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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.

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).

Yang Ik-june’s Breathless comes to DVD in the UK courtesy of Terracotta Distribution as a two-disc collector’s edition laden with bonus features, many of which are exclusive to this version.

The exhausting list of features includes: an interview with director Yang Ik-june; an interview with actress Kim Kkobbi; behind the scenes at the Rotterdam Film Festival; special Korean Film Industry Preview Screening footage; London Korean Film Festival Q&A at the Barbican Centre; London Press Junket footage; trailers (including Korean, UK and French); and a stills gallery.

This is a superb edition from Terracotta limited to just 2,000 copies. It even includes a collector’s booklet featuring sleeve notes personally written by Yang Ik-june and co-star Kim Kkobbi. Hopefully this will help the film continue to find a wider audience, as it really deserves it.

We interviewed both star and director Yang Ik-June, and his co-star Kim Kkobbi.

Read our full review here »

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 »

“ONE OF THE YEAR’S BOLDEST AND MOST THRILLING DEBUT FEATURES.” – EYE WEEKLY.COM

Following its critically acclaimed UK theatrical release in January, Yang Ik-june’s award winning Breathless comes to DVD in March 2010 as a two-disc Special Collector’s Edition featuring a host of exclusive extras including interviews with the director and cast members, specially filmed festival footage and Q&As, plus a collector’s booklet featuring sleeve notes personally written by Yang Ik-june and co-star Kim Kkobbi.

The winner of numerous international film awards in 2009, including the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Jury Prize for Best Film and Best Male Performance at Montreal’s Fant-Asia Film Festival and the Best Film award and Critics’ Prize at the Deauville Asian Film Festival, the debut feature from South Korean writer-director and star Yang Ik-june, Breathless is a brutal, uncompromising and profanity-filled look at the cause and effect of domestic violence.

Giving a stunning performance in the film’s lead role, Yang Ik-june stars as Sang-hoon, a deeply troubled man prone to violent outbursts, who freelances as a hired thug at his friend’s debt collecting firm. His private life revolves around his extremely strained relationship with his ex-convict father, who was directly responsible for the tragic breakdown of their family, and a slightly more subdued, but still difficult, connection with his stepsister and her young son.

Seemingly possessed by the pent-up rage caused by the domestic events from his past, Sang-hoon finds an opportunity for salvation when he encounters a similarly emotionally damaged schoolgirl ((Kot-bi Kim), who is as foul-mouthed, headstrong and fearless as he is. The two begin an offbeat and touching friendship, not realising that their lives are already connected in ways that will have a profound effect on both their fates.

As moving as it is shocking in its portrayal of people struggling to live in a world of routine violence and abuse, Breathless was hailed by ReelAsian.com as “one of the most powerful films of the year” and by Screen International as a film that marks director Yang Ik-june as a name to watch.

Breathless (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£14.99) by Terracotta Distribution on 22nd March 2010.

Special Features include: interview with director Yang Ik-june (20 minutes); interview with actress Kim Kkobbi (10 minutes); behind the scenes at the Rotterdam Film Festival (20 minutes); special Korean Film Industry Preview Screening footage (10 minutes); London Korean Film Festival Q&A at the Barbican Centre; London Press Junket footage; trailers (Korean theatrical, Korean teaser, three UK trailers, French trailer); stills gallery.

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…)

Martial art supremo Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak: The Beginning (aka Ong Bak 2) comes to DVD and Blu-ray today. This troubled production is much darker in tone to Jaa’s previous efforts, and despite some standout fight scenes its inconclusive ending now makes it seem like of a prologue to the upcoming release of Ong Bak 3 (to be called Ong Bak what???? in the UK?)…

…there are some great fight scenes though, particularly in the 20 minute-odd end sequence!

A breathtakingly impressive directorial debut, and one of the best Asian films of 2009… (more…)

Surely, no need to highlight that Park Chan-wook critically acclaimed Thirst gets released by Palisades Tartan on Blu-ray and DVD? Highly enjoyable, funny and intelligent, it’s everything you’d want from a post-modern vampire film but were too afraid you’d end up with Twilight, instead.

Also out today – and sharing a common theme in Catholism – is the four-hour epic Love Exposure, from writer-director Sion Sono (Exte: Hair Extensions). Highly inventive and less of an endurance test than you might expect at that length, to my mind the end result is flawed – not helped by the lack of chemistry between leads Takahiro Nishijima and the delightful Hikari Mitsushima.

Dodgeball meets Rollerball in this violent bloodsport flick, but before you go thinking we’re back to the excesses of 80s martial arts films, think again… (more…)

Hailed as a “bizarre, baroque, hilarious epic” (Total Film) and a “crazy, perversely monumental teen comedy romance” (Metro) on its UK theatrical release in October, director Sion Sono’s LOVE EXPOSURE comes to DVD in January 2010 as a two-disc release courtesy of Third Window Films.

Winner of the FIPRESCI Prize and the Caligari Film Award at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival, the latest film from acclaimed Japanese writer-director Sion Sono (Exte: Hair Extensions), LOVE EXPOSURE is a monumental work of cinema that manages to combine comedy, action, romance and drama into its compelling, satirical and frequently violent commentary on religion, morality, sexual perversion and, of course, love, both requited and unrequited.

Following the untimely death of his mother during his early childhood, Tokyo teenager Yu (Takahiro Nishijima) is raised by his father, Tetsu (Atsuro Watabe), who has dealt with his grief by becoming a Catholic priest. Despite his new calling, Tetsu is seduced into a love affair with an emotionally unstable parishioner, an act that causes him to transfer his guilt onto Yu, whom he forces to attend confession as often as possible. Eager to satisfy his father’s demands, but quickly running out of false transgressions to own up to, Yu begins to find new and genuine sins to confess, the most effective of which proves to be taking covert up-skirt panty photographs of young women on the city’s streets.

Eventually, Yu’s misdemeanours attract the attention of teenage girl Aya Koike (Sakura Ando) – a con artist, coke dealer, the regional leader of a bizarre religious cult and a victim of paternal abuse – who decides she can use the wayward “king of perverts” for her own means. Shortly after their auspicious meeting, a cross-dressing incident resulting from a lost bet also brings Yu into contact with Kurt Cobain-loving, but otherwise totally man-hating, schoolgirl Yoko (Hikari Mitsushima), with whom he falls instantly in love. The fates of this trio become hopelessly connected and sealed when Yu’s father decides to give up the cloth to marry his lover and Yu discovers that Yoko is about to become his stepsister!

Running at just under four hours (although moving at such a brisk pace it’s barely noticeable) and already being hailed as Sion Sono’s career masterpiece in many quarters, LOVE EXPOSURE stars Hikari Mitsushima (Shaolin Girl; Death Note: The Last Name; Death Note), Takahiro Nishijima (star of Japanese TV’s Ghost Friends), Sakura Ando (Crime Or Punishment) and Astsuro Watabe (Echo Of Silence) and was the recipient of the 2009 awards for the Best Asian Film, the Jury Prize for Best Female Performance (Hikari Mitsushima), the Jury Special Prize for Feature Film and the Most Innovative Film at Montreal’s Fant-Asia Film Festival.

The two-disc LOVE EXPOSURE (cert. 18) will be released on DVD (£14.99) by Third Window Films on 11th January 2010. Special Features include: anamorphic widescreen presentation; “Making of” featurette; trailer; optional English subtitles; trailers for other Third Window releases.

Something of a reduced service here at easternKicks, while I move house and wait an eternity to get my broadband sorted out, but time to highlight the success of Breathless, the debut film by Korean actor turned director Yang Ik-June, at this years Tokyo Filmex, walking off with both the Grand Prize and Audience Award.

Already the recipient of numerous international film awards, the film is an accomplished first work, brutal and uncompromising in its portrayal of the caise and effect of domestic violence, it’s also poetic, funny, and surprisingly uplifting. On paper, a strange mix, but on screen easily one of the best Asian films of the year. The film opens in selected cinemas around the UK on 29 January 2010, distributed by Terracotta Distribution, and is a must-see.

We’ll be bringing you an exclusive interview with Yang Ik-June, who also stars, wrote and edited Breathless, and happens to be a lot more affable in real life than you might expect from his role, as well as a review of the film itself.

Director Sion Sono follows up Exte: Hair Extensions with an equally unpredictable (nearly) four-hour epic love story… of sorts… (more…)

Out in cinemas across the UK today, not one but two major releases for Asian film fans. Ong Bak: The Beginning, courtesy of Revolver Entertainment, and Thirst, courtesy of Metrodome/Palisades Tartan.

Here’s just a taster of that epic finale scene Ong Bak: The Beginning to keep you going…