This is perfect time to be get into classic Hong Kong cinema because so many films have been restored and upgraded to Blu-ray over the last few years. As much as I miss Dave’s Videodrome in Carrboro, NC with their shelves overflowing with tape boxes involving Asian cinema, the VHS transfers didn’t give us the glory of the costumes and sets. Many of them were pan and scan. We weren’t getting the full cinematic experience. Now a double feature with the Yuen Clan magic finally coming to Blu-ray. Two Taoist Tales features Taoism Drunkard and The Young Taoism Fighter. These came out in the mid-80s when magic was mixed in with martial arts action. Two Taoist Tales arrive in September. Here’s the press release from Eureka! Entertainment:
EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF
TWO TAOIST TALES
– TAOISM DRUNKARD / THE YOUNG TAOISM FIGHTER –
ON BLU-RAY FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Mad Martial Arts Mayhem from the Celebrated Yuen Clan
Eureka Entertainment announces the Sept 24th release of Two Taoist Tales (Taoism Drunkard and The Young Taoism Fighter), a couple of crazy kung fu extravaganzas from the first family of Hong Kong martial arts, the Yuen Clan, presented in their worldwide debuts on Blu-ray from brand new 2K restorations. Available from the Eureka Classics range, the first print run of 2000 copies only will exclusively feature a limited edition O-card slipcase, and a collector’s booklet.
In the wake of Encounter of the Spooky Kind, the Hong Kong film industry launched headlong into a prolific genre cycle that drew upon Taoist folklore. Popular throughout the 1980s and into the next decade, these films combined elements of horror, fantasy, comedy, and martial arts as they pit their protagonists against hopping vampires, vengeful ghosts, and evil sorcerers. Here, Eureka Classics is proud to present two of the most mind-bending
tales of Taoist magic ever committed to film: Taoism Drunkard and The Young Taoism Fighter!
Directed by and starring Yuen Cheung-yan (The Miracle Fighters), Taoism Drunkard follows a man with a love for wine who accidentally damages a sacred statue. To atone for this blunder, he is asked by an enraged Taoist priest (Hsiao Hou-tao) to find a virginal boy (Yuen Yat-chor) to aid in defending his temple from a demonic sorcerer (Yuen Shun-yi). Then, in The Young Taoism Fighter (directed by Police Story’s Chen Chi-hwa), a practitioner of Taoist kung fu (Yuen Yat-chor) manages to separate his soul from his body before teaming up with a vengeful young woman (Hilda Liu Hao-yi) to take on a sinister sorcerer (Kwan Chung) and the evil leader of a rival kung fu school (Yen Shi-kwan).
Filled with imagery both fantastical and thrilling – not least Taoism Drunkard’s banana monster – and featuring some of the most jaw-droppingly inventive fight sequences in the history of martial arts cinema, Taoism Drunkard and The Young Taoism Fighter are cult classics from the celebrated Yuen Clan that need to be seen to be believed. Both films are presented on Blu-ray for the first time ever from brand new 2K restorations.
SPECIAL EDITION TWO-DISC BLU-RAY FEATURES*:
- Limited edition O-card slipcase (First print run of 2000 copies only) featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling
- Both films presented in 1080p HD from brand new 2K restorations
- Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)
- Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
- Brand new audio commentaries on both films by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- Brand new audio commentaries on both films by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Brand new interview with director and actor Yuen Cheung-yan
• Brand new interview with critic Andrew Heskins (easternKicks) - Trailers
- PLUS: A limited edition collector’s booklet (First print run of 2000 copies only) featuring new writing on the film by Southeast Asian horror expert Dr. Katarzyna Ancuta, and Spooky Encounters author Daniel O’Brien
* All extras subject to change
