THE BOXER'S OMEN

Image DVD is releasing this legendary Shaw Brothers martial/fantasy/horror flick on R1 DVD, unedited, for the very first time ever today. This is going to rock.

Sweet! I'll look for it on Netflix.

-CSJ

That looks completely awesome. One for the Christmas list!!!

I wouldn't want to be the person tracking down films on your Christmas list. Seems like they're going to have their work cut out for them

Yow! I rented The Devil's Sword not to long ago and thought that was pretty weird, but this might just do permanent damage!

looks badass- haven't seen it yet. I've decided to finally get a region free player-mainly because celesitial films is being too slow on releasing region 1 films, now only available on crappy, non-anamorphic transfers -if at all. I NEED "Five Fingers of Death/King Boxer".
Cheers,
ryan

I - my region free player was purchased almost exclusively for the IVL/Celestial Shaw flicks. They get my vote for best remastering ever - even topping the job done by Criterion.

Here is my review for BOXER'S OMEN:

Boxer's Omen
Dir: Kuei Chih-Hung



Boxer's Omen is an unevenly paced film of questionable quality that contains within its 100-minute running time some of the most bizarre, disturbing, and truly jaw dropping sequences you will ever see. If the slow and dull parts of the film's narrative were half as grand, interesting and delusional as the great parts, Boxer's Omen would be a film for the ages, one that might even rival Jackson's Brain Dead and Jodorowsky's El Topo as a top tier mondo-movie. But as it stands, it is still mostly entertaining, highly disgusting, unintentionally hilarious, and downright absurd, even if the execution leaves a bit to be desired.

The narrative takes the traditional kung fu revenge motif, and substitutes the choreographed fighting sequences for duels of wizardry and sorcery, it is also a bit more complex than what I had been led to believe. The film opens with two sequences that focus on the eventual spiritual connection between the two main characters. The first sequence showcases a Thai boxing match between the barrel chested Bolo Yueng and his poor victim, err, I mean opponent. Yueng's victim gets pummeled in the ring, and is painfully paralyzed; he then asks his Thai-boxing brother, Kao, to revenge him. Kao begins having strange visions, and is soon drawn to a Buddhist temple in Thailand.

The sequence that runs parallel to this focuses on a Buddhist monk on the cusp of reaching enlightenment. While in a state of deep meditation, the monk is attacked by a black-magic wizard, and is brought to the brink death. In order to save himself, he puts his body in a kind of cocoon, and sits and waits for someone who can help him. We soon find that Kao and the monk have shared past lives, and their present lives are entangled, and in danger - they have been cursed! For both to live, and for Kao to revenge his brother and for the monk to reach enlightenment, they must join forces and kill a trio of evil black-magic wizards.

Boxer's Omen is constructed around four or five key sequences - legendary sequences that almost defy description. Within these incredibly messed up “actionâ€

God, I love Shaw Brothers stuff. When I got rid of my VHS collection I had hundreds of martial arts tapes. Last time I counted I had 450 titles and bought many more after that. Since my conversion to DVD I have tried to be good... PI probably barely have 75 martial arts movies. Part of the problem is that unless I have my Palm Pilot with me I really don't remember what I had before versus what I have on DVD and usually will opt not to purchase something I may or may not have.

Of course, Christmas is coming....

Hi the other Dan,
This isn't directly related but you seem like the guy to ask:
Can I find an unadulterated cut of Snake in the Monkey's Shadow. I saw it in Austin with an Intro by Quentin Tarantino himself-apparently it is one of his favorite kung-fu films. It was fantastic. It has a fight sequence between an actual monkey tied to a stake and what appears to be a cobra. It is several minutes long and has censor-bait written all over it. I imagine it would be the first thing to go if it was released to DVD. I know there are a couple of versions out there but don't know if any are completely intact. I mean, say what you will about animal cruelty, but this scene kicks ass and totally sets up the fight scene at the end of the movie.
Thanks,
Ryan

PS- enjoyed the Zombie podcast. Look forward to listening to more. BTW, I liked Lost in Translation. Hope we can still be friends.

http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.536805/qx/details.htm

Here is a link for the DVD on hkflix.com. It is put out by Panmedia, a US distributor of gray market merchandise. They list the DVD as in print, but back ordered. Usually on this type of gray market release, this means that it is in between printings, but you could ask them about it. HKFLIX rules - totally great guys, great selection, great service, and decent prices.

And I guess we can still be friends, even though you like LOST IN TRANSLATION. We've all gotta like some crappy films, God knows I do!

Thanks, Dan
I was aware of HKflix-just wanted to make sure I was getting a good cut. With that sorted out I look forward to adding it to my shelf.
Cheers,
Ryan

Dan and/or Ben -

Have you guys watched this yet?

Not yet D... I do have it though!! I'll move it up the to-watch pile... soon, I promise!!!