{"id":31179,"date":"2025-04-30T20:49:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T03:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=31179"},"modified":"2025-04-30T20:49:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T03:49:43","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-adventurers-1995","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=31179","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: THE ADVENTURERS (1995)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment is now available\nfor purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in the 1980s, the action movie was among the most\npopular genres in film. Hollywood was producing so many that it seemed like a\nnew title was arriving every few weeks. But by the early to mid-1990s, it all\nslowed down. Thankfully, there was another source for the genre outside North\nAmerica\u2026 and that was Hong Kong. Filmmakers like John Woo (The Killer, Hard\nBoiled<\/em>) were making a big splash internationally, as were martial arts\nstars like Jackie Chan. Another big name in the genre was Ringo Lam, who had\nscored several hits in his homeland with City on Fire, Twin Dragons<\/em>\n(which starred Jackie Chan) and Full Contact<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week, Eureka Entertainment is releasing a Blu-ray of\nanother of the filmmaker\u2019s major titles. Strangely enough, this picture didn\u2019t\nmake as big an impression in North America as in its homeland, but contains an\ninteresting plot filled with wild, kinetic action, and a unique plotline. The\nAdventurers<\/em> delivers all the thrills you would hope for from one of these\nkinds of movies. Just about the only thing it doesn\u2019t do efficiently is, well,\nexplain its name. There are some horrible abuses of power by the Khmer Rouge in\nthis tale, a lot of violent criminal organization assassinations, shootouts and\nmore. It\u2019s an excellent action picture, but not something I would define as a\ngrand \u201cadventure\u201d. I suppose something might have been lost in translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story begins in Cambodia with a young boy witnessing his\nentire family being slaughtered by the Khmer Rouge. Specifically, being\nmurdered by Ray Lui, (Paul Chun) an old war buddy of the child\u2019s father who\nchanged allegiances and began assisting the regime. The youngster escapes to\nThailand with another of his father\u2019s war buddies and starts a new life. 20\nyears later, the boy has grown into a man, Wai Lok-yan (Andy Lau), becoming a\nfighter pilot. Unfortunately, he still suffers trauma from his childhood,\ndesperate for an opportunity to confront and murder Ray Lui. The opportunity\ncomes unexpectedly when Lui, now a billionaire arms dealer, attends a local\nevent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The lead tries to assassinate his target, but is stopped\nbefore he can finish the job. Wounded, Wai Lok-yan is hidden by the villain\u2019s\nwife Mona (Rosamund Kwan). She also hates Ray Lui and can\u2019t wait for him to be\neliminated from her life. While the hero recovers, the pair have a brief affair\nbefore being separated. Now wanted, Wai Lok-yan leaves Thailand for San\nFrancisco, making connections with the CIA. He ends up discovering that the\narms dealer\u2019s estranged daughter, Crystal (Jacklyn Wu), lives there. After she\nis kidnapped by a rival gang, the hero sees rescuing her as an opportunity to\nget close to Ray Lui.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But in the process, he and Crystal become surprisingly\nclose. The crook eventually reappears and offers Wai Lok-yan a position in his\norganization. Things get really complicated when the lead marries Crystal and\nshe becomes pregnant. He also reconnects with an obsessed Mona who wants to\nrekindle their romance, and must also handle an arms deal with a nasty\nCambodian general. It all ends in chaos and bloodshed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This film is over-the-top. However, the approach is more\nthan acceptable, as the details of the story would be incredibly depressing if\none had to take it all seriously. Instead, this is a stylish action picture\nwith some creative battles, captured using wonderful camera set-ups and angles\nemployed by director Lam. Plenty of these exaggerated bits do make a lasting\nimpression. One involves an incredible shoot-out and car chase near San\nFrancisco. Wai Lok-yan and Crystal hide out in an old house only to have gunmen\narrive. The thugs shoot up the place, while the protagonist and a naked Crystal\n(who happened to have been in the shower when the fracas began) jump and roll\naround, avoiding hundreds of bullets bursting through the wooden floorboards\nand wall. The chase continues as they try to escape by road through winding\nOceanside roads, leading to spectacular crashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The finale, which sees most of the characters back in\nCambodia, is also remarkable. This film was still being made in the days of\npractical effects, and the showdown involves helicopters firing rockets into a\nCambodian village, blowing up entire structures with the performers running\naway from gigantic flames. It also features a wounded Wai Lok-yan using a\nhelicopter to pursue a well-armed truck, delivering more spectacle in ten\nminutes than any Hollywood title from the era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And on a dramatic level, the movie is also attempting to do\nsomething a little different. Wai Lok-yan is desperate for revenge, but really\ngets himself into trouble by romancing not one, but two women close to Ray Lui.\nYes, it\u2019s silly, but the melodrama does result in a couple of unexpected\ntwists. These involve Mona threatening to blow the hero\u2019s cover and end the\nlife of Crystal. And unlike other movies from this period, the movie attempts\nto deal with the lasting effects of trauma. Wai Lok-yan is forced to realize\nthat some people within his enemy\u2019s circle aren\u2019t all bad and don\u2019t deserve to\nexperience the same horrors that he did. He even tries his best to overcome\nsome of his rage and repair his psyche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, it is a wild and crazy film with some sudden\nchanges in the characters, but the humanistic themes resonate and all the\nbursts of action are entertaining and exciting. It is very surprising that this\npicture didn\u2019t get a wider release in this part of the world, seeing as a good\nportion of the story takes place in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Eureka Entertainment has done a cracking job of bringing the\nmovie to Blu-ray. The image has been given a 2K restoration for this release\nand it looks very good. Yes, a few nighttime scenes do have slight graininess\nto them, but those two stellar action sequences look perfect and the literal\nfireworks on display are incredibly sharp. There are some bright casino and\nHong Kong environments in the picture, which also look dynamic and impressive\non a big screen. This is a handsome transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extras are also informative. There is a commentary track\nthat provides plenty of background information about the picture, the cast and\nthe production. This was a major effort, as it was shot in three different\ncountries (and the story is actually set in four). You will find out that it\nwas a troubled production because of its scope and some disagreement between\nparticipants. Reportedly, director Lam and star Lau weren\u2019t on the best of\nterms during the shoot and this project marked the last time they would work\ntogether. You\u2019ll find out all about this and more from the commentary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there is a great discussion with an Asian film\nexpert who gives more background and detail about exactly what happened. Lam\nwas not the original director, and came in after a firing. Lau may not have\nbeen happy with the decision and also felt that the filmmaker was going through\na crisis of confidence. At the same time, Lam wasn\u2019t sure that Lau could\ndeliver the performance that he wanted, that of a man with psychological issues\ntrying to seek revenge and find some closure from this past. Whatever the real\nstory might have been, you wouldn\u2019t have noticed anything was amiss watching\nthe finished product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interviewee notes there was plenty of funding behind\nthis production and that the crew included some of the most talented craftsmen\nin the country. As such, he believes that the film is underrated and deserves a\nfresh reappraisal. This reviewer is inclined to agree with him. He also talks\nabout Hong Kong cinema in the 1990s, and how, after a golden period of cinema,\nthe industry was struggling to keep major stars from moving to Hollywood. He\neven notes that this picture was a calling card of sorts for Ringo Lam to work\nin the US. Indeed, Lam\u2019s next picture was for an American studio. That film was\nMaximum Risk<\/em> with Jean Claude Van Damme, but the filmmaker didn\u2019t like\nhaving to cave to pressure from executives under the Hollywood studio system\nand quickly returned to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, there is an interesting interview with\nco-screenwriter Sandy Shaw. She talks about developing her storytelling skills,\nand eventually working on this picture with Ringo Lam. Shaw describes the\ndirector as very respectful of her (she admits that a few other Hong Kong\ndirectors at the time were not as kind) and that she learned a great deal from\nhim. She notes that he was a very visual storyteller and would detail how to\nsubtly show character relationships and traits simply just by using camera angles\nand positions, which helped her think more visually writing future scripts. The\nwriter also shares some of the ideas she came up with for the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Adventurers <\/em>is a Hong Kong action film that tries\nto add a few new elements to the genre and stretch its boundaries, while also\ndelivering all the excitement audiences would expect. It largely succeeds at\nits goals. The Blu-ray has an excellent picture that really stands out during\nthe elaborate chases and explosions and comes with enlightening extras that\nprovide insight into the production as well as movies from his period. Those\nwho enjoy John Woo, Tsui Hark and Johnnie To titles should definitely pick this\ndisc up!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment is now available for purchase. Back in the 1980s, the action movie was among the most popular genres in film. Hollywood was producing so many that it seemed like a new title was arriving every few weeks. But by the early to mid-1990s, it all slowed down. Thankfully, there was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[129,697,1401,2933,2939,3786,4910,7100,9288,16050,17064,17614,19797,19859,19860,19861,19862],"class_list":["post-31179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-129","tag-action","tag-andy-lau","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-cambodia","tag-crime","tag-eureka-entertainment","tag-hong-kong","tag-philippines","tag-ringo-lam","tag-san-francisco","tag-thailand","tag-the-adventurers","tag-the-adventurers-blu-ray","tag-the-adventurers-blu-ray-review","tag-the-adventurers-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31179\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}