On The Run (88 Films)

[WaverBoy]

My Diabolik preorder is in, can’t wait to give this a revisit, it’s been at least fifteen years since I watched it and my ancient Megastar DVD just doesn’t cut it. 88 and Eureka have me completely spoiled.

[DooK]

The overly long wait is about to come to an end... This is one of the best Hong Kong crime movies of the 1980s and deserves the HD treatment! Great one, 88 Films!!!

[Broomey]

Originally Posted by DooK

The overly long wait is about to come to an end... This is one of the best Hong Kong crime movies of the 1980s and deserves the HD treatment! Great one, 88 Films!!!

I'm just hoping Red Ray or smell a vision doesn't come out and we get another 10 years of Drunken Master and Once upon a time in China re-releases. So great to have these more obscure classics to be excited about.

[KayJay22]

Is this still coming out the same day as Righting Wrongs and Supercop (26th September)?

I feel like this one's gonna get delayed.

[Broomey]

Originally Posted by KayJay22

Is this still coming out the same day as Righting Wrongs and Supercop (26th September)?

I feel like this one's gonna get delayed.

Its very hard to imagine 88 will release these 2 on the same day. Terracotta only have righting wrongs up for pre order.

[chas speed]

I have always wanted to see this film, but found it next to impossible to locate one. I'm buying.

[mdking]

I remember watching this magnificent little gem. It hooked me then took me for a wild and nihilistic ride. Everything went to hell in those 88 minutes

[dex14]

[munin]

Kung Fu Bob's style I guess fits the tone of the Kung Fu flicks, but for such a serious, sombre movie, man this is just...bad.

[Liersi]

Works really well for me. But then I love colour, and I think the restraint Bob shows here actually works in favour of the dark tones, both the image and the film. They're both a desperate struggle against the dying of the light. Yuen Biao and Pat Ha as beacons of life, surrounded by the bad guys in shadow. And of course Bobs signature sense of body language and expressions, which are phenomenal. He captures the characters from the film perfectly. I've always found it perplexing that a dark film should be represented only in dark tones. It's the contrast with light and splashes of color that really brings out the darkness.

[supertwix_64]

Love it. Yuen Biao's face has some awesome detail on it.

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by munin

Kung Fu Bob's style I guess fits the tone of the Kung Fu flicks, but for such a serious, sombre movie, man this is just...bad.

I think it looks great but to each it's own
I've never seen the movie but this just makes me want to see it even more!

[Mushi Minion]

Originally Posted by munin

Kung Fu Bob's style I guess fits the tone of the Kung Fu flicks, but for such a serious, sombre movie, man this is just...bad.

Hard disagree there. I wasn't sure about getting this before, but that artwork was enough to push me in the other direction.

[Volvo242Turbo!]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

I think it looks great but to each it's own
I've never seen the movie but this just makes me want to see it even more!

+1. That artwork is sexy af!

[ReSe2k]

love the image of Yuen Biao running through the rain with the glowing chinese characters behind him that even have a reflection on the wet floor!

[Markgway]

Aesthetically it's very pleasing to the eye.

[Jackie Scanlon]

Yep, I like it as well.


One thing that peeps who haven't seen it before should note though - I see the description in this site's announcement reads thus:
"Directed by Alfred Cheung and starring Pat Ha and the legendary Biao Yuen (Game of Death, Spiritual Kung Fu, The Young Master), who brings his custom brand of acrobatic Kung Fu to the proceedings, On the Run (1988) ticks all the right boxes providing a highly engaging martial arts action thriller, a must for the discerning cult film collector."

The film is an absolute masterpiece, but I cannot stress enough how misleading the two sentences in bold are. There is practically zero martial arts in this and, from memory (admittedly it's been quite a few years), I don't remember there being ANY acrobatic stuff at all in it. It's a very gritty, realistic and low-key thriller, so anyone going in hoping for the usual Biao flipping and kicking might be disappointed.

To put things into context, when this was released (to ENORMOUS fanfare after a mammoth marketing campaign - one of the biggest I've ever seen for a UK release of a Hong Kong film outside of John Woo's action films) an awful lot of the publicity focused on a scene featuring Yuen Wah (I won't say which one, but those who have seen it will know exactly which scene I'm referring to), rather than Biao.

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by Jackie Scanlon

Yep, I like it as well.


One thing that peeps who haven't seen it before should note though - I see the description in this site's announcement reads thus:
"Directed by Alfred Cheung and starring Pat Ha and the legendary Biao Yuen (Game of Death, Spiritual Kung Fu, The Young Master), who brings his custom brand of acrobatic Kung Fu to the proceedings, On the Run (1988) ticks all the right boxes providing a highly engaging martial arts action thriller, a must for the discerning cult film collector."

The film is an absolute masterpiece, but I cannot stress enough how misleading the two sentences in bold are. There is practically zero martial arts in this and, from memory (admittedly it's been quite a few years), I don't remember there being ANY acrobatic stuff at all in it. It's a very gritty, realistic and low-key thriller, so anyone going in hoping for the usual Biao flipping and kicking might be disappointed.

To put things into context, when this was released (to ENORMOUS fanfare after a mammoth marketing campaign - one of the biggest I've ever seen for a UK release of a Hong Kong film outside of John Woo's action films) an awful lot of the publicity focused on a scene featuring Yuen Wah (I won't say which one, but those who have seen it will know exactly which scene I'm referring to), rather than Biao.

It's also Yuen Biao, not Biao Yuen.

And it's hard to tell if he is actually in SPRITUAL KUNG FU as the roles ascribed to him online are a) masked and b) in heavy makeup!

[bleedandtrim]

Originally Posted by munin

Kung Fu Bob's style I guess fits the tone of the Kung Fu flicks, but for such a serious, sombre movie, man this is just...bad.

I agree, but I wouldn't say it's bad - it's just tonally mis-matched in my opinion. Not a knock on Bob, his brand is well suited to the usual kung-fu affairs - but someone more like Gokaiju (who does the art for Eureka's HK noirs/thrillers as of late) would've nailed the vibe a bit more, for my money.

[Mr. Chaverria]

This art really seems to be tonally like a HK poster. The juxtapostion of the elements. It's good for me.