM channel appears to be obsessed with.

This is also the film that Jackie sustained his most serious injury on, fracturing his skull after a fall during a relatively low jump from a wall onto a tree. You get footage of the accident and him being wheeled into the ambulance that plays underneath the end credits outtakes underscored by the jaunty theme tune!

Hopefully that 'early video game years of Jackie Chan' featurette will talk about the computer he lent his name to!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Wed Oct 20, 2021 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: 88 Films

#130 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Tue Oct 19, 2021 12:01 pm

colinr0380 wrote:
Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:53 am
This is also the film that Jackie sustained his most serious injury on, fracturing his skull during a relatively low jump from a tree. You get footage of the accident and him being wheeled into the ambulance that plays in the end credits outtakes that play underneath the jaunty theme tune!
There's the Jackie Chan episode of The Incredible Strange Film Show where he makes the host touch the metal plate he has in his head from this injury. Then Chan gets mad about how the camera person could've helped him, but chose to save the camera instead.
swo17 wrote:
Tue Oct 05, 2021 2:41 am
OK, on top of all other evidence, Tsui Hark must be some kind of genius because somehow Knock Off, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Rob Schneider, ends up being one of the coolest movies of the '90s. It looks like the 88 Films limited edition just recently sold out, so pick it up from a third-party seller before the price gets unreasonable
I also want to also sound off my support for Knock Off. It seems the internet really loves the camp and lunacy of Tsui's first JCVD feature, Double Team, but aside from the manic ending that manages to stick Coca-Cola product placement after JCVD fights Mickey Rourke in a Roman coliseum surrounded by mines (and a tiger), it doesn't have that sense of borderless Hong Kong cinema that Knock Off does have. Knock Off has the advantage of being a Hong Kong production that happens to have an American cast and it's made pretty clear when JCVD is introduced to the film singing a Sam Hui song in his car. But the plot and action is really the closest you'll get to an American star being in a Hong Kong style production, rather than a Hong Kong director bringing elements of it to a Hollywood production. Plus typical for Tsui in this period, it feels like almost anything can happen, like that amazons X-ray shot of a sneaker falling apart. Also in the year renewed Sparks interest (between the Edgar Wright documentary and Annette), it's worth nothing that the ending song is by the Mael brothers.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 88 Films

#131 Post by Finch » Tue Oct 19, 2021 7:54 pm

Cheers all for your responses. With all the sales going on and still upcoming this week, I think I'll try rent the film first. Seems like of all the Jackie Chans 88 has, most people only seem to rate Snake in the Eagle's Shadow highly, compared to the Drunken Masters and Project A anyway.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 88 Films

#132 Post by Finch » Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:02 pm

88 are going to be releasing Tiger Cage (Yuen Woo-Ping, 1988) next year. No word yet on whether the sequels will be included too. Anyone seen the film?

edit: the trailer looks wild!

Letterboxd crowd likes it.

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: 88 Films

#133 Post by feihong » Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:24 pm

The Tiger Cage movies are good fun. They're primarily thrillers focused on police corruption, and the action is clustered in sections of the movie. I recall action in the openings, a lot in the finale, and not so much in the middle. There's a bunch of actors in the film who would become bigger and bigger stars over the next several years following these films. The actors return as different characters between the first and second movie, making it harder to predict who's selling out the virtuous police characters. I remember liking them a lot, but there is a kind of anonymous feel to them at the same time. I can't, for instance, really remember any particular scenes from one movie or another in the series. I recall action, but I don't recall anything striking. The fights Donnie does in In the Line of Duty IV, for instance, are a lot more memorable and striking, for some reason. But they're good fun for HK action fans, for sure. Looking forward to this release, and hopefully they will release the second one. As I recall, the third movie is completely unrelated, with a very different cast.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 88 Films

#134 Post by Finch » Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:51 am

According to Spannik on BR, Fortune Star have already restored In The Line of Duty 5 and Tiger Cage 3 in 2k, and are working on the following:

- Royal Warriors
- Yes Madam
- In the Line of Duty 3
- In the Line of Duty 4
- Tiger Cage 1
- Tiger Cage 2
- Magnificent Warriors

If Eureka got the Yeohs, they're probably going to do a boxset.

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: 88 Films

#135 Post by yoloswegmaster » Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:34 pm

Yuen Biao's 'Righting Wrongs' could possibly be receiving a release from 88 Films, as someone had noticed that 3 different versions of the same film alongside a Yuen Biao interview were listed on a picture posted by 88 Films.

Image

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Finch
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Re: 88 Films

#136 Post by Finch » Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:00 pm

I don't think I've seen any Corey Yuen films before but this one is number 65 in Love HK Films' 100 best HK films of the 80s.

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: 88 Films

#137 Post by feihong » Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:00 pm

Cory Yuen is very imaginative at staging action scenes, and Righting Wrongs is an awesome movie. Both Cynthia Rothrock and Yuen Biao do exceptional fights in the movie, and it features, along with On the Run and the Cory Yuen movie called "Hero" (an adaptation of Boxer from Shantung), one of Biao's best performances.

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bad future
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:16 pm

Re: 88 Films

#138 Post by bad future » Sat Oct 30, 2021 11:15 pm

I'm sure as soon as they announce Righting Wrongs my Hong Kong Rescue from May including the film will finally ship. (And be redundant, as that particular film is a "side" release from HKR that didn't get their usual thorough treatment, so it includes only the English version.) I've seen the film in low quality online and it's got some great fights -- I'll happily get an 88 Films release with three cuts!

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
Location: Los Angeles, CA

Re: 88 Films

#139 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Sun Oct 31, 2021 11:17 am

I actually sort of assumed it was Righting Wrongs too when I saw that the main special feature was a Yuen Biao interview. It’s an excellent movie with some great fights. I was a little disappointed by the ending itself, but the film has some true wow moments like the fight in the apartment building and the opening chase. Corey Yuen deserves more recognition for his excellent work. I hope 88 Films can rescues the old Cynthia Rothrock commentary from the Tai Seng laserdisc. It’s a very good track as she goes over her career and Yuen’s working methods.

As a small aside, I picked up 88 Films’ recent category III releases and need to note that the included booklet for Robotrix is very good. It’s a shame that it’s limited to a 1000 copies as it seems the three category III releases they’ve done have sold out even before street date. I’m still annoyed not to have gotten the special edition of Erotic Ghost Story.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 88 Films

#140 Post by Finch » Sun Oct 31, 2021 11:32 am

I also hope that either 88 or Eureka get to comedies like The Private Eyes or God of Cookery. So many titles that both labels could still dive into. I made a list (which is still growing).

Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)
In The Line Of Duty 4
My Young Auntie
Gallants (this only has Japanese & German Blu-Rays)
Odd Couple
Wing Chun
Big Bullet
Police Story 3
Chicken and Duck Talk
Center Stage (Film Movement BD is cut apparently)
Dirty Ho
The Blade
The Private Eyes
Beast Cops
Swordsman 2
Peking Opera Blues
The Killer
Hard Boiled
A Better Tomorrow
The Magic Blade
July Rhapsody
A Chinese Ghost Story
Final Victory
My Heart is That Eternal Rose
A Hero Never Dies
Beast Cops
The Mission
Rouge
All for the Winner
Long Arm of the Law
God of Cookery
On the Run (1988)

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: 88 Films

#141 Post by dwk » Sun Oct 31, 2021 12:49 pm

Dirty Ho is in Arrow's Shaw Scope Volume 1 set.

I think the only chance of The Blade, a WB title, getting released is if Criterion's Once Upon a Time in China set does well enough that they go after more Tsui Hark films.

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: 88 Films

#142 Post by dwk » Tue Nov 02, 2021 5:39 pm

88 tweeted that they have "Just licenced most of a director’s filmography, #boxsets incoming next year…'

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: 88 Films

#143 Post by beamish14 » Tue Nov 02, 2021 5:59 pm

dwk wrote:
Tue Nov 02, 2021 5:39 pm
88 tweeted that they have "Just licenced most of a director’s filmography, #boxsets incoming next year…'


Hmm. Fruit Chan?

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What A Disgrace
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Re: 88 Films

#144 Post by What A Disgrace » Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:17 pm

A lot of Mario Bava films are up in the air right now, yeah?

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: 88 Films

#145 Post by yoloswegmaster » Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:22 pm

Since it's been revealed that they are releasing Tiger Cage, I could see it being a Yuen Woo-Ping boxset.

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: 88 Films

#146 Post by dwk » Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:25 pm

There are legal issues with the Bava titles that Arrow had, so I wouldn't expect those anytime soon.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: 88 Films

#147 Post by Finch » Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:42 pm

yoloswegmaster wrote:
Tue Nov 02, 2021 7:22 pm
Since it's been revealed that they are releasing Tiger Cage, I could see it being a Yuen Woo-Ping boxset.
If the hunch about Righting Wrongs is correct, it could also be Corey Yuen.

Yuen Woo-Ping titles could include:

Dance of the Drunken Mantis
The Miracle Fighters
Legend of a Fighter
Dreadnaught
The Buddhist Fist
In The Line of Duty 4
Last Hero in China
Heroes Among Heroes
Tai Chi Master
Wing Chun

Corey Yuen:

1993 The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk 2
1993 The Legend (this might still be with CineAsia? I bought their BD a few days ago)
1992 Saviour of the Soul II
1992 Ghost Punting
1992 Fist of Fury 1991 II
1991 Saviour of the Soul
1991 The Top Bet
1990 She Shoots Straight
1990 All for the Winner
1989 Casino Raiders
1988 In the Blood
1988 Dragons Forever (co-director) (already released)
1987 No Retreat, No Surrender 2
1986 Righting Wrongs
1985 Yes, Madam!
1985 No Retreat, No Surrender
1982 Ninja in the Dragon's Den

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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: 88 Films

#148 Post by L.A. » Thu Nov 11, 2021 9:41 am

John Sayles’ Matewan coming in March.

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Maltic
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 am

Re: 88 Films

#149 Post by Maltic » Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:06 am

Finch wrote:
Sun Oct 31, 2021 11:32 am
I also hope that either 88 or Eureka get to comedies like The Private Eyes or God of Cookery. So many titles that both labels could still dive into. I made a list (which is still growing).

Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)
In The Line Of Duty 4
My Young Auntie
Gallants (this only has Japanese & German Blu-Rays)
Odd Couple
Wing Chun
Big Bullet
Police Story 3
Chicken and Duck Talk
Center Stage (Film Movement BD is cut apparently)
Dirty Ho
The Blade
The Private Eyes
Beast Cops
Swordsman 2
Peking Opera Blues
The Killer
Hard Boiled
A Better Tomorrow
The Magic Blade
July Rhapsody
A Chinese Ghost Story
Final Victory
My Heart is That Eternal Rose
A Hero Never Dies
Beast Cops
The Mission
Rouge
All for the Winner
Long Arm of the Law
God of Cookery
On the Run (1988)
The Victim, Pedicab Driver, and Knockabout, but the way things are going, Eureka will get around to those sooner rather than later.
The Boxer's Omen
Golden Swallow (hasn't been touted for either of the Arrow Shawscope sets, I don't think)
New Blood (Soi Cheang)
Love Massacre and Nomad (Patrick Tam)

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yoloswegmaster
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 3:57 pm

Re: 88 Films

#150 Post by yoloswegmaster » Thu Nov 11, 2021 11:12 am

Pedicab Driver is with Warner Bros, so I doubt it will be coming from Eureka (unless they have made a secret deal with WB).

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