4 Star

When the Dialogue is Over, The Killing Begins.

To mark its fiftieth anniversary, Eureka brings us a Blu-ray of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut from a brand new 2K restoration. Written/directed and starring Jimmy Wang Yu (One-armed Boxer, One-armed Boxer II) in this tale of a small Chinese town versus’s the might of the Japanese invaders. Beach of the War Gods is awash with swords, death, and Martial-Arts. Another must-own for the fans of 1970s Kung-Fu.

It is the middle of the sixteenth century China, and Japan has been raiding the Southern coasts, and have even taken ground and established a stronghold in Hangzhou. The citizens cower in fear, and those with money have headed further inland.

A lone man walks the beach of the war gods, he is Hsia Feng (Jimmy Wang Yu) a famous swordsman and the nephew of the commander at Hangzhou fort. He is at the gates of the small town of Li, inside people are packing up their belongings and preparing to leave town. At the Drunken Moon Tavern he finds a table and prepares to get his food. At another table is a group of towns folk, and there is talk of resistance against the murderous Japanese.

Whilst waiting for his food, a band of Japanese pirates arrive in town and demand a payment of 20,000 silver Taels, but the citizens that are left can’t even raise one thousand Tael.

This is the first time we get to see the skills of the lone warrior. When the pirates lay down their law, Feng steps in with his dividing sword, and takes on the oppressors.

When the dust settles, the townsfolk know there will be consequences for this day. Feng says that his actions are not theirs and he will not abandon the town.

Feng surmises that it will take ten days before the pirates will regroup and attack. So he says that he will go inland and find allies to fend off the Japanese and save the town and the country.

On his journey, Feng finds swordsman Iron Bull Chao (Han Hsieh, A Touch of Zen, Ten Fingers of Steel), Leng Ping (Yeh Tien, The Deadly Sword, Autumn Leaves), Hashimoto (Fei Lung, City on Fire, Angel of Fury), Hung (Yi-Kuei Chang, The Fists of Vengeance, Men of the Hour) and Li (Hung Kuan, The Legend of Eight Knights, New Miracle Fighters). With these men and their followers, they head back to town and begin to train the towns folk to defend their Country. Let the action begin.

Beach of the War Gods now becomes a mass of sword fighting and dirty tricks as the two sides go head-to-head, with great choreography, wire work and shed loads of sword fighting. A great one for the martial arts fan and action aficionados. A True 1970s classic.

Beach of the War Gods is available on Blu-ray

SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES*

Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase (First Print Run of 2000 copies only) featuring new artwork by Tony Stella | 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut from a brand new 2K restoration | Original Mandarin mono audio | Optional English dubbed audio | Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release | Brand-new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) | Brand-new interview with action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema on the life and career of Jimmy Wang Yu | Career retrospective interview with Wang Yu, filmed in Nantes in 2001 courtesy of the Frédéric Ambroisine Video Archive | Trailers | PLUS: A Limited Edition Collector’s Booklet (First Print Run of 2000 copies only) featuring new writing by James Oliver and a review of the film by Dr Craig D. Reid from his book The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s