Ringo Lam's SKY ON FIRE available on digital today, Tuesday, May 2nd; coming to Blu-ray & DVD on June 13th

Well Go USA

Entertainment

Presents

Sky on Fire / Chongtian huo

Directed by Ringo Lam

China/Hong Kong, 2016, 100 minutes

Legendary filmmaker Ringo Lam (City on Fire, Full Alert) returns to his Hong Kong roots with Sky on Fire, the explosive crime drama packed with high-speed car chases, dramatic plot twists and fiery gunfights. The film also marks Daniel Wu’s return to Asian cinema following his stateside success on the TV series “Into the Badlands” and the international blockbuster Warcraft: The Beginning.

Wu plays a security officer who becomes embroiled in an epic battle to protect stem cell research, which can potentially cure cancer, from falling into the wrong hands. The film also stars Zhang Ruoyun in his feature film debut, Zhang Jingchu (Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation), Chang Hsiao Chuan (Wild City) and Amber Kuo (Lord of Shanghai).

Sky on Fire blasts onto digital today, Tuesday, May 2nd and on Blu-ray™ and DVD June 13th from Well Go USA Entertainment.

Synopsis:
In this driving, non-stop action thriller, the chief security officer at a top-secret medical facility (Daniel Wu) finds himself caught in an explosive battle when a young thief and his accomplices steal a groundbreaking curative medicine. After discovering the true origins of the medicine, the officer must decide whom he can trust to protect the cure from falling into the wrong hands and prevent an all-out war from bringing the city to its knees.

Chinese historical drama THE LAST SUPPER will arrive on October 14th

Random Media and Cinedigm

Present

The Last Supper / Wang de Shengyan

Directed by Lu Chuan

China, 2012, 116 minutes

Language: Mandarin w/ English subtitles

International, Epic Adventure Of War, Dreams and Betrayals

Arrives On Blu-ray, DVD And Digital HD October 14

 “Compelling in its detailed intrigues and magnificent frescoes” - Variety

The heroic Chinese-language historical drama, The Last Supper, will arrive on Blu-ray ($19.93), DVD ($14.93) and Digital HD on Tuesday, October 14 from Random Media and Cinedigm. Featuring lavish action sets and extravagant style, the visually stunning retelling of the Han dynasty is directed by internationally acclaimed filmmaker Lu Chuan (City of Life and Death) and features China’s two-time Asian Film Awards nominee Ye Liu (City of Life and Death), Daniel Wu (Protégé, The Banquet, Legend of the Black Scorpion) and Chen Chang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

The Last Supper follows Liu Bang (Ye), the first emperor of China’s Han Dynasty, as he recounts his life on his deathbed through restless memories and flashbacks. Haunted by nightmares of his biggest enemies, Lord Yu (Wu) and General Xin (Chen), Bang recalls his betrayal of both men due to his overwhelming thirst for power as an uncultured and uneducated soldier, which led to paranoia and fear once he became ruler. Even years after the deaths of Yu and Xin, Bang’s soul is still deeply troubled as he is unable to find peace in the position he dreamed of and fought ruthlessly to achieve.

Synopsis: Witness a young peasant’s meteoric rise to power in this action-packed martial arts saga from renowned director Lu Chuan. During the tumultuous last days of the Qin dynasty, the Commander of the era’s most powerful army recognizes great potential in an inexperienced laborer named Liu. When he gives Liu command of thousands of officers, he unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that will put his own life in peril and determine the fate of a nation. Praised by audiences and critics alike, The Last Supper chronicles the brutality of war and the devastation of betrayal.

I'm expecting a screener, so look for a review here at AsianCineFest on or just before the October 14 release date.

THAT DEMON WITHIN opens tomorrow in limited release

China Lion

presents

That Demon Within / Mo jing

Directed by Dante Lam

Hong Kong/China, 2014, 112 minutes

That Demon Within is the latest film by veteran Hong Kong director Dante Lam (Unbeatable, The Viral Factor). It will open in North America tomorrow, Friday, April 18th, day-and-date with its Hong Kong release. The movie will screen in major metro areas throughout the U.S. and Canada, including Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Vancouver.(Check local listings.)

Golden Horse Award-winner Daniel Wu (Overheard, Hot Summer Days, Control) stars as Dave Wong, a 35 year old who's been a police officer for 17 years. In that time he's served in 23 of Hong Kong's 42 precincts. The reason is that he's a stubborn, overly conscientious cop who gets along with no one. He's currently assigned to manning a post at a hospital E.R. in West Kowloon by himself.

Daniel Wu as troubled police officer Dave Wong

One night a wounded man comes into the E.R. He's Hon Kong, an armed robber and a cop killer. He needs blood, but the hospital is very low on his blood type. Kong is played by Nick Chueng, who recently won the award for Best Actor at the 33rd Hong Kong film awards for his performance in Unbeatable (2013).

Wong, who is unaware of who and what Wong is, happens to be the same type and he donates the blood that saves Kong's life. Soon thereafter he's roundly berated by Sr. Inspector C.F. "Pops" Mok for saving not just a notorious criminal, but a cop killer to boot.

Nick Cheung as Hon Kong

It quickly becomes clear that Wong has some serious issues, ones that for the most part originated in the enormous demands his father placed on him during his youth. As a result, he's very guilty about having been instumental in saving Kong's life. Wong's supervisor, Liz Kwok (Christie Chen, in her second feature film) has her sister Stephanie, who's a psychiatrist, examine Wong to ascertain just how severe his problems are.

As the film heads towards it's violent conclusion, the key question is will Wong be able to master the demon within him or succumb to its self-destructive power.

Two of the thieves in their demon masks during a shoot-out with police

There were several aspects of the film that brought other movies to mind. At the beginning, the gang of crooks don demon masks that made me think of those worn in The 5 Deadly Venoms. The street battles between the thieves and police were reminiscent of Heat. Finally, the female shrink examining an officer of the low reminded me of Infernal Affairs. This is not to suggest that I found That Demon Within derivative, because I didn't. I mention these comparison only because they kicked off the associations I mention. Maybe Lam intended them to be references or homages, maybe not.

Whatever the case, Lam, who co-wrote the screenplay with Wai Lun Ng, has fashioned a gripping psychological action-thriller. If it's playing near you, by all means check it out. It's well worth your time and money.

ACF Rating: 3 out of 4 stars; a good film, solidly recommended.

Info and video clips at That Demon Within's official website.

Further info about That Demon Within can be found at China Lion on Facebook.

ACF 093: Who Killed Empress Wan in "Legend of the Black Scorpion"?

SPOILER ALERT !!!
This article reveals some plot points in the film
Legend of the Black Scorpion.

Several people have been referred to my review in ACF 079 when they ran searches that asked, in essence, "Who killed Empress Wan in Legend of the Black Scorpion?" I didn't discuss the matter in my review, but since there seems to be at least a fair amount of interest in the question, here goes.

The short, and correct, answer is that the film does not reveal who kills Empress Wan (Zhang Ziyi) at the end of the film. Neither Feng Xiaogang, the director, nor the cast have said. In his interview on Disc 2 of the Dragon Dynasty DVD release, actor Daniel Wu (Prince Wu Luan) teasingly says that he knows but won't tell.

My thought, when I first saw the film at the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival, was that it was the ghost of the dead Emperor, Prince Wu's father, who killed her. I mean, if his armor can bleed, why couldn't he strike her down after all the misfortune that she'd caused, even if she didn't do it deliberately?

One of the members of Subway Cinema, the organization that sponsored the festival, told me that he thought it was Minister Yin, who had been sent into exile by the Empress. The logic here was that he was the only significant character that was still alive. Turns out this was close to the mark.

Bey Logan, in his terrific commentary accompanying the movie on Disc 1, discusses what he knows, and sheds considerable light on the vexing question. According to him, the script originally called for the one maid who is seen in several shots throughout the film (she's in the background in the screen shot above) to kill the Empress. Furthermore the murder was done at the bidding of Minister Yin, who certainly had motives.

I believe Logan also said that scenes that would have given the maid greater presence, and perhaps some that actually showed the order being given and the deed being done, either were not shot or were deleted when the director decided to make the ending ambiguous.

So there's the best answer available that I know of. As Logan delightfully puts it: "It was the maid what done it."

ACF 079: "Legend of the Black Scorpion" Streets Tomorrow

Legend of the Black Scorpion will be available on DVD from Dragon Dynasty tomorrow, Tuesday, February 26, 2008. The film is director Feng Xiaogang's retelling and retooling of Shakespeare's Hamlet. This adaptation is set in 907 A.D. during a turbulent time in the Tang Dynasty. The Emperor has been killed by his brother, who becomes Emperor Li. This role is played by You Ge, best known for his comic roles, but here showing he's more than up to the task of taking on a very serious dramatic role.

Emperor Li caresses the neck of Empress Wan

Li is motivated at least as much by lust for the Emperor's young wife as by a desire for power. Empress Wan is played by Zhang Ziyi. To accommodate her age, the scenario was rewritten so that she and Prince Wu Luan (Daniel Wu, as the Hamlet figure) had planned to be married. The widowed, and now-dead, Emperor instead had taken her for his own wife, thereby making her the Prince's step-mother.

The film begins at a remote open outdoor theater (shot in the same bamboo forest as the one in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), where Prince Wu Luan has been immersed in music, theater and dance as a way of fleeing the court after his father married his beloved. Masked performers, seemingly out of a Greek tragedy or a Japanese Noh play, are cut down one by one by masked assassins sent by the new Emperor to kill the Prince. He manages to escape just when we think he's been done in.

The Empress and Prince Luan

The film then shifts largely to the palace, to which Luan returns. Here he deals with the conflict between his distaste for court intrigue and his obligation to avenge his murdered father. But this is not your standard Hamlet, and if anything the film is more about Empress Wan than it is the prince. She desires to rule the kingdom alongside Luan, but must craftily deal with the new emperor's fixation on her.

Empress Wan in the main hall, one of the film's many incredible sets

Feng wanted the film to have the feel of an opera, and the vast and opulent interiors of the palace certainly give it an operatic grandeur. So too do the costumes and the overall attention to detail, which is remarkable.

Legend of the Black Scorpion is a dark and bloody drama, while at the same time being a lush and scrumptious feast for the eyes. And the action sequences, which are interspersed throughout the narrative, are of the incredibly high caliber we've come to expect from Yuen Woo-ping. The man has an incredible imagination and command of what moves and wire work are just right for every situation

The film is getting the Two-Disc Ultimate Edition treatment from the Dragon Dynasty label. The first disc offers both the original Mandarin and an English-dubbed soundtrack. Another audio option is a feature length commentary by Bey Logan, an authority on Hong Kong cinema who has worked in the industry there.

Having seen the film at its New York premiere at the 2007 New York Asian Film Festival last summer, I chose to watch the DVD release with Logan's commentary. He's done a number of them for other Dragon Dynasty releases, but this was the first opportunity I've had to listen to a complete one, and it was terrific. The tone is conversational, not academic, and the man is incredibly knowledgeable. It's a perfect example of what a commentary should be and has made me eager to listen to his offerings on other Dragon Dynasty DVDs in my collection.

Disc Two has an interview with director Feng (in Mandarin with English subtitles) and another one with male lead Daniel Wu (in English). There are also two featurettes that include interviews with most of the principles and some behind the scenes, making-of footage. One thing that I was most impressed with was how genuine Ziyi Zhang comes across. She's so animated, spontaneous, and physically expressive. In these extras, you'll notice that the film is usually referred to as The Banquet, its original international English title.

Legend of the Black Scorpion gets an ACF rating of 3.5 out of 4 stars, highly recommended. I feel I should mention that when I first saw the film I though it was good and probably would have given it 3 stars. But on second viewing, I've been more impressed and hence the additional 1/2 star.

As for the DVD extras, they get a 4 star rating - outstanding. Dragon Dynasty has again put out a great package.

Links (all imdb):

Legend of the Black Scorpion (a.k.a. The Banquet)

Feng Xiaogang, director

Zhangi Ziyi, actress (Empress Wan)
Daniel Wu, actor (Prince Wu Luan, the Hamlet figure)

You Ge, actor (Emperor Li)
Xun Zhou, actress (Qing Nu, the Ophelia figure)

Li Zhang, cinematographer
Yuen Woo-ping, action choreographer
Tim Yip, art direction (he won the 2000 Oscar for Best Art-Direction-Set Decoration for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)
Tan Dun, composer