NEW US/CA TITLE:
Lady Whirlwind &
Hapkido (Blu-ray) - Pre-order available from
Arrow US - $28:00
Release date: January 17
"
When director Huang Feng (The Shaolin Plot) jumped ship from Shaw Brothers to their upstart rivals Golden Harvest, he swiftly launched the career of a Taiwanese ingenue barely out of Beijing opera school named Angela Mao, who despite her freshfaced femininity became one of Hong Kong’s toughest action icons of the 1970s.
Lady Whirlwind, directed by Huang in 1972, sees Mao dead set on avenging the death of her sister, only to find herself fighting a common enemy alongside the man she wants revenge on. Hapkido, made the same year, sees her once more pitted against a gang of Japanese thugs, alongside fellow soontobe kung fu legends Sammo Hung (Knockabout) and Carter Wong (Big Trouble in Little China) as disciples of the titular Korean fighting style, studying under reallife hapkido grandmasters Ji Hanjae (Game of Death) and Hwang Inshik (The Way of the Dragon).
Originally released in the US as Deep Thrust and Lady Kung Fu respectively, these two restored martial arts classics show Mao at her mightiest – every bit as formidable as the great Bruce Lee, whose sister she played in Enter the Dragon the following year."
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 2K restorations by Fortune Star
High Definition Bluray (1080p) presentations of both films
Original lossless Mandarin mono audio for both films, plus lossless English dubbed mono audio
Optional newly translated English subtitles for both films
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady
Disc One:
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert “Bobby” Samuels
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
- Commentary by Samm Deighan
- Lady Whirlwind Speaks, the first part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
- Kung Fu Cooking, a newly filmed conversation with Mao’s son Thomas King
- Alternate English credits
- Hong Kong theatrical trailer, plus US theatrical trailer and radio spot
- Image gallery
Disc Two:
- Three options of English dub: vintage “kung fu” and “hapkido” dubs in lossless mono, plus 2006 DVD dub in 5.1 surround
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert “Bobby” Samuels
- Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
- Lady Kung Fu Speaks, the second part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
- Archive interviews with Angela Mao, Carter Wong and Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao
- Original vintage featurette showing Ji Hanjae teaching the lead actors hapkido, newly restored in 2K by Fortune Star
- Three alternate opening credits sequences (textless, English and US)
- Hong Kong theatrical trailers plus US theatrical trailer and TV spot
- Image gallery
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the films by critic James Oliver
Also available as an
Arrow Store exclusive with an O-card cover - $28:00