The Valiant Ones (Eureka)

[cooey]

The Valiant Ones is perhaps the last true wuxia film directed by celebrated Taiwanese filmmaker King Hu, an undisputed master of the genre. Shot back-to-back with The Fate of Lee Khan (but not released until two years later), it stands as a worthy follow-up to his earlier works Come Drink with Me, Dragon Inn and A Touch of Zen.

During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (Chao Lei), China’s coastal regions have come under attack by wokou – Japanese pirates under the leadership of the infamous Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung). To combat this threat, the Emperor tasks a trusted general, Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi), with assembling a group of skilled warriors to find and eliminate the pirates. Under the command of General Yu Dayou (Roy Chiao), the band of soldiers – including husband-and-wife sword-fighters Wu Ji-yuan (Wing Bai) and Wu Ruo-shi (Feng Hsu) – set out to draw Hakatatsu, his ally Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) and their pirate clan into a series of spectacular showdowns.

Inspired by historical events and featuring several storied figures drawn from Chinese history, The Valiant Ones is a standout wuxia film produced during the dying days of the genre, as audience tastes were shifting towards more grounded kung fu cinema. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the film on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju) [2000 copies]
1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K digital restoration of the original negatives gifted by director King Hu to the Hong Kong Film Archive
Uncompressed original Mandarin mono restored from the original soundtrack negative
Optional English subtitles newly translated for this release
Brand new audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
Tony Rayns on The Valiant Ones – Brand new interview with critic and Asian film expert Tony Rayns
Tsar of all the Wuxia - a new video essay by David Cairns
The Life of a Lucky Stuntman – Brand new interview with stuntman Billy Chan
My Father and I – Brand new interview with actor Ng Ming-choi
Archival 2003 interview with actress Hsu Feng by Frédéric Ambroisine
Archival 2003 interview with Roger Garcia (Hong Kong International Film Festival Society) by Frédéric Ambroisine
Archival 2016 interview with actor Ng Ming-choi by Frédéric Ambroisine
A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jonathan Clements

Release date: 27th May, 2024


Credit to Rapta for finding the leak

4K also being released with different artwork - HERE

[drush9999]

So is The Swordsman the last King Hu not released in the UK on BD. Though I'd be up for a "trilogy" boxset with the others.

[jamoweed]

Originally Posted by drush9999

So is The Swordsman the last King Hu not released in the UK on BD. Though I'd be up for a "trilogy" boxset with the others.

King Hu also directed Sons of the Good Earth in 1965 while at Shaw Brothers, and Painted Skin in 1992.

This looks like an interesting release:

[The Mole]

Originally Posted by drush9999

So is The Swordsman the last King Hu not released in the UK on BD. Though I'd be up for a "trilogy" boxset with the others.

SWORDSMAN 1 is from Golden Princess. So no legal release in the forseable future.

[rapta]

He also contributed to two anthology films, Four Moods and The Wheel of Life, both of which have been restored in recent years. I'd love Eureka to release both of those together. Both films were also co-directed by Lee Hsing (Execution in Autumn), so I especially look to Eureka to conjure up a release.

[Sifox211]

Listed at HMV:

UHD £25.99

BD £19.99

[Parsifal]

Too bad the recent 3. 5 hours King Hu documentary KING OF WUXIA is not included as a special feature on this release.

[TheRingshifter]

Originally Posted by drush9999

So is The Swordsman the last King Hu not released in the UK on BD. Though I'd be up for a "trilogy" boxset with the others.

Still a couple people haven't mentioned. Here's all the not-released-on-Blu King Hu films I can find:

Painted Skin (1993)
The Swordsman (1990)
All the King's Men (1983) [Tian xia di yi]
The Wheel of Life (1983)
Zhong Shen Da Shi (1981) [The Juvenizer]
Tian guan ci fu (1981) [Heaven's Blessing - VERY little info about this]
Four Moods (1970)
Sons of Good Earth (1965)
The Story of Sue San (1964)
Ding yishan (1964) [VERY little info about this]

Some of these are a bit iffy. I haven't done proper research. Most places seem to say Sons of Good Earth was Hu's first film so not sure what's going on with the earlier two. The Shaw Brother's Youtube channel's upload of the trailer for the Story of Sue San credits both Li Han-hsiang 李翰祥 & Hu King-chuan 胡金銓 as directors, but in a description mentions "King Hu's meticulously attentive production".

[WaverBoy]

So glad Eureka is releasing this! Never seen it but it looks great!

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by TheRingshifter

Still a couple people haven't mentioned. Here's all the not-released-on-Blu King Hu films I can find:

Painted Skin (1993)
The Swordsman (1990)
All the King's Men (1983) [Tian xia di yi]
The Wheel of Life (1983)
Zhong Shen Da Shi (1981) [The Juvenizer]
Tian guan ci fu (1981) [Heaven's Blessing - VERY little info about this]
Four Moods (1970)
Sons of Good Earth (1965)
The Story of Sue San (1964)
Ding yishan (1964) [VERY little info about this]

Some of these are a bit iffy. I haven't done proper research. Most places seem to say Sons of Good Earth was Hu's first film so not sure what's going on with the earlier two. The Shaw Brother's Youtube channel's upload of the trailer for the Story of Sue San credits both Li Han-hsiang 李翰祥 & Hu King-chuan 胡金銓 as directors, but in a description mentions "King Hu's meticulously attentive production".

I own The Swordsman on Blu-ray from Korea.

Swordsman.JPG

[The Mole]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

I own The Swordsman on Blu-ray from Korea.

Attachment 300768

The current HD version is an SD-upscale.

[TheRingshifter]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

I own The Swordsman on Blu-ray from Korea.

Yeah, I didn't say but I was thinking UK Blus.

In terms of global releases though, this seems to the case of each:

Painted Skin: DVD
The Swordsman: (Upscaled) Blu-ray
The Wheel of Life: Blu-ray
Zhong Shen Da Shi: No release of any sort anywhere
Tian guan ci fu: No release of any sort anywhere
Four Moods: Blu-ray (with burnt-in subtitles)
Sons of Good Earth: DVD
The Story of Sue San: DVD
Ding yishan: No release of any sort anywhere

[Yami]

Originally Posted by TheRingshifter

Yeah, I didn't say but I was thinking UK Blus.

In terms of global releases though, this seems to the case of each:

Painted Skin: DVD
The Swordsman: (Upscaled) Blu-ray
The Wheel of Life: Blu-ray
Zhong Shen Da Shi: No release of any sort anywhere
Tian guan ci fu: No release of any sort anywhere
Four Moods: Blu-ray (with burnt-in subtitles)
Sons of Good Earth: DVD
The Story of Sue San: DVD
Ding yishan: No release of any sort anywhere

Sons of Good Earth was included in this French box set

[cooey]

UHD has been despatched from HMV

[alexrinse]

Had totally forgotten to pre-order this, so thanks for the code.

Glowing review here