Arrow will be releasing one of John Woo's earliest films, Hand of Death (1976) in May. The film was previously released in the UK from Eureka, along with Last Hurrah for Chivalry (which is coming out in March from Criterion).
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2K restoration from original film elements by Fortune Star
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray transfer
Original lossless Mandarin and English mono, plus Cantonese stereo and 5.1 remixes in Mandarin and English
Optional English subtitles
Brand new feature commentary by martial arts cinema experts Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
From Hong Kong to Hollywood, an archive featurette on John Woo's early career, including interviews with Woo, Chow Yun-fat and Peter Lau
Never-before-seen archive interview with star Tan Tao-Liang, filmed by his former student Michael Worth
Archive interview with co-star Sammo Hung
Alternate credits sequence, as Countdown to Kung Fu
Trailer gallery
Image gallery
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing by film programmer William Blaik
Limited Edition slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch
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When Golden Harvest first released Hand of Death in 1976, no-one paid much attention to the names of writer/director Wu Yu-sheng, third-billed actor Chen Yuen-lung or fight choreographer Hung Chin-pao in the opening credits. Within a decade, however, each of those men had changed the course of Hong Kong action filmmaking forever, under the names they are best known under to this day: John Woo, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.
After a traitor of the Shaolin temple, Shih Shao-Feng (James Tien, The Big Boss), has eliminated thousands of his former colleagues in exchange for power from the Manchus under the Qing dynasty, a surviving master of Shaolin, Yun Fei (Tan Tao-Liang), is tasked with the mission of bringing Shih to justice. In order to defeat Shih's overwhelmingly large army - led by the ruthless Tu Qing (Sammo Hung) - Yun Fei will need to team up with a skilled blacksmith (Jackie Chan) and a reluctant swordsman to beat the odds and avenge his fallen brothers.
With early signs of John Woo's affinity for brotherly bonding amidst heroic bloodshed, and featuring one of Jackie Chan's earliest speaking roles after proving his mettle as a stuntman, Hand of Death is an old school hard-hitting kung fu gem (with a dash of wuxia) that any fan of classic Hong Kong cinema needs in their collection!
Arrow have also restored the day for night grading:
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James Flower
@jamesflowerfilm
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Now with restored day-for-night grading in two scenes, new @frankiedjeng/@MichaelWorth commentary and a previously unreleased interview with Tan Tao-liang from Michael's archive - at long last, John Woo joins the Arrow catalogue! (Yes, we know it's not Hard Boiled, too bad.)
1h
Now with restored day-for-night grading in two scenes, new @frankiedjeng/@MichaelWorth commentary and a previously unreleased interview with Tan Tao-liang from Michael's archive - at long last, John Woo joins the Arrow catalogue! (Yes, we know it's not Hard Boiled, too bad.)
It's a fun little movie, kind of cheap and the lead is kind of bland but I always enjoy revisiting it. Last Hurrah is a much better John Woo film, thought. I do wished Arrow were releasing both together, since buying both now from Criterion and Arrow is going to be way more expensive. It's going to cost me 90$ CAD for both while if this was a arrow double feature like their Executioner it would be half of that.
Still, can't complain too much, both releases look stellar and I'll just be glad to replace my Eureka version with region A releases.
I'm really hoping Arrow release a Mr. Vampire box set with all 5 films next, especially now that Eureka are releasing the sequels!
If you like the genre, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Very solid old-school kung fu.
Yes. Zero comedy, lots of decent fights. My only complain is score. At first it sounds cool but if you get bored of it, it starts to annoy quite a lot as it`s played lot through the movie.
Maybe venom boys could have played bodyguards of Shih but it`s not biggie those fights are still excellent.
Yes. Zero comedy, lots of decent fights. My only complain is score. At first it sounds cool but if you get bored of it, it starts to annoy quite a lot as it`s played lot through the movie.
Maybe venom boys could have played bodyguards of Shih but it`s not biggie those fights are still excellent.
Some of the Venoms are in it. The opening fight was shot in Taiwan, and you can see Lu Feng, Kwok Choi and Chiang Sheng among the stuntmen, plus Baby Venom Ricky Cheng.
I do have a soft spot for this movie it's great fun. I have the Eureka release but will be double dipping for the extras and corrected filters. Looking forward to the Tan Tao Liang interview.
It's pretty insane how many Jackie Chan films that didn't have US Blu-rays are coming out in 2023. The crazy part is I'm buying them all. I thought 2022 had some great releases, but 2023 is already killing my bank account.
Awesome, Worth and Djeng make it a notch up on the commentaries and I heard Worth interviewed his teacher many many years ago and is only one or two he ever did in English. Will make this the best release so far.
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John Woo's Hand of Death (1976) (Arrow Video)
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