THE KUNG FU INSTRUCTOR (1979) (88 Films Blu-ray Review/Screenshots)

THE KUNG FU INSTRUCTOR (1979) 

Label: 88 Films

Region Code: A,B

Rating: Unrated 

Duration: 104 Minutes 18 Seconds 

Audio: Cantonese 2.0 DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: Chung Sun 

Cast: Lung Ti, Yue Wong,  Feng Ku, Angie Chiu, Lung-Wei Wang, Dick Wei, Tao Chiang, Fei Ai,  Jamie Luk, Ching Tien, Kuo Hua Chang, Chia-Chun Lu, Mo Yuen, Hang-Sheng Wu, Han Chiang, Kin-Ping Chow,  Wah Yuen, Shen Chan

The Kung Fu Instructor (1979), is directed by Chung Sun (Human Lanterns) stars Ti Lung (Black Magic 2) as a Wang Yang, a renowned kung fu instructor is a small village that is bitterly divided between two clans, the Zhous and the Mengs, clans who have been at each others throats for decades, so much so that the village is divided into separates territories, and if one clan should cross the boundary and be caught they risk having their limbs cut-off! That's pretty serious stuff right there. While the Zhou seem to want a chance to broker peace between the clans the ruthless leader of the Mengs, Meng Er-da (Ku Feng, Five Deadly Venoms), wants to wipeout the Zhous, and to that end he attempts to recruit the services of Wang Yang to give his clan the edge combatively. Not wanting to be involved in a clan war he declines the invitation, but displeased by his refusal Meng Er-da secretly has the instructor framed for murder, forcing him to reluctantly become his clan's instructor, with the promise of using his political clout to exonerate him of the false charges.

While Wang instructs the Meng's a young man named named Ping (Yue Wong, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin) from from the Zhou side of town, who hungers to perfect his kung fu technique, at to that point he sneaks into Meng territory, risking his life, to observe Wang's teaching from afar. The kid ends up getting caught and is about to have his limbs cut-off when Wangs saves him they escape the Meng compound together. 

It's somewhat formulaic in that it's a Yojimbo-esque battle of the clans with Wang forcibly inserted in the middle against his will, but it offers enough of a twist on it to keep things  interesting. The real takeaway are the superior fight sequences, captured with a Steadicam, which was a kung fu first.  It's a solid kung fu flick with Ti Lung  as the honorable kung fu instructor forced to teach his style to a vicious clan, but who saves his greatest moves, the Shaolin Pole Style, for his new student Ping, and together they set out to right some wrongs and clear the instructor's name. 

Audio/Video: The Kung Fu Instructor (1979) arrives on region A,B Blu-ray from 88 Films in 1080p HD widescreen (2.35:1), sourced from an HD scan of the original camera negative.  It looks very solid, with good color reproduction, accurate skin tones, and deep blacks. Film grain is present throughout and looks unmolested by untoward digital noise reduction, it's quite sharp with impressive depth and clarity. Audio comes by way of Cantonese or English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with optional English subtitles, both tracks are solid, and I did not notice a huge difference in fidelity between the pair. 

Extras include and Still Gallery and a Theatrical Trailer for the film. The single-disc release is housed inside a clear full-height Scanavo keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring the Honk Kong artwork and a kickass by 17th & Oak with bold block lettering that looks awesome. We also get a Limited Edition (First Pressing Only) Slipcover with the 17th & Oak artwork with metallic highlights that really give it some zing. Inside we get 4 Collector's Art Cards featuring lobby card reproductions. 

Special Features: 
- High Definition (1080p) Presentation in 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio

- Trailer (1:23) 

- Gallery (1:53) 

- Reversible Wrap featuring Original Hong Kong Artwork and new 17th & Oak Artwork 

- Limited Edition Slipcover (First Pressing Only)

- 4 Collector’s Art Cards (First Pressing Only) 

Screenshots from the 88 Films Blu-ray: 

Extras: 

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KUNG-FU RASCALS (1992) (Visual Vengeance Blu-ray Review/Screenshots)

KUNG-FU RASCALS (1992) 

Visual Vengeance Collector's Edition Blu-ray 

Label: Visual Vengeance 

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 102 Minutes 22 Seconds 

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) 

Director: Steve Wang

Cast: Troy Fromin, Johnnie Saiko, Les Claypool, Steve Wang

 

Kung-Fu Rascals (1992), directed by Steve Wang (Guyver: Dark Hero) is an incredibly ambitious kung-fu fantasy film shot on super-8mm and transferred to video tape. The premise here is that an ancient dark lord known as The Bamboo Man (Ted Smith) plans to take over a Shaolin Temple which threatens the local community. His plan is going pretty well until his pigman underling Raspmutant the Mad Monk (Wyatt Weed, The Laughing Dead) tells him that a local master thief has broken into their HQ and made of with a crucial map, impeding Bamboo Man's plan. In order to save their community the thief, Chen Chow Mein (Steve Wang) teams-up with rebel fighters Lao Ze (Troy Fromin, Return of the Living Dead II) and Reepo (Johnnie Saiko, Hell Comes to Frogtown) to form the chop-socky trio The Kung Fu Rascals, hatching a plan to thwart the dark lord's insidious plans. In doing so they must not only evade the vile pigman Raspmutant and his minions, but the evil Sheriff of Ching Wa County (Les Claypool III, not the guy from Primus) and Meesha The Spider-Witch (Michelle McCrary). 

Given the limited resources I would normally associate with SOV flicks this is a delightfully well-made and action-packed bit of chop-sockey shenanigans. The fight sequences are corny and wonderful, and we even get some giant-sized stone statues coming to life in the final showdown, and the make-up effects are very cool. The mutant/monster baddies are well designed and sculpted, we get the pigman henchman, a witchy spider-woman, and of course dark lord Bamboo Man, as well as the stone giants, all of look amazing, and not surprisingly, as Wang was an established  special effects guy for a while at this point, having already worked on creature-effects heavy stuff like The Monster Squad, Hell Comes To Frog Town, Arena, Gremlins 2, Deep Star Six, and Predator, but that he put so much love into the effects for this no-budget spectacle was a bit surprising. The behind-the-scenes photo galleries of the making of this film really showcase the detail and care that went into the elaborate designs, which might not be evident from the low-res image of the actual film on the Blu-ray. Not so amazing is the video source which is lousy with compression and murkiness, it's a shame that this could not be re-assembled from the original super-8mm footage, and what we get is sourced from a SD tape source.

Even still the magic and mayhem of this lunatic SOV flick shines through just the same. At times the fight sequences have a distance Powers Rangers campiness to them, which was also evident in Wang's The Guyver fight choreography, and i love it, it suits the material to a "t". 

Audio/Video: Kung-Fu Rascals (1991) makes it's worldwide Blu-ray debut on region-free Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance in HD sourced from the SD Master from original tape elements framed in 1.33:1 fullscreen. The dated video source is dark, murky and compressed, it looks like a cruddy VHS because that's basically what it is. Colors are muted, the details are smeary looking and soft throughout, it looks pretty awful to be honest. When you see the behind-the-scenes images and how cool the creature and kaiju designs look it's a bit sad to think that the video transfer source is all we have left of the original film elements. but still, thank the cinema lord that we have that at least. Audio comes by way of English Dolby Digital 20 with optional English subtitles. The track is clean enough and well-balanced, it's not the peak of high fidelity my any stretch of the imagination, but i t does the job.  

As usual Visual Vengeance have loaded this sucker up with extras, which for some will prove more interesting that the film I am sure. We get a nearly two-hour The Making of Kung Fu Rascals: Brand New Feature Length Documentary that runs 112-min featuring writer/director Steve Wang, Johnnie Saiko who played "Reepo", Troy Fromin who played "Lao Ze", Les Claypool III who played "The Sheriff", Ted Smith who played "Bamboo Man" among others, Wyatt Weed for played "Raspmutant" who also was the model maker. It's a fascinating look back at he making of this SOV gem. We also get the 16-min The Reunion of the Three Rascals. The flick also gets two commentaries, the first is an Audio Commentary with director Steve Wang, Actor Johnnie Saiko, Actor Troy Fromin, Composer & Actor Les Calypool III and Actor Ted Smith; the second is an Audio Commentary with Kung Fu Rascals superfans Justin Decloux and Dylan Cheung. More new featurettes come by way of the the 10-min Steve Wang & Les Claypool III Meet Again; and the 12-min Chris Gore Interview: Distributing Kung Fu Rascals on VHS who talks about how he first discovered the film and came to distribute it through Film Threat on VHS. Additionally, there are 57-min of Behind The Scenes Video Diaries; the 35-min Original Kung Fu Rascals Super 8 Short Film; the 13-min Steve Wang Short Film: Code 9; and galleries offering the Complete Film Threat Video #6 BTS Article; a 3-min Stills Gallery with some nice high quality images from the film, the 4-min Behind The Scenes Image Gallery, and Visual Vengeance Trailers for Born a Ninja, Furious, The Nine Demons, and of course Kung-Fu Rascals. 

The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Sleeve of Artwork featuring the original VHS artwork and new illustration, plus we get a Limited Edition (First Pressing Only) Slipcover with unique artwork by The Dude which is also featured as the disc artwork. Inside we get more ephemera by way of a 12-Page Mini Comic Book (First Pressing Only) with striking black and white art Marc Gras telling the same story as the film; plus a 'Stick Your Own' VHS Sticker Set, and a single-sided Folded Mini-Poster featuring one of the wrap artworks, and a 2-Sided Insert with unique alternate art and a synopsis of the film. 

Special Features: 
- Director-supervised SD master from original tape elements
- The Making of Kung Fu Rascals: Brand New Feature Length Documentary (112:56) 
- The Reunion of the Three Rascals (16:18) 
- Audio Commentary with director Steve Wang, Actor Johnnie Saiko, Actor Troy Fromin, Composer & Actor Les Calypool III and Actor Ted Smith
- Audio Commentary with Kung Fu Rascals superfans Justin Decloux and Dylan Cheung
- Steve Wang & Les Claypool III Meet Again
- Chris Gore Interview: Distributing Kung Fu Rascals on VHS (11:40)
- Behind The Scenes Video Diaries (56:55) 
- Original Kung Fu Rascals Super 8 Short Film (34:51) 
- Steve Wang Short Film: Code 9 (13:21) 
- Complete Film Threat Video #6 BTS Article
- Stills Gallery (3:02) 
- Behind The Scenes Image Gallery (4:10) 

- Visual Vengeance Trailers: Born a Ninja (2:03), Furious (1:07), The Nine Demons (1:50), Kung-Fu Rascals (1:06)  
- 12 page mini comic book - First Pressing Only 
- Limited Edition Slipcase by The Dude - First Pressing Only 
- 'Stick Your Own' VHS Sticker Set
- Reversible Sleeve Featuring Original VHS Art
- Folded Mini-Poster
- 2-Sided Insert with Alternate Art

Kung-Fu Rascals (1992) gets a banger of a Blu-ray release from Wild Eye Releasing's Visual Vengeance imprint, it's a demented slice of chop-socky awesomeness mashed-up with some fun monster and fantasy elements, which makes for quite an entertaining SOV romp. VV's packaging is top-notch and the expansive extras are sure to be a pleaser for SOV deep-divers who will want to know the story behind this mini-epic bit of micro-budget schlock.  

Screenshots from the Visual Vengeance Blu-ray: 

Extras: 

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