Love and Crime | Blu-ray (88 Films)

Love and Crime | Blu-ray (88 Films)

Love and Crime | Blu-ray (88 Films)

RELEASE DATE: January 21, 2025

On January 21, 2025, 88 Films is releasing the Blu-ray (Region A) for Love and Crime, a 1969 Japanese cult thriller from director Teruo Ishii (Blind Woman’s Curse).

Japan’s legendary “King of Cult” Teruo Ishii (Horrors of Malformed Men, Shogun’s Joy of Torture) delivers four dramatized tales of real-life crimes of passion involving women across the ages in this grotesque anthology featuring the stories of the “Hotel Nihonkaku Murders”, the notorious “poison wife” and last woman in Japan to be executed by beheading, Oden Takahashi, the brutal serial killer Yoshio Kodaira and the story of Sada Abe, the infamous castratice featured in Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses.

88 Films is proud Continue reading

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Top Film Franchise For Fans Looking To Relive The Mission: Impossible Buzz

Image Source: CC0 License

Nothing quite beats settling down to a movie franchise you know you’ll love, and Mission: Impossible provides the perfect weekend binge for many film lovers. While not every installment has been worthy of high praise, these films deliver all of the things that fans love most – death-defying stunts, sleek car races, and gadgets galore. 

Yet, as it stands, Paramount seems pretty set that the franchise will end with the 8th film, Mission: Impossible – Fallout. So where does that leave fans? Luckily, there are some high-grossing franchises out there that could help to fill the Mission: Impossible hole, and we’re going to consider them here.

The ‘Bond’ Franchise

While both franchises have their differences, the Bond films are another classic spy go-to that can provide those car chases and gadgets that you love so much. What’s more, with an impressive 25 films to keep you going, Bond is sure to keep you busy for a long time. 

Admittedly, a lot of the older Bond films might not keep you on the edge of your seat quite like Mission: Impossible, but newer launches like Skyrim (2012) seem to have taken inspiration from Mission: Impossible in terms of stunt choreography. Out of the older Bond films, Golden Eye (1995) is a fantastic choice. This film came out just a few months before the first Mission: Impossible, and is famed for stunts that include helicopter theft and even a car chase with a tank! 

The ‘Bourne’ Franchise

The Bourne franchise sits more closely to the Bond films than Mission: Impossible ever attempted to do, but these are still well worth watching in their own right. All five movies are especially comparable to Mission: Impossible thanks to their use of real stunts and the shaky cam style that Mission: Impossible fans will recognize. 

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) is generally considered to be the best film in this franchise and is loved for a detailed, fast-paced plot that’s sure to make your spy movie-loving heart happy. 

The Alien Films

Now that we’ve covered the most obvious Mission: Impossible comparable franchises, it’s time to think outside of the box, and the Alien films are the perfect place to start. Sure, you’ll need to suspend your love for car chases in place of alien appearances, but these films will inevitably get your heart racing just the same. 

Forget Cruise’s death-defying race around Paris in Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the Alien films are all about subtle tension. In fact, you don’t actually see the alien all that much in the first film, Alien (1979). Yet, in a stroke of genius, these films are every bit as tension-filled as a spy thriller ever could be. 

Harry Potter

If you thought the Alien films were a little left-field, then the Harry Potter franchise could feel like a leap for your next film pick. However, there are some surprising crossovers for these films, not least pretty similar themes across their plot lines. More incidentally, both franchises also feature a total of 8 films, the last of which are feature-length two-parters. Both films also used Norwegian filming locations, if that happens to be a selling point for you. 

In terms of the watching experience, Harry Potter is a great next option purely because it’s incredibly bingeable – just like Mission: Impossible. You’ll certainly want to make sure you have access to all 8 films when you get down to choosing where to watch Harry Potter as, just like with the Mission: Impossible films, you’ll be on the edge of your seat and desperate to know what happens next. 

Image Source: CC0 License

The Hunger Games

We’ve covered Harry Potter, so why not The Hunger Games? This franchise was huge when it launched back in 2012, and the launch of the prequel last year went down equally well. But, we know what you’re thinking – what does a dystopian young adult series have to do with Mission: Impossible?

In reality, not much, but you’re sure to find a similar thrill in these films as you do when watching a quality Mission: Impossible movie. This is especially true of the first two films in the franchise – The Hunger Games and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, as they see us entering an arena where kids are literally playing to the death. Katniss and Peeta can only survive by pulling out espionage and cunning that would surely make Tom Cruise proud. 

There might not be another franchise quite like Mission: Impossible, but all of these options will do a pretty good job of filling that Cruise-shaped hole in your life.

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Shaw Brothers, Lau Kar-Leung, Gordon Liu and a dash of John Woo: Here’s what’s on Hi-YAH for the month of November

Hi-YAH!, Well Go USA’s very own Asian/martial arts streaming channel has just announced their New Releases for the month of November

If you want to give Hi-YAH! a go, visitors of this site can use the promo code “CITYONFIRE” for a FREE 30 Day trial!

Read on for the full list of New and Exclusive Continue reading

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‘Paradox’ and ‘Ip Man 4’ star Wu Yue kicks ass in the Trailer for Well Go USA’s ‘Tai Chi Master’ on Digital on November 12

"Tai Chi Master" Theatrical Poster

“Tai Chi Master” Theatrical Poster

On November 12, 2024, Well Go USA Entertainment is releasing The Tai Chi Master on Digital. Directed by Siyu Cheng (The Grandmaster of Kung Fu) and Zhenzhao Lin (Detective Dee’s Hell Road), this martial arts fantasy stars Wu Yue (Paradox, Sakra, Ip Man 4, The Brink), Yan Liu (Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy) and Mingcan Zhang (Restart the Earth).

Read the official plot below:

In the strife of the Song Dynasty’s end, Zhang Sanfeng forges Tai Chi amid sect wars and demonic intrigue. At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, as the country was troubled by domestic and foreign aggression, foreign countries were eyeing the dynasty, trying to invade the Central Plains. One day, when the foreign enemies attacked the city, Zhang Junbao, a disciple of the Wuji faction, turned Continue reading

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Deal on Fire! One Armed-Boxer | Blu-ray | Only $17.99 – Expires soon!

One Armed-Boxer | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

One Armed-Boxer | Blu-ray (Arrow Video)

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for 1971’s One Armed-Boxer (aka The Chinese Professionals), directed by and starring Jimmy Wang Yu (One-Armed Swordsman, Master of the Flying Guillotine).

When former Shaw Brothers executive Raymond Chow founded rival studio Golden Harvest in 1970, he quickly teamed up with “Jimmy” Wang Yu – Hong Kong’s first kung fu superstar and formerly Shaw’s biggest box office draw.

Bringing over his peerless talent for taking on all foes with one hand tied behind his back, Wang wrote, directed and played the title role in one of his most unmissable kickass classics. From the legendary star of One-Armed Swordsman and Continue reading

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Golden Harvest Vol. 2: Shining Stars | Blu-ray (Shout!)

Golden Harvest Vol. 2: Shining Stars | Blu-ray (Shout!)

Golden Harvest Vol. 2: Shining Stars | Blu-ray (Shout!)

RELEASE DATE: December 17, 2024

On December 17, 2024, Shout! Factory will be releasing the Blu-ray Collection for Golden Harvest Vol. 2: Shining Stars, which will include 1973’s Beach of the War Gods, 1973’s When Taekwondo Strikes, 1974’s The Skyhawk, 1974’s Slaughter in San Francisco, 1976’s Shaolin Boxers, 1986’s Legacy of Rage, 1992’s The Master, and 1998’s Hitman.

And if you’re wondering why two non-Golden Harvest films (Legacy of Rage and Hitman) are included in this set, you’re not alone.

Read the official details:

Some of the biggest names in Hong Kong martial arts and action scenes collide in Golden Harvest Vol. 2: Shining Stars! Featuring Continue reading

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Enter Ke Huy Quan, the action star! Quan takes on Lionsgate’s ‘Fairytale In New York’ from ‘Sisu’ director Jalmari Helander

Ke Huy Quan’s (Everything Everywhere All at Once) highly-anticipated action-comedy Love Hurts won’t be released until February 7, 2025, but Lionsgate is already prepping him for Fairytale In New York, his 2nd action headliner that comes from writer-director Jalmari Helander (Big Game), who is perhaps best known for the celebrated 2022 Finnish action film, Sisu.

Set to be produced by FlynnPictureCo.’s Beau Flynn, Fairytale In New York takes place on Christmas Eve in New York City, as an unassuming cab driver takes one last ride before going to celebrate the holiday with his estranged son. After a run-in with a gang Continue reading

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High Forces (2024) Review

"High Forces" Theatrical Poster

“High Forces” Theatrical Poster

Director: Oxide Pang
Cast: Andy Lau, Liu Tau, Zhang Zifeng, Qu Chuxiao, Jiang Mengjie, Jiang Chao, Eric Chou
Running Time: 115 min.

By Paul Bramhall

The disaster movie on a plane has been going through a bit of a renaissance in Asia during recent years. China threw their hat into the ring with 2019’s The Captain, and Korea’s returned to the genre twice in as many years with 2022’s Emergency Declaration and 2024’s Hijack 1971. 2024 is also the year China decided to get back at it, with (the as yet to be released) Wings of Dread representing the iQIYI web-movie end of the scale, and the Andy Lau produced and starring High Forces representing the big budget other end.

Directed by Oxide Pang, High Forces is only the 2nd movie he’s helmed in the 2020’s, no doubt in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which put a pause on any filmmaking activity in China for a couple of years at the start of the decade. A director who began his career as one half of the Pang Brothers, since debuting with 2000’s Bangkok Dangerous the pair cranked out several movies spanning Thailand, Hong Kong, and even Hollywood (which included a Nicolas Cage starring remake of their debut). The last production they worked on together was 2013’s firefighting Continue reading

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Let’s get one thing straight… females have always been kickin’ ass! Angela Mao’s ‘Broken Oath’ is now available

Broken Oath | Blu-ray (Eureka)

Broken Oath | Blu-ray (Eureka)

Now in stock at Goodie Emporium is Eureka’s Blu-ray (Region A/B) for Broken Oath, a 1977 Golden Harvest classic from Cheng Chang-Ho (Double Crossers) that stars Angela Mao (Dance of Death), the first lady of kung fu cinema!

A Hong Kong take on Japan’s Lady Snowblood, Broken Oath is an action-packed tale of righteous vengeance! Orphaned and angry, Lotus (Mao) is raised by Buddhist nuns before she is exiled for her violent ways – and skipping classes to improve her martial arts skills. Finding herself alone in the world, she quickly comes to discover the truth of her past: that her father was once a respected member of the Imperial Court who was murdered in cold blood, and that her mother gave birth to her in a jail cell after being unjustly imprisoned for killing one of the culprits. With revenge on her Continue reading

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Bangkok Dog (2024) Review

"Bangkok Dog" Theatrical Poster

“Bangkok Dog” Theatrical Poster

Director: Chaya Supannarat
Cast: D.Y. Sao, Jenny Philomena Van Der Sluijs, Brian Le, Ron Smoorenburg, Sahajak Boonthanakit
Running Time: 85 min.

By Paul Bramhall

Throughout the 2000’s and 2010’s having the Thai capitals name in an action movie title seemed to be all the rage – Bangkok Dangerous, Bangkok Adrenaline, Bangkok Revenge, BKO: Bangkok Knockout, Bangkok Rush, Bangkok Assassins – the list goes on! However as the Thai action scene gradually began to fade away, both in terms of local productions and overseas ones using it as a shooting location, so too did the energy charged titles that always promised a dose of elbows and knees to the head. It’s to be admired then that the director who became synonymous with Thai action in the 2000’s, Prachya Pinkaew, is now attempting to bring it back in the 2020’s. So far Pinkaew has been involved in a couple of productions, and while he may no longer in the director’s chair, by serving as executive producer it conveniently allows the productions to be branded with the “Prachya Pinkaew presents” label.

The star he’s chosen to put his faith in is D.Y. Sao, a Cambodian born, California raised former representative of the U.S. National Wushu Team who’s proficient in several martial arts styles. The first production that Pinkaew and Sao collaborated on was 2022’s Shadow Master, which in my review for I’d stated, “Sao seems to have found his partner in crime Continue reading

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So who are you going to kill next, Mr. Ninja? Newest Trailer ‘Under Ninja’ starring Kento Yamazaki and Minami Hamabe

Writer/director Yuichi Fukuda, who is perhaps best known for 2017’s Gintama, is back at helm for Under Ninja, an upcoming actioner that stars Kento Yamazaki (Alice in Borderland) and Minami Hamabe (Godzilla Minus One).

The film is an adaptation of the manga (and anime series) of the same name by Kengo Hanazawa. If the film is anything like its source material, here’s what you can expect of its plot:

A high school loner is given the part-time job of a lifetime as a modern day ninja tasked to perform international assassinations. After World War II, Allied Command in Japan developed a new agency to help manage terrorism and violence within the Pacific region. The agency was staffed with ninja and they were initially tasked to handle domestic affairs. Eventually that program grew Continue reading

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Rampo Noir | Blu-ray (Arrow)

Rampo Noir | Blu-ray (Arrow)

Rampo Noir | Blu-ray (Arrow)

RELEASE DATE: January 6, 2025

On January 6, 2025, Arrow will release a Blu-ray for 2005’s Rampo Noir. Four filmmakers from completely different backgrounds bring their radically personal takes to the stories of Japan’s celebrated master of the macabre, Edogawa Rampo (Horrors of Malformed Men, Blind Beast).

In “Mars’s Canal”, by music video director and visual artist Suguru Takeuchi, a lone man encounters the other side of his psyche beyond the reflective surface of a circular pond set in a desolate landscape. Japanese New Wave auteur and longtime director of the Ultraman series Akio Jissoji (This Transient Life, Mandala) harnesses his distinctive stylistic sheen in his story of a mad mirror maker, “Mirror Hell”. “Caterpillar” sees the singular vision of cult director Hisayasu Sato (The Bedroom, Naked Blood) at its most grotesque, in his portrait Continue reading

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Cure | 4K Ultra HD (Eureka)

Cure | 4K Ultra HD (Eureka)

Cure | 4K Ultra HD (Eureka)

RELEASE DATE: January 27, 2025

On January 27, 2025, Eureka is releasing a 4K Ultra HD for Cure, a 1997 thriller from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who would go on to make several further modern masterpieces in PulseCreepy and Tokyo Sonata.

Released to critical acclaim in both the East and the West, this nerve-shredding thriller charts the hunt for a depraved serial killer in a bleak and decaying Tokyo.

A series of murders have been committed by ordinary people who claim to have had no control over their actions, many of them having killed friends, co-workers or even their spouse. There are only two links between each crime: an X carved into the neck of each victim, and a mysterious stranger who seems to have had brief contact with the perpetrator a short period of time Continue reading

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Bridge of Death (1974) Review

"Bridge of Death" Theatrical Poster

“Bridge of Death” Theatrical Poster

Director: Lee Doo-yong
Cast: Han Yong-cheol, Bae Su-chun, Kim Yeongran, Chang Il-sik, Woo Yeon-jeong, Mun-ju Kim
Running Time: 90 min. 

By Paul Bramhall

In my review for Returned a Single-Legged Man 2 I concluded with “What’s left to ask but for more taekwon-action productions be made available to be enjoyed.” The line was in reference to the Korean Film Archive’s decision in 2023 to release some of director Lee Doo-yong’s taekwon-action movies starring Han Yong-cheol on their Korean Classic Films YouTube channel, which kicked off with The Manchurian Tiger and Returned Single-Legged Man. Sadly Doo-yong would pass away in January 2024, so was no longer around when the Archive released the sequel a month later in HD, uncut, and in its original language probably for the first time since it was released. Within the same year the ask was answered, when in August Doo-yong and Yong-cheol’s 2nd collaboration was released, Bridge of Death.

With information being so scarce on the taekwon-action genre for so long, confounded by the fact many were distributed overseas with different titles and edited into completely different plots (and thanks to Godfrey Ho, some even had gweilo ninja footage spliced in!), it’s not surprising that Bridge of Death has rarely been mentioned. On the likes of the Hong Kong Movie Database the title is listed as an alias for Returned Single-Legged Man, more thank likely down Continue reading

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That woman deserves her revenge and we deserve 4K Ultra HD! ‘Kill Bill’ saga soon to be announced from Lionsgate

"Kill Bill Vol. I" American Theatrical Poster

“Kill Bill Vol. I” American Theatrical Poster

This year, Lionsgate Films will finally release 2003’s Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2004’s Kill Bill: Volume 2 on the rising 4K Ultra HD format.

There’s some speculation if the long-awaited Whole Bloody Affair (Tarantino’s edit of both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 as one film, complete with new footage not seen in the U.S. release) will be part of the release roster, but according to HD Movie Source, we’re expecting the usual, separate theatrical cuts.

Directed by Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), the Kill Bill saga revolves around a former assassin (Uma Thurman) who wreaks vengeance on a team of assassins (David Carradine, Darryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Lucy Lui and Vivica Fox) who not only betrayed her, but also left her for dead.

The film also boasts Continue reading

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