6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 3.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Get ready for the most hard-kicking, face-smashing, snake-fisting trailer collection of them all! From the golden age of kung fu cinema comes this insane tsunami of masters, mobsters, furious vengeance and incredible fighting styles, starring Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Lo Lieh, Sammo Hung, Angela Mao, Chuck Norris, Jimmy Wang Yu and Wu Tang, too. These are the most over-the-top and rarely-seen original trailers for Hong Kong classics that include THE WAY OF THE DRAGON, DEATH BLOW, TWO CHAMPIONS OF SHAOLIN, DAGGERS 8, SNAKE IN THE EAGLE'S SHADOW, SHAOLIN WOODEN MEN, THE STORY OF DRUNKEN MASTER, ENTER THE FAT DRAGON, BRUTAL BOXER and many more, plus exclusive new bonus features that deliver unique historical and cultural perspectives on the amazing world of martial arts movies.
Starring: Bruce LeMartial arts | 100% |
Documentary | 31% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1, 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1, 1.85:1
Mandarin: LPCM 2.0
English: LPCM 2.0
some trailers in each language
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury turned out to be such an unexpectedly goofy pleasure in my review queue that I went back, alerted by that “Return” in the title, to discover that I had never received a screener for the first compliation of Kung Fu film trailers, which was released about a year ago by Severin Films. The nice folks at Severin forwarded me a copy, and so “the first shall be last”, in a manner of speaking. This initial aggregation of trailers is just as enjoyable as the sequel, and this disc actually has more supplementary content than the follow up, including a really nicely done documentary on the history of Kung Fu films.
Kung Fu Trailers of Fury is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in a variety of aspect ratios, but with most hovering around the 2.35:1 mark. As should be expected, there are fairly wide quality variances on display throughout the compilation, though none of the trailers is really pristine looking. Some have suffered noticeable fade (some to the point they almost look like hand colored black and white offerings), and many have more than noticeable damage, including tears, scratches, missing frames and even some fairly bad emulsion damage. That said, there's an almost charming ambience to seeing these often beat up old trailers, which now seem like vestiges of an archaeological dig (which isn't that far off the mark—see the special features listing for more information). Those expecting a complete restoration of these trailers are going to be in for something of a shock, but those with appropriate expectation levels will find everything perfectly watchable.
The fact that Kung Fu Trailers of Fury opts for an LPCM 2.0 mono mix (in a variety of languages) for the main feature and a Dolby Digital 2.0 track for the commentary rather than the kind of perplexing reversal of same I detailed in our Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury Blu-ray review now makes me think perhaps there was an authoring error somewhere along the line with the follow up film, since it obviously makes more sense to feature uncompressed audio with the film rather than the commentary. All of that said, there's still rampant boxiness and damage to weather on these trailers, though the LPCM rendering does up the "oomph" factor in terms of the often hyperbolic sound effects and music choices.
As might be expected, especially if you don't go about seeing this film and its sequel "bass ackwards" like a certain reviewer has (ahem), Kung Fu Trailers of Fury is as goofily enjoyable as Return of Kung Fu Trailers of Fury, with a nice array of films that provide a competent overview of the genre circa 1970s and 1980s. As with the second compilation, there's widely variant video quality, though this disc has properly offered an uncompressed audio track for the main feature. Supplementary material on this release is also very well done. Recommended.
1973-1984
2020
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1992
2021
Standard Edition
2020
2023
1971
Portrait of a Young Man in Three Movements
1931
1967
Limited Edition
2014
Slipcover in Original Exclusive Pressing
2019
2014
Deadliest Art: The Best of the Martial Arts Films
1990
Slipcover in Original Pressing
1993
2022
Slipcover in Original Pressing
2022
Slipcover in Original Pressing
2023
1966
Inferno rosso: Joe D'Amato sulla via dell'eccesso
2021
1977