Eureka has announced the release of the 1968 Wuxia film by director Joesph Kuo, The Swordsman Of All Swordsman as a limited edition Blu-ray.
Having witnessed the brutal slaying of his entire family as a small child, Tsai Ying-jie (Tien Peng) spends several years wandering in search of those responsible. After years in training, he intends to use his expert swordsmanship to exact violent revenge on Yun Chun-chung (Tsao Tsien) and his four accomplices, who murdered his father to obtain a legendary weapon known as the Spirit Chasing Sword. But after dispatching several rival swordsmen that stand in the way of his righteous vengeance, Tsai contemplates the futile nature of revenge after Yun Chun-chung’s daughter, Flying Swallow (Polly Shang-Kuan Ling-Feng), saves his life.
A rarely seen in the West swordplay epic the film is the first entry in Joseph Kuo’s Tsai Ying-jie trilogy and a landmark work in the wuxia genre. This release is from a new 2K remaster.
Extras are plentiful, the biggest being Kuo’s influential kung fu masterpiece The Mystery of Chess Boxing, available ONLY in this Limited-Edition set. Sadly this extra is in HD but due to the only surviving materials available being a released 35MM print, The Mystery of Chess Boxing is presented with burnt-in-subtitles. To the best of their knowledge, these are the best surviving materials.
The full list of special features –
- Limited Edition Two Disc Set [2000 copies]
- Limited Edition Bonus Disc – The Mystery of Chess Boxing
- Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)
- A Limited Edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on both films by James Oliver
- Limited Edition Set of facsimile lobby cards and Double-sided poster featuring original release posters
- DISC ONE – The Swordsman of All Swordsmen
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 2K digital restoration completed by the Taiwan Film Institute
- Original Mandarin audio
- Optional English Subtitles
- Brand new feature-length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng and film writer John Charles.
- Archival interview with director Joseph Kuo
- BONUS DISC TWO- The Mystery Of Chess Boxing
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray, scanned from the only known surviving print of the film supplied by collector Dan Halsted (Head Programmer at the Hollywood Theatre, Oregon)
- Original Cantonese and “Classic” English dubbed audio options
- Brand new feature-length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng and martial artist/filmmaker Michael Worth
- Brand new feature-length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Limited edition reversible artwork by Darren Wheeling
- *All extras subject to change*