Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 24, 2025

The back panel of the slipcover offered with this release states that Chang Cheh is "often described as the 'Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema',” and anyone who has seen any of the nearly hundred films Chang Cheh made during his long and storied career with the venerable Shaw Brothers would most likely be prone to agree. Chang's Shaw Brothers filmography is perhaps unexpectedly varied, at least given the renown his wuxia and general martial arts outings have achieved. Those include such well remembered opuses as The One-Armed Swordsman and The Five Venoms among scores of others (many of which are out in rather resplendent looking high definition transfers courtesy of a number of labels, including Arrow). This collection aggregates four of his so-called "historical epics", and rather interestingly two of the films in this set have at least one Hollywood (or perhaps more strictly accurately American) counterpart. Chang's Marco Polo can therefore be compared to a number of big screen efforts, including The Adventures of Marco Polo, Marco Polo and perhaps just slightly hilariously Marco (if you're unaware of this last one and have a taste for really bad musicals, check it out). Boxer Rebellion follows in a rather interesting tradition of depicting this epochal showdown in the annals of Chinese film (this fascinating article I found online in doing background research for purposes of writing this review suggests the Boxer Rebellion actually more or less gave birth to martial arts films), but might remind some trivia fans of the now largely forgotten Samuel Bronston production 55 Days at Peking. The title of The Pirate may unavoidably recall the Judy Garland film bearing the same name, with the last of the quartet, Four Riders , perhaps being the outlier, at least in terms of familiarity of plot machinations and recycled titles. That said, Four Riders is also distinctly different in terms of presenting a somewhat more contemporary story that may not seem quite as "historical" (at least in terms of how recent the era depicted is) than the rest of the films in this collection.

For reviews of the films in this set, please click on the following links:

Marco Polo Blu-ray review

The Pirate Blu-ray review

Boxer Rebellion Blu-ray review

Four Riders Blu-ray review In Marco Polo, the eponymous Venetian explorer (Richard Harrison) becomes embroiled in a battle between the Mongol Empire and Chinese rebels in the thirteenth century. In The Pirate, the infamous nineteenth-century raider Cheung Po Tsai (Ti Lung) must evade agents of the Imperial Court while attempting to aid the downtrodden residents of a coastal village. In Boxer Rebellion, a group of Chinese patriots use kung fu to protect their nation against invading forces at the turn of the twentieth century. Finally, in Four Riders, a Chinese veteran of the Korean War enlists three comrades to help him escape the South Korean Military Police Command after he is falsely accused of murdering an American soldier.

Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Additionally Eureka provides a nicely appointed insert booklet with information on all four films and a lengthy essay by James Oliver. Packaging features a slipcover.

Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a nicely wide array of subject matter on hand in this set, and Eureka has provided generally great technical merits are some appealing supplements. Recommended.