SWORD MASTER debuts on Blu-ray & DVD today

Well Go USA

Entertainment

Presents

 Sword Master / San shao ye de jian

Directed by Derek Yee

Hong Kong/China. 2016, 105 minutes

Hong Kong cinema giants Derek Yee (Triple Tap) and Tsui Hark (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate) join forces for an epic remake of 1977’s Death Duel, when the wuxia martial arts extravaganza Sword Master debuts on Blu-ray™ and DVD today, Tuesday, April 11th from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available on digital since March 7th.)

Visually opulent, the film follows a master swordsman who must once again wield his weapon against those who threaten his desire to live in peace. Sword Master stars Kenny Lin (The Taking of Tiger Mountain), Peter Ho (The Monkey King), Yiyan Jiang (Reign of Assassins) and Mengjie Jiangin (Kung Fu Hero). Bonus materials include the featurette “Mastering the Sword.”

Synopsis:
A powerful swordsman is haunted by the destructive impact his deadly talents have on others. Weary of the bloodshed and violence from the martial arts world, he banishes himself to the humble life of a vagrant, wandering the fringes of society. But his violent past refuses to let him go quietly. The master swordsman must regain the ability to wield his sword and fight those disrupting the peace he so desperately craves.

Bonus Materials Include:
-- “Mastering the Sword” featurette

AsianCineFest Rating: 3 out of 4 stars; a good martial arts action flick.

ZATOICHI THE FUGITIVE at Japan Society NY tonight, April 7th

Japan Society NY

presents

Zatoichi the Fugitive © 1966 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

Zatoichi the Fugitive / Zatoichi Kyojo Tabi

Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka

With Shintaro Katsu, Miwa Takada, and Masayo Banri

Japan, 1963, 86 minutes

35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles

When: Friday, April 7th, 7:00 PM

Where: Japan Society NY

333 East 47th Street, NYC

Map

The fourth episode in the immensely popular 25-film action series features iconic blind swordsman Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) going up against a legion of local yakuza henchmen who target him after he defeats them in a wrestling tournament and then kills one of their own in self-defense. To complicate things, a former romantic interest reenters Zatoichi's life and a hot-tempered ronin, to whom she is married, seeks to end it for a reward. Composer Akira Ifukube, most famous for his work on the Godzilla film series, provides a characteristically spare and artful score.

Tickets: $13/$10 seniors & students/$5 Japan Society members

Part of Monthly Classics
Year-round screenings of beloved classics, hidden gems and recent discoveries of Japanese cinema. Only $5 for Japan society members

SWORD MASTER coming to Blu-ray & DVD on April 11th from Well Go USA

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Sword Master / San shao ye de jian

Directed by Derek Yee

Hong Kong/China. 2016, 105 minutes

Hong Kong cinema giants Derek Yee (Triple Tap) and Tsui Hark (Flying Swords of Dragon Gate) join forces for an epic remake of 1977’s Death Duel, when the wuxia martial arts extravaganza Sword Master debuts on Blu-ray™ and DVD April 11th from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available on digital since March 7th.)

Visually opulent, the film follows a master swordsman who must once again wield his weapon against those who threaten his desire to live in peace. Sword Master stars Kenny Lin (The Taking of Tiger Mountain), Peter Ho (The Monkey King), Yiyan Jiang (Reign of Assassins) and Mengjie Jiangin (Kung Fu Hero). Bonus materials include the featurette “Mastering the Sword.”

Synopsis:
A powerful swordsman is haunted by the destructive impact his deadly talents have on others. Weary of the bloodshed and violence from the martial arts world, he banishes himself to the humble life of a vagrant, wandering the fringes of society. But his violent past refuses to let him go quietly. The master swordsman must regain the ability to wield his sword and fight those disrupting the peace he so desperately craves.

Bonus Materials Include:
-- “Mastering the Sword” featurette

Johnny To's THREE is available today on Blu-ray and DVD

Well Go USA

Entertainment

presents

Three / San ren xing

Directed by Johnnie To

Starring Louis Koo, Vicki Zhao, and Wallace Chung

Hong Kong/China, 2016, 89 minutes

Tensions mounts and bullets fly in master filmmaker Johnnie To’s (Drug War, Exiled, Election) Three, his latest showdown between cops, robbers and everyone else caught in the crossfire. The action-packed thriller will become available on Blu-ray™ and DVD on April 4th from Well Go USA Entertainment. (It's been available on digital since March 7th.) My review is based on watching the Blu-ray version.

When a police sting goes bad, a cornered criminal (Wallace Chung, Drug War) makes a desperate choice: he shoots himself, forcing the officers to cease fire and rush him to the hospital. Once there, he refuses treatment, waiting for his cohorts to break him out. Caught between an obsessed cop (Louis Koo, Triad Election) and the dedicated surgeon assigned to save his life (Zhao Wei, Red Cliff), the hospital is now a battleground of deception, double-crosses and a coming onslaught of violence.

Synopsis:
When three disparate souls—a doctor desperate to redeem her reputation (Vicki Zhao), a policeman who will go to any length to seek out justice (Louis Koo), and a criminal with a gunshot wound to the head (Wallace Chung)—are thrown together in the hustle and bustle of an emergency room, a hospital descends from a pristine sanctuary to an explosive battleground.

Disc Specs:
-- Audio:
   -- Cantonese DTS:x
   -- Cantonese 2.0 Stereo
-- Subtitles:
   -- English / Chinese / Off
-- Bonus Materials:
   -- Making of featurettes
      -- “Master Director Johnnie To”
      -- “Three Complex Characters"
   -- Trailer
-- Previews:
   -- Sky on Fire
   -- Cold War 2
   -- Operation Mekong

AsianCineFest Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars; a fairly decent action film from To, but not one of his best.

Korean disaster thriller TUNNEL is available on digital today; will be coming to DVD on May 2nd

Well Go USA

Entertainment

Presents

Tunnel / Teo-neol

Directed by Kim Seong-hun

Starring Ha Jung-woo, Doona Bae & Oh Dal-su

South Korea, 2016, 127 minutes

South Korean superstar Ha Jung-woo (The Handmaiden) plays a car salesman fighting for survival inside a collapsed tunnel while rescue workers race against time to free him in the tense, taunt thriller Tunnel, from internationally-acclaimed director Kim Seong-hun (A Hard Day).

With draining cell phone battery power and a rescue effort that might end before they locate him, days pass by without success, and people start to lose hope as the rescue operation becomes an ordeal when incompetence, the media and government interference slow down the process.

Also starring Doona Bae (Netflix’s “Sense8”) and Oh Dal-su (Oldboy), Tunnel debuts on digital today, Tuesday, April 4th, and on DVD May 2nd from Well Go USA Entertainment.

Synopsis:

When a tunnel collapses on Jung-soo (Ha Jung-woo), the ensuing rescue operation becomes the subject of widespread media coverage and frenzy. But days go by, nerves stretch thin, and Jung-soo must struggle for his life in the suffocating darkness alone.

LEGEND OF BRUCE LEE: Vol. 2 available on DVD today, April 4th

10 episodes in a three-disc DVD only collection

Danny Chan (Ip Man 3, Kung Fu Hustle) is back as legendary martial arts icon Bruce Lee in LEGEND OF BRUCE LEE: VOLUME TWO, which debuts today, Tuesday, April 4th, from Well Go USA Entertainment. The collection features 10 action-packed episodes on three-discs and follows Lee as he comes to America and begins a revolution in the world of martial arts. LEGEND OF BRUCE LEE: VOLUME TWO also stars Michelle Lang, Mark Dacascos, Wang Luoyang, Tim Storms, Ray Park and Michael Jai White.

Synopsis:
Determined to promote Chinese martial arts in America, Bruce Lee establishes a small but popular kung fu school. As he encounters different opponents and their various fighting styles, Bruce envisions a new way of kung fu capable of revolutionizing the world of martial arts forever.

LEGEND OF BRUCE LEE: VOLUME TWO has a runtime of approximately 456 minutes and is not rated.

AsianCineFest Rating: half-a-star out of four stars; worthwhile only if you're a fanatic about watching or owning anything that has Bruce Lee's name in it, or if you're curious about terrible mainland Chinese television.

For some unfathomable reason, the episodes are only available with dubbed English audio, even though option English subtitles are available. The horrible "acting" might have been a tiny bit more bearable if the dialogue -- such as it is -- was in Chinese.