Burning Paradise – Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1994
Director: Ringo Lam
Writers: Yin Nam, Wan Choi Wong
Cast: Willie Chi, John Ching, Yamson Domingo, Chun Lam, Carman Lee, Kuei Li, Quan Lin, Kam-Kong Wong, Xiqian Wu

Release Date: November 25th, 2022
Approximate Running Time: 104 Minutes 27 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Cantonese
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $42.98

"After the Manchu government sends soldiers to kill all of the Shaolin Monks, a young disciple named Fong Sai-Yuk flees with his master in order to avoid being captured and executed. While on the run, Fong meets a young prostitute named Dou Dou who tries to help Fong and his master hide from a ruthless Manchu General skilled with a flying guillotine. Unable to save his master, Fong and Dou Dou are both captured and sent to an underground work prison known as the Red Lotus Temple. Run by a sadistic warden named Kung, who has a penchant for torturing and decapitating his prisoners, the Red Lotus Temple is a booby trap riddled Hell from which no one can escape. Thrown into a pit full of corpses and left to die, Fong must rally the other prisoners to fight back against their evil captors if they have any hope of escaping a fate worse than death. However, Fong must first contend with a former Shaolin disciple turned traitor as well a mysterious masked female fighter in order to save Dou Dou and free himself." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm original camera negative."

Here is additional information about the transfer, "The following presentation of Burning Paradise was sourced from a restored 2k master provided by the studio. Unfortunately, many imperfections were present in the provided master. Vinegar Syndrome restoration artists were able to fix the vast majority of these imperfections by re-restoring numerous sections of the film from the raw film scans. We hope you enjoy this brand new presentation of Burning Paradise."

Burning Paradise comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 36 GB

Feature: 28.7 GB

The source used for this transfer is in very good shape, and any imperfections that are mentioned in the disclaimer are minimal and not distracting. Colors, black levels, and compression are strong. Also, though the image looks crisp, there are moments where it appears that digital noise reduction has been applied. That said, this new transfer is a marked improvement over Discotek’s 2010 DVD release.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Cantonese. The audio sounds clean, clear, balanced, and robust when it should. Included are removable English subtitles and removable English SDH subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 13 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Cantonese with removable English subtitles), a video essay about director Ringo Lam and Burning Paradise (20 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview with producer Tsui Hark (4 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Wong Kam Kong titled A Rare Confidant (16 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Chinese with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with film historian/author Samm Deighan, reversible cover art, a twelve page booklet with an essay titled Paradise on Fire written by Grady Hendrix, and an spot gloss slipcover limited to 6,000 units.

Summary:

Burning Paradise was directed by Ringo Lam, who rose to prominence in Hong Kong cinema in the latter part of the 1980s after directing films like City on Fire, Prison on Fire, and School on Fire. Even though he has made three films in Hollywood with Jean-Claude Van Damme, unlike most of his contemporaries, he has also managed to stay active in Hong Kong cinema. Burning Paradise was produced by Tsui Hark (We’re Going to Eat You, Once Upon a Time in China), who was offered a chance to direct this film. Though Tsui Hark turned the producers down, he was the one responsible for bringing Ringo Lam to Burning Paradise.

The narrative primarily revolves around a Shaolin disciple named Fong Sai-Yuk. This character, which is rooted in Chinese folklore, has had several films made about his exploits. Heroes II, Disciples of the 36th Chamber, and The Legend II are among the most notable. The plot also features another character that is rooted in Chinese folklore, Hung Hei-Kwun. This character was portrayed by Jet Li in The New Legend of Shaolin, released the same year that Burning Paradise was released.

While some viewers who are not as familiar with Ringo Lam’s cinematic output will find Burning Paradise exceedingly brutal and gory, tone-wise, Burning Paradise is in line with the films that Ringo Lam had directed up to that point in his career. when compared to other martial arts films that were being released around the time Burning Paradise was made. Burning Paradise really stands in a class all its own. In this way, it shifts away from what was trendy at the time. Sure, there are some funny moments, like a scene where Fong Sai-Yuk, his master, and a young woman are all piled on top of each other as they hide from Manchurian soldiers under hay. When they finally leave their hiding place, each of the characters has hand prints on their more intimate areas.

From the opening moments when the Manchurian soldiers are chasing Fong Sai-Yuk and his master. The narrative moves along at a breakneck pace. Also, the carnage occurs early and often. There are soldiers who are cut in half, decapitated horses, and handmaidens who have their throats slit with nothing more than someone’s finger tips before their heads are ripped off their shoulders. Like every story about good versus evil, this one features a few nihilistic characters who are hell-bent on just causing pain and suffering. to soften up some of the film’s rougher edges. A love interest for Fong Sai-Yuk is thrown in for good measure.

The plot, like many martial arts, is kept simple. With a focus on explosive action set pieces and copious amounts of carnage, The performances of the entire cast are the most surprising aspect of this film. This was one of many of their first films. The film’s standout performance comes from Kam-Kong Wong (The Defender), in the role of Elder Kung, the diabolical man in charge of the Red Lotus prison, where the bulk of the movie takes place. Ultimately, Burning Paradise is an exceptional film that does a superb job mixing action and melodrama.

Burning Paradise gets a first-rate release from Vinegar Syndrome, which comes with a strong audio/video presentation and informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer