Overview: Distinguished by his penchant for bloodshed and a thematic concentration on the bonds of brotherhood and masculine sacrifice, Chang Cheh is one of the most prolific and accomplished directors ever to emerge from the Hong Kong film industry.

Often hailed as the Godfather of Hong Kong cinema, he enjoyed a career spanning six decades and worked in a multitude of genres, from Chinese opera to kung fu films via wuxia pian, historical epics and tales of the supernatural.

Presented here are ten films that reveal the range and versatility of Chang’s career as a filmmaker. Traditional wuxia pian is represented by King Eagle, Trail of the Broken Blade and Wandering Swordsman; choreographed by Lau Kar-leung, Men from the Monastery and Shaolin Martial Arts are both drawn from Chang’s Shaolin Cycle, included here alongside New Shaolin Boxers; Iron Bodyguard, released at the dawn of the kung fu era, is representative of changing trends in Hong Kong cinema; and some of Chang’s more esoteric work is represented by the opera film The Fantastic Magic Baby and the supernatural fantasy The Weird Man.

Also included is the anthology film Trilogy of Swordsmanship, to which Chang contributed a segment alongside his contemporaries Yueh Feng and Cheng Kang.

All produced during Chang Cheh’s tenure at Shaw Brothers, these ten films are a testament to the director’s distinct aesthetic style and his recurring thematic preoccupations. Eureka Classics is proud to present this selection of Chang’s work for the first time on Blu-ray in the US.

This set will now be strictly limited to a single pressing of 2000 copies and will not be reissued once sold out.

Blu-ray Verdict: This quite brilliant 5-disc blu-ray box-set opens on King Eagle (1971) which opens with three fight sequences in the first twelve minutes! The first actor-centric fight comes when Ti Lung strikes at the gang who murdered his two friends. This fight is choreographed to advance the plot by showing this hero’s skill and strength. It was excellently choreographed and brilliantly executed as were the other two.

Ti Lung owns this movie with his acting and that is something rarely done in a martial arts movie. In addition to doing all the standard hero type acting, Lung also does the romantic side story part excellently. The romantic parts of these movies are typically awkward and forced but here the scenes play smoothly.

Next is Trail of the Broken Blade (1967) where the intricate storyline here has Wang Yu play Li, a fugitive wanted for killing the official who framed his father. His girl, Liu, still pines for him although she is loved by Fang, a swordsman hired by her father to teach her self-defense. Fang, seeking to make Liu happy, sets out to find Li.

When he does, the two form an immediate, instinctive bond of friendship. Eventually, Li’s enemies locate him and issue a challenge to fight them on Flying Fish Island. Li swims there alone, followed soon after by Fang and Liu who join him for the final battle, although they first have to negotiate a cave filled with traps.

Complete with a tragic ending and a beautiful, heavenly finale, this movie is one for the ages and one to excite all fans of the genre that it is included here in this box-set.

Along next is Wandering Swordsman (1970) which is, for my money, one of the lesser films in the career of Shaw Brothers director Chang Cheh, but it’s still worthwhile thanks to a winning performance from the intensely likeable David Chiang. Chiang plays the titular character, a kind of rural Robin Hood hero who spends his time killing robbers and sharing out their stolen wealth with poor and deserving villagers.

When he’s enmeshed in a sinister plot and outwitted by a huge gang of robbers, he must turn the tables and play them at their own game. There’s a lot of wirework-assisted action involving Chiang’s nimble hero who leaps and bounds all over the place and plenty of action, although it’s not quite as gory or as expertly choreographed as in other Chang Cheh films, but that is neither here nor there.

Up next is Men from the Monastery (1974) 2hich details the burning of the Shaolin Temple and the subsequent battles of Ming rebels against the evil Qing overlords. This one is directed by the ubiquitous Chang Cheh and features the likable Alexander Fu Sheng in an early starring role alongside Chen Kuan Tai and Chi Kuan-Chun, both of whom were respected Shaw stars in their own right.

While not as good as the epic SHAOLIN TEMPLE and/or MEN FROM THE MONASTERY still packs a punch for kung fu fans. The weirdest thing about it is the structure, which gives each of the three heroes a twenty-minute back story, which means that we only get to the film’s opening titles about an hour in!

Then again, said back stories are straightforward Shaw in a nutshell, with virtuous heroes battling the usual bad guy gangsters, thugs, and martial arts masters.

Along next is the Shaolin Martial Arts (1974) which delivers pretty much everything you’d expect from a Shaw movie. The story, which is slightly overlong, is dominated by extensive training sequences. The fight scenes are bloody and brilliant and feature some eye-popping violence at the climax.

The production values are strong and the visuals lavish. Best of all is the exemplary ensemble cast. Fu Sheng and Liu both deliver star-making turns are well supported by Chi Kuan-Chun and Tsan Tang Yen as their dedicated allies. Even better, there are no less than four truly bad ass actors playing the villainous team.

In Shaolin Boxers (1976), Alexander Fu Sheng stars as an eager kung fu student who insists on intervening when townspeople are bullied by the town bosses and their hired thugs. For his own good, he is sent away by his teacher to a mountain temple where he learns new techniques from a venerated kung fu master.

When Fu Sheng returns to town, his original teacher has been killed and the gang is trying to force a female friend of his into prostitution. He then goes into action against the town bosses, played by kung fu greats Wang Lung Wei and Leung Kar Yan (who worked together as villains in numerous Shaw Brothers films).

While not a masterwork of the genre, it is still well above average and a worthy showcase for the considerable skills of its dynamic star. Fu Sheng’s actress wife, Jenny Tseng, also appears in the film.

Then comes Iron Bodyguard (1973), a dark historical account from Shaw Brothers and Chang Cheh, telling of the true story that took place in 1898 when Empress Dowager Cixi came to power and executed political opponents trying to reform the country. Thus it fits in neatly before BOXER REBELLION and has a similar flavor to it.

I understand that the film is a little slow and plot-heavy for some tastes, but it gets things right when it comes to the authenticity so it was hard for me to dislike what I was seeing. Chen Kuan Tai handles the righteous hero role with aplomb as you know he will, but the stand-out is Yueh Hua who brings a real sensitivity and dignity to his role. Much of the action is saved for the last half hour, and of course in Cheh’s hands it doesn’t disappoint.

Up next is The Fantastic Magic Baby (1975). Shaw did a number of JOURNEY TO THE WEST adaptations in the 1960s, Chinese operatic stories about the irrepressible Sun Wukong, but as far as I know THE FANTASTIC MAGIC BABY is their only such attempt during the 1970s. It was directed by the great Chang Cheh in Taiwan on lavish, fog-enshrouded sets, and it’s very operatic in scope and tone.

The story is close to events in the novel and the character of Monkey King is spot on, as are the other fan favorites like Pigsy and Sandy. The leads are generally unknown although fan favorites like Chiang Tao, Phillip Kwok and Fung Hark-on play in prominent supporting roles. It’s not for every taste, but I enjoyed this one. The running time lasts just over an hour so an extra half an hour is taken up with filmed examples of genuine Chinese Opera.

Then we get The Weird Man (1983) which is a Shaw Brothers adventure notable for being director Chang Cheh’s last production for the studio; sad times for me, given that he’s my favorite Shaw Brothers director as well as favorite Chinese director in general. As with many of Shaw’s early 1980s efforts, this one flirts with the supernatural in a big way; the titular character is a wizard who spends most of the film in a trance while his mischievous spirit, played by FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS Cheng Tien-Chi, goes on a rampage of revenge against the corrupt official who nearly killed him.

There isn’t a great deal of action either and while the action we do get is perfectly fine it’s not the best of the studio’s output. It’s only at the lavish and mind-bending climax that THE WEIRD MAN becomes really good, in my humble opinion.

Finally comes Trilogy of Swordsmanship (1973) which features three martial arts directors uniting for a unique anthology film. Yueh Feng writes and directs a clever love-and-kung-fu triangle, Cheng Kang both writes and directs kung-fu courtesans battling brigands, and the godfather of the kung-fu film, Chang Cheh, creates a cliffhanging, swashbuckling mini-movie with maxi-action!

Special Features:
Limited edition slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling
Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on all films in this set by film critic and writer James Oliver
1080p HD presentations of all 10 films on Blu-ray
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
New audio commentaries on each film by a selection of Hong Kong cinema experts including Frank Djeng, Mike Leeder, Arne Venema and David West New interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the life and work of Chang Cheh
New video essay by Jonathan Clements (author of A Brief History of China) on Iron Bodyguard
New video essay by Jonathan Clements on Chang Cheh’s Shaolin films

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