Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for The Quest, a 1996 martial arts film directed by and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.
The Quest revolves around a pickpocket (Van Damme) who heads to the Far East in order to escape police trouble. While there, he meets James Bond (Roger Moore) and gets mixed up in a deadly martial arts competition.
The Quest is based off a 1991 script Van Damme wrote with Frank Dux (the real life martial artist portrayed in Bloodsport) called The Kumite: Enter the New Dragon – but that’s another story.
Director: Albert Pyun Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Deborah Richter, Vincent Klyn, Dayle Haddon, Alex Daniels, Blaise Loong, Ralf Möller, Haley Peterson, Terrie Batson, Jackson ‘Rock’ Pinckney, Chuck Allen, Robert Pentz Running Time: 82 min.
By Kelly Warner
I had never seen 1989’s Cyborg before last night. The film has something of a reputation both here and elsewhere on the net as the one early Jean-Claude Van Damme movie you would be better off skipping. So of course I had to seek it out.
Cyborg has an unlikely story of how it came into being. The Cannon Films production company was dealing with financial troubles after a series of box office bombs, perhaps chief among them being Tobe Hooper’s troubled Lifeforce in 1986. Cannon had plans to make a sequel to Masters of the Universe and a live-action Spider-Man film with director Albert Pyun (The Sword and the Sorcerer), but financial difficulties forced them to cancel their deals with Mattel and Marvel before the cameras started rolling. In order to best make use of all the costumes and sets they’d already created for both abandoned films, Pyun wrote a screenplay, credited the script to his cat, cast the up-and-coming star Jean-Claude Van Damme, and set to work on Cyborg in an attempt to recoup the studio’s losses. (Some TV guides and film databases confusingly still refer to Cyborg as a He-Man sequel. Even RottenTomatoes, where the film sits at 14%, currently lists the film as Masters of the Universe 2: Cyborg)
Considering the unlikely origins, Cyborg is actually better than you’d expect. Which is not to say that Cyborg is a good film – it isn’t – but it’s an interesting and peculiar one. Unlike many of Van Damme’s other lesser efforts, there’s nothing by-the-numbers here. Pyun may never have been a celebrated director (Ed Wood comparisons are apparently not uncommon), but he does show a particular sense of style.
The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic America, where a plague has wrecked the world and only a female cyborg (Dayle Haddon) has the key to finding a cure. But there’s a problem: the most powerful gang in the wastelands will do anything they can from seeing the scientists succeed in saving the world. As Vincent Klyn’s grunting villain Fender explains it in the opening lines of the movie, “Restore it? Why? I like the death! I like the misery! I like this world!” Fender abducts the cyborg and it’s up to a hero with a sad story (Van Damme) to save the day.
What’s odd is that the cyborg of the title is really the least important part of the movie. She’s the film’s MacGuffin, I suppose, the thing that makes the story go and the object that heroes and villains alike are fighting over. Even the fact that she’s a cyborg is barely important to the story. At one point we get to see her reveal her mechanical brain. It’s a scene where the actress steps out and is replaced by an animatronic, rubber face. It’s an odd effect, straddling the line between realistic and fake, resulting in something uniquely unsettling (think: The Polar Express). Other than this scene and one other that reveals a metal eye, we basically forget she’s a robot. Indeed, we basically forget all about her or the cure because… umm… where’s the plague, exactly? I remember one kid covered in boils but other than that I’m pretty sure the plague is already a distant memory. (Cyborg would get two sequels, one starring Angelina Jolie (!), Jack Palance, and Elias Koteas, the other featuring Malcolm McDowell. I’ve not seen either film but by almost all accounts they’re weaker than Pyun’s original. They do appear to make better use of the sci-fi cyborg aspects of the story, though.)
Cyborg ain’t much of a cyberpunk action movie, nor is it an apocalyptic contagion thriller. Instead, Cyborg owes much to George Miller’s idea of the apocalypse, with many of the villains looking like they’d just failed auditions to join Lord Humungus on the set of The Road Warrior. Extreme costumes, hairstyles, and madness reign supreme in Cyborg. Even Van Damme gets in on the fun, with flashbacks revealing him to have a Revolutionary War haircut that’s not at all silly looking, honest…
Filled with decapitated heads, crucifixions, and all manner of ultra-violence, Cyborg has an unexpected mean streak that you don’t see in many Van Damme features. While I wouldn’t say that the violence makes the film more entertaining, it does result in some shocks that add to the film’s peculiar “charm.” Unfortunately, the action seems to have been edited by throwing the movie into a blender and hitting the highest speed, resulting in breakneck cuts that confuse and draw attention to themselves.
Pyun’s budget constraints are readily apparent from the start. In an odd way that’s difficult to explain, it’s like you can actually see the edges of the set at times. Overactive smoke machines and cheap backdrops are difficult to ignore. And some sets are strange and difficult to figure out. When the heroes are chased through a sewer system, sunlight beams in from the walls. But aren’t they underground? So is it sunlight or artificial light? If it’s artificial light, where’s the sewer getting its electricity, and why? Am I not supposed to ask these things? Too bad!
To sum things up: Cyborg is cheap, silly, and weird, but it’s the fun kind of cheap, silly, and weird. I would never call this a good movie but at least it’s never a boring movie. At times, it’s impossible to look away from. And considering the film’s strange pre-production story, it’s really a wonder it makes as much sense as it does. So, it’s my opinion that Cyborg doesn’t really deserve the reputation of being one of Van Damme’s absolute worst.While it may be totally skippable for the casual fan, I’d watch Cyborg over Death Warrant, The Order, The Quest, Derailed, and Second in Command any day of the week. (But please don’t make me.)
Independent distributor Mondo Macabro will soon release the Blu-ray for 1981’s Suddenly in the Dark(read our review), an obscure, critically-acclaimed Korean thriller directed by Go Yeong-nam (Korean Connection). The upcoming release will feature all-new interviews with Korean film critics and producers.
A Limited Halloween release for Suddenly in the Dark will be available to order on October 31st. It will be limited to 500 copies in a red case edition with an exclusive booklet!* Click here for the retail version.
Koreanfilm.org’s Darcy Paquet cited Suddenly in the Dark as a rare example of 1970s-80s Korean horror that was genuinely frightening, describing it as “a mysterious psychological study… that beguiles the viewer right up to its bizarre closing image.” Cityonfire.com’s Paul Bramhall says “I’m excited at least!”.
Suddenly in the Dark stars Kim Young-ae (Confession of Murder), Yoon Il-bong (Love on a Rainy Day), Lee Gi-seon (Lost Youth), Hyeon Hye-ri (Unconditional Love) and Kim Geun-hui (Encounter).
Product Features:
Interview with producer Suh Byung-gi
Interview with critic Kim Bong-seok on the history of Korean horror films
Classic K-Horror VHS Cover Art Gallery
Teaser Trailer
Mondo Macabro Promo Reel
Brand New Cover Illustration by Naomi Butterfield
Limited edition booklet with brand new essays on the film by Grady Hendrix and Christopher Koenig
*A retail release in a standard case without the booklet will be available sometime Spring 2017. If the LE sells out quickly, it’s possible that we will do another limited red case run, but no more than another 500, and probably un-numbered.
Attack on Titan: Part 2 (read our reviews for Part I and Part II) takes place in a strange, quasi-medieval world in which giant humanoid creatures named Titans appear and threaten the lives of everyday people. Civilization’s only line of defense against the Titans are teenage soldiers who traverse the Titans’ massive bodies using powerful grappling hooks. | Part 1 is also available.
Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno | Blu-ray & DVD (Funimation)
RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2016
Funimation presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Keishi Ohtomo’s Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno, starring Takeru Satoh (Goemon), Emi Takei (Ai to Makoto), Yusuke Iseya (13 Assassins), Munetaka Aoki (Time Traveller) and Yu Aoi (Space Pirate Captain Harlock).
Former assassin Kenshin Himura and his friends are called back into action when a ghost from the past era rises to wreak havoc across Japan. Makoto Shishio, another ex-assassin, was betrayed, burned, and left for dead at the end of the war. Badly scarred-but very much alive-Shishio has put together an army and aims to overthrow the new government-burning anything and killing anyone who stands in his way. | Part I and Part III are also available.
AKA: Kung Fu of Taekwondo Director: Ulysses Au-Yeung Jun Producer: Lu Ching-Hang Cast: Kim Jin-pal, Sylvester Williams, Lin Chen Chi, Suen Yuet, Fang Mien, Liu Ping, Ma Cheung Running Time: 88 min.
By Paul Bramhall
When it comes to the old-school kung fu genre, it’s fairly standard for titles to sometimes go under different aliases. However Valley of the Double Dragon must surely hold the award for the number of different names it goes by, as in addition to its original title, it’s also been released as – Golden Leopard’s Brutal Revenge, Fist Fighter, King of Kung Fu, Taekwondo, and Kung Fu of Taekwondo. My viewing of the movie came courtesy of the Australian released DVD, which goes under the Fist Fighter moniker, and as far as I’m aware remains the only legitimate physical release on a digital format.
Released a year after Brue Lee’s untimely death, Valley of the Double Dragon came at a time when the kung fu genre was scrambling to find its feet in the midst of losing its biggest star. One of the lasting impacts that both Bruce Lee had on the genre, and also Raymond Chow’s recently set up Golden Harvest studio, was their love of Korean martial arts. Fighting techniques such as Hapkido and Taekwondo quickly found favor for their aesthetically pleasing visuals onscreen, with Bruce Lee casting the likes of Grandmasters Hwang In-shik and Ji Han-jae, in Way of the Dragon and Game of Death respectively. Chow continued to cast In-shik and Han-jae in a number of other Hong Kong productions, while also continuing to scout other Korean talent, such as Jhoon Rhee (When Taekwondo Strikes) and Byong Yu (The Association).
While Rhee and Yu only dabbled in the film industry long enough to make one movie each, before returning to their lives as martial arts instructors, one Korean Hapkido master that did stick around a little longer was Kim Jin-pal. A Hapkido instructor under the tutelage of Han-jae, Jin-pal was the real deal, spending the 60’s acting as a bodyguard for both Korean and U.S. presidents, and teaching the U.S. military in Vietnam as part of the army. At the beginning of the 70’s he moved to Hong Kong and opened the Flying Tiger Hapkido Studio, a nickname he’d earned based on his high flying kicks. As fate would have it, after appearing on Hong Kong television in ’73, he was quickly scouted and cast as the lead in 1973’s Tiger. The movie made him an established star, and he’d go onto make a total of 8 movies in Hong Kong over 2 short years, while becoming the Hapkido instructor for the likes of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Angela Mao.
In Valley of the Double Dragon, Jin-pal plays the leader of a small group of Chinese guerrillas fighting against the Japanese during World War II. Helmed by Ulysses Au-Yeung Jun, the Taiwanese director had a long and varied career, which saw him directing everything from classic kung fu such as Prodigal Boxer, to gritty gangster flicks like Gangland Odyssey. In Valley of the Double Dragon, the wartime setting certainly makes for a unique look and feel, however what makes it even more unique is the inclusion of an African American lead, in the form of Sylvester Williams, here in his one and only movie appearance. Considering Hong Kong cinema is not normally what you’d call ‘racially sensitive’, even over 40 years later Williams role remains the only time a Hong Kong movie has had a black lead.
Proceedings open with a group of U.S. fighter planes being gunned down from the sky by the Japanese. Despite the grainy and worn picture that the movie comes with watching it today, it’s clear that the production appears to have had a decent sized budget behind it. Both Williams and his co-pilot are able to eject and deploy their parachutes, however the co-pilot suffers the misfortune of landing in a brutal tangle of barbed wire, receiving a face full of it, and is captured as a POW. The Japanese also sight Williams coming down, but he manages to land safely and escape immediate capture, instead resulting in the Japanese launching an expansive search to track him down.
It’s while changing clothes that Williams stumbles across the Chinese guerrillas, or rather, they stumble across him. A misunderstanding sees him assume that the guerrillas are the enemy, and, having literally been caught with his pants down, proceeds to get into a fight wearing only a pair of white underpants. Definitely something you don’t see every day. Williams may not be the most graceful fighter, however he knows how to sell his punches, and conveys a considerable amount of power when called upon to throwdown. Thankfully the remainder of his fight scenes involve more clothes. After it’s established that both Williams and Jin-pal’s group of guerrillas are on the same side, they become fast friends, and team up to take down a ruthless Nazi commander, played by none other than Bob Baker.
Baker immortalized himself as the Russian boxer Petrov, who squares off against Bruce Lee in the finale of Fist of Fury, arguably one of the Little Dragon’s most iconic showdowns. His blonde fuzzy afro and handlebar moustache make him instantly recognizable, and off-screen he was in fact a student of Lee’s, which saw the pair develop a close friendship, one that even saw Baker accompany Lee when he went to work in Hong Kong. Unlike the portrayal of his characters in front of the camera though, in reality Baker was much more reserved, and didn’t enjoy the limelight that working in the film industry brought with it. As such, his appearance in Valley of the Double Dragon as a sadistic member of the Gestapo complete with a black leather trench coat, was to be his second and last. He’d go on to be interviewed for a handful of Bruce Lee documentaries, and taught Jeet Kune Do to a small number of private students, however for the remainder of his career up to his passing from cancer in 1993, he stayed out of the spotlight.
While Valley of the Double Dragon marks his final screen appearance, it’s certainly a memorable one. As an imposing member of the Gestapo, he angrily smashes up the contents of a room when he doesn’t get his way, and when spending time with a prostitute, takes it on himself to carve a message into her back with a knife. It’s rare that the villain in an old school movie comes across as intimidating before they’ve even thrown a punch, but Baker’s performance here is one of pure menace, and as an audience you’re rooting to have him get his comeuppance from the moment he’s onscreen.
In many ways Valley of the Double Dragon feels as much of a war time adventure tale as it does an old school kung fu movie, at times perhaps even more so. The action here is far from frequent, with Jin-pal holding off to unleash his kicks until 30 minutes in, and what’s there is far from graceful. However the scarcity of the action only serves to make it more meaningful when it arrives, with each fight scene feeling distinctly rough and intense. The group of Chinese guerrillas eventually disguise themselves as a travelling opera troupe, which also allows for Williams to have his face painted like one of the army generals in Chinese opera, covering his ethnicity (as well as allowing for such clanger lines as, “I never knew a black man could look so authentically Chinese!”). This structuring of the plot is reminiscent of many a western, with character traits like one of the guerrillas having a tiger tattooed onto his body every time he kills a Japanese soldier, also adding to the tone.
Events eventually culminate which see the group of 5 guerrillas holed up in an abandoned house, while surrounded by Baker and a small army of Japanese troops. It’s a satisfyingly brutal finale, which at times resembles a kung fu version of The Wild Bunch, as a bare chested Jin-pal and Williams go for broke empty handed against the multitude of pistol and sword wielding attackers. It’s during these scenes when it’s possible to witness just how powerful Jin-pal’s kicks are, while Williams uses his muscular frame to literally throw his opponents around, and throws in some nice kicks himself. Slow motion is used to great effect, both at highlighting bullet riddled deaths, reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah, but also to emphasise the form of Jin-pal’s kicking. When he’s left to face off against both Baker and a katana wielding Japanese general, there’s a real sense of desperation and urgency, which is rare to see from a 1974 production.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear to see that Valley of the Double Dragon successfully brought together numerous stars from the old-school kung fu era who shined briefly but brightly. The combined filmographies of Kim Jin-pal, Bob Baker, and Sylvester Williams may barely scrape into double figures, but the movies that they’ve left us with are all worthy of a watch, and for that, we should be thankful.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 7/10
Beware of spoilers in the following clip from Valley of the Double Dragon:
Celestial is partnering with the newly-established Tencent Pictures to produce yet another Shaw Brothers remake titled Moonlight Blade, a re-working of Chor Yuen’s The Magic Blade, a 1976 swordfight-filled martial arts film starring Ti Lung (The Pirate) and Lo Lieh (Bruce’s Deadly Fingers).
Tencent has hired Xu Haofeng (The Master) to direct the project, which he will shoot when he wraps up his current project, Hidden Blade.
Xu made a name for himself by penning the screenplay for Wong Kar-Wai’s The Grandmaster. But it was 2011’s The Sword Identity, his directorial debut, which showed Xu’s true talent. Xu is known for presenting martial arts in a less stylized and more realistic manner.
If you’re curious to see what Xu is capable of, be sure to catch The Master (aka The Final Master, read our review), which was recently released by U.S. release by United Entertainment Partners last May. Additionally, Lionsgate will be releasing the DVD for Xu’s Judge Archer in November.
You can also look forward to Derek Yee’s fourthcoming Shaw Brothers remake of Death Duel (1977), starring Kenny Lin Geng-Xin (Young Detective Dee), Peter Ho Yun-Tung (The Monkey King), Jiang Yi-Yan (The Bullet Vanishes) and Jiang Meng-Jie (Kung Fu Man).
We’ll keep you updated with Magic Blade as we hear more!
Updates: Check out the new teaser poster for Moonlight Blade (via AFS).
City on Fire is proud to present the action-packed short for Robert Yahnke’s Blowback, which is currently available to watch right now at no charge – and they say nothing is free anymore, not true!
In Blowback, a spy breaks up with his girlfriend after another false accusation of infidelity, and in her rage, she discovers his true occupation as a spy and blows his cover to the arms dealer who is looking for him. Espionage is a bitch…
The film stars Sport Karate Hall of Famer, Jessen Noviello (known for this stuntwork in films such as Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and 300: Rise of an Empire), and features action choreography by veteran stuntman Steven Lambert (Ninja III: The Domination).
If the following short generates enough interest, a feature version of Blowback will soon follow. Without further ado… sit back, relax, and press play below…
For more information about Blowback, visit the film’s official site.
Fearless also stars Collin Chou (Special ID), Dong Yong (The Lost Bladesman), Chen Zhi Hui (14 Blades), Nakamura Shidou (Red Cliff), Nathan Jones (Muay Thai Giant), as well as a special appearance by Hong Kong film expert, Mike Leeder (Pound of Flesh).
See why Gareth Evans, director of Merantau, The Raid and TheRaid 2, calls Fearless “one of the best martial arts films of recent times”.
Director: Kim Ki-Duk Producer: Kim Soon-Mo Cast: Ryoo Seung-bum, Young-Min Kim, Lee Won-Geun, Choi Gwi-Hwa, Jo Jae-Ryong, Ahn Ji-Hye Running Time: 114 min.
By Matija Makotoichi Tomic
Filmography of Kim Ki-Duk could be the subject of many theories and endless discussions. Personally, I see it divided into two major phases: pre and post-Arirang one.
Arirang had that something I’ve been missing the whole time, and it had me admiring the man behind the camera, not just his films. Some may not agree, but Arirang is undoubtedly the greatest filmmakers confession ever witnessed on film and a proof Kim Ki-Duk is not only a great auteur who’s always been honest to his audience, but also a great man who’s (what’s even more important) always been true to himself.
The incident that happened on the set of his 2008 movie Dream really did leave a mark on guilt-ridden Ki-Duk both personally and profesionally, forcing him to suclude himself for a three-year period of solitude and repentance. The result was Arirang and a different Kim Ki-Duk. The meditative mood of Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring and the poetic violence of The Isle were gone. New Ki-Duk was angry and never so much in war with the world and himself. Moebius, his dialogue-free, blood-soaked family drama was the proof of that. One year after, he left us with a scene of a soldier beating up a guy sitting on a rock in lotus position. That image with its dual symbolism was almost like a self-portrait, an ending that gave no sense of the direction Kim Ki-Duk was going to take next.
His latest movie, The Net, was screened at this year’s 73rd edition of Venice Film Festival. For years now, Venice has a special place for Ki-Duk. After he won the Silver Lion award for best direction in 2004. for 3-Iron and Golden Lion award in 2012. for Pieta, in 2013. Moebius was invited to the festival in the Out of competition section and in 2014. One on One was the opening film of Venice Days. This year, The Net had its world premiere as part of the new programme held in the newly opened Sala Giardino. Kim Ki-Duk came to Venice and was present at the press screening, but unfortunately stayed for two days only and was long gone by the time his film was scheduled for public screening.
Geumul tells a story of Nam Chool-Woo, poor North Korean fisherman who accidentally drifts into South Korean territorial waters after his fishing net gets wrapped around his boat’s propeller. In South Korea he is immediatelly interrogated under the suspicion of being a spy, and no better destiny expects him upon his long-awaited return home to his family.
Little could anyone expect, but much like Park Chan-Wook’s Joint Security Area, new film by Kim Ki-Duk deals with the problematic relationship between the two neighboring Koreas, only this time the border in question is that on water. The title of the movie appears over the fence which surrounds the road leading to Seoul. The net from the title however, is not the one with which the fish is caught, this time, it is the fisherman who gets trapped. Kim Ki-Duk’s message is clear and straightforward: the capitalism of South Korea is every bit as absurd as the dictatorship of North Korea and the ones that get stuck in the political ideology are the people. His characters would love to have a beer together but that won’t be possible until the two countries reunite. In the beautiful scene where the fisherman is talking to the young South Korean agent, he asks why aren’t people from South Korea happy when they have their freedom? The answer he got is even better than his question: “The more light there is, the greater the shadow.“
Films made by Kim Ki-Duk were never a fun watch. They are dark, brutal and hard-hitting, far from the stylish genre pieces or the big-budget blockbusters that made South Korea the Hollywood of Asia. This one is no different. Kim Ki-Duk digs up the dirt underneath the shiny facade of Korean society once again and the way he does it is masterful and beautiful to watch. With directing so precise and full of confidence, it takes no more than a few shots for Ki-Duk to set the mood and lay out the plot basis. Before you know it, he’s right there where his place of interest is delivering a forceful drama, wonderful and touching yet not deprived of humor. Style was never his tool of trade, but a by-product of his sincere storytelling which often results in technical rawness. This one continues to walk the same path: the shaky cam in the outdoor scenes, the shadow of the camerman in one shot, the difference in the video quality between shots, it’s all there.
Ryoo Seung-Bum marked his first collaboration with Kim Ki-Duk in The Net. Well known Korean movie star made famous by his brother, great director Ryoo-Seung Wan, is perhaps not the obvious choice, but though the role of Nam Chool-Woo differs from the ones he is accustomed to, his performance is amazing. The character of the fisherman he created is quite lovable and will make you feel sorry for him when he’s being beaten up and ill-treated, but also put a smile on our face once he finaly delivers justice as promised.
If you’re not a fan of political themes, let me be the first to say, neither am I. Still, it would be a mistake not to watch The Net on that account. Kim Ki-Duk is back with a great movie that reminds of his old days, dark and bitter but with a surprising aftertaste that resembles hope. I’m sure that true fans won’t be dissapointed.
Anchor Bay presents the Blu-ray for Into the Badlands: Season One, starring Hong Kong film star Daniel Wu (Purple Storm, Shinjuku Incident) and Aramis Knight (Ender’s Game, Billy Boy).
Set in a world centuries from now, Into the Badlands: Season One focuses on the spiritual journey of Sunny (Wu) and M.K. (Knight), a teenage boy who harbors a unique ability, and their growing relationship as teacher and student. Both discover their true purpose and decide to explore what lies beyond the borders of the Badlands.
Into the Badlands also stars Emily Beecham (28 Weeks Later), Sarah Bolger (The Tudors) and Oliver Stark (My Hero). Wu’s long time friend and partner, Stephen Fung (Tai Chi Hero), is serving as executive producer.
Into the Badlands: Season One will include featurettes delving deeper into the world of the Badlands: making of the fight scenes, characters of the series, digital comic and a lot more. See below:
Features:
Inside Into the Badlands
Anatomy of a Fight
Building the World of Into the Badlands
The Characters of Into the Badlands: The Barons
The Characters of Into the Badlands: The Clippers
The Master: Into the Badlands Fight Camp Episode 1
Creating Real Kung Fu: Into the Badlands Fight Camp Episode 2
Bringing It All Together: Into the Badlands Fight Camp Episode 3
Fall is traditionally a fantastic time for movie releases, with some real heavy blockbusters hitting the big screen around this time of year. Given the volume of great movies that are due for release in the coming weeks, is it possible to choose just one as the most anticipated movie of fall this year?
Asian and martial arts films aside, let’s take a closer look at some of the Hollywood contenders that are hoping to nab the title of the best movie of fall 2016. Let’s start with a biggie…
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Gareth Edwards – what have you done to the Star Wars name? All joking aside, this movie, coming out on December 14th, is going to be massive. Whether or not it can exceed the records set by its predecessor remains to be seen, but with the promise of more Darth Vader on screen – and the addition of COF favorites Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen – this first in a standalone Star Wars Anthology series is sure to pack out movie theatres for weeks after its release date.
Doctor Strange
Fresh from roles in the Hobbit movies, Black Mass and Zoolander 2, Benedict Cumberbatch returns to take on his most challenging role yet, that of Marvel comic’s Doctor Strange. This movie is the 14th to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That means that you can expect a cameo from at least one other Marvel super hero at some stage in the movie (not to mention a surprise role from one of my favorite martial arts stars, Scott Adkins). Coming this November, this movie is surely one to look out for.
The Girl on the Train
Based on the smash hit novel of the same name, The Girl on the Train busts into theatres in October. For those who have yet to read the book, the basic premise follows Rachael Watson (played by Emily Blunt) on her daily commute via the train service.
A web of mystery follows what should have been a normal morning. We refuse to give any more spoilers so you’ll have to catch it when it’s released for the full story.
Jack Reacher – Never Go Back
Tom Cruise returns as the one man wrecking crew that is Jack Reacher. Set four years after the ending of the first movie, Reacher returns to his old military unit, only to discover that he is being accused of a 16 year old homicide. Naturally, destruction will follow and lots of action is guaranteed. Look for this one in October.
Inferno
Skipping Dan Brown’s follow up to The Da Vinci Code, in director Ron Howard’s vision, Inferno is the next movie in the Robert Langdon epic. Tom Hanks again reprises the role; with his character Robert Langdon suffering from amnesia. He must make his way across the entirety of Europe (with Rogue One’s Felicity Jones), while attempting to overcome a deadly plot. This one appears in cinemas on October 13th.
Assassin’s Creed
Based on the mega popular video game series, Michael Fassbender brings the Assassin’s to the big screen in a whole new adventure, which are all unrelated to the events of the video games. The back-story of the battle between the Templars and Assassin’s is, of course, present however. This one launches in December and is promised to be a sell-out. However if you are fond of video games we advise you to visit Apnet.com – Casino to find new online games. Or you can just wait when Assassin’s Creed appears on screen and enjoy your time.
September 2016 saw the release of the Scott Adkins action vehicle Hard Target 2, a sequel to Hong Kong auteur John Woo’s 1993 Hollywood debut. Just like any fan of action cinema, I was eager to check it out, and as a writer for cityonfire.com, I was just as much looking forward to giving the British stars latest leading role the review treatment. Writing for a website has its perks, one of which is often distributors are happy to provide screeners before a movies official release, be it via physical media or a secure download link. So, no doubt the same as many other fellow action cinema writers, I reached out to Universal Studios Home Entertainment to see if this was the case with Hard Target 2. Alas though, they weren’t going the screener route with their latest release, so it turned out we’d have to wait for the official release on September 6th like everyone else.
“Hard Target 2” is currently available for purchase.
I was quite surprised then, when reviews of the movie started turning up in August, both on forums and respectable sites that specialise in action cinema. Had cityonfire.com been singled out as not being worthy of receiving a screener, and received short thrift? As with most things in life, the simplest way to find the answer was to ask the question to those who were offering up their reviews – how had they seen it? Even more surprising than when I first spotted the reviews popping up here and there, was the overwhelmingly blasé answer from everyone that I asked the question to – they’d illegally downloaded it off torrent sites.
If any action stars movies are capable of generating discussion on piracy and its effect on the industry, then it has to be Scott Adkins. I’ve read several interviews with the affable star, as well as meeting him during the SENI Combat event in London back in 2014, and he’s always very vocal and upfront about how piracy is effecting the industry and his own career. After Undisputed 3: Redemption was released in 2010, which saw his supporting character of Yuri Boyka from the previous instalment take center stage, he’s been subjected to an almost never ending barrage of questions of when Boyka would be returning to the screen. It’s worth noting that at the time of writing, the fourth instalment in the Undisputed franchise, simply entitled Boyka: Undisputed, has been completed, and is due for release in early 2017.
The following is an excerpt from a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), featuring Scott Adkins and his fans.
However every action star has a shelf life, we’re all only human, and action filmmaking takes a remarkable physical toll (just ask Jackie Chan). So why is there a 7 year gap between the installments of what’s considered to be Adkins’ most iconic role? The answer is a straightforward one – Undisputed 3: Redemption was illegally downloaded so much, that its profit from legitimate sales was barely enough to scrape even. Producers don’t back titles based on a star’s output being overwhelmingly popular on illegal torrent sites, they back them based on knowing they’ll get a return on their investment. Go onto any action movie site or forum, and you’ll see nothing but praise for Undisputed 3: Redemption, but if you were to show a producer its profit as a sales pitch to make a fourth instalment, you’d be understandably laughed out of the room.
While I, just as everyone else, have high hopes for Boyka: Undisputed, there’s already a trailer out there, and the production values are undeniably on the low end of the scale. Thankfully Adkins’ talent is more than enough to overlook such issues, so let’s hope that it delivers, because 7 years is a long time to wait. As recently as Adkins’ last starring role in 2015’s Close Range, during an interview to promote the movie he explained that the original vision was much grander in terms of action, however with only a small budget and tight filming schedule, they had to make the most of what was available. Why did they have to work in such a restrictive environment? Again it was a simple answer, the producers didn’t want to invest too much, as they weren’t confident they’d get much of a return.
Just like we’re seeing with Hard Target 2, in the lead up to the release of Close Range reviews started to flood the net, many of which pointed to the somewhat rushed nature certain aspects of the production appeared to have. So we have a vicious cycle – we have a ready and willing action star who’ll always give 110%, but who many feel doesn’t get productions that are worthy of his talent, because of low budgets and restrictive filming schedules. Adkins’ puts it out there that for him to have those bigger and better opportunities, his fans need to legitimately purchase his movies, and stop downloading them before they’re released. His pleas seems to fall on deaf ears, and with the imminent release of a new movie, opinions start appearing on the net, often complaining of the apparent low budget and anything else they can gripe about. This pre-release negative feedback inevitably has an impact on the chances of increasing legitimate copies being shifted, and hence we end up back at square one.
Click here to order a copy of “Lackey and the Lady Tiger”
I wish the above was conjecture on my part, but for a real time example, all you have to do is go onto Adkins’ official Facebook page, and check out the hundreds of comments from before September 6th of so-called fans labelling Hard Target 2 as ‘boring’ or ‘stupid’. Scroll just a mere few posts down, and you’ll see a post from Adkins promoting the DVD and Blu-ray release, with a note from him requesting to support the legitimate release for all the hard work that was put into it.
So what’s the deal? Is this issue of piracy one that spans across genres, or is it more specific to the martial arts genre? A great example to look at is the recently proposed Zinemaxploitation Blu-ray release of the Hwang Jang Lee and Mars vehicle, Lackey and the Lady Tiger. The release was limited to 200 copies at €20 each, and to make it happen they needed a minimum of 75 purchases, which they aimed to get between 9th August and 9th September 2016. Fans have been demanding Blu-ray’s of kung fu classics for years, and Zinemaxploitation are making the bold move to step up and deliver what’s being asked for. I was waiting for the announcement that the 200 copies had fully sold out, so that the campaign was closed, but instead, 2 days before the campaign ended they were still short of the minimum order of 75. Thankfully, due to several pledgers double dipping, it just scraped over the line.
Now, let’s look at another niche genre, that of Italian horror. Earlier this year UK based distributor 88 Films launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo platform, with the aim to restore 4 obscure Italian horror titles. They were looking for a minimum of £10,000 to restore one of them, and £40,000 would result in all 4 titles being restored and released. When the campaign wrapped up in June, they’d raised £83,155, which just to put it in perspective, is 808% of their original target, achieved through 1452 backers. Then we have kung fu cinema fans like myself and others reading this article, who can barely find 75 people to purchase a Blu-ray of a movie that features such legendary names as Hwang Jang Lee. It’s kind of sad isn’t it?
The ‘got through by the skin of its teeth’ nature of the Zinemaxploitation campaign saw a certain level of backlash from fans across social media platforms. In the days before the campaign ended, those who had pledged €20 seemed genuinely exasperated that the possibility of not reaching 75 purchases was a very real one, and in one post I read, labelled fans of kung fu cinema “a tight fisted bunch of idiots who want everything for free”. Harsh, however it’s hard to ascertain what else could possibly be the reason for such an appealing title to have struggled to reach a perfectly reasonable number of sales. Is it really the case that fans of kung fu cinema have come to expect everything for free?
You’ve waited for a “Pedicab Driver” DVD for years. Now what?
I decided to research more into this, however ultimately I stopped delving into the matter too deeply, as it paints a depressing picture. Going back to the end of 2015, the Warner Brothers studio finally decided to unearth a movie which had been sitting in their vaults for a countless number of years, the Sammo Hung classic Pedicab Driver. Go on any forum relating to kung fu cinema, and it’s possible to find threads dating back to the early 00’s of posts making enquiries as to when this title would hit DVD. The fact is, it’s never had a DVD release anywhere, not even in Hong Kong, so for it to be finally unleashed as part of the Warner Brothers Archives series was big news. At last, people could rejoice and throw away the poor quality bootleg copies that they’d been living with so long, and enjoy the movie in crystal clear clarity from a legitimate release.
One day after the release, a good friend of mine who is well known amongst kung fu cinema fan circles, e-mailed me to express his disbelief at how many requests he’d had from people, asking when he was going to upload the DVD that they knew he’d purchased onto a torrent site. Having purchased the title on the day it was released, in the hope that supporting it would result in Warner Brothers releasing more of the titles they have sitting in their vaults, the fact that so many were automatically assuming it’d be immediately up for free download, paints a grim picture. The short sightedness, and sheer volume of requests he’d received, is indicative of just how much kung fu cinema fans are their own biggest enemy. Yes it’s possible to get everything for free, but it comes at a price that’ll far exceed the $12 – $15 it costs to pick up the title legitimately.
So where does that leave us? It seems to boil down to one thing – as fans of martial arts and kung fu cinema, we have to be willing to put our money where our mouth is. We need to stop being our own worst enemy. It’s not enough to keep on complaining that there’s no more companies releasing kung fu movies on DVD or Blu-ray, but when companies like Terracotta Distribution and Zinemaxploitation put product out there hardly anyone buys them. It’s not enough to complain that stars like Scott Adkins are appearing in movies that don’t do their talents justice, but then ensure that the situation is never going to change by continuing to illegally download their movies before they’re released. Movie piracy will always be there, and to some extent the large Hollywood studios can absorb the damage it does, however for a niche genre such as ours, where it’s a struggle to even find 75 people to buy a Blu-ray, every illegal download of a new movie has an impact.
In February of this year, I attended a drinks function for the Edinburgh Film Festival, which takes place in June. I bumped into an acquaintance I’d known for many years, an actor and senior programmer called Niall Fulton, who the previous year had put on a Walter Hill retrospective. This guy knows his stuff. He almost immediately said ‘If you thought last year was good, wait until this year. It will be right up your street’. He wasn’t joking.
The festival managed to secure 35mm prints of both Sword of Vengeance and the rare Golgo 13, starring Ken Takakura. Just before the lights went down for the former, he told me they had almost given up on securing the film, because Japanese studios such as Toho are so protective of their legacy. They told him if the print was shown, it would have to be burnt straight away. He decided to go down the private collectors route, and discovered a guy in Germany who owns all 6 films in the series, and had given them to a German label for the Blu-ray release. However, when they tested the print, the audio was out of sync. This was days before the film was to be shown. Kudos to the projection team at the best cinema in Edinburgh the Filmhouse, they took apart the projector and through the miracles of soldering and tweezers, managed to sort the problem. I can tell you seeing Sword of Vengeance on the big screen was worth all of their efforts.
It can be difficult to know how to approach reviewing a film as important and notorious as Sword of Vengeance, but I’ll approach it with my ultimate weapon: passion. Some of the series I’ve only watched once, but my favourite was always Babycart at The River Styx. Both Sword of Vengeance and Babycart at The River Styx were combined into the grindhouse classic Shogun Assassin, which as with most of you, I saw first. A bastardisation of the story really, it concentrated on including all of the violence from them. Nothing wrong with that, but in the heart of Lone Wolf and Cub there is a beautifully observed narrative. This is culled from the huge resource of Manga the films are based on, by the wonderful team Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. Having read most of the series, I can say it is my favourite Manga (and comic book). As the co-programmer of the retrospective David Cairns said, the Manga is sombre and multi-layered, as if Kurosawa had written it.
I would guess that all of our readers know the story already, so I’ll keep it brief. Ogami Itto (Tomisaburo Wakayama) is the Shogun’s executioner, and is framed by the evil Yagyu clan as being disloyal to the Shogunate. He escapes the attack, and goes on the road as an assassin for hire with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa), and decides to wage war on the Yagyu.
One can only guess at the impact this first movie had on an unsuspecting Japanese and International audience when it was released in 1972. Prior to this, Samurai cinema was classical and traditional concentrating on existential heroes and historical narratives. Sword of Vengeance treads a line between this and exploitation, with blood spurting action and explicit sexual scenes. A game-changing approach, and one that has influenced filmmakers the world over. The most obvious champion is Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bil Vol. 1), without whom the series of films would not be nearly as well known. Director Darren Aranowsky’s (Requiem for a Dream) dream project is a remake. It was revealed recently that the team behind the forthcoming Ghost in the Shell live-action film have optioned the Manga of Lone Wolf and Cub to make a movie. I’m sure many of you agree with me that it’s a bad choice. There is no need, when there exists these note perfect interpretations. As soon as the first frames of Sword of Vengeance appear onscreen, you just know this movie is going to be a stone cold classic.
As the exploitation genre goes, there may not be another film as beautifully shot and stylistically immersive as Sword of Vengeance. Director Kenji Misumi made many Samurai films prior, with notable inclusions in the Sleepy Eyes of Death and Zatoichi series. His combination of classical Japanese styles with a sharp eye for period detail and gore that had never been seen before in the Samurai genre is a joy to behold. The violence is meticulously staged, with group battles and one on one showdowns ringing with tension. Some of the editing is ground breaking, with short sections depicting extreme violence cutting to long shots with intricate swordplay. One pivotal battle in a lake depicts Ogami Itto’s sword techniques in unbelievably inventive fashion, with fantastic editing that blows my mind every time I see it. Credit to the soundtrack composers Hideakira Sakurai and Kuuihiko Muurai for creating a beautiful score that compliments the imagery, – it’s even worth listening to on its own.
Wakayama as Itto, in the role that became his signature, is magnificent. He communicates through his body language and eyes a man of iron will that will not be shaken, still able to care for his son and those he meets and helps despite laying waste (in imaginative styles) to all those who oppose him. Wakayama’s brother Shintaro Katsu (the actor who played the original Zatoichi) produced Sword of Vengeance and the first three films in the series. Tomikawa, as Daigoro, was only 4 years old at the time, and absolutely captures the spirit of the depiction in the Manga. Various bit parts are played by actors such as Fumio Watanabe and Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, who were part of the Toho stable and went on to work on movies such as the Female Prisoner series.
As the lights came up after taking in the movie, I was speechless. I hadn’t watched it in a long time, and from the dream like opening to the iconically framed last shot, this is a timeless masterwork.
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