King Hu elevated with the sword fighting genre known as wuxia when he directed Come Drink With Me. He made action just fly across the screen. Other quickly caught on to making the camera and editing interact more with the swords and fists. Nearly a decade later, he helmed The Valiant Ones. The movie is about a Chinese couple that comes to the coast to battle Japanese pirates. King Hu brings the sword play and the intrigue. The movie is finally getting released on 4K UHD and Blu-ray in North America by Eureka! Here’s the press release from Eureka! with all the details:
| EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES KING HU’S LAST GREAT MASTERPIECE, THE VALIANT ONES, ON 4K UHD & BLU-RAY The North American Home Video Debut! |
| Eureka Entertainment announces the May 28 release of The Valiant Ones, King Hu’s last great masterpiece from the golden age of wuxia cinema. Presented from a brand new 4K restoration on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, and part of the Masters of Cinema Series, the first print run of 2000 copies of each format in each territory will feature a Limited edition O-card slipcase. The Valiant Ones is perhaps the last true wuxia film directed by celebrated Taiwanese filmmaker King Hu, an undisputed master of the genre. Shot back-to-back with The Fate of Lee Khan (but not released until two years later), it stands as a worthy follow-up to his earlier works Come Drink with Me, Dragon Inn and A Touch of Zen. During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (Chao Lei), China’s coastal regions have come under attack by wokou – Japanese pirates under the leadership of the infamous Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung). To combat this threat, the Emperor tasks a trusted general, Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi), with assembling a group of skilled warriors to find and eliminate the pirates. Under the command of General Yu Dayou (Roy Chiao), the band of soldiers – including husband-and-wife sword-fighters Wu Ji-yuan (Wing Bai) and Wu Ruo-shi (Feng Hsu) – set out to draw Hakatatsu, his ally Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) and their pirate clan into a series of spectacular showdowns. |
SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES:
• Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju) [First print run of 2000 copies only]
• 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K digital restoration of the original negatives gifted by director King Hu to the Hong Kong Film Archive
• Uncompressed original Mandarin mono restored from the original soundtrack negative
• Optional English subtitles newly translated for this release
• Brand new audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
• Tony Rayns on The Valiant Ones – Brand new interview with critic and Asian film expert Tony Rayns
• Tsar of all the Wuxia – Brand new video essay by David Cairns
• The Life of a Lucky Stuntman – Brand new interview with stuntman Billy Chan
• My Father and I – Brand new interview with actor Ng Ming-choi
• Archival 2003 interview with actress Hsu Feng by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Archival 2003 interview with Roger Garcia (Hong Kong International Film Festival Society) by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Archival 2016 interview with actor Ng Ming-choi by Frédéric Ambroisine
• PLUS: A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jonathan Clements
SPECIAL EDITION 4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY FEATURES:
• Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju) [First
print run of 2000 copies only]
• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation, presented in Dolby Vision HDR from a 4K digital restoration of the original negatives gifted by director King Hu to the Hong Kong Film Archive • Uncompressed original Mandarin mono restored from the original soundtrack negative
• Optional English subtitles newly translated for this release
• Brand new audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
• Tony Rayns on The Valiant Ones – Brand new interview with critic and Asian film expert Tony Rayns
• Tsar of all the Wuxia – Brand new video essay by David Cairns
• The Life of a Lucky Stuntman – Brand new interview with stuntman Billy Chan
• My Father and I – Brand new interview with actor Ng Ming-choi
• Archival 2003 interview with actress Hsu Feng by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Archival 2003 interview with Roger Garcia (Hong Kong International Film Festival Society) by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Archival 2016 interview with actor Ng Ming-choi by Frédéric Ambroisine
• PLUS: A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jonathan Clements
PRESS
“King Hu’s vibrant, action-packed wuxia finally restored to full glory…” – Eastern Kicks
“The Valiant Ones delivers riches aplenty as an exemplary piece of Ming Dynasty Chinese historiography, and at the same time as a daringly innovative action-adventure story” – Time Out
TRAILER: https://youtu.be/ReLK3rB0hek
