Available at Amazon.com
Directed by
John Woo
Cast:
Wai Pak……….Chang
Damian Lau Chung-yun……….Tsing Yi
Lau Kong……….Kao Pun
Fung Hak-on……….Pray
Lee Hoi-san……….Pak Chun-tong
Chin Yuet-sang……….Sleeping Wizard
It’s difficult to think of John Woo as anything other than the director of some of the craziest action films ever made. Hard Boiled, The Killer, A Better Tomorrow (and its sequel), A Bullet in the Head, and even Face/Off are all some of the most gloriously over-the-top pieces of action cinema ever created, and each is the singular vision of the man behind the camera. Thing is, few know that Woo wasn’t always a director whose expertise lied solely on gun-battles and explosions. Before A Better Tomorrow really found Woo his niche in the cinematic world, he was a man that directed mostly comedies, and initially even tried his hand at a genre where most directors from Hong Kong at the time learned the ropes – Martial Arts. While this period in Woo’s career is mostly forgotten, one film, Last Hurrah for Chivalry, stands as a superior example of the genre, and shows the director honing his Action skills and formula elements to a great degree.
Right off the bat, much like Woo would do with The Killer and Hard Boiled, the film begins with glorious bloodletting. Kao (Lau Kong), a wealthy aristocrat, is attacked in the middle of his wedding reception by the evil Pak Chun-Tong (Lee Hoi San). Invading the party with a large team of ninjas, Pak massacres much of the party, and enlists the help of someone close to Kao, succeeding in badly injuring him. The sequence is packed with crazy Chop-Socky action, as party guest are mowed down by Pak Chun-Tong and his forces of malevolence.
Oddly enough, the film shifts then shifts in focus, introducing us to the main characters of the film, two other swordsmen named Chang (Wai Pak) and Tsing Yi (Damian Lau). Chang, known in certain circles as “Magic Sword,” is a man who is actually just trying to live a normal life. Though he often rights injustices that he sees in public, he avoids duels when he can. Tsing Yi on the other hand, is a man with a sword for hire. He knows what he is and hates himself for it, trying to drown out his sorrow in wine, which he often indulges in.
Here with these two characters, you can see the influences that John Woo has taken with him throughout the years. Both of these men could easily be transposed into a Western, as Chang would be the reluctant gunfighter and Yi a warrior tortured by his past, each reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah’s flawed heroes. It’s interesting to see these archetypes and how well he’s able to put them naturally into an Eastern setting, as later, Woo would take these same archetypes and apply them to his gangster epics.
Being a John Woo movie, the film is of course packed with action, as Chang is befriended by Kao and decides to take revenge Pak and his minions. From an amazing one on one sword battle with a man named Pray (Fung Hak-on) to the all out assault on Pak’s ninja-filled fortress, with Tsing Yi in tow, we’re given all the glorious heroic bloodshed that we’ve grown accustomed to from Woo, only with swords in hand instead of dual .45’s. We’re even given a bit of humor sprinkled throughout, especially during a fight scene the duo have with a character named The Sleeping Wizard (Chin Yuet-sang), a man whose skill is to actually kick butt only when he’s catching some ZZZZ’s.
Both leads are quite good here, even as the drama of the film has to be quite broad in order to attract a larger Chinese audience. Wai Pak is very likable as Chang and fits the mold quite well, though the role is miles away from his cowardly Snake character in The Five Deadly Venoms, produced a few years earlier. Even more impressive is Damian Lau, who looks quite convincing in the film’s fight scenes, despite not having any sort of Martial Arts training. This is on top of having the best dramatic performance in the film, as Tsing Yi is a man wrestling with his cynical view of the world, finding the only solace he’s ever known in fighting with Chang and righting wrongs. Yi is very much in the same vein as the Tony Leung performance in Hard Boiled
Last Hurrah for Chivalry is a terrific old school Martial Arts film and shows you just how early in his career that John Woo was starting to hone his craft. With its themes of brotherhood and excellent use of slow motion, it’s easy to see the genesis of the director’s style here. On its own merit though, this is a terrifically action-packed Chop-Socky flick that doesn’t disappoint in the slightest from beginning to end.
The Video
The movie’s quality fluctuates throughout from stunning to shoddy, but this is definitely the best print of the movie I’ve seen, especially compared to the All-Region Tai Seng DVD release. There are scenes with quite a bit of degradation, but this is mostly excellent throughout. The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1
The Audio
The main Audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is a terrific new mix of the sound, as you also get the original mono mix here on this disc also. The new stereo track is awesome, and seems to also have a new funky score, which is actually quite good. Besides a terrific new mix of the sound, you also get the original mono mix here on this disc as well. The new stereo track is awesome, and seems to also have a new funky score, which is actually quite good.
Audio Commentary By Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan – Again, Logan impresses with his exhaustive knowledge of Hong Kong cinema, as he doesn’t remain silent for a single moment in this picture. We get nearly every in and out of this film, as we’re treated to tidbits about every actor and theme of this film. For those that really want to know more about the workings of Hong Kong cinema, these commentaries from Bey Logan are terrific.
Pray For Death: An Interview with Fung Hak-On – This is an interesting interview with Fung Hak-On, as he discusses how he met John Woo on a previous movie, and then he was called to be the stunt coordinator on this film. He talks about his experiences with Woo and what it was like on the film.
Deliver Us From Evil: An Interview with Lee Hoi-San – I love this interview, as Lee Hoi-San talks about how it was playing villains in those days and how much fun it was. At one point he says that it was nearly always fun playing these villains, because there was no gray area with Hong Kong cinema at the time. Bad guys were the worst, most despicable villains ever, and it was very liberating to play people so openly evil.
Legendary Weapons of China – This cool featurette has Bey Logan talking about each weapon used in this film and their origins in actual martial arts. This goes about 10 minutes and is pretty fascinating throughout, though I wish they’d give some examples from other Kung-Fu flicks.
Trailer Gallery – You get trailers for this film and other Dragon Dynasty releases.
