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| Available at Amazon.com |
Bruce Lee often taught that the best style of Martial Art was to “have no style”, in order to completely throw your opponent off, and in reality this may be a rule to live by; but where Martial Arts cinema is concerned, Mr. Lee couldn’t have been more wrong. Perhaps one of the best and most exhilarating themes of the Martial Arts film genre is the clashing of different styles of combat, as it provides a unique experience that only film can really provide. Watching warriors decide in battle whose style reigns supreme is a theme long in tradition and still holds true today, even showing up as recently in Jet Li’s Fearless and a bit in The Forbidden Kingdom.
One of the best examples of these types of rivalries in cinema would undoubtedly be the match up of the deadly Japanese assassins, The Ninja, and the monks of the Shaolin Temple. While flicks depicting the struggle between these two groups can often be ridiculously insane, such as the 1983 Siu-Tung Ching romp Duel to the Death, the most notable and highest quality Martial Arts film to depict this struggle of styles remains a classic of the entire genre: Lau Kar-leung’s Heroes of the East. While not as iconic as the director‘s The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Heroes still features nearly everything a lover of classic Chop Socky could want, but is able to establish its own unique traits as well.
Starring 36th Chamber’s leading man, Gordon Liu, what’s initially astonishing about this film in fact, is just how different it is from most films of it’s genre. This movie doesn’t begin telling a story about some ancient war or rivalry, it actually starts of as a tale of two families who bring their children together in the name of peace. Liu stars as Ah To, the son of a wealthy Chinese aristocrat who marries the daughter of a powerful Japanese family in order to strengthen ties between the two clans. Childhood friends, Ah To and Kung Zi (Yûko Mizuno), initially make a happy couple, but differences in their cultures quickly threaten to break them apart.
In terrifically comedic and action-packed sequences, the couple begin to squabble about their customs, most notably in the realm of their Martial Arts training. Eventually, the two are dueling in their own household, tearing apart their belongings in order to prove the dominance of their own brand of martial arts. Instead of giving in, Kung Zi decides to leave for her native Japan, a move that drives Ah To to come up with a plan to get her back; challenge her to a duel in every form of combat, and if he is defeated in any one of them, he will relent and admit that Japanese Martial Arts are superior.
Now if this were a standard Romantic Comedy this would lead to sequences of the hero embarrassing himself and doing foolish things to win back his girl. In this film, Japanese warriors get a hold of the challenge letter sent to Kung Zi and decide to take it upon themselves to teach Ah To a serious lesson about insulting the fighting arts of the Japanese. What follows in the movie’s second half is a flurry of one amazing and creative fight scene after another where Gordon Liu’s hero must prove the worth of both himself and his Kung fu.
It can’t be underestimated just how well crafted Heroes of the East really is. Lau Kar-Leung is one of the true masters of this period of Hong Kong cinema and with his film he proves again just why this is so. Take, for instance, just how long he puts aside to build up this rivalry of Ah To and Kung Zi. Nearly half the movie is given over to what is essentially the movie’s first act. A lesser director would have probably just gotten straight to the action, but Kar-leung wants you to really get to know these characters and he’s also quite fair with how he treats both of them. Neither of the leads are quite zealots, and it seems that quite often Ah To is very much in the wrong in his arguments with Kung Zi.
It is this philosophy that the director carries over to the second half of the picture. Lau Kar-Leung never gets ethnocentric with his views in this picture, always paying respects to the Japanese fighters and their culture. This isn’t a movie that ever tries to vilify the Japanese people or the way that they fight, and its very difficult to find another picture in this genre that plays things this evenly.
Also, for fans of the Martial Arts films from both countries, Heroes of the East is one of the rare times where a Hong Kong film-maker goes to great lengths in order to accurately portray Japanese Martial Arts. In other pictures, such as Five Element Ninja or Duel to the Death, the fighting is always just a pretty standard version of movie Kung Fu, regardless of where the combatants are from. What’s astonishing in this picture is just how much Lau Kar-Leung wants to really show the difference in styles and the results are quite astonishing.
Heroes of the East is a certifiable classic and a must own for any lover of old school Shaw Brothers film-making. Lau Kar-Leung once again establishes why his name should be mentioned right up with the other greats of this genre, including King Hu and Chang Cheh. This is also a wonderful showcase for Gordon Liu, who relishes this opportunity to bring a bit more of a romantic angle to his standard naïve Kung Fu student persona. Pound for pound Heroes of the East is nearly as good as any Shaw Bros. film I’ve ever seen, and any old school Kung Fu fan should be proud to own it.
Just as its been for nearly the entirety of Dragon Dynasty’s run, the print on this film is pretty phenomenal. The colors on this edition pop and the movie looks nearly as, as there’s very little degradation in this very clean 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen print. The sound design is also flawless here and would alone make it worth owning this disc above all other versions of this movie.
Feature Length Commentary with Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan – Just as he’s done with most of these Dragon Dynasty discs, Bey Logan comes at you here with a terrific commentary track that never stops being interesting as he packs the film with wall to wall tidbits and trivia.
Spotlight on a Legend: A Tribute To Celebrated Martial Arts Icon Lau Kar-Leung With Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan – This Featurette is basically just a 35 minute interview covering the career of one of the greatest directors in Hong Kong cinema history. He also breaks down Heroes of the East fight by fight and manages to find even more trivia about this film than he was able to give us in his commentary track.
Hero of Shaolin: An Exclusive Interview With Leading Man Gordon Liu – The amazing and amazingly humble Gordon Liu gets to have his say about this film in this 21 minute interview. He also speaks a lot about his youth about how he originally got into Martial Arts in the first place and how it affected his life.
Shaolin Vs. Ninja: An Exploration Of The Legendary Martial Arts Weapon Forms Of China And Japan – This is a neat Featurette featuring just what is states in the title, going over the differences between Martial Arts styles and weapons of the Chinese and Japanese.
Trailers
I just can‘t say enough about Heroes of the East. This is a movie with an amazing amount of action and comedy, and one of the best “Style Rivalry” Kung fu movies I’ve ever seen. Dragon Dynasty also keeps up their reputation with a terrific transfer and a disc worthy of this Martial Arts masterpiece.
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Dragon Dynasty presents Heroes of the East. Directed by Lau Kar-Leung. Starring Gordon Liu, Yasuaki Kurata, and Yûko Mizuno. Written by Kuang Ni. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated R. Released on DVD: May 27, 2008. Available at Amazon.com.
About Robert Sutton
