DVD News

Legend of Shaolin Kungfu II: Thirteen Cudgel Monks has just been released on DVD. Thirteen Cudgel Monks is the 2nd of the highly successful epic martial arts trilogy, each with its own unique and independent story, that revolves around Shaolin Temple. Apart from a gripping script, director Du Xiao ensures that the martial arts sequences are as authentic and exhilarating as possible by casting genuine martial artists and employing top-notch martial arts choreographers, with Yuen Bun lending his expertise this time around.

Thirteen Cudgel Monks has just been aired in a few Chinese provinces to top viewership ratings while the third part 18 Arhats is expected to begin production in the near future.

Yuen Biao joins the original cast that include Li Yuan, Xie Miao, Ye Jian Wei, Sun Hui Ning, Ji Chun Hua, Wu Ma, etc., playing the head monk Tan Zong that is instrumental in assembling, training and leading 12 other warrior monks in rescuing the Tang Prince Li Shimin and aiding him in a war against the tyrannical warlord Wang Shi Chong played by Beardy Leung Kar Yan. Xu Xiang Dong also has a part in the series as an inscrutable martial arts exponent. Order at YesAsia.

Ip Man, the most successful collaboration between director Wilson Yip, martial arts director Sammo Hung and actor Donnie Yen to date, is due for home video release on Feb 13. The cast for this martial arts biopic includes Donnie Yen, Fan Siu Wong, Lynn Hung, Simon Yam, Xing Yu, Chen Zhi Hui, To Yu Hang, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, etc. Ip Man is doing very well at the box office in the region, grossing around HK$24m in HK and over 90m yuan in China.

Ip Man features Donnie Yen in his breakthrough role as the atypical hero who doesn't go around standing up for justice. Yet when the times changed, he's forced out of his laidback and unassuming lifestyle to challenge the invaders. Ip Man, may be preordered from YesAsia on the following formats: 1-disc DVD, 2-disc special edition DVD, and Blu-ray.

Both the 2-disc DVD and Blu-ray versions come packed with extras like making of, interviews, deleted scenes, shooting diary, and featurettes on Ip Man and Wing Chun martial arts.

Legendary Assassin, directorial debut of Wu Jing and Nicky Li, will be released on DVD on January 22. The cast of the action film includes Wu Jing, Celina Jade, Aoyama Noriko, Kou Zhan Wen, Kara Hui, Alex Fong, Lam Suet, Ken Lo, etc.

Wu Jing stars as a cool and lethal hitman with a heart of gold being marooned on an outlying island due to an incoming typhoon and befriends a small-time cop Celina Jade. Meanwhile, the Aoyama Noriko, wife of the crime boss Kou Zhan Wen, is out for vengeance as well as wanting to recover his corpse after discovering he was killed on the island, with his head missing. Preorder at YesAsia.

Champions, directed by Tsui Siu Ming, starring Dicky Cheung, Xie Miao, Xu Xiang Dong, Yu Rongguang, Debbie Goh, Priscilla Wong, will be out on DVD on January 22. The movie, about a group of athletes aspiring to participate in the Olympic Games, features various forms of martial arts such as Praying Mantis, Eagle Claw and Tai Chi. Two editions are available for pre-order at YesAsia - 2-disc edition and 2-disc + Soundtrack CD edition, both containing extras like making-of, trailer, promos, etc.

All About Women, a romantic comedy by Tsui Hark, starring Zhou Xun, Zhang Yu Qi, Guey Lun Mei, Alex Fong Chung Sun, Stephen Fung arrives on DVD on January 20. The film revolves around the roller coaster romantic adventures of three women bumbling through love and life. Pre-order at YesAsia.

Wushu - The Young Generation, a coming-of-age wushu movie produced by Jackie Chan and directed by Antony Szeto, starring newcomers like Wang Wen Jie, Liu Feng Chao, Mao Jun Jie, etc, with Sammo Hung lending his support to help groom the next generation, is expected to be out on DVD on January 30. Wushu tells the tale of five friends immersing their lives in learning the disciplines of martial arts with no other thought but to excel. More information on YesAsia.

-- Ip Man --

While promoting the launch of Ip Man soundtrack CD at a press conference , Raymond Wong formally announces their plan to shoot Ip Man 2 next year. In the sequel, having migrated to Hong Kong, Yip Man's four major disciples will be introduced. Leading a group of disciples, Yip Man would promulgate Wing Chun, passing it on.

They're thinking of doing a worldwide talent scout for a suitable candidate to play Bruce Lee, Yip Man's most celebrated disciple. Donnie Yen says that both he and Wilson Yip have a separate candidate in mind, and they're debating over whether to look for one with solid martial arts foundation or looks, "In terms of looks, Danny Chan bears the closest resemblance. But we won't necessarily approach him. Perhaps, we would consider one with similar background and demeanour."  Baidu Entertainment

In conjunction with next month's upcoming release of Legendary Assassin, directed by Nicky Li and Wu Jing, the informative 136-page Legendary Assassin Graphic Novel, essentially a coffee table book in Chinese containing multiple photos of the movie in front of and off-camera, and includes interview with the director, has been launched, and is now on sale at YesAsia.

-- Legend of Shaolin Kungfu --
Finally, the wonderful kungfu TV series by Du Xiao, which has been topping viewership ratings across various provinces in China, is available for sales officially on DVD.

This martial arts production features highly authentic martial arts sequences with intricate exchanges, courtesy of Ching Siu Tung who discards his usual highly stylised/beautified choreography for wide shot and long cuts that give ample room to showcase the skills of the martial arts champions Li Yuan, Xie Miao, Ye Jian Wei, Ji Chun Hua, Yu Cheng Hui, Chen Jia Jia, Guo Hui, Li Qi Long, Dai Tian etc, a number of whom are fresh talent. Also starring Bao Guo An, Sun Hui Ning, Yaqi Fatima, Wu Ma, Anthony Wong, Tsui Siu Ming, etc.

Order Legend of Shaolin Kungfu DVD (in Chinese only) from YesAsia.

As a side note, Shaolin Warriors DVD with Sammo Hung in a major supporting role as well as actual Shaolin monks as extras but starring non-martial artists is shipping on August 19, 2008. Shaolin Warriors is an unrelated TV series surrounding Shaolin Temple and its monks helping general Qi Ji Guang fend off marauding pirates. However, with its choppily edited action scenes, perhaps done purposely to mask the inefficiencies of the non-martial artists, genre fans are well advised to steer clear of Shaolin Warriors.

-- Missing --
Tsui Hark's Missing DVD will be surfacing on July 28. Not a typical horror-suspense-mystery-romance, since Tsui Hark takes a rather different approach to writing a horror, with a big twist towards to end that may or may not appeal to genre fans.

Never short of creativity and often ahead of his times, Tsui Hark is perhaps often overflowing with too much ideas that can sometimes spell disasters for his movies as he keeps changing the script and adding more scenes on the fly, resulting in a lack of focus or coherence at times; even the actors having no idea what's going on at times. Perhaps, a little bit of rein in would make his movies more compelling and successful.

Anyhow, the 2-disc DVD edition of Missing, with information on special features missing at the moment, is now available for preorder at YesAsia.

-- Fist of Legend --

I think the most eagerly awaited upcoming Dragon Dynasty release is probably the long-awaited re-issue of Jet Li’s kung fu classic ‘Fist Of Legend’. An earlier DVD edition of the film featured only the English dubbed American edit. Now we get the chance to give the DD treatment to the last truly great kung fu film of the 90s wu shu wave. It was a great pleasure to sit down with an old friend, director Gordon Chan, to shoot an exclusive video interview in which he discusses the genesis, development and filming of Fist Of Legend.

For those new to the genre, Fist Of Legend is a palimpset of Bruce Lee’s Fist Of Fury, a rich embellishment of an established text. It brought together a unique synthesis of Gordon Chan’s story-telling, Yuen Woo-ping’s choreography and the charisma of action icon Jet Li.  Bey Logan Blog >>More<<

Bey Logan's Blog has been updated recently with a number of articles on recent martial arts movies as well as martial arts legends. Firstly, there are interviews with filmmaker, martial arts director, Hung-gar master Liu Chia Liang, a Hung Gar legend Lam Cho, and a trip down the memory lane with Golden Harvest's Raymond Chow.

Next up is an audio commentary session with Jaycee Chan, Shawn Yue and Andy On for Dragon Dynasty's Invisible Target DVD, a brief moment with Sammo Hung at Fatal Move Premiere, and, in conjunction with the production of Mandarin Film's "Yip Man", directed by Wilson Yip, action directed by Sammo Hung and starring Donnie Yen, takes a look at Wing Chun lineage and related films.

As a side note, Coming Soon interviews Donnie Yen as Flash Point gets limited release in US this week.

-- Blu-ray the Winner --

February 18, 2008 — Sony has triumphed once again. The company that has until now held control of the dominant audio format, "Red Book" CD, and the dominant high-resolution audio format, SACD, will now dominate high-resolution video as well with its Blu-ray technology.

On Tuesday February 19, Toshiba announced that it will no longer develop, manufacture, or market HD DVD players and recorders. "We concluded that a swift decision would be best," Toshiba President Atsutoshi Nishida told the press at Toshiba's company office in Tokyo.

Nishida ascribed Toshiba's abdication to Warner Bros. Entertainment's January decision that the entertainment giant would abandon HD DVD, and only release high-definition movies in Blu-ray format. Warner had been the only remaining Hollywood studio releasing high-definition video in both HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. "They had tremendous impact," Nishida said. "If we had continued, that would have created problems for consumers, and we simply had no chance to win."  Stereophile >>More<<

-- Five Disciples of Master Wong --

Five Disciples of Master Wong TV series focuses on the stories of, well, the five renowned disciples of Wong Fei Hung, namely Leung Foon, Clubfoot Seven, Lam Sai Wing, Bucktooth Su, and Moon, starting from how they become accepted by Wong Fei Hung, who was unwilling initially, as his disciples and how they eventually join forces to fight against the mastermind behind illegal opium trade. Max Mok, Xiong Xin Xin and Kent Cheng return as Leung Foon, Clubfoot Seven and Lam Sai Wing. Xiong Xin Xin also directs the action which appears to be realistic and hard-hitting. Trailer: Sina | Order DVD: YesAsia