InsidePulse recently reviewed Dragons Forever that starred Yuen Biao with Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung which was a semi-realistic gangster film. Saga of the Phoenix stars Yuen Biao a year later in a completely different role and reality. He’s a spiritual man on a supernatural babysitting mission. The movie was a sequel to Peacock King where Biao’s monk character had to deal with Gloria Yip (The Blue Jean Monster) as Ashura, Holy Maiden of Hell. Now the two of them are back for a sequel that doesn’t require you to understand the first film. Saga of the Phoenix is a level of weirdness all on its own.
Ashura, Holy Maiden of Hell has been captured and is sentenced to spend eternity inside the belly of a giant Buddha statute. Her crime was using her magic while on Earth. Ashura doesn’t want to fully accept her punishment because she can’t imagine eternity without seeing the sun. The main abbot takes mercy on her and grants her a week on Earth before she is trapped inside the Buddha’s belly. In order to make sure she returns and doesn’t use magic, Master Peacock (Yuen Biao), Lucky Fruit (Godzilla 2000‘s Abe Hiroshi) and a few other people are assigned to be her chaperones. You can’t just trust the Holy Maiden of Hell to do the right thing. What they don’t know is that Hell’s Concubine (Ghost Ballroom‘s Ngai Suet) has her own plans to consolidate underworld power starting with Ashura. She sends off her minions to gain Ashura’s powers in a Highlander fashion. Things get weird when Ashura returns to Earth and befriends a gremlin looking genie. The cute little critter finds himself possessed by Hell’s Concubine. Will the genie betray his sweet friend? Is Ashura going to make it to seven days and return to the Buddha Belly?
Saga of the Phoenix is co-directed by Lam Nai Choi (Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky) and Lau Shut-Yue (Tales of the Flying Fox). The two directors bring the wildness to the film including fantastical fight sequences that push the stunts with special effects to make the screen crackle. While it was a sequel, there are a few characters that have new actors playing them which is also why you can watch this without seeing the other movie. The sequel was also a co-production between Hong Kong’s Golden Harvest and Japan’s Toho (home of Godzilla) so there’s a Japanese cast including Abe Hiroshi and Shintarô Katsu of Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman. One of the bonus features are scenes that were only in the Japanese cut. This film is as wonderfully bizarre as The Cat that also featured Gloria Yip and was recently released by 88 Films. Her interaction with the genie played by a puppet creation that reminds me of the alien puppet they used for Mac And Me. Genie starts out obnoxiously cute, but things improve when the genie goes evil and attempts to suck the soul out of Gloria Yip. Yuen Biao is perfect for the role of the monk who has to pull off gravity defying fights against supernatural foes. Saga of the Phoenix is a fun and freaky tale about what can happen when you babysit the Holy Maiden of Hell on her last week on Earth.
The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a 2K restoration from the original negative. The freakish nature of the film and the wild special effects shine. The Audio is Cantonese LPCM 2.0 mono. The mix sounds great. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto. They point out how the opening of the film was shot in Nepal.
Alternate Japanese Footage (11:58) are mostly alternate takes of dialogue for the Japanese cut. There are a few deleted scenes.
Saga of Golden Harvest – The International Connection (22:16) has Albert Lee discuss his time at the studio. He gets into the business aspect of how the studio worked with worldwide distribution and co-productions.
Image Gallery (5:25) includes posters, newspaper ads, the booklet, press photos and more.
Original Trailer (3:38) gives a hint of the wildness.
Limited Edition Illustrated Booklet has an essay by Andrew Heskins about Hong Kong productions based on Japanese magna (comic books).
Art Card with the original artwork and the new artwork from the box cover that’s suitable for framing.
88 Films present Saga of the Phoenix: Limited Edition. Directed by Ngai Choi Lam & Sze-Yu Lau. Screenplay by Hirohisa Soda. Starring Yuen Biao, Gloria Yip, Hiroshi Abe, Loletta Lee, Shek-Yin Lau, Shintarô Katsu and Yûko Natori. Running Time: 94 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: December 16, 2025.
