DVD News

Confucius is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on March 11, 2010.

Set in the chaotic and decadent world of the warring states during the Spring and Autumn Period, the film focuses on the turbulent later years of Confucius's life, specifically from his appointment to political office at 51 to his death at 73, and all the dramatic stories in between.

Confucius was born in the kingdom of Lu and rose to serve in its government. He skillfully engineered a peace with aggressive neighboring states and brought three dominant local clans under control. But his brilliance as a thinker and tactician was not enough to save him from being exiled by his political enemies, and he spent many years wandering and teaching a band of loyal disciples.

Directed by Hu Mei, starring Chow Yun Fatt, Zhou Xun, Lu Yi, Qiao Zhen Yu, Kai Li, Yao Lu, Ma Jing Wu.

Preorder on YesAsia: Blu-ray | DVD

Directed by Dennis Law, Bad Blood, starring Simon Tam, Bernice Liu, Andy On, Jiang Lu Xia, Xiong Xin Xin, is about gang members turning against each other following the death of their chief, with Nicky Li bringing you the hard-hitting action.   

Bad Blood Blu-ray and DVD are being released on March 4, 2010.

Preorder on YesAsia: Blu-ray | DVD

Directed by Teddy Chan and co-produced by Peter Chan, Bodyguards and Assassins brings together an awe-inspiring all-star cast for a thrilling retelling of a brief but significant moment in modern Chinese history. Inspired by true events, Bodyguards and Assassins revolves around Sun Yat-sen's visit to Hong Kong in 1906, and the brave bodyguards who protect him from an assassination attempt.

Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Nicholas Tse, Wang Xueqi, Wang Bo Chieh, NBA basketball player Mengke Bate-er, and Chris Lee portray eight heroes from different walks of life who rise to the occasion in Hong Kong's finest hour. Hu Jun plays the leader of the Qing assassins, while Eric Tsang, Simon Yam, and Fan Bingbing take supporting roles. Zhang Hanyu, Jacky Cheung, and Michelle Reis also make key cameo appearances.

Pre-order on YesAsia: Blu-ray / DVD

Kungfu Cyborg: Metallic Attraction (Oct 2, 2009)

In this romantic action comedy directed and written by Jeffrey Lau, Alex Fong, the newly invented android with emotions and reasoning ability being, gets planted in a remote town, under the charge of sheriff Hu Jun, to test its functionalities. Being a "perfect human", Alex Fong soon becomes the town's idol, with Sun Li falling for him. But he's forbidden by his programme codes to fall in love. Soon, Hun Jun and Alex Fong are sent to track down Wu Jing, an android seeking independence and questioning the orders of his creator. With box-office takings of 50m yuan, the film was better received in China than Hong Kong.

Order

YesAsia: Blu-ray, DVD | Related products: Soundtrack CD, Making-of Documentary Book

HKFlix: Blu-ray, DVD

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.