{"id":31194,"date":"2025-05-01T12:26:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T19:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=31194"},"modified":"2025-05-01T12:26:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T19:26:28","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-magnificent-chang-cheh-the-magnificent-trio-1966-and-magnificent-wanderers-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=31194","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: THE MAGNIFICENT CHANG CHEH \u2013 THE MAGNIFICENT TRIO (1966) and MAGNIFICENT WANDERERS (1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment is currently\navailable for purchase.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over the past couple of years, this reviewer has been\nfortunate enough to receive many Blu-ray review copies. A lot of the pictures\nare internationally produced, with a good portion being from Hong Kong. It\u2019s\nsurprising how many of these efforts were directed by Chang Cheh, often for the\nShaw Brothers. This makes sense though, as in his homeland the filmmaker is\nconsidered iconic for starting new trends and bringing new elements into the\nmartial arts genre. One-Armed Swordsman<\/em> (1967), The Flying Dagger<\/em>\n(1969), The Pirate<\/em> (1973), Boxer Rebellion<\/em> (1976), Chinatown\nKid<\/em> (1977) and Five Deadly Venoms<\/em> (1978) are but a few of his more\nfamous titles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now Eureka is releasing the Blu-ray The Magnificent Chang\nCheh<\/em>, which presents two more films (with the word magnificent in the\ntitle) from the movie maker’s lengthy catalog. Included is the early effort The\nMagnificent Trio<\/em> and the later feature Magnificent Warriors<\/em>. Both\nare period efforts with impressive widescreen photography and plenty of wild\naction. Despite the two films being put on a single disc, the image quality is\nexcellent and the set will deliver the goods for anyone who enjoys martial arts\npictures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, The Magnificent Trio<\/em> is one of Cheh\u2019s\nearly efforts before he had risen to prominence in the Hong Kong movie world.\nHowever, that doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t a great picture. In fact, it\u2019s just as\nstrong as some of the films mentioned above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story is set at the end of the Ming dynasty and follows\ngreat warrior Lu Fang (Jimmy Wang Yu) returning home after serving his country\non the battlefield. When he passes by a home and sees three poor farmers with a\nfemale prisoner, he steps in and finds himself in the middle of a hostage\nsituation. He learns from Mati village leader Gao Bao-shi (Tien Feng) that they\nare starving and desperate. The evil Magistrate Wei Huaire (Lui Ming) is\nignoring the emperor\u2019s rules, taking advantage of locals and leaving them\npenniless. The farmers have kidnapped the leader\u2019s daughter, but have no\nintentions of harming her and only want to negotiate that which is owed to\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, the villain sends henchman Master Yan\nZiqing (Lo Lieh) and others to slaughter the group. In fact, he assigns his own\nvicious prisoners to help do the job, making false promises that he will pay\nand perhaps free them for their efforts. After trying to moderate a solution,\nYan realizes the reason for the situation and strives to help Lu and the\nothers. Another veteran, Huang Liang (Cheng Lei) also appears on the scene to\nhelp. In the end, the magistrate does every vicious and conniving thing\npossible to the group, leading the three leads to fight back during a bloody\nshowdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The high-definition transfer provided for this release is\nsurprisingly strong. The image is very clean and sharp, in fact, much more so\nthan anticipated. In fact, the accompanying stills in this review aren\u2019t as\ngood as the actual disc\u2019s image. In both films, there are a few shots that are\nsoft (due to the original photography), but it all looks about as perfect as it\npossibly can. It\u2019s a fun drama as well, with all the characters making strong\nimpressions and standing out as they come together and lead a raid. The action\nis messy and, at times, nasty. Some of the characters meet a nasty fate, adding\ntension to the proceedings. And the elaborate sets, while stylized (it looks\nlike the movie was primarily shot on a soundstage), are beautifully laid out.\nThere is some amusing melodrama, including a doomed romance, but in summation\nthis is a very good film with plenty in it to recommend. One can certainly see\nCheh as a skilled filmmaker breaking out at this early stage in his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another plus is an informative commentary track from East\nAsian film expert Frank Djeng and martial artist\/filmmaker Michael Worth. They\nknow their business and give plenty of details about the movie and everyone\ninvolved. Djeng also delivers some fascinating trivia. Early on, he notes that\nthe minor female performers actually receive top billing in the movie. This is\nbecause most films during this period did not star men and female performers\nwere more famous. It was just at the beginning of the action cinema boom in the\ncountry, before male performers gained notoriety. There are plenty of other\ntidbits about Cheh and the film, making this a really enlightening track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second film, Magnificent Wanderers<\/em>, is quite\ndifferent in comparison. It came ten years later, when a less serious and more\ncomedic streak was running through storylines. The plot involves a skilled and\nwealthy warrior Chu Tie Xia (David Chiang) who has great talent with a bow. He\nreturns to his village to find his land having been invaded by Mongols, who\nwant to kill him and take his \u201cfortune\u201d. As it turns out, Chu has already given\nmost of it away to help in the rebellion against the villainous forces. He\nbefriends a trio of con men (including Alexander Fu Sheng) and tries to\nconvince them to join his movement. The group eventually use their skills to\ntake down and mostly embarrass their Mongol oppressors. Getting the brunt of it\nare two henchmen serving their nasty ruler.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This movie isn\u2019t as effective or polished as the first\ntitle, but it does feature some fun comedic moments. The con artists are\nentertaining to watch as they scam bad guys and perform impressive and creative\nstunts. One notable hero hops around doing almost constant backflips. It\u2019s\namazing to witness and I imagine if you were to count them all he\u2019s probably\nbreaking some kind of on screen flipping record in the process. The tone is\nmuch, much lighter here, although the picture ends with a \u201cgag\u201d involving the\nhenchmen being told they\u2019re about to be executed, which, while played for yuks,\nis more unsettling than funny. Still, this is an entertainingly bizarre picture\nthat does offer laughs and several unique fight scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like the last movie, there is a great film expert commentary\ntrack. This time out, it is provided by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and\nArne Venema, who have great rapport and joke around as they point out the\nfilm\u2019s great moments and its, well, less effective elements. They explain how\nHong Kong cinema was beginning to change at this point, with a bigger emphasis\nplaced on comedy. The pair also address rumors that the movie may have had a\nco-director and that Cheh may have been having a crisis of confidence and\ndifficulty adapting to these particular growing trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And like the first movie, the high-definition transfer is\nquite strong. The sets aren\u2019t as impressive and lavish on this production, but\nthe film image looks very clean and crisp.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Also on the disc is a fantastic extra from Gary Bettinson,\neditor-in-chief of Asian Cinema journal. He goes into incredible detail, with\nvisual examples, of Chang Cheh\u2019s storytelling style. The speaker notes and\nshows examples of the way the filmmaker consistently uses the frame and\ncomposes images, as well as his cutting techniques and motifs. I thought it was\na great bonus. You\u2019ll learn a lot about Cheh and his style, and it is something\nthat will really help aspiring moviemakers and theorists develop and hone\nskills in identifying common elements in a filmmaker\u2019s visuals and\nstorytelling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Magnificent Chang Cheh<\/em> is another solid release\nfrom Eureka Entertainment, providing two lesser-known titles from the filmmaker\nthat still have admirable qualities. In fact, the first film is almost as\nstrong as some of the moviemaker\u2019s classics. If you enjoy Asian titles or other\ntitles from this distributor, you can\u2019t go wrong with this release. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment is currently available for purchase. Over the past couple of years, this reviewer has been fortunate enough to receive many Blu-ray review copies. A lot of the pictures are internationally produced, with a good portion being from Hong Kong. It\u2019s surprising how many of these efforts were directed by Chang […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[96,108,697,2939,3067,4100,7100,9288,12928,12929,13303,15922,18194,21479,21480,21481,21487,21488],"class_list":["post-31194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-96","tag-108","tag-action","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blu-ray","tag-chang-cheh","tag-eureka-entertainment","tag-hong-kong","tag-magnificent-wanderers","tag-magnificent-wanderers-blu-ray-review","tag-martial-arts","tag-period","tag-shaw-brothers","tag-the-magnificent-chang-cheh","tag-the-magnificent-chang-cheh-blu-ray","tag-the-magnificent-chang-cheh-blu-ray-review","tag-the-magnificent-trio","tag-the-magnificent-trio-blu-ray-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\/31194","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=31194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31194\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}