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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 »

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.

Delivering jaw-dropping fight scenes, white-knuckle free-running sequences, and breathtaking stunts, Invisible Target is an unstoppable action-thriller that showcases the formidable talents of the next generation of martial arts superstars.

The paths of a renegade cop (Nicholas Tse, The Promise), a rookie police officer (Jaycee Chan, son of Jackie Chan) and a veteran detective (Shawn Yue, Infernal Affairs) converge with explosive results, as they each take on their most deadly assignment to date: the arrest of Hong Kong’s most lethal mercenary gang and their ruthless leader, played by Kung Fu impresario, Wu Jing (The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and Kill Zone). The city becomes a battleground, as both sides break all the rules to defy each other in the ultimate fight for survival, justice and revenge!

“Loud, fast, action-packed, adrenaline pumping, and explosive (Twitch.com)”, Invisible Target is an incredible new-wave action spectacular from visionary director Benny Chan (New Police Story).

Finally out in the UK on DVD and Blu-Ray, S.P.L.: Kill Zone, starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung and Simon Yen. Here’s the UK promo to give you a taster…

Read our full review here »

Finally released in the UK – thanks to a tie-up between Cine Asia and Weinstein’s US-based Dragon Dynasty label – one of the best martial arts films of the last decade…! (more…)

Directed by Wong Ching Po (A Decade Of Love; Mob Sister) and starring Andy Lau (A World Without Thieves; House Of Flying Daggers; Infernal Affairs), Jacky Cheung (Bullet In The Head), Shawn Yue (Dragon Tiger Gate; Initial D – Drift Racer; the Infernal Affairs trilogy) and Edison Chen (The Dark Knight; the Infernal Affairs trilogy), JIANG HU is a stylish gangster thriller.

Andy Lau stars as Triad boss Hung Yan-jau, whose celebrations to mark the birth of his first son are overshadowed by his having to intervene in an internal power struggle amongst his men. Despite the possibility of the situation exploding into all-out gang warfare, Hung is reluctant to take the extreme action advised by his long-time friend and closest ally, Left Hand (Jacky Cheung), who recommends the assassination of not only the troublemakers, but of all members of their immediate families. Claiming to have Hung’s best interests at heart, Left Hand takes it upon himself to order the elimination of those who threaten Hung’s position.

Meanwhile, a parallel storyline is unfolding involving two ambitious young gangsters, one of whom is hoping to climb the ranks within the criminal underworld by accepting a seemingly suicidal mission to murder one of Hong Kong’s most powerful Triad leaders…

A powerhouse cast of Hong Kong cinema’s finest actors helps propel Wong Ching Po’s dynamic thriller to a superbly stylised showdown on the city’s rain drenched streets and a climactic twist that brings the movie’s two plots together in a pleasingly dramatic finale.

JIANG HU (cert. tbc) will be released on DVD (£15.99) by Palisades Tartan on 30th November 2009. Special Features include: “Making of” featurette; music video; trailer; 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital and 5.1 DTS Surround audio options; optional English subtitles.

Just a quick round-up of some future releases to look forward to:

Of course, the chief one will be Park Chan-wook’s Thirst, coming to DVD and Blu-ray on 25 January 2010, an undoubtedly one of the biggest releases for the newly reborn Palisades Tartan label.

January also sees the release of The Twins Effect and Sniper director Dante Lam’s The Beast Stalker as a two-disc collectors edition. Starring Nicholas Tse (Dragon Tiger Gate; New Police Story; The Medallion) and Jingchu Zhang (Rush Hour 3; Seven Swords), this kinetic crime-thriller gets released on 4 January 2010 by Cine Asia.

There’s also the Ong-Bak styled Thai martial arts film, Fireball, from producer Adirek Watleela (Bang Rajan, Bangkok Dangerous) and director Thanakorn Pongsuwan (Opapatika, The Story Of X-Circle). Fireball is released on DVD and Blu-ray by E1 Entertainment.

Just to remind you that the Tetsuya Nakashima scripted sex comedy Lalo Pipo is on limited release around the UK. Those based in the UK and fully digital (shouldn’t we all be) may be interested to know that Film4 is showing Nakashima’s epic Memories Of Matsuko and (the arguably more impressive) Kamikaze Girls, as well as Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata, so set your PVRs.

Directed and co-written by Dante Lam (The Twins Effect) and starring Nicholas Tse (Dragon Tiger Gate; New Police Story; The Medallion) and Jingchu Zhang (Rush Hour 3; Seven Swords), the intense, hyper-kinetic crime thriller THE BEAST STALKER comes to DVD in January 2010 as a two-disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition that fans of hard-boiled action cinema will not want to miss.

Tse stars as Sergeant Tong, a tough and uncompromising Hong Kong detective willing to put everything on the line in the pursuit of the city’s most dangerous underworld kingpin, Cheung Yat-tung (Philip Keung). However, on the day he manages to apprehend his target a fateful car crash sparks a tragic chain of events that begins with Tong accidentally killing the eldest daughter of Ann Gao (Zhang), the public prosecutor in charge of handling the case against Cheung.

Just as Cheung is about to stand trial, Ann’s younger daughter is kidnapped by a relentless contract killer, Hung (Nick Cheung), a man also familiar with tragedy and who has been blackmailed into taking on the job by Cheung’s henchmen. Still devastated by recent events, Tong, against Ann’s wishes, determines to seek out Hung and rescue the young girl in an attempt to find some kind of redemption amidst the chaos of his shattered life.

A pulse-pounding thriller with plenty of emotional kick, THE BEAST STALKER is a gripping ride that features one of the most stunning cinematic car chases seen in recent years and an awesome – and ultimately significant – crash sequence delivering a final twist that will leave audiences breathless.

The two-disc THE BEAST STALKER (cert. 15) will be released on DVD (£17.99) by Cine Asia on 4th January 2010.

Special Features include: Behind The Scenes (The Car Chase; Scaling The Sign; The Street Chase; Little Actors); Making Of; Interview Gallery (Nicholas Tse; Jingchu Zhang; Nick Cheung; Dante Lam); extended/alternate scenes; trailer gallery; Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Cantonese and 5.1 English audio options; optional English subtitles.

The highly enjoyable Ip Man – based on the life story of the man who taught Bruce Lee kung fu – is released on Blu-ray and DVD today courtesy of Cine Asia/Showbox Entertainment. We spoke to star Donnie Yen, director Wilson Yip and action choreographer Sammo Hung last week about martial art films, Bruce Lee, Wing Chun and much more besides…

Also out today…

Palisades Tartan continue to reissue their back catalogue with gusto. Today sees two box sets released: Asian Horror – Essential Collection, featuring Takashi Miike’s Audition, ‘Ring‘ Director Hideo Nakata’s Dark Water And The Pang Brothers’ The Eye. A second box set, Korean Horror – Essential Collection, collects Kim Sung-Ho’s Into The Mirror, Park Ki-Hyung’s Acacia And Won Shin-Yeon’s The Wig. They also release Blood Rain today, an inventive thriller set in the 19th century starring Cha Seung-won (Eye For An Eye, Kick The Moon).

4Digital release Cyborg She, lighthearted sci-fi love story about a lonely young man and his female cyborg from the future starring Haruka Ayase (Ichi).

In the second of a series of exclusive interviews, we chat to director Wilson Yip about working with Donnie Yen, making a sequel for the first time and being in front of the camera… (more…)

The highly enjoyable Ip Man, the latest collaboration from director Wilson Yip and action star Donnie Yen, gets released by Cine Asia/Showbox Entertainment at selected UK cinemas from today, and will be released on will be released as a two-disc DVD (£15.99) and single-disc Blu-ray (£19.99) on 26 October 2009. Catch it on the big screen if you can!

» Read our review of Ip Man here

Donnie Yen and Wilson Yip (S.P.L., Flashpoint, Dragon Tiger Gate) are at it again, this time recounting the life of the famous Wing Chun master who first taught Bruce Lee kung fu… (more…)

WINNER OF BEST PICTURE AND BEST ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY AT THE 2009 HONG KONG FILM AWARDS

Directed by Wilson Yip (Flash Point; Dragon Tiger Gate; SPL) and starring Donnie Yen (An Empress And The Warriors) in the title role, the award-winning wartime period action-drama IP MAN brings to the screen the fascinating life of the celebrated Chinese martial artist who famously became martial arts master to Bruce Lee and was the first person to teach the close range combat techniques of Wing Chun openly.

Providing a dream role for Yen, who has always been an outspoken Bruce Lee fan and has gone on record hailing him as one of the greatest Chinese figures in history, the story of IP MAN and his importance in the development of modern martial arts cannot be overstated. In fact, Bruce Lee was so devoted to his master that he would often sit outside the dojo before classes started looking sullen, pretending that lessons had been cancelled so that, once the other students had gone home, he could enjoy personal one-on-one training sessions with Master Ip.

The year is 1935 and Foshan in Guangdong province is a hive of martial arts schools each competing against each other for superiority. The area’s undisputed Wing Chun master is Ip Man (Yen), an independently wealthy and unassuming character who refuses to give classes and only fights behind closed doors in order to protect his challengers from the embarrassment of defeat.

Several years later, invasion by Japanese military forces sees Ip Man and his family destitute and hungry. In desperation, Ip takes a job working at the local coal plant alongside many of his fellow martial artists, where employees are offered bags of rice to take part in bouts fighting against the Japanese soldiers in the commander’s private dojo. Following the death of one of his former peers in the dojo, Ip volunteers to take on ten Japanese fighters at once, an act which arouses the interest of the Japanese commander, Miura. Meanwhile, on hearing they are being harassed by local bandits, Ip agrees to teach Wing Chun to the workers at his friend’s cotton mill so they may defend themselves. Hearing news of this development, Miura demands that Ip Man also instructs his troops in martial arts. Refusing to cooperate, Ip Man instead challenges Miura to a public fight in which he intends to prove the superiority of Chinese over Japanese martial arts once and for all.

The fourth movie collaboration between director Wilson Yip (Flash Point; Dragon Tiger Gate; SPL) and action star Donnie Yen (An Empress And The Warriors), IP MAN boasts incredible fight choreography and action direction by Sammo Hung (Three Kingdoms; Kung Fu Hustle; The Medallion) and Tony Leung Siu Hung (The Legend Of Drunken Master; The Three Swordsmen). Nominated for 12 honours at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2009 and eventual winner of the Best Picture and Best Action Choreography Awards, the film took the number one spot at the Hong Kong box office during its initial domestic theatrical release keeping both “Twilight” and ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” off the top of the charts.

A sequel to IP MAN is already in production and is scheduled for release in May 2010, while a biopic of Bruce Lee, produced with the cooperation of Lee’s family, is being planned for release to coincide with the 70th anniversary of his birth on 27th November 2010.

IP MAN (cert. 15) will be released as a two-disc DVD (£15.99) and single-disc Blu-ray (£19.99) by Cine Asia on 26th October 2009. Special Features include: Trailer Gallery; Interview Gallery (Wilson Yip, Donnie Yen, Lam Ka-tung, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Ip Chun, Fan Sui-wong, Xiong Dai-lin, Sammo Hung, Simon Yam); “Making Of” Gallery (Making Of, Pre-production, Shooting Diary); Location/Set Design Gallery (The Foshan Cotton Mill, Foshan’s Main Street and Mo Goon Street, Ip Man’s Residence); Gala Premiere footage; Deleted Scenes Gallery; Cantonese 2.0 and 5.1 (with English subtitles) audio options; Cine Asia trailers.

Just time for a quick round-up of other notable releases to look out for in the UK in the next few months:

Wilson Yip and Donnie Yen’s latest collaboration – following S.P.L., Flashpoint and Dragon Tiger Gate –Ip Man, gets released in selected cinemas from 5 October. Celebrating the life of the Wing Chun master who taught a young Bruce Lee his first kun fu lessons, the impressive action choerography by Sammo Hung follows the close-range fighting particular to the style. Look out for a review and, hopefully, interviews soon…

John Woo’s fab return to form, Red Cliff, makes its way onto DVD and Blu-ray on 5 October courtesy of Entertainment In Video. Out the following week, 12 October, comes the DVD and Blu-ray release of the live-action version Blood: The Last Vampire.

Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s second film in his live-action adaption of 20th Century Boys, Chapter 2, also makes its way on to UK DVD, but be prepared for the wait – it’s not until 31 December 2009!

WINNER OF BEST PICTURE AND BEST ACTION CHOREOGRAPHY AT THE 2009 HONG KONG FILM AWARDS

Directed by Wilson Yip (Flash Point; Dragon Tiger Gate; SPL) and starring Donnie Yen (An Empress And The Warriors) in the title role, the award-winning wartime period action-drama IP MAN brings to the screen the fascinating life of the celebrated Chinese martial artist who famously became martial arts master to Bruce Lee and was the first person to teach the close range combat techniques of Wing Chun openly.

Providing a dream role for Yen, who has always been an outspoken Bruce Lee fan and has gone on record hailing him as one of the greatest Chinese figures in history, the story of IP MAN and his importance in the development of modern martial arts cannot be overstated. In fact, Bruce Lee was so devoted to his master that he would often sit outside the dojo before classes started looking sullen, pretending that lessons had been cancelled so that, once the other students had gone home, he could enjoy personal one-on-one training sessions with Master Ip.

The year is 1935 and Foshan in Guangdong province is a hive of martial arts schools each competing against each other for superiority. The area’s undisputed Wing Chun master is Ip Man (Yen), an independently wealthy and unassuming character who refuses to give classes and only fights behind closed doors in order to protect his challengers from the embarrassment of defeat.

Several years later, invasion by Japanese military forces sees Ip Man and his family destitute and hungry. In desperation, Ip takes a job working at the local coal plant alongside many of his fellow martial artists, where employees are offered bags of rice to take part in bouts fighting against the Japanese soldiers in the commander’s private dojo. Following the death of one of his former peers in the dojo, Ip volunteers to take on ten Japanese fighters at once, an act which arouses the interest of the Japanese commander, Miura. Meanwhile, on hearing they are being harassed by local bandits, Ip agrees to teach Wing Chun to the workers at his friend’s cotton mill so they may defend themselves. Hearing news of this development, Miura demands that Ip Man also instructs his troops in martial arts. Refusing to cooperate, Ip Man instead challenges Miura to a public fight in which he intends to prove the superiority of Chinese over Japanese martial arts once and for all.

The fourth movie collaboration between director Wilson Yip (Flash Point; Dragon Tiger Gate; SPL) and action star Donnie Yen (An Empress And The Warriors), IP MAN boasts incredible fight choreography and action direction by Sammo Hung (Three Kingdoms; Kung Fu Hustle; The Medallion) and Tony Leung Siu Hung (The Legend Of Drunken Master; The Three Swordsmen). Nominated for 12 honours at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2009 and eventual winner of the Best Picture and Best Action Choreography Awards, the film took the number one spot at the Hong Kong box office during its initial domestic theatrical release keeping both “Twilight” and ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” off the top of the charts.

A sequel to IP MAN is already in production and is scheduled for release in May 2010, while a biopic of Bruce Lee, produced with the cooperation of Lee’s family, is being planned for release to coincide with the 70th anniversary of his birth on 27th November 2010.

IP MAN (cert. 15) is released by Showbox Entertainment and will open at selected UK cinemas on 2nd October 2009.

Heralded as something of a return to heyday of Hong Kong action movies, Invisible Target isn’t quite that, but it sure ain’t half bad. (more…)