LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY & HAND OF DEATH: TWO FILMS BY JOHN WOO (Eureka Classics)

This is well worth buying for any collector. Really good transfer, with lots of extras. I'm glad this came in a set of 2 as I feel these movies wouldn't have been strong enough to command the heavy individual price tag from Eureka. Worth buying for any collector.

There's got to be something said for the quality of the kung fu movies released recently by Eureka. I have seen the genre get poor transfers for years but all that seems to be finally changing. With films featuring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jet Li, Donnie Yen being given quality treatment, fans can finally own great quality copies of their films. These two early John Woo movies are no different.The two movies featured here are Hand of Death (1976) and Last Hurrah For Chivarly (1979). Both movies were written and directed by the legendary action director John Woo. Those that don't know who he is, he had a hand in creating the fantastic Hard Boiled, the epic Red Cliff two parter and a few successful hollywood films like Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Mission Impossible 2.Hand of Death (1976) is a fairly typical revenge plot. It's about a Shaolin student seeking revenge on one of his fellow students after he defected to the side of their opposition. He picks up some chums along the way, one being the master of stunt work Jackie Chan. I couldn't have cared much about the story, if I'm honest. It's pretty typical stuff and is handled about as well as any other film from the time. The choreography is pretty decent throughout. The action scenes are a little inconsistent in terms of pacing. With the likes of Jackie Chan clearly performing at a faster speed than others. It felt a bit slow in places but well done regardless.Last Hurray For Chivalry (1979) is a considerably better movie (in my opinion). It's another revenge tail, this one is about a young man seeking to avenge his father and (again) gaining some friends to assist him in the noble fight. I felt the acting was much better as a whole and the story had more originality put into it. There's a pretty good couple of twists in there that keeps the story interesting. The choreography is a lot faster paced and is not about hand to hand combat. There's a lot of sword fighting in this one. It's a lot faster paced than Hand of Death, considerably more exciting and bloodier.The transfers for both of these films are excellent in every way. I would say that Hand of Death is easily the better looking movie and there's got to be some appreciation for the work done to preserve these films. The clarity and sharpness really lets you appreciate the nicely detail sets and clothing, as well as the beautiful locations used throughout both films. Unfortunately, this also works against Hand of Death a little because it makes the awful wigs and Sammo Hung's terrible false teeth extremely noticeable. In fact, I found them awfully distracting. Specifically Sammo munching down trying to keep the large buck teeth in his mouth. It felt like the actors were hesitant to move at full speed in case the enormous head pieces flew off. It's a shame really, because it's otherwise a very beautiful looking movie.The packaging isn't half bad either. The films are both split onto their own separate discs and are housed in a standard case. There's a pretty cool slipcase featuring the beautiful cover art for both films. The same artwork can be found on either side of the interchangeable cover art. You'll find a nice selection of audio options, a booklet, theatrical trailers, interviews and audio commentaries.These two films will never be considered must have films, or at least I don't think so. They're not on the level of Drunken Master, as an example. But to say they're not highly entertaining and gorgeous to look at would be a lie. This collection should be an easy buy for those looking for a fun kung fu movie. It's directly aimed at these people and if you're one of them, don't hesitate.

picture quality is astounding and a nicely presented bundle, heres hoping Eureka release Sammo Hung Spooky collection.

Awesome!!!

For my husband

Great early woo classic

Looking forward to seeing what the transfers look like on there's two classic films. Hong Kong Legends transfers were excellent so these 2k blu ray transfers must lookFantastic