Normally when you hear about a historical film, the immediate reaction is the film is going to be rather dry. The actors impersonating legendary figures will be doing their best to be Oscar-worthy. The script is controlled by a historical accuracy advisor from a museum or university. Every frame will be filled with profundity. When Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh arrived I sensed this was somehow his attempt to make noble films at Shaw Brothers. Would his take on Marco Polo and Boxer Rebellion be extremely educational? It felt like this was going to be a lot more serious than his Five Deadly Venoms and One-Armed Swordsman. The best news is that you’ll know these are Chang Cheh movies from the opening scenes and not the Hong Kong director pretending to be David Lean.
Marco Polo (1975 – 109 minutes) is not close to what your history teacher lectured about the legendary explorer who went to Asia. Mostly I remember that Marco Polo introduced spaghetti noodles to Italy. Marco Polo (Dig Your Grave Friend… Sabata’s Coming‘s Richard Harrison) shows up in China and becomes pals with Kubla Khan (Li Tong-Chun). Polo and Khan have a big dinner that turns out to have massive fights between warriors from around the kingdom as the floor show. One of the fighters is Gordon Liu (36th Chamber of the Shaolin) with hair. If this had been covered in history class, I would have been all eyes and ears. There’s a lot of fighting on the screen. Although Marco Polo mostly stands back and lets the experts attack each other. Eventually Marco finds himself running into assassins who want to rid China of the Mongol empire. There’s not much talk of spaghetti. Shih Szu (Jade Tiger) and Alexander Fu Sheng (The Chinatown Kid) are part of the action.
The Pirate (1973 – 101 minutes) opens up with a Portuguese ship using a Chinese crew to hunt pirate ships on the water. Turns out a pirate ship spots them first. The pirates led by Cheung Po Tsai (The Sentimental Swordsman‘s Ti Lung) fool the Portuguese into thinking they’ve been defeated. They board the ship and defeat the crew. The pirates sail off with the booty. Except the fight wasn’t a clear-cut victory. The ship has been hit and is taking on water fast. Cheung orders the ship towards the coast. The plan is for him and a few members to sneak into the nearby town and buy the supplies necessary to fix the hull. This simple in and out gig goes horribly wrong when ex-pirate Hua Er-dao (Fan Mei-sheng) busts out of custody and takes control of the ship. Making matter worse is the arrival of General Wu Yee (New One-Armed Swordsman‘s David Chiang). He’s there to bust pirates for the local leader. Although it seems like the people of the coast village have more to fear of that leader ripping them off than the pirate. Once again, this historical piece doesn’t cut back on why you watch a Chang Cheh movie. There are elaborate martial arts fights on boats, land and water.
Boxer Rebellion (1976 – 144 minutes) is an epic tale of the historical era told in Chang Cheh’s style. Around 1900, the Chinese are sick of their country being occupied by foreigners. This includes Christian missionaries who arrived by the boatloads hoping to save the nearly billion souls. Thousands of Boxers (Chinese fighters) swear they will rid the country of the outsiders. Three brothers (played by Chi Kuan-chun, Alexander Fu Sheng and Leung Kar-yan) go in search of The Boxers that train in private. The fighters are part of a cult. They go through a ritual that will supposedly give them iron skin. No blade can penetrate them. The problem is that it’s 1900 and the foreigners have guns. Their first attack on a garrison turns into a bloodbath. The brother realize that the Boxers need to come up with a better strategy than a direct charge on a machine gun. Else their rebellion just going to end in a mass grave. Once they do start making headway, 8 Nations send troops to preserve their interests in China. Will the Boxers be able to withstand such a force? Richard Harrison pops back up here as a foreign general. While Boxer Rebellion seems a bit more historical based with scenes involving the Empress of China, Chang Cheh keeps the fights screens going strong. We’re not bogged down in international relationships.
Four Riders (1972 – 109 minutes) is a rather contemporary historical event. The Korean War has come to an end (like that final episode of M*A*S*H*) in 1953. Ti Lung is unsure what to do with his life. He borrows a jeep and cruises around a peaceful South Korea. He drops by the “Hello John!” brothel in Seoul to have a little fun with his military pension. Things don’t stay peaceful to long as he gets accused of murdering a U.S. soldier. He gets help from David Chiang, Chung Wang and Kuan Tai Chen to hide out from the law. Mostly this is done by taking cover at a prostitute’s house. There’s a lot of footage of Seoul, although taken in the mid-70s so it’s not exactly the ravages of war. This is an interesting historical drama since it delves into a warzone after peace has broken out.
Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh is not a quartet of dry history lessons. Everything you crave from a Shaw Brothers movie directed by Chang Cheh is on the screen. Plus there’s a slight understanding of historical events. Mostly you get a history that includes lots of kicks and blows being dished out by Alexander Fu Sheng, Ti Lung and David Chiang. Chang Cheh was making his kind of movie in a different era and not chasing after awards. We’re not bogged down with details and a timeline. Just a warning for any young scholar wanting to do their research paper on Marco Polo from the movie in the boxset: You will flunk the class. Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh reminds us that history can kick ass if Chang Cheh is the cinematic historian.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic so you get the full Shawscope aspect ratio. The 1080p transfers bring out the historical elements of the settings. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Mono in Mandarin. You’ll hear all the hits. The movies are subtitled in English.
Audio Commentaries on The Pirate and Four Riders are by Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and Michael Worth (producer on Enter the Clones of Bruce). We learn about The Pirate at the heart of the movie was a historical figure.
Audio Commentaries on Marco Polo and Boxer Rebellion are by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. The duo explains what really happened when Marco Polo met Kubla Khan. We also learn more about the Boxer Rebellion.
National Defence (19:13) has Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong gives the historical context to the Boxer Rebellion. He gets into why missionaries and ambassadors were killed. We learn how the Shaw Brothers made this historical event and exciting martial arts movie.
History Making: Chang Cheh’s International 1970s (21:14) is a video essay on Chang Cheh’s historical films by Jonathan Clements. He gets into how Hong Kong cinema was taken over by kung fu movies in the ’70s. This changed the studio’s approach to their historical movies. He gets into how the Shaw Brothers got more international as their films found markets outside of Asia.
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju). This version of the release is limited to 2,000 copies in the U.S.
Limited edition collector’s booklet contains an essay by James Oliver on all four films.
Eureka! Entertainment presents Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh (Special Edition). Directed by Chang Cheh. Screenplays by Chang Cheh and Ni Kuang. Starring Alexander Fu Sheng, Phillip Kwok, Gordon Liu, Ti Lung, David Chiang and Richard Harrison. Boxset Contents: 4 movies on 2 Blu-ray Discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 10, 2024.
