Sex and the Emperor – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1994
Director: Sherman Wong
Writer: Cheuk Bing
Cast: Yvonne Yung Hung, Sung Boon-Chung, Leung Si-Ho, Jimmy Wong Shu-Kei, Stuart Ong, Kingdom Yuen King-Tan, Julie Lee Wa-Yuet, Chin Gwan, Wong Yat-Fei

Release Date: October 5th, 2026 (UK), October 6th, 2026 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 93 Minutes 30 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Cantonese, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £17.00 (UK), $29.95 (USA)

"Told through the perspective of Li, a palace servant who secretly retains his manhood despite posing as a eunuch, the story unfolds as he becomes an indispensable tool of the emperor's whims. Whether aiding in voyeuristic indulgences, navigating the treacherous politics of concubines and rivals, or executing covert missions beyond the palace walls, Li finds himself caught between survival and complicity in a world ruled by unchecked authority. As alliances shift and tensions rise, the film reveals a court driven as much by lust and manipulation as by power and control." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "a 2K Remaster of the original camera negative."

Sex and the Emperor comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 37.2 GB

Feature: 28.3 GB

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

Audio: 4.25/5 (Both Audio Tracks)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Cantonese and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both tracks sound clean, clear, and balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented. Included are removable English subtitles for the Cantonese-language track and removable English subtitles for Cantonese text when listening to the English-language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background (lobby cards/stills/posters), a theatrical trailer (4 minutes 56 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with film critic James Mudge titled If This Castle A-Rocking (22 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with film critic David West, reversible cover art featuring original Hong Kong art, a removable U-card leaving the O-Ring free of certificates and markings, a doubled-walled O-Ring slipcase (limited to the first pressing), and a 24-page booklet (limited to the first pressing) with an essay titled Sex and the Emperor: The Fallacy of Power & Prestige written by Zoe Rose Smith, and cast & crew information.

Summary:

Sherman Wong directed Sex and the Emperor. He’s most known for Queen of the Underworld and The Enigma of Love.

There are two stories at play in Sex and the Emperor. The first revolves around an Li, a eunuch who’s entered the forbidden city under false pretenses. Where an eunuch is supposed to be fully castrated, Li’s father made a deal where only one of his sons' testicles was removed so he could still have a child one day. The other revolves around Emperor Tongzhi, the heir to the Qing dynasty. Li quickly forges a bond with Tongzhi, who helps him break free of his overbearing mother, the empress.

Although Sex and the Emperor takes a Chinese historical figure, Emperor Tongzhi, it is not a biographical retelling of his story as much as a blending of fiction with some fact. The premise leans perfectly into the requirements of a category III film, with its graphic sexual content and other exploitation elements. That said, while Sex and the Emperor has some more serious moments, notably its tragic finale, it never strays too far from its more salacious content.

The performances are best described as serviceable and nothing more than a means to move narrative forward. The most notable cast member is Yvonne Yung Hung (A Chinese Torture Chamber Story); she portrays Guillian, a chambermaid that Emperor Tongzhi becomes infatuated with. The most surprising aspect of Sex and the Emperor is its use of humor, in particular the Li character. Ultimately, Sex and the Emperor is a formulaic film that lacks the inventiveness and surprises characteristic of the best category III films.

Sex and the Emperor gets an excellent release from 88 Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras.

Written by Michael Den Boer