Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 30, 2022

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.

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

Lady Whirlwind Blu-ray review

Hapkido Blu-ray review

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Arrow provides their typically nicely appointed insert booklet, this one with an essay by James Oliver along with the traditional cast and crew information and technical data. This has some fun illustrations accompanying the text, along with archival stills. Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hey, Jennifer Lawrence (because I know you're reading this): I have a couple of great recommendations of films for you, hint, hint, nudge, nudge, say n'more. Joking aside, this highly enjoyable double feature provides not just disproof of Lawrence's debatable assertion, but also proof of why Angela Mao became one of the most distinctive (and perhaps unexpected) superstars of her era. Video on Lady Whirlwind has some oddities outlined in that review, but otherwise technical merits are generally solid and the supplementary package very enjoyable. Recommended.