The Angry River – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1971
Director: Huang Feng
Writer: Huang Feng
Cast: Angela Mao, Kao Yuen, Pai Ying, Fung Ngai, Han Ying-Chieh, Sammo Hung Kam-Bo

Release Date: May 12th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 90 Minutes 39 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono Mandarin, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"Lan Feng, a courageous young woman on a desperate mission to find a cure for her gravely injured father. But danger lurks at every turn, as the very villains responsible for her father's fate pursue her relentlessly. What follows is a whirlwind of acrobatic combat, breathtaking choreography, and fierce determination, as Lan Feng's journey becomes a battle for justice and survival." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "This 88 Films Blu-ray edition brings the film roaring back to life in a stunning 2K restoration from the original negative."

The Angry River comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 28 GB

Feature: 26.1 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity and compression are solid, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction.

Audio: 4.25/5 (LPCM Mono Mandarin), 3/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Mandarin and a LPCM mono mix in English. The Mandarin language track sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and action sequences sound robust. The English language track has some background hiss and other imperfections, and range-wise, it does not sound as full as the Mandarin track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Mandarin language track and removable English subtitles for Mandarin text when watching with the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background (stills/lobby cards/posters), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 52 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Mandarin with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Asian cinema experts Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, reversible cover art, a double-sided fold-out poster (limited to the first pressing), and an O-ring slipcase (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Huang Feng directed The Angry River. He’s known for The Shaolin Plot, Naked Comes the Huntress and his nine collaborations with Angela Mao.

When her father is given a fatal poison, Lan Feng, a gifted martial artist, sets out on a dangerous journey to retrieve the antidote. Faced with the decision of her dying father running out of time, she relinquishes her martial arts skills for the antidote, which puts her in danger on her way back home.

The Angry River marked Golden Harvest's inaugural official release, a company that gained prominence after collaborating with Bruce Lee on four films. Golden Harvest was founded by a trio of film producers: Raymond Chow, Peter Choi, and Leonard Ho, who had been working at Shaw Brothers, the most dominant studio in Hong Kong cinema throughout the 1960s. For their first film, The Angry River, they would draw some inspiration from the Shaw Brothers by making a Wuxia film, their most popular genre at that time.

The Angry River is a film of two halves. The first half revolves around the protagonist Lan Feng’s quest to obtain a rare herb that has the power to reverse the fatal poison in her father's body. The latter half shifts from a heroic journey to a story rooted in revenge when the protagonist's father dies before she’s able to return with the antidote. From there she ingests the herb, which also has the power to restore her martial arts skills, which were taken away from her.

The Angry River is an important film in another way; it marked the first time Angela Mao (Lady Whirlwind) was a lead in a film. She would go on to become one of martial arts cinema’s biggest stars of the 1970s. While she is given a few moments to showcase her martial arts prowess, there is a long stretch where her character is passive because her skills have been taken away. Another cast member of note is Sammo Hung Kam-Bo (The Magnificent Butcher) in an early role as an evil henchman.

Although the premise retreads all too familiar ground, it does a superb job balancing exposition and action sequences. In the case of the latter, they are mostly weapon-oriented and while they are well-executed, they lack inventiveness. Another byproduct of this era of martial arts cinema is hearing familiar uncredited music cues like Tiger Tank from Kelly’s Heroes and the main theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Ultimately, The Angry River is a well-crafted martial arts film that foreshadows better things to come from its leading lady Angela Mao.

88 Films gives The Angry River a strong audio/video presentation and there is an insightful audio commentary. Recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer