Today’s Deal on Fire is for 88 Films’ Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-ray (Region B) for Battle Creek Brawl (aka The Big Brawl), Jackie Chan’s 1980 film directed by Robert Clouse (Game of Death, Enter the Dragon) that also stars Jose Ferrer (Joan of Arc), Kristine DeBell (Cheerleaders’ Wild Weekend) and Mako (Silent Assassins).
Official details:
Jackie Chan arrived on American soil with hopes of becoming a superstar in the West and his first ever Hollywood project as a leading man certainly provided him with a notable director in Robert Clouse, the legendary director who took Bruce Lee to the next level with Enter the Dragon (1973). With Battle Creek Brawl (1980), Director Clouse achieved it, this is prime Jackie – as our man successfully takes on the mafia and romances the gorgeous Playboy cover girl Kristine DeBell. A classic bout of chopsocky on American soil, Battle Creek Brawl is ready to punch its way into your collection in this new 2K restoration!
Details:
- Rigid Slipcase featuring brand-new artwork by Kung Fu Bob O’Brien
- Six double-sided collector’s lobby card reproductions
- Fold-out double-sided poster featuring ‘The Big Brawl’ art
- Limited edition 80-page perfect bound book including Searching for a Big Break in The Big Brawl by Paul Bramhall, Battle Creek Brawlers by Brian Burkart and Coming to America, round one by Andrew Heskins PLUS selected archival
imagery, posters, promo stills and more! - Brand new 2K Remaster from the Original Negatives
- Presented in High Definition (1080p) on Blu-ray in 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio
- English Mono
- Optional English SDH
- Audio Commentary with Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw
- Audio Commentary with Frank Djeng and FJ DeSanto
- Archive Interview with Jackie Chan
- Interview with Producer Raymond Chow
- Rumble in the USA, Jackie Chan Takes on America
- Battle Hardened – David West on Battle Creek Brawl
- Stills Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
- USA The Big Brawl Trailer
- Reversible Sleeve
Purchase from Goodie Emporium today!
Underrated film! Instant Pre-Order from me! Probably own 3-4 copies on Blu Ray already but they had me at Kung Fu Bob!
So, a remaster of their last release of this title which was advertised as having a new 2K master? Is this a repackage with new artwork or actually an improvement over the 2019 88 Films deluxe release of this classic? I’m confused but excited … not sure why. I have the 2019 release and it’s very good.
I feel as though most people who defend this film take the stance of “You can’t judge this movie in the same way as Jackie Chan’s other films!” I don’t find that to be a good excuse. Even if this movie didn’t star Jackie Chan, it would still be just as bad, and the poor fight scenes would be the least of this movie’s worries.
Bad movie. Just a bad movie. And it gets the Deluxe treatment (almost always the case with 88 Films, except The young master, Mister Dynamite, On the run…but Erotic Chinese ghost story, Robotrix,…)? Another 88 Films flick I won’t buy.
Come on 88 films you are scraping the barrel now. What about trying to get the license for the HK cuts of Rimble in the bronx and Police story 4. We havent seen these since the VCD days
” this is prime Jackie ”
whoever writes such utter lies should be sacked.
The hype won’t work- we all remember what a stinker this film was-
the best thing about it is it inspired Jackie to step up his film-making and led the way to many innovative classics- due to the fact this film was such a terrible product & utterly underused his skills.
Still better than the utter crap that were Kung fu Yoga, Vanguard, The spy next door, Bleeding Steel, The Tuxedo, The Medallion, and few others from Jackie’s filmography. After seeing the above mess of a movies, I have found new appreciation for Jackie’s early efforts, including his time under Lo Wei’s wing. And it is the corrected 2k scan, as opposed with the previous one, which had the hideous art work on top of it.
As said before, Battle Creek Brawl is in the same league as those other films with the only difference being the budgets. People say Jackie’s bad movies in the past were still organic while his newer bad films are processed.
You know what else was organic? Crops from way back when! And people died from eating them! If a bad movie is organic or processed, you’re still getting the same result.
A film like Vanguard is probably more watchable than Battle Creek Brawl, but NOT as interesting. All depends on what you’re aiming for! =)
If I have to choose between Battle Creek Brawl & The Protector, I would choose the former, as I personally find it not that bad nowadays, however, when I first saw it long time ago, I thought it was a weak entry for Jackie. But being a fan of his movies I watched everything with him back then. Seeing it now from a different perspective I do not despise it, but smile at the whole affair, albeit being incoherent and misguided by the narrow vision of Robert Close, who maybe decided to try something similar with another Asian star, like he did it with Bruce Lee back then on the set of Enter the Dragon. But sadly it didn’t work for Jackie the same way it worked for the great, late Bruce Lee.
The films Jackie did under Lo Wei’s wing were some of the most enjoyable, especially in the context of knowing what was on its way. JC’s filmography is a journey, not a destination! =)
I guess that all depends on what an individual is willing to watch. I’ve learned that the word “watchable” can mean a lot of things and it’s not always positive.
Weather it’s Jackie floundering around in 80’s Hollywood or an HK film where he’s soon played by a bad look-a-like, some people have a higher tolerance than others.
Half a loaf of kungfu, Shalin Chambers of Death and snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin are genuinely good old school flicks. Its sh88te like To Kill with Intrigue and Magnificent Bodyguards which give all the movies of this period a bad reputation
I would add Spiritual Kung Fu, Dragon Fist & Fearless Hyena to your list as these are one of the good ones as well from his tenure at Lo Wei production company. The ones from that era that I personally found weak were Magnificent Bodyguards, Killer Meteors & Shaolin wooden men, oh an the blatant exploit of Jackie’s newfound glory Fearless Hyena 2.
Pretty much agree with you, but add New Fist of Fury to the “good” list for sure. But I do want to watch them all again. I haven’t seen them in YEARS.
With the exception of Magnificent Bodyguards (can’t find it) all the Lo Wei JC movies are available as 1080p Fortune Star remasters so they look good, even on a 75inch tv. Its worth it alone for the opening fight in the snow by the river in Snake and Crane Arts
My copy of Battle Creek Brawl arrived yesterday, and I am impressed by the whole package, a 70 page book containing 3 articles about the movie, just read the first one so far, the double sided poster is the same size as the one from Young Master, amazing art work by Bob O’Brian (again), new lobby cards, sturdy outside box. Last night I saw the previous version of the movie, and today I intent to watch the new one, just to see the PQ, and make comparisons between the two versions. But overall a great package, and on the side note Bob O’brien dedicates a particular art work within the booklet to his sister…
I heard some guy who writes for this very site was responsible for that first article in the book. 🙂
You’ve heard correctly indeed, good sir! It was a real pleasure reading it, keep ’em coming!
Thanks Kiril, and shall do, the 88 guys have a lot of good stuff on the horizon (including more Jackie!).
What else left to be released from his filmography I wonder? Apart from new corrected version of To kill with intrigue, and maybe revisit the Dragon Fist with deluxe edition, what else they might have in stores for us? I really would like to see a proper version of Ninja in the dragon’s den as the German edition is atrocious. I know that 4k Project A release is rumored, but for US market only, as the UK rights are with Eureka.