Eureka Entertainment has announced its March batch of Blu-ray releases. They are: Mabuse Lives! Dr. Mabuse at CCC (1960-1964), Shaolin Boxers (1974), and The Daredevils & Ode to Gallantry: Two Venom Mob Films (1979-1982). (1960-1964)
Description: Fritz Lang made two of the defining works of early German cinema with Dr Mabuse the Gambler and The Testament of Dr Mabuse, two masterpieces centred on Norbert Jacques' nefarious literary supervillain. In 1960, Lang was charged by Artur Brauner's CCC Film with making a third crime thriller centred on the infamous Dr Mabuse, completing a trilogy nearly forty years in the making. A huge success, The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse gave CCC the confidence to launch into an entire series focused on the master criminal between 1960 and 1964, all starring Wolfgang Priess in the title role. All six films are presented here alongside a wealth of new and archival extras.
In Fritz Lang's final film The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse, the eponymous master of disguise (Priess) re-emerges in the Cold War era after a lengthy absence – and uses all manner of methods to insight murder and mayhem. The Return of Dr Mabuse sees him use brainwashed prison inmates to commit a litany of crimes while evading the German authorities and the FBI. In The Invisible Dr Mabuse, he seeks to use an amazing new invention – a device that renders the user invisible – to his own ends. The Testament of Dr Mabuse – a remake of Lang's earlier film – has the German police tying themselves in knots as they try to figure out how their adversary could be continuing his reign of terror from inside an asylum. In Scotland Yard Hunts Dr Mabuse, Mabuse's tentacles begin to creep across the English Channel. Finally, in The Death Ray of Dr Mabuse, the criminal mastermind comes to possess a weapon capable of unleashing untold destruction.
Directed by Fritz Lang, Harald Reinl (The Fellowship of the Frog), Werner Klingler (Police Raid), Paul May (Duel with Death) and Hugo Fregonese (Black Tuesday), the CCC Mabuse series continues Fritz Lang's legacy while playing into a popular market taste in Germany for adaptations of literary krimis – or crime thrillers – that can also be seen in the enormous popularity of films based upon Edgar Wallace's novels throughout the 1960s. The Masters of Cinema series is honored to collect all six of the 1960s Mabuse films together in this set, presented in high definition from new 2K restorations.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 2K RESTORATIONS OF ALL SIX FILMS
Original German audio and optional English dubs on select films
Optional English subtitles
Archival audio commentary on The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse by film historian and author David Kalat
New audio commentaries on the other five films by film historian and author David Kalat
Mabuse Lives at CCC – New interview with producer and managing director of CCC Film Alice Brauner, daughter of CCC founder Artur Brauner
New introductions to each film by genre film expert and Video Watchdog founder Tim Lucas
Kriminology – new video essay by David Cairns & Fiona Watson
2002 interview with actor Wolfgang Preiss
Alternate endings for The Thousand Eyes of Dr Mabuse and The Death Ray of Dr Mabuse
Limited edition hardcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella
A limited edition 60-page collector's book featuring new notes on each film by journalist Holger Haase, a new essay by German film scholar Tim Bergfelder, an archival essay by David Cairns, archival writing by Fritz Lang and notes by Lotte Eisner on Lang's final unreleased projects
REGION-A/B "LOCKED"
U.S. AND CANADA STREET DATE: APRIL 1.
UK STREET DATE: MARCH 31.
During his long and industrious career, the "Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema" Chang Cheh made several films with the celebrated "Venom Mob," a group of skilled martial arts performers – including Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Philip Kwok, Sun Chien, Lo Mang, and Wai Pak – who rose to fame as the stars of his own Five Deadly Venoms. Here, Eureka Classics presents two of the Venom Mob's best: The Daredevils and Ode to Gallantry.
Set in Republic era China, The Daredevils follows Yang Ta-ying (Lo Mang) as he sets out to avenge his father, a military commander who was murdered in cold blood by Han Pei-tsang (Wong Lik), a thief-turned-soldier who killed Yang's father – along with the rest of his family – to take control of his estate and his army. With the help of his friends Chen Feng (Chiang Sheng), Fu Quanyi (Lu Feng), and Xin Zheng (Sun Chien), he sets out for justice. Then, in Ode to Gallantry, a lone martial artist nicknamed "Mongrel" is continually drawn into an intense struggle between several warring martial arts clans after he stumbles across the Black Iron Token, which entitles the owner to have any wish granted by Xie Yanke (Wong Lik), a brutal kung fu master.
After forming in 1978 for Five Deadly Venoms, the Venom Mob made over a dozen films with Chang Cheh that featured at least three of their number in starring roles. Filled with thrilling action set-pieces courtesy of some of the most talented martial artists to emerge in the 1970s, The Daredevils and Ode to Gallantry are two of the finest among them. Eureka Classics is proud to present this duo of collaborations between Chang Cheh and the Venom Mob on Blu-ray.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
High definition presentations on Blu-ray from masters supplied by Celestial Pictures
Original mono audio tracks
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
Two new commentaries by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist and filmmaker Michael Worth
Two new commentaries by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Deadly Venoms – new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the Venom Mob
A limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by writer and critic James Oliver [2000 copies]
Limited Edition [2000 copies]
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Chris Malbon [2000 copies]
U.S. AND CANADA STREET DATE: MARCH 25
UK STREET DATE: MARCH 24.
Directed by Ta Huang (Chinese Hercules) and released at the height of the 1970s kung fu craze, Shaolin Boxers offers a rare leading role to James Tien – who more often played supporting roles in films such as Fist of Fury, The Iron-Fisted Monk and The Magnificent Bodyguards – in an action-packed narrative that charges him with rescuing innocents from forces of corruption and evil.
In the village of Fukien, the people are terrified of the local security squad – led by Ho Yung (Chu Mu, The Invincible Iron Palm), who gained his position by bribing the referee in the village's annual martial arts tournament. In order to wrestle control from this band of tyrants, Chuan Tai (Tien) – the master of the local Shaolin school – enters the competition to prove his dominance and free the villagers from their obligation to pay for Ho's protection. But Ho Yung does not intend on relinquishing power so easily, and teams up with Lei Biao (Li Min-Lang, The Shadow Boxer) – a kung fu adept with shaky morality – to ensure that Chuan Tai does not emerge victorious.
Released at a time when audiences all over the world clamoured for kung fu cinema in the aftermath of Bruce Lee's breakout films The Big Boss, Fist of Fury and – above all – Enter the Dragon, Shaolin Boxers is a slice of martial arts mayhem that draws upon all the most enduring elements of the Hong Kong action film. Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK from a new 2K restoration.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 2K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
Original Mandarin mono and English dubbed audio options
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary with East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
New audio commentary with Hong Kong cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Shaolin Style – new interview with Wayne Wong, editor of Martial Arts Studies
A limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by Hong Kong cinema scholar Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park [2000 copies]
Limited Edition Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling [2000 copies]