Heroes Shed No Tears | Blu-ray (Film Movement)
From Film Movement comes the Blu-ray & DVD for Heroes Shed No Tears (read our review), a 1986 Hong Kong actioner from acclaimed director John Woo (Manhunt, Hard Boiled).
The film stars Eddy Ko (The Mission), Lam Ching-Ying (Eastern Condors), Ma Ying-Chun (Goodbye Mammie), Cecile Le Bailly and Philllip Loffredo.
In Heroes Shed No Tears, the Thai government hires a group of Chinese mercenaries to capture a powerful drug lord from the Golden Triangle. The mercenaries manage to capture the drug lord, but soon find themselves pursued by his forces, and the forces of a bitter Thai officer. The Chinese mercenaries are vastly outnumbered, and as their numbers begin to dwindle, their desperation pulls them into a corner as their enemies close in on them.
Special Features:
- New 2K Remaster
- Interview with star Eddy Ko
- New essay by author, film programmer, and Asian film expert Grady Hendrix
- Optional English subtitles for the main feature
Order Heroes Shed No Tears from Amazon.com!
I have a soft spot for this movie, even though it’s not representative of Woo’s vision – the original was titled ‘The Sunset Warrior’ – and the sex scenes (and drug use) were filmed later without Woo’s involvement. Despite that, it’s a dark and gritty little actioner, very much unlike anything Woo would do after, and it’s one of my favorite performances from Lam Ching Ying. His casting is a slice of genius whichever way you look at it!
Oh yes! I love that movie.
I like Heroes Shed No Tears a lot! I actually wished that Eastern Condors was more like this. (Unpopular opinion.)
It was nice to see early stages of Woo’s penchant for human bonding like Eddy Ko’s relationship with his son and his friendship with Phillip Lofredo. Even the lowly troops had some good exchanges.
It is pretty repugnant that the attempted rape scene was the producers idea of “sexing up” the movie. Just as much as it was for Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.
Even without the double guns, the action was still well filmed, and the the showdown with Eddy and Lam Ching Ying while not being martial art based still had great rhythm and timing. (I think Face/Off’s end fight was based on this.)
Damn right thats an unpopular opinion!! I thought Im was the Armond White around these parts, but you have topped his provocative “Better Than Lists” with that one statement, so I’ll have to lift my game! I think Eastern Condors is one of the greatest Hong Kong action films ever made..
It’s ok, you can keep your moniker. 🤪
I don’t hate Eastern Condors. I felt like it was missing a certain something, and felt too “mean spirited.” While the guys in Tears aren’t saints, I felt like they were more developed and bonded better than some of the guys in Condors.
Plus its hard to watch Sammo easily take out Billy Chow as opposed to in Pedicab Driver.
I still have to see Pedicab Driver, have always wanted to …
WONT BE SHEDDING ANY TEARS ABOUT THE NEW DIGITAL TRANSFER!!
I pre-ordered this as soon as it was available and I’m counting the minutes until it arrives. I’m going to be watching it with my son who’s been getting into John Woo in the past couple of years. He’s seen HARD TARGET, FACE/OFF, THE KILLER, A BETTER TOMORROW and HARD BOILED so far. It’s been about 6-8 years since I last saw this, so I am definitely ready to revisit it myself. Also looking forward to the extras and hearing what Grady Hendrix has to say about the film. I hope the fan’s support this release from Film Movement so that they might put out more Hong Kong cinema on Blu-ray.
Apart from The Killer, Hard Target may actually be John Woo’s next best film. Its really underrated. Great to hear that you are passing on this passion and knowledge to the next generation!
I love ‘Hard Target’, but better than ‘A Bullet in the Head’, ‘Hard Boiled’, ‘Last Hurrah for Chivalry’, or ‘Blackjack’? No way!
You had me until Blackjack, dude. I hope you’re just making sure that we’re awake!
I’d call Hard Target Woo’s best Hollywood film next to Face/Off. Bullet is definitely in the top 5 best in his whole filmography, but not exactly a fun movie, so I get why some people would pick Hard Target over it.
Bullet In The Head is a very flawed film. Stock footage, unsuccessful mix of action and melodrama. Hard Boiled has great action, but its not great story telling. Blackjack, even someone as verbose as you wont be able to come up with a justification for that! Must admit I havent seen Last Hurrah.
That is what we call solid parenting!
It sounds like your son has seen the best, so I hope he enjoys the “lesser known.” I’m sure the rights to Hard Target are tied up with several companies which prevents a stateside uncut release, but it would be nice if Film Movement or someone similar could do it. Did he see the uncut version?
A real pipe dream would be if someone compiled Woo’s original version of A Better Tomorrow 2 before it was hacked up. Maybe the 180 min version isn’t going to blow anyone away, but it’s a nice thought.