Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson February 20, 2023

In the Sichuan province of 5th century China, young soldier Dik Ming-kei (Yuen Biao) is a member of the Eastern Shu army. Dik has been issued contradictory commands by two warlords in separate units. Soldiers from both factions attack Dik, who later flees to the sea. He hops on a boat occupied by “Chubby” (Sammo Hung Kam-Bo), a soldier from the Red Army. Dik and Chubby fight but are attacked by other armies firing from land. When they reenter the forest, the once enemy soldiers fight rival armies of different colors in a feverish battle. Deserter Dik scurries and falls in a mountainous crevasse. In a cave, he's attacked by vampires but saved by swordsman Ding Yan (Adam Cheng), who later becomes his master. They're joined by two comrades: abbot Siu Yu (Damian Lau) and his protégée, Yat Jan (Mang Hoi). Unbeknown to Dik, he entered the cave's Evil Sect where the shape-shifting Blood Demon (Fung Hark On) and his minions reside. Chang Mei (Sammo Hung Kam-Bo), who has very long brows, can contain the Blood Demon but only for so long. To vanquish the Blood Demon, Dik and his allies must acquire the purple sword of Heaven and the green sword of the Earth. They venture to the Celestial Fort of the Ice Queen (Brigitte Lin) to further their quest.

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain took six years to reach the West after playing in southeast Asian theaters in 1983. It mainly played in repertory cinemas along with other works of the Hong Kong New Wave. Colin Covert of the Minnesota-based Star Tribune wrote his readers: "It's safe to say you never have encountered a film remotely like Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain....[the film possesses] an exuberance that will leave most viewers limp and giddy. Zu offers scenes of spectacle beyond anything attempted in The Adventures of Baron Mun­chausen and pyrotechnics that leave George Lucas in the dust. Prepare for a revelation." Patrick Taggart of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman was less complimentary as he diminished its allegedly tawdry production values, quipping: "Imagine a cheesy Chinese ver­sion of Raiders of the Lost Ark." The overly favorable critique by the LA Weekly's David Chute was more in line with Covert's: "Zu was the model for the Anglo botch Big Trouble in Little China, but there’s really no comparison...Tsui makes his special effects dance and sing and turn somersaults. This may be the most light-footed and lighthearted effects movie ever made."

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout! Factory's new release of Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain arrives on an MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 that's struck from a 2K restoration culled from the original film elements. The picture appears in its original theatrical exhibition ratio of 1.85:1. About three years ago, my colleague Svet Atanasov covered the Eureka Classics BD-50 from the UK. The DI on this disc emanates from the same source. Keep in mind that the 35mm film combines optical effects that doesn't make the image appear all that pristine at times. But colors are often radiant and grain is managed nicely. Shout! could have made much better use of a BD-50 for both the feature and extras as the disc size here is only 28.09 GB. Shout! has encoded the movie at a mean video bitrate of 30000 kbps.

Twelve scene selections accompany the 98-minute central feature.

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has supplied a Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono track (1699 kbps, 24-bit), the original Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono mix (1701 kbps, 24-bit), and an English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo dub (1590 kbps, 24-bit). Shout! announced that it added a new subtitle translation for the Mandarin track likely because Eureka did not provide that language mix on its disc. I can assume that the subtitle track for the Cantonese is a carbon copy of the one Eureka did (see Screenshot #27 for a subtitle sample.) It would have been futile if Shout! attempted to make a new 5.1 remix as audio range is limited by the original recordings. This is probably the best the film will sound (in any language). The score is written by Kwan Sing-yau with additional music reportedly done by music editor Tang Siu-lam.

Shout! includes optional English subtitle tracks for both the Cantonese and Mandarin mixes.

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout! has licensed nearly all the bonus materials on Eureka Entertainment's BD-50 except for Son of the Incredibly Strange Film Show: Tsui Hark and the booklet. It has recorded a new commentary track, two interviews with scholars of Hong Kong cinema, and an interview with a visual effects consultant. Both BDs did not retain an English-friendly audio commentary with Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan and Tsui Hark that appeared on the Hong Kong Legends R2/R4 DVDs in the early 2000s.

• Zu: Time Warrior (1:37:16; 1080p; English Dolby Digital 2.0) - the export cut of the picture produced for European theatres.

• Alternate Opening Credits (2:00, 1080p) - an alternate main titles sequence with voice-over narration that's spoken in either Mandarin or Cantonese. Not subtitled.

• NEW Audio Commentary with Hong Kong Filmmaker and Academic Gilbert Po and Critic Sean Tierney - Po is also a lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University, Tierney a lecturer at Chinese University of Hong Kong as well as a film critic. Po and Tierney were recorded in Hong Kong for this feature-length track. They impart a lot of useful material on Hong Kong cinema for the lay viewer. Because Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain moves at a fast clip, they often describe what's happening on screen and try their best to interpret the content. Both Po and Tierney speak in English; not subtitled.

• Select Scene Commentary with Asian Cinema Expert Tony Rayns (1:08:53) - Rayns talks for the first part of Zu:Warriors. This is followed by a wide gap before Rayns's commentary resumes prior to the one-hour mark. He speaks for the rest of the picture. Rayns discusses the sociopolitical climate of both Mainland China and Hong Kong before and during production of Zu:Warriors. He delves into the movie's literary antecedents and also addresses the Star Wars factor. Rayns is very knowledgeable about Tsui Hark and the film's cast. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW Riding a New Wave – Author and Academic Victor Fan Analyzes a Tsui Hark Masterpiece (27:30, 1080p) - Victor Fan is a professor of Film and Media Philosophy at King's College London and the author of Cinema Approaching Reality: Locating Chinese Film Theory (University of Minnesota Press, 2015) and Extraterritoriality: Locating Hong Kong Cinema and Media (Edinburgh University Press, 2019). Fan places Tsui Hark within the context of the Hong Kong New Wave and his contemporaries, including Ann Hui (Boat People). Fan discusses a highbrow magazine in Hong Kong that was popular with intellectuals on both the Left and the Right. He points out that Hong Kong-born filmmakers would attend a film school in the US or the UK where they were trained in film theory and then later return to their homeland to produce movies. Fan discusses Tsui's career in considerable depth. He examines the camp aspects of Zu:Warriors as well as its affinity with laser technology. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW The Majesty and Magic of a Hong Kong Milestone – Academic Lin Feng Looks Back at an East Asian Action Classic (17:49, 1080p) - Lin Feng is Associate Professor in Film Studies at the University of Leicester. Her talk covers some of the same territory as Victor Fan's, only that Feng spends more time analyzing Tsui Hark's films, including The Butterfly Murders (1979), Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980), Shanghai Blues (1984), A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), and Once Upon a Time in China (1991). She discusses the action and comical elements in his kung-fu movies and romantic comedies. Feng considers how Tsui is deserving of auteur status. In English, not subtitled.

• NEW From West to East – An Interview with Visual Effects Consultant Peter Kuran (21:55, 1080p) - Since Star Wars: A New Hope, Kuran has worked on over 300 films doing visual effects. After The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Kuran left Industrial Light & Magic to form his own company. He recalls when Tsui Hark reached out to him and Robert Blalack to work on Zu: Warriors. Kuran explains what Tsui wanted in the VFX for this ambitious Hong Kong production. Kuran also shares his memories of dining with Sammo Kam-Bo Hung. In addition, Kuran recalls being contacted by John Carpenter prior to the start of production on Big Trouble in Little China (1986) to pick his brain on how Curan and his team pulled off the VFX. Kuran also talks about Zu's legacy and its place in his career. In English, not subtitled.

• Interview with Director Tsui Hark (2020) (1:01:24, 1080p) - Mike Leeder conducted this interview with Tsui Hark for Eureka Entertainment at the New World Millennium Hotel in Hong Kong back in January 2020. Leeder composed long and detailed questions that flash on the screen before Tsui begins to answer them. The Saigon-born filmmaker goes into the genesis of Zu: Warriors and gives his perspective of the wuxia/fantasy swordplay novels. The most fascinating section of the interview is where Tsui compares working at Golden Harvest studio and the then-new Cinema City studio, each of which vied for his talents. Tsui explains how he recruited SFX artists from Hollywood to come work for him. He also broaches the movie's shooting length, work days, and locations. He ruminates on how he found the right project to work with Jackie Chan. Tsui reflects on working with Brigitte Lin, Adam Cheng, Yuen Biao, and Sammo Hung. He describes his filmmaking style at the time he made Zu: Warriors and how it's changed over the years. He tries to remember his initial reaction to the film's critical and commercial reception in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Hark speaks in English, not subtitled.

• Archival Interview with Actor Yuen Biao (2002) (12:31, 1080i) - Yuen Biao recalls traveling to Japan to learn about special effects, long meetings before Zu's production commenced, and watching videos to see how wire harnesses were mounted. He also discusses Tsui Hark's ever-evolving ideas as well as his directorial methods. Furthermore, he remembers the film's most memorable scenes and working with Mang Hoi. In Cantonese with English subtitles.

• Archival Interview with Actor Moon Lee (2002) (21:18, 1080i) - Moon Lee portrays one of the many fairies in Zu: Warriors. She unpacks the film's characterizations and hairstyles. Moon Lee has several memories and anecdotes from the film's shoot, including being strung on a harness across a full day for a single shot. She also talks about collaborating with Yuen Biao, Brigitte Lin, Adam Cheng, and Tsui Hark. Moon Lee explains what she's been up to in the performing arts post-acting. In Chinese with English subtitles.

• Archival Interview with Actor Mang Hoi (2002) (18:40, 1080p) - Mang Hoi tells of learning opera and the great impact Bruce Lee had on his filmmaking career. He details his role as a fight choreographer in Zu: Warriors and subsequent movies he's made. Moreover, he talks about working with Sammo Hung. Mang Hoi explains how he performed in the film's climatic flying sequence. Excerpts are shown from the films Eastern Condors, Prodigal Son, Ninja in the Dragon's Den, and Police Assassins (aka Yes Madam). In Chinese with English subtitles.

• Theatrical Trailer (3:33, 1080p) - this is a re-release trailer for Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain that incorporates some behind-the-scenes footage, expanding it into an extended promotional piece. It's presented in anamorphic widescreen in an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1. The trailer has been partially restored and looks good for the most part. In Chinese, with English subtitles.

• Still Gallery (1:54, 1080i) - a relatively brief slide show made up of twenty-two stills. The first twenty are on-set production photographs (all in color). The last two are poster images.

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain moves at such a breakneck pace that it wasn't until later reflection that I appreciated the gorgeous visuals in the Celestial Fort. I wish that Tsui had made much greater use of the forest as the dazzling martial arts sequence is all too brief. Even if you picked up Eureka Entertainment's release a few years ago, this features-laden edition is well worth acquiring. A purchase is at least partially warranted just to watch Victor Fan's video interview/essay. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.