For the week of March 8th, Lionsgate Home Entertainment will release Stanley Tong's action thriller Vanguard, starring Jackie Chan, Yang Yang, and Lun Ai. The film sees Chan as the head of an elite security company, which must protect an accountant after he is targeted by an organization of mercenaries. Originally meant to be released in China in January 2020, its theatrical release was delayed there because of the breakout of the coronavirus pandemic. Subsequently, the film was released in China at the end of September, after which other releases followed, including in the United States, where it was released in November 2020. Awarding the disc high marks for picture and audio quality, Jeffrey Kauffman says: "The presentation often offers really excellent fine detail levels, especially with regard to some of the fabrics on costumes...The palette is really nicely suffused, and the film is kind of refreshingly free of aggressive grading choices most of the time." Regarding the audio, he continues: "This is an audio onslaught at times, as befits Chan's legacy, with nice engagement of the surround channels in a number of completely hyperbolic action scenes. The chase [that] begins with cars and ends with boats is a great example of not just thunderous LFE and almost insane panning effects, but also smart prioritization so that occasional lines of dialogue and even score are well layered". The Blu-ray also includes a making of featurette.
Next this week, from Shout Factory is Jon Stevenson's Rent-A-Pal, starring Wil Wheaton, Brian Landis Folkins, and Amy Rutledge. Synopsis: He talks to you. He listens to you. He understands you. He's your Rent-A-Pal. In this thriller set in 1990, a lonely bachelor named David (Brian Landis Folkins) searches for an escape from the day-to-day drudgery of caring for his aging mother (Kathleen Brady). While seeking a partner through a video dating service, he discovers a strange VHS tape called Rent-A-Pal. Hosted by the charming and charismatic Andy (Wil Wheaton), the tape offers him much-needed company, compassion, and friendship. But Andy's friendship comes at a cost, and David desperately struggles to afford the price of admission.
Rent-A-Pal comes with three featurettes, including "The Making Of Rent-A-Pal".
Also from Shout this week, in association with GKIDS, comes Kenji Iwaisawa's On-Gaku: Our Sound. The animated feature, about a trio of delinquent students who form a band, received excellent scores all around in our review, by Brian Orndorf, and comes with a large assortment of extras, including an almost hour-long Making of tracking the seven-year production and four Kenji Iwaisawa shorts, amongst other extra content.
Also this week, from Magnolia Home Entertainment comes Li Liming's film Ip Man: Kung Fu Master, starring Michael Wong, Xin Wanliruo, and To Yu-Hang. Synopsis: Ip Man: Kung Fu Master harks back to Ip's early days before the Communist Revolution in 1949. Ip, portrayed by Dennis To for the third time as the martial artist who famously tutored Bruce Lee, was then a police captain who was framed for the murder of a ruthless but honorable mobster, and targeted for vengeance by his dangerous daughter. Forced to quit the force, Ip soon also has to contend with the arrival of the Japanese army in Guangzhou.
Finally for new releases this week, Well Go USA will release Denis Kryuchkov's action thriller Russian Raid, starring Ivan Kotik, Vladimir Mineev, and Ilya Antonenko. The film is inspired by Gareth Evans' 2011 martial-arts hit The Raid, but this time, the action is set in a Russian factory, with some of the top Russian MMA fighters on hand to film the action seqeunces. A review by Jeffrey Kauffman is available here.
In terms of catalog releases, this week we have several, including many re-issues and re-releases. However, this week also sees the Blu-ray debut of Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, with Sylvester Stallone and Estelle Getty and Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain, both from Mill Creek Entertainment and adorned with "Retro VHS" slipcovers.
Finally this week, we have two 1970s catalog releases debuting on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. First is Richard Fleischer's crime drama The Don Is Dead, starring Anthony Quinn, Frederic Forrest, Robert Forster, Al Lettieri, and Angel Tompkins. For their Blu-ray, Kino have supplied a new audio commentary with critic Sergio Mims. Then, it's Robert Aldrich's The Choirboys, starring Charles Durning, Louis Gossett Jr., Perry King, Clyde Kusatsu, and Stephen Macht. This disc contains a new audio commentary with critics Howard S. Berger and Nathaniel Thompson, as well as a new interview with actor Don Stroud.