4k Movie, Streaming, Blu-Ray Disc, and Home Theater Product Reviews & News | High Def Digest
Film & TV All News Blu-Ray Reviews Release Dates News Pre-orders 4K Ultra HD Reviews Release Dates News Pre-orders Gear Reviews News Home Theater 101 Best Gear Film & TV

Eureka Unleashes Martial Arts Fury with 'Super Spies and Secret Lies' & 'The Sword' on Blu-ray November 19th!

Posted Sep 18, 2024 at 08:40 AM PDT by Tom Landy
Eureka-super-spies-the-sword-bluray-announcement.png

Three "undercover classics" from the Shaw Brothers will be coming in a limited edition Blu-ray boxed set from Eureka Entertainment on November 19.  A limited edition Blu-ray of The Sword will also be available on the same date.  

The films included in the boxed set are The Golden Buddha, Angel with the Iron Fists and The Singing Thief.  The release will be limited to 2000 copies (per territory) and will exclusively feature an O-card slipcase, and a collector’s booklet.

In The Golden Buddha, businessman Paul (Paul Chang Chung, Police Story) finds himself in the crosshairs of the Skeleton Gang after he picks up the wrong briefcase on a flight to Singapore – one containing a small golden Buddha that might just play a part in a vast criminal conspiracy. In Angel with the Iron Fists, a mysterious woman (Lily Ho, Lady with a Sword) arrives in Hong Kong carrying a cache of stolen diamonds and quickly becomes embroiled with the infamous Devil Girl’s Gang. Finally, in The Singing Thief, a master cat burglar (Jimmy Lin Chong, Tropicana Interlude) makes the decision to go straight and pursue a new career as a singer – that is, at least, until he becomes a suspect in a series of jewel heists.

Directed by studio regulars Lo Wei (The Big Boss) and Chang Cheh (The One-Armed Swordsman), The Golden Buddha, Angel with the Iron Fists and The Singing Thief filter a craze for films centered on super-spies and master criminals through the inimitable style of the Shaw Brothers Studio. All three films are presented on Blu-ray for the first time from HD masters supplied by Celestial Pictures.

Super Spies and Secret Lies 

 

 

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY FEATURES: 

  • Limited edition of 2000 copies only
  • Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling
  • 1080p HD presentations on Blu-ray from masters supplied by Celestial Pictures
  • Original mono audio tracks
  • Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
  • New audio commentaries by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema 
  • International Super Spies – A new interview with James Bond expert Llewella Chapman on
  • global Bondmania in the 1960s
  • A new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong, editor of Martial Arts Studies
  • Reversible sleeve featuring individual sleeve artwork for each film
  • Original trailers
  • PLUS: A limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on all three films by Iain Robert Smith, author of The Hollywood Meme: Transnational Adaptations in World Cinema    

The Sword 

 

Best known as a key contributor to the Hong Kong New Wave as the director of My Heart is That Eternal Rose and the editor of Wong Kar-wai's Days of Being Wild and Ashes of Time, Patrick Tam began his filmmaking career with The Sword: a love letter to the wuxia genre starring Adam Cheng (Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain).

Believing that he is in possession of a cursed blade, the legendary swordsman Hua Qian Shu (Tien Feng, King Boxer) has retreated from the martial arts world to live in peaceful seclusion. However, his retirement has done nothing to dampen his reputation; a young warrior, Li Mak-jan (Cheng), wishes to challenge the master in order to test his own sword-fighting skill. But as Li searches for the reclusive Hua Qian Shu so that he might face him in combat, he finds himself entangled with old lovers and new rivals. Soon, it becomes apparent that the old master's sword really might be cursed – and will, perhaps, bring nothing but tragedy to those who seek to wield it.

After a period of dormancy, wuxia films resurged in the 1980s as the likes of Duel to the Death, Bastard Swordsman and Tsui Hark's Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain rejected the realist approach adopted by kung fu cinema in the previous decade. Eureka Classics is proud to present Patrick Tam's The Sword – one of the earliest and best pictures to emerge from this wuxia revival – for the first time on Blu-ray in the UK from a brand new 2K restoration.

  • Brand new 2K restoration
  • Original Cantonese audio and optional English dub tracks (original mono presentations)
  • Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
  • New audio commentary by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
  • New audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
  • Andrew Heskins on The Sword – A new interview with film critic Andrew Heskins (easternKicks)
  • Forging Ahead – A new interview with martial arts cinema expert Wayne Wong on The Sword and the wuxia genre
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • A Limited edition collector's booklet featuring an archival interview with director Patrick Tam and a new essay by East Asian cinema expert Leung Wing-Fai
  • Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)

Both titles are up for pre-order now!