Furious: Collector's Edition – Visual Vengeance (Blu-ray)

Release Date: USA, 1984
Directors: Tim Everitt, Tom Sartori
Writers: Tim Everitt, Tom Sartori
Cast: Simon Rhee, Arlene Montano, Phillip Rhee, Howard Jackson, Loren Avedon, Jon Dane, Mika Elkan, Peter Malota, John Potter, Joyce Tilley

Release Date: February 25th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 71 Minutes 49 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $34.95

"Simon, a fierce Kung Fu master, ventures into the city's gritty underbelly for answers to his sister's death. There, a cunning spiritual master deceives him, plotting to snatch his piece of an ancient amulet he shared with her. Unraveling the scheme, Simon plunges fists and feet first into a bone-crushing battle for the fate of the world against an alien army of karate wizards, dragons, a new wave clone band, talking pigs and mystical chickens!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 1.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "New SD master from original tape elements".

Furious comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 41.7 GB

Feature: 16.4 GB

There is only so much that can be done with a transfer source from SD tapes.That said, I don’t see any other release ever looking better than this one.

Audio: 2.5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a Dolby Digital mono mix in English with removable English SDH. Though the audio sounds clear and balanced, don’t expect anything range-wise. 

Extras:

Extras for this release include Furious Visual Vengeance trailer (1 minute 10 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Furious trailer 1 - Fighting (2 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Furious trailer 2 - Fantasy (2 minutes 19 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Tom Sartori Super 8 short films; Allegiance (6 minutes 46 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, no sound), Bum Doubt (11 minutes 57 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), and Hong Kong Flew (4 minutes 52 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono, no dialog), Tom Sartori 1980s music video reel (11 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Cinema Face: Live in Concert (20 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Scorched Earth Policy: Full Six Song EP (14 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), Furious New Wave Band - behind the scenes Super 8 footage (2 minutes 55 seconds, no sound), archival Scarecrow Video Podcast with Tim Everitt (29 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by Justin Decloux titled Rhee Brothers Career Overview (10 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by Justin Decloux titled North American No-Budget Martial Arts Cinema Primer (21 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with co-director Tim Everitt titled The Kung Fu Kid (53 minutes 35 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with co-director Tom Sartori titled High Kicking In Hollywood  (53 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival commentary with Tim Everitt, an audio commentary with Justin Decloux of The Important Cinema Club and Peter Kuplowsky of the Toronto International Film Festival, reversible cover art featuring original VHS art, 'Stick your own' VHS sticker set, a folded mini-poster reproduction of original Furious one sheet, a 2-Sided Insert, throwing star key tag (first pressing only), and a limited-edition slipcase (first pressing only).

Other extras are Visual Vengeance trailers for Born a Ninja and Commando the Ninja, Kung Fu Rascals, and The Nine Demons.

Summary:

A martial arts hero goes on a quest after his sister's death and finds himself in a battle with aliens wanting to control the universe.

My affection for martial arts cinema goes back to my childhood. Though I am well-versed in martial arts cinema from Hong Kong and Hollywood martial arts films of the 1980s and 1990s, I was not that aware of the sub-genre of micro budget American-made martial arts films. One of these films, Furious, was co-directed by Tim Everitt, who would go on to work in visual effects animation on Babylon 5, Deep Blue Sea, and Red Planet.

Furious takes the martial arts staple of good versus evil and takes things up a few notches by making the enemy aliens. The protagonist is forced into the spotlight when his sister is killed by the aliens. From there he is faced with a series of treacherous obstacles that try to derail his quest. Besides the aliens, all of this other stuff is your standard martial arts tropes.

The most surprising aspect of Furious is its martial arts choreography and stunt work, both of which exceed expectations. These are not just some basic hand-to-hand fight sequences; a few are inventive in how they map out the movements. That said, for most viewers, the fight sequences will be the high point, since there is not much else that works.

An anemic narrative with bare minimum exposition and one-dimensional performances are areas where Furious comes up short. At least in the case of the latter, everything is post-dubbed, and this at least adds some humor. Also, at only 72 minutes in length, things do move quick enough that Furious does not overstay its welcome. Ultimately, Furious is an oddity that can be a lot of fun under the influence.

Whenever discussing Visual Vengeance, you can always say that they deliver when it comes to extras and packaging. That said, Furious is another solid release from Visual Vengeance that comes with a wealth of extras and presents the film in its best possible audio/video presentation.

Written by Michael Den Boer