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This one has been a while coming: a halfway decent UK release of Fong Sai Yuk, aka The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk! THis fantastically enjoyable martial arts movie stars Jet Li as the eponymous lead with Josephine Siao in a great performance as his ass-kicking mother. Directed by longtime Li collaborator Corey Yuen, director of So Close and The Transporter, and with a script by seasoned screenwriter Jeff Lau (Saviour of the Soul, As Tears Go By, Days Of Being Wild), this is one hell of ride featuring some of the most silly but inspired fight scenes in Hong Kong movie history. (You can almost feel the friendly competition between Corey and Yuen Woo-ping’s work on Iron Monkey and, of course, Once Upon A Time In China.)

Previously this has only been available in the UK under in it’s awful English-dubbed form, which even had an incorrect image of Jet on the cover from Fist Of Legend.  In fact the only way to see this in it’s original form in the UK being a Channel 4 screening of both Legend and it’s sequel in the mid-90s – but this new Cine Asia release, licensed from the US Dragon Dynasty version, finally rights (most of) the terrible wrongs this picture has faced. At last we have the original soundtrack, together with a new commentary by Hong Kong movie expert Bey Logan.

There’s also two great interview features with Corey and Lau respectively, where they reveal their inspirations for the movie, and how abundance of similar films (particularly Once Upon A Time In China with Jet Li), made them consider tackling the Fong Sai-yuk legend rather differently than any of these films had done before.

Sure, there is the English dub too (if you must!), but on the whole this is a great package. Notably there is not a blu-ray release of the film – presumably because new master of the movie isn’t that great, as ironically many of the films of the early 90s seemed have been filmed on poorer stock than films decades before, so look far worse in comparison. Perhaps the only disappointment is that, like the US release (obviously!), this is the international edit and not the full length version, available on the now very-hard-to-get Hong Kong DVD release.

You can read our original review here »

The Legend Of Fong Sai-Yuk is released on DVD on Monday 6 September by Cine Asia / Dragon Dynasty.

“BREATHLESS ADVENTURE THAT PERFECTLY CAPTURES THE SKEWED CHARM OF THE GAMES.” (4 STARS) – IGN.COM

The star of the global phenomenon that has already become the biggest selling Nintendo DS brand in the UK, Professor Layton now faces his toughest puzzle yet in the brand new and exciting feature-length animated adventure for all the family, Professor Layton And The Eternal Diva, coming to DVD and Blu-ray on 18th October 2010, courtesy of Manga Entertainment.

Produced by Masakazu Kubo (producer of the Pokemon movies) and based on the Nintendo and Level 5 video game series that to date has sold 5.5 million copies worldwide and been played by an estimated 3 million British gamers. Both young and old have fallen in love with Professor Layton and the film brings the world’s greatest amateur super-sleuth to life like never before.

When Professor Layton receives a letter along with complimentary opera tickets from a former student-turned-opera singer, the contents of the note prove to be irresistibly intriguing. In it, she informs the Professor that a friend of hers who died one year ago has now reappeared as a seven-year-old girl who claims to be immortal.

Hoping to get to the bottom of this puzzling affair, the Professor, young Luke and Layton’s assistant Remi head off to the Crown Petone Theatre to attend a performance of a new opera composed by pianist Oslo Whistler and based upon research by Layton’s mentor, Dr. Schrader, into the legends surrounding the ancient Kingdom of Ambrosia, otherwise known as the land of eternal life. At the theatre, it soon becomes apparent that there is a common motive amongst many of the audience members when a mysterious figure appears on stage and announces the start of a brainteaser game. Incredibly, it is announced that the winner of the game will be rewarded with the gift of immortality. With Luke’s help, Professor Layton sets about solving the series of puzzles, unaware that mortal danger lurks at every turn.

Professor Layton And The Eternal Diva (cert. U) will be released on DVD (£15.99) and Blu-ray(£19.99) by Manga Entertainment on 18th October 2010.

The film will also be available as a three-disc DVD/Blu-ray Collector’s Edition Combi Pack(£24.99) that includes the feature presentation on DVD and Blu-ray, plus a bonus DVD featuring ‘Mystery Of The Last Song’, ‘Professor Layton And The Mystery Of The Production Company’, ‘Professor Layton And The Mystery Of The 3D CG’ and a promo video for the Professor Layton games.

Additionally, there will be a three-disc DVD/Blu-ray Deluxe Collector’s Edition Combi Pack(£49.99) featuring the same components as the standard Combi Pack plus a super-collectable 630-page Storyboard Book and rigid art box outer packaging.

Three lucky winners of our recent Kamui: The Lone Ninja DVD competition should be receiving their copy in the post in the next few days! We had over 140 entries this time, so thank you to all that entered, and if you didn’t win this time do stayed tuned – we’ll be running more competitions soon…

You can read our full review of the film here »

The 2010 Tokyo International Film Festival will commemorate the life and enduring influence of Bruce Lee with a special tribute at the festival’s Winds of Asia Middle-East section, entitled The 70th Anniversary: Bruce LEE to the Future.

Screenings will include the film that finally catapulted him into the mass populace, Enter The Dragon, sadly released just after his death, and a rare chance to see the Japanese version of Game Of Death, distributed in 1978. There will also be exciting new films that pay homage to Lee nearly 30 years after his death, including Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng’s Gallants and Luu Huynh Luu’s The Legend Is Alive.

The 23rd TIFF will be held from October 23-31, 2010 at Roppongi Hills and other venues in Tokyo.

Find out more from their official website »

It’s often easy to forget korean cinema has much more to offer than taught thrillers and action films, and Hong Sang-soo is a great example of a much ‘quieter’ filmmaker whose work is often overlooked, despite his film Hahaha being awarded the Un Certain Regard prize this year at Cannes this year.

From Wednesday 1 to 28 September, the BFI Southbank celebrates his work with a complete overview of his work, including a preview of Hahaha and a personal appearance by Hong Sang-soo himself this Friday. Curated by the ICO, the 10-film retrospective will tour major cities in the UK over the next few months.

For more information on the retrospective and to book, see the BFI’s website »

Sure, I know what you;re thinking, but it’s true – Zhang Yimou (Hero, House Of Flying Daggers, Not One Less, Raise The Red Lantern) has remade the Coen brothers classic Blood Simple as a historical Chinese drama called A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop,aka A Simple Noodle Story.

Will it work? Who knows. Either Yimou is being rather clever or lost the plot completely, but it’s about time an Asian filmmaker got their own back for all the Western remakes. (Even if, if this trailer is anything to go by, it’s all a little close to the original…)

Coming soon to American theatres, from 3 September. As for when we’ll see it in the UK…?

Yes, The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk aka Fong Sai Yuk, another Jet Li classic, finally makes its way onto UK DVD in its original language (though sadly still the US Dimension cut of some 10 minutes less!) – courtesy of Cine Asia / Dragon Dynasty. Directed by Corey Yuan it’s fun, silly, and with some of the most inspired fight scenes ever – this is unmissable!

Don’t believe me? Just check out this clip…

Yep, Kazuaki Kiriya’s (Casshern) latest and arguably far more enjoyable Goemon is released today, along with Tokyo Gore School and 14 Blades.

Something of a bumper day then!

Yeah, that’s right, just list the cast. Nice one Empire, glad to see you’re keeping on top of quality reviews. All this time I’ve fretted when PR companies asked me for a quote for a cover, tried to come up with something witty and clever, worried that I couldn’t come up with the goods. (And usually don’t, but that’s more to do with the films I get asked about.) And all I needed to do was list the cast….

Mind you, to be fair for some reason the releasing company have seen fit to cut the original quote down from ‘The most awesome action cast assembled ever…’

…Better, but listing the cast? Really? Come on guys, even in a full review that’s a bit lame.

Action super-star Jet Li dazzles with his legendary speed and power in this sweeping epic from the martial arts director of X-Men and Transporter 1 and 2.

Set in China’s Ching Dynasty, The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk tells the story of a ruthless emperor who enslaves his people, and persecutes a courageous revolutionary group that is mobilizing to destroy his powerful regime. When young folk hero Fong Sai-yuk (Jet Li) discovers that his own father is a freedom fighter who has been targeted for retribution, he embarks on a heroic quest for justice that will unite his people and create a legend that will never be forgotten.

Experience Jet Li in the movie event the New York Times describes as “breathtaking”, and delivers “absolutely spectacular action sequences (IGN)”.

Yep, I’d forgotten just how much I enjoyed some of the action scenes in Invisible Target (and how good Nicholas Tse was in them!), so here’s a special treat for you. And there’s loads more – it’s like all the best bits from Divergence and New Police Story without the, well, schmaltz.

The UK DVD and Blu-ray versions are out today (at last!) and it’s a pretty solid release. Basically this is the US Dragon Dynasty release, which itself transfers most of the content from the outstanding Hong Kong 2-disc and 3-disc releases. The big difference is the original commentary is supplanted with a new one with DD fave Bey Logan and stars Jaycee Chan, Shawn Yue and Andy On. And the Blu-Ray is even out a few days before the US gets it!

You can read our full review here »

The full programme for the Venice Film Festival has been announced, including new films by Takashi Miike and Tsui Hark, and the adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood (more…)

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We have three copies of Kamui – “probably the best ninja movie ever made” – on DVD up for grabs in our easy-to-enter giveaway! (more…)

This impressive action/thriller from director Benny Chan (New Police Story, Rob-B-Hood, Divergence) starring Nicholas Tse, Jaycee Chan Shawn Yue and everyone’s favourite bad guy Wu Jing comes to UK DVD and Blu-ray from Cine Asia via US label Dragon Dynasty’s fine two disc set.