Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Hapkido Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 30, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow Video's Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido double feature release.

Perhaps some of you saw the reactions, many hilarious, when Jennifer Lawrence recently made the perhaps unwise assertion that, before she assumed the role of Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise, "nobody had ever put a woman in the lead of an action movie because it wouldn't work". Just my own personal social media feed had any number of laugh out loud responses to Lawrence's questionable claim, including a few by some notable women who had themselves been "the lead of an action movie" maybe even before Lawrence was a gleam in her parents' eyes. In fact, both Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido came along long enough ago that they may well have been in significantly "pre-gleam" territory for Lawrence's parents, but one way or the other, both of the films Arrow has aggregated in this new set provide more than ample proof that yes, Virginia (and/or Jennifer), there were indeed women in the leads of action movies long before The Hunger Games (and, really, couldn't a cogent case be made that titles as old as the original 1914 version of The Perils of Pauline* qualify?).

*The link points to one of many remakes.

Hapkido is perhaps arguably a bit more overt in its dissection of disputes between various Asian nations, and in this particular case, it's not just the oft used trope of Japanese and Chinese coming to blows, there's the "added attraction" of Korea in the mix this time. For those unacquainted with the term, hapkido is in fact a Korean martial art, and one of the maybe slightly hilarious "extras" on this disc is an alternate soundtrack where every instance of "kung fu" has been (properly, some would argue) replaced with the term "hapkido". In this case, there are Chinese, of course, including hapkido student Yu Ying (Angela Mao), but it's the Japanese who are (perhaps predictably) the villains, one way or the other.

Hapkido takes place in 1934, and it may perhaps unintentionally provide a bit of a history lesson for we dunderheaded Westerners who might be only dimly aware that Japan occupied China at one point, and completely unaware that Japan similarly occupied Korea. While Yu Ying and two male friends have been studying hapkido in Korea, their goal is to return to China and being teaching it there, but the nasty Japanese have other plans. Yu Ying's friends are played by Carter Wong and Sammo Hung, playing things patently for laughs some of the time, but also coming through in some spectacularly staged fight choreography. In fact, while Mao is again the focal character, Wong and Hung in particular have some really fun moments, and some of the film's most visceral action sequences come courtesy of these two characters.

Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lady Whirlwind is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet lumps both of the films included in this release together in its verbiage about the transfers:

Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido are both presented in their original 2.35:1 aspect ratio [sic] with their original Mandarin and English monoaural soundtracks. In addition, Hapkido features two alternate English soundtrack options: an additional version of the vintage monoaural dub where all instances of the phrase "kung fu" have been dubbed over with the word "hapkido"; and a newer dub in 5.1 surround, recorded for the film's re-release on DVD in 2006.

Both films were restored in 2K resolution from original film elements by Fortune Star, who supplied these masters to Arrow Video for this Blu-ray release. Additional audio elements were supplied by Irongod2112 and other collectors, and the 35mm trailer for Deep Thrust (Lady Whirlwind) was kindly provided for scanning by Scott Napier. Additional audio sync work on both features was performed by Þorsteein Gislason.

Hapkido is the stronger of the two transfers in this set for a couple of reasons. There's none of the anamorphic peculiarities I outline in our Lady Whirlwind Blu-ray review, and the palette is arguably even more robust in this presentation than in the generally excellent Lady Whirlwind. The outdoor material in this film in particular pops extremely well and detail levels are typically commendable throughout. There are some variances in color temperature, sometimes within scenes (even shots), but on the whole densities are secure and things look fine. Occasionally, as with Lady Whirlwind, certain select shots can suddenly look somewhat degraded (see screenshot 14) for no real reason (other shots of this character in the same sequence look fine).

Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As mentioned in the insert verbiage, there's almost an embarrassment of riches in terms of the audio options here, though that said, a couple of these are "fan curated" and so probably don't offer the fidelity of the original Mandarin track in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. The two English language mono tracks (also DTS-HD Master Audio Mono) differ only in their use of either "kung fu" or "hapkido", which may provide a bit of amusement for some. The English surround track does noticeably open up some of the ambient environmental effects and even some of the music, but isn't especially mind (and/or ear) blowing. The Mandarin track delivers generally fine fluidity and rather nicely robust midrange and low end. The refashioned surround track does open up the action sequences noticeably, but can also add a slightly phased quality. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentaries

  Commentary by Frank Djeng & Bobby Samuels

  
  

  Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth

• Lady Kung Fu Speaks (HD; 18:01) has more of the 2022 Angela Mao interview that is also offered as a supplement on Lady Whirlwind. Subtitled in English.


• Archive Interviews are in English, with the exception of Mao, who introduces herself in English but then the rest of the interview is subtitled:

  Angela Mao (HD; 16:59)

  
  

  Carter Wong (HD; 17:01)

  
  

  Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao (HD; 9:21)

• Original Archival Featurette (HD; 6:40)


• Alternate Opening Credits

  Textless Opening (HD; 1:32)

  
  

  Hapkido (English) (HD; 1:44)

  
  

  Lady Kung Fu (HD; 1:44)

• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Mandarin) (HD; 4:21)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (English) (HD; 4:03)

  
  

  US Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:33)

  
  

  US TV Spot (HD; 00:58)

• Image Gallery (HD)

Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a kind of Three Musketeers aspect to this film, and it doesn't exactly offer a subtle examination of the conflicts between the Japanese and Chinese. Mao, Wong and Hung are a really fun trio, though, and the film delivers on the action side of things very well. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.