4 Star

The Fight is Real.

This two disk limited release from Eureka Classics brings four martial arts films from Shaw Brothers. All directed by the leading martial arts director of the 1970s and beyond, Chang Cheh (Bao chou, Ninja in Ancient China) who takes historical events and the struggles people have against their oppressors of the past. Now they are brought into one fist punching, sword ringing release.

These four films follow in historical date rather than when the films were made, so we start back in the thirteenth century with the adventures of Marco Polo (Richard Harrison, Terror Force Commando, The Spy Killers) when he was in China working for the Khan. Polo is sent on a three-year mission to visit all regions of China. But when he returns, things have changed, and assassins attack the palace to kill the Khan. They are from Yangzhou, and they have incredible martial arts skills, using the fabled “Golden Bell Armour” technique, which renders them impervious to blades and spears.

 The second film is The Pirate, set toward the end of the Ching Dynasty when China has opened up to the Portuguese and the coasts of China are plagued with Pirates and we start with a clash between an English ship taking on the infamous pirate Chang Pao Tsai (Lung Ti, Drunken Master II, A Better Tomorrow). The pirates win and plunder the ship, but they have taken damage below the waterline, so they have to beach the ship to make repairs. This is where we find out that this pirate has principles, when he finds the local authorities and landowners are all corrupt. Let the fight begin.

Next we move to the start of the twentieth century and China is in the middle of the Boxer Rebellion, where rural farmers fight back against the Western influence and the incursion of Christianity. We see the rise of a rebellion that believes that they can bounce blades off their skin, but the eight nation army they face use rifles.

We all must die, and we die only once.

Finally, we see the end of the Korean War in Four Riders, where ex-soldiers team up to take on drug dealers in the capital Seoul. When one of them is framed for murder, the fight gets serious, as four vets take on the multitudes of organised crime.

A hero has no regrets.

It may not be an accurate depiction of history, but HORRIBLE HISTORY: Four Historical Epics by CHANG CHEH (Eureka Classics) sure is entertaining.

HORRIBLE HISTORY: Four Historical Epics by CHANG CHEH (Eureka Classics) is available on Blu-ray

 

LIMITED EDITION TWO-DISC BLU-RAY FEATURES:

 

Limited edition of 2000 copies

Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)

1080p HD presentations on Blu-ray from masters supplied by Celestial Pictures

Original mono audio tracks

Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release

Two new commentaries by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist and filmmaker Michael Worth

Two new commentaries by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema

National Defence – A new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on Boxer Rebellion

Rewriting History – A new video essay on Chang Cheh’s historical films by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of China

PLUS: A Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on all four films in this set by writer and critic James Oliver