Eureka in the UK are going to release the King Hu classic Wuxia film The Valiant Ones onto Blu-ray and 4K UHD from a new remaster as part of their Masters of Cinema series.
During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (Chao Lei), China’s coastal regions have come under attack by wokou – Japanese pirates under the leadership of the infamous Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung). To combat this threat, the Emperor tasks a trusted general, Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi), with assembling a group of skilled warriors to find and eliminate the pirates. Under the command of General Yu Dayou (Roy Chiao), the band of soldiers – including husband-and-wife sword-fighters Wu Ji-yuan (Wing Bai) and Wu Ruo-shi (Hsu Feng ) – set out to draw Hakatatsu, his ally Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) and their pirate clan into a series of spectacular showdowns.
Extras:
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju) | 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K digital restoration of the original negatives gifted by director King Hu to the Hong Kong Film Archive | Uncompressed original Mandarin mono restored from the original soundtrack negative | Optional English subtitles newly translated for this release | Brand new audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) | Tony Rayns on The Valiant Ones – Brand new interview with critic and Asian film expert Tony Rayns | Brand new video essay by David Cairns | The Life of a Lucky Stuntman – Brand new interview with stuntman Billy Chan | My Father and I – Brand new interview with actor Ng Ming-choi | Archival 2003 interview with actress Hsu Feng by Frédéric Ambroisine | Archival 2003 interview with Roger Garcia (Hong Kong International Film Festival Society) by Frédéric Ambroisine | Archival 2016 interview with actor Ng Ming-choi by Frédéric Ambroisine | PLUS: A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jonathan Clements
