Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh: Limited Edition – Eureka Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Hong Kong, 1975 (Marco Polo), Hong Kong, 1973 (The Pirate), Hong Kong, 1976 (Boxer Rebellion), Hong Kong, 1972 (Four Riders)
Directors: Chang Cheh (All Films), Hsueh-Li Pao (The Pirate), Wu Ma (The Pirate)
Cast: Alexander Fu Sheng, Richard Harrison, Shih Szu, Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok, Chia-Hui Liu (Gordon Liu), Carter Wong (Marco Polo), Ti Lung, David Chiang, Tin Ching, Dean Shek (The Pirate), Alexander Fu Sheng, Li Lihua, Jenny Tseng, Leung Ka-Yan, Chi Kuan-chun, Richard Harrison (Boxer Rebellion), David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Kuan-tai, Wang Chung, Yasuaki Kurata, Tina Chin-Fei, Lily Li (Four Riders)

Release Date: December 9th, 2024 (UK), December 10th, 2024 (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 108 Minutes 19 Seconds (Marco Polo), 100 Minutes 47 Seconds (The Pirate), 143 Minutes 15 Seconds (Boxer Rebellion), 108 Minutes 58 Seconds (Four Riders)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films)
Rating: 15 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Mandarin (All Films)
Subtitles: English (All Films)
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £24.99 (UK), $54.95 (USA)

"Often described as the “Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema,” Chang Cheh made nearly a hundred films during a long and storied career spent at the Shaw Brothers Studio, where he directed such landmark films as The One-Armed Swordsman, Five Deadly Venoms and The Heroic Ones. Many of his films drew upon Chinese history for inspiration – and many of them were based on real people and events. Eureka Classics presents four of his best historical epics in this limited-edition set: Marco Polo, The Pirate, Boxer Rebellion and Four Riders.

In Marco Polo, the eponymous Venetian explorer (Richard Harrison) becomes embroiled in a battle between the Mongol Empire and Chinese rebels in the thirteenth century. In The Pirate, the infamous nineteenth-century raider Cheung Po Tsai (Ti Lung) must evade agents of the Imperial Court while attempting to aid the downtrodden residents of a coastal village. In Boxer Rebellion, a group of Chinese patriots use kung fu to protect their nation against invading forces at the turn of the twentieth century. Finally, in Four Riders, a Chinese veteran of the Korean War enlists three comrades to help him escape the South Korean Military Police Command after he is falsely accused of murdering an American soldier.

Marco Polo, The Pirate, Boxer Rebellion and Four Riders are all fascinating examples of the rewriting of history common in popular genre cinema, directed with aplomb by a veteran of Shaw Brothers in Chang Cheh – one of the most celebrated and prolific filmmakers in Hong Kong." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4/5 (Marco Polo, The Pirate, Four Riders), 3.75/5 (Boxer Rebellion)

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfers, "All four films are presented on Blu-ray from HD masters supplied by Celestial Pictures."

Marco Polo and The Pirate come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.7 GB

Feature: 21.9 GB (Marco Polo), 20.4 GB (The Pirate)

Boxer Rebellion and Four Riders come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.7 GB

Feature: 23.7 GB (Boxer Rebellion), 18 GB (Four Riders)

All four films are in great shape; flesh tones look correct, colors look very good, image clarity and black levels are strong, and compression is solid. There are moments when Boxer Rebellion’s black levels look greyish. That said, though these come from existing HD masters, they are slightly stronger than Shout Factory’s Shaw Brothers releases.

Audio: 4.25/5 (All Audio Tracks)

Each film comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Mandarin with removable English subtitles. The Pirate has some dialogue in English; Boxer Rebellion has some dialogue in English and German; and Four Riders has some dialogue in English and Korean. All of the audio tracks are in great shape; there are no issues with distortion, dialog comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and action sequences sound robust. Instead of providing a second track that only translates all non-English dialog, the subtitle tracks translate all spoken dialog.

Extras:

Extras on disc one include a video essay about Chang Cheh’s historical films titled Rewriting History by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of China (21 minutes 14 seconds, LPCM stereo English with non-removable English subtitles for Mandarin film clips), an audio commentary with action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema for Marco Polo, and an audio commentary with East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist/filmmaker Michael Worth for The Pirate.

Extras on disc two include an interview titled National Defence with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong who discusses Boxer Rebellion (19 minutes 13 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema for Boxer Rebellion, and an audio commentary with Frank Djeng and Michael Worth for Four Riders.

Other extras include an O-card slipcase (limited to 2,000 copies), and a 24-page booklet (limited to 2,000 copies) with cast & crew information for each film, an essay titled Past Master The Historical Films of Chang Cheh written by James Oliver, and information about the transfer titled Notes on Viewing.

Summary:

Chang Cheh directed films that comprise Horrible History: Four Historical Epics. He is known for his films: One-Armed Swordsman, Golden Swallow, The Boxer From Shantung, The Water Margin, and Five Venoms.

Marco Polo: Four friends out for revenge join forces with a rebellion against the Manchus.

Marco Polo is an epic action/melodrama where history and storytelling collide. Throughout cinema’s history, though public figures have been the source of many films, Chang Cheh’s Marco Polo is not so much a retelling of his story as it is a refashioning of it for cinematic reasons. That said, Marco Polo does not feel like the protagonist, despite the film being named after him. Ultimately, the main focal point is the rebels and their heroic actions against their oppressors.

The main draw for martial arts cinema fans is the action sequences; Marco Polo has an ample amount of them, and in Chang Cheh’s style, they are brutal and bloody. Another thing that all of the best martial arts films have in common is their ability to deliver fight choreography that surprises you with its inventiveness. The four friends, each seeking revenge, learn unique fighting styles from different masters. When speaking of the action sequences, one should not overlook the equally inventive training sequences with the four heroes. Another thing that 1960s and 70s martial arts films are known for is using uncredited music cues; Marco Polo features music from Godzilla.

Richard Harrison (Ninja Terminator) delivers the weakest performance despite portraying the protagonist. His character mostly plays an observer role as he lets others do the heavy lifting. That said, the rest of the cast is excellent, especially Alexander Fu Sheng (The Brave Archer), who portrays one of the four rebel heroes. Other performances of note are Shih Szu (The Lady Hermit) and Chia-Hui Liu (Gordon Liu), who portray the wife of a murdered rebel and the villain who fights with two swords, respectively.

The narrative can be seen as a tale of two stories; in the first half, the focus is on the villains, while the latter half shifts focus to the heroes. After starting off strong with some bloody action, there is a brief lull before the momentum is regained. 

That said, there are never any throwaway moments as the narrative does a superb job building towards a sensational finale where the four heroes are greatly outnumbered.

It is easy to see why Chang Cheh was the Shaw Brothers' go-to director; even when he was churning out five films per year, there was never a dip in quality. His style is instantly recognizable, and his instincts as a director often elevate a film that in lesser hands would have been forgettable. Though he’s known for bloody action sequences, he was also very effective with humor. One such sequence of note is a scene where Alexander Fu Sheng pees into a bowl of soup that Marco Polo and his men eat. Ultimately, Marco Polo is an exemplary film that has three Chang Cheh staples on display: revenge, loyalty, and heroism.

The Pirate: A pirate takes on an oppressive government by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor.

Chang Cheh's The Pirate is loosely based on the exploits of a pirate named Chang Pao Tsai. Where pirates are normally portrayed as the bad guys, in Chang Cheh's The Pirate, they are the heroes. And instead of being driven by personal gain, the pirates help out the less fortunate. Though combining pirates with martial arts seems like an odd pairing, Chang Cheh manages to effortlessly fuse these two things. Of course, like most films The Pirate often blurs that line between fact and fiction.

Chang Cheh is a director who has a knack for setting tone. The Pirate opens with a thrilling action piece where the pirates take over a Portuguese ship transporting gold coins. Though the action slows down after this fantastic opening, that’s not to say that the story does not hold your attention. In the middle act, the main characters extensively develop, resulting in an action-packed third act.

As great as the entire cast is, they all pale in comparison to the two leads: Ti Lung’s (A Better Tomorrow) portrayal of a pirate named Chang Pao Tsai and David Chiang’s (The Boxer from Shantung) portrayal of a lawman. They have worked together on dozens of films, many of which were directed by Chang Cheh, and have a tremendous amount of onscreen chemistry.

For a film about pirates, most of the narrative takes place on land. That said, the moments that do happen at sea are some of this film's most tense. The most memorable moment is a knockdown, drag-out fight that straddles the beach and the sea. This bloody moment of carnage serves as a perfect coda on the events that have unfolded.

From its opening moments, The Pirate draws you in and holds your attention. The narrative satisfies with a compelling mix of exposition and action, paced flawlessly. Chang Cheh’s rock-solid direction takes what could have been a genre film and adds depth to it. Ultimately, The Pirate is a highly entertaining swashbuckler film.

Boxer Rebellion: Chinese patriots try to ward off European invaders with nothing more than their hands and feet.

This film is a cinematic retelling of The Boxer Rebellion, an uprising against foreign occupiers of China that took place between 1899 and 1901. Though this film uses that event as its jumping-off point, like so many adaptations, there are some areas where it takes liberties. The most glaring example is the character of General Waldersee, who was in his late 60s when these events happened, while he’s portrayed by an actor who is 20 years younger. That said, when it comes to capturing the spirit of The Boxer Rebellion, director Chang Cheh does a phenomenal job.

Chang Cheh’s Boxer Rebellion is epic in scope, and at 143 minutes in length, it covers a lot of ground. Though there is an abundance of action sequences, the narrative does a superb job when it comes to establishing its characters. This is especially notable when it comes to the opening setup, which spends most of its time introducing and building up characters. Another strength of the narrative is how well it balances exposition and action moments.

Though the Boxer Rebellion is really an ensemble cast, it's not difficult to single out Alexander Fu Sheng’s (Ten Tigers of Kwangtung) commanding performance. He truly was a gifted actor and martial artist who died way too young. Richard Harrison, who had previously worked with Chang Cheh on Marco Polo, delivers a menacing performance in the role of a German general named Waldersee. Chia-Hui Liu (Gordon Liu), most known for the 36th Chamber films, has a minor role as one of the rebel boxers.

What good is martial arts when your opponent has a gun? Though there have been numerous martial arts films where characters faced this dilemma, it's always amazing how most of them pull it off. When it comes to guns vs. martial arts, Boxer Rebellion delivers and then some. These types of moments in Boxer Rebellion are done in a way that is believable and always exciting to watch.

It's not surprising that there is a lot of carnage when one considers the story being told. When it came to on-screen bloodshed, Chang Cheh had no rivals. The action sequences are exemplary, and there’s a brutality to them that we have come to expect from Chang Cheh. Heroism is a theme that dominates the cinema; Chang Cheh, and the Boxer Rebellion death pose finale gives the hero a magnificent sendoff. Ultimately, Boxer Rebellion is an exceptional example of Chang Cheh’s bloody heroism.

Four Riders: Four Korean War veterans find themselves at odds with a drug syndicate that frames one of them for murder.

This time around, Chang Cheh uses the days following the end of the Korean War as the starting point for Four Riders. Most Shaw Brothers films were typically filmed on sets or in Hong Kong locations, while Four Riders, being set in Korea, gives it a distinct look. Instead of being a film about the Korean War, Four Riders examines how soldiers are mistreated when they return to civilian life. That said, despite this story angle, Four Riders is a film that firmly fits into the exploitation cinema.

What the narrative lacks in depth, it more than makes up for with its brutal moments of violence and action set pieces. Despite minimal character development and a fairly predictable narrative, the result is a film that’s never dull. When it comes to pacing, the narrative does a superb job building momentum to a phenomenal bloody finale.

The most impressive aspect of Four Riders is its cast, who are all excellent in their roles. Ti Lung (The Deadly Duo) and David Chiang, who portray two Korean War veterans, headline the cast. Though they do not share that much screen time, the moments they share are some of the most memorable. Also, their characters, like the other two Korean War veterans, have a special set of skills.

Yasuaki Kurata (Heroes of the East) and Tina Chin-Fei (The Singing Killer) flawlessly portray the two main villains. Lily Li’s (Dreadnaught) portrayal of a prostitute who assists the Korean War veterans is another performance note. Another crew member of note is John Woo, who worked with Chang Cheh as an assistant director.

As mentioned before, the fight sequences play a significant role, and they do not disappoint. The fight scenes are intense, brutal, and overflowing with blood. Most of the fight scenes are one person against dozens. That said, the best fight scene is saved for a 20-minute all-out brawl in which no one is left standing. Ultimately, Four Riders is a solid action/exploitation film that would play extremely well with the 1970s grindhouse cinema crowd.

Eureka Video’s Horrible History: Four Historical Epics by Chang Cheh brings together four films, gives them strong audio/video presentations, and includes informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer