Verdict
Summary
From director Yuen Woo Ping, The Miracle Fighters is a truly unique martial arts extravaganza in the style of Cirque du Soleil before there was such a thing, with wild and inventive fight scenes that infuse comedic elements and clever set pieces to tell its entertaining story. It goes for broke with imaginative and innovative stunts, weird and bizarre characters, and it never stops being eye-popping and gob smacking with its over-the-top moments.
Plot:
A young man mistaken for a Crown Prince is hunted for many years, getting his skills from an exiled master of the martial arts.
Review:
After his secret marriage to a Han woman, a Manchu court official named Kao (Eddy Ko) is put on the spot by the cruel Emperor: If he kills his wife, his transgression will be forgiven. Kao shocks the court when he defies the Emperor, and his wife is murdered in front of him regardless. Fleeing with his life and the Crown Prince child as a hostage, Kao manages to escape, but the boy is killed. Since he’s the only one who knows this, Kao finds another child and raises him as his son / apprentice, but the Emperor’s assassins never give up looking for them. Years later, the boy has grown into a formidable young man Shu Gan (Yuen Yat-chor), but when the Emperor’s strongest assassin the Black Bat Sorcerer (Yuen Shun-yi) catches up to them, Kao must pass the baton of protection to two old taoist priests – one a wily and wise old man, the other a meddling, but shockingly tough old lady – so that the boy he’s safeguarded for years has a fighting chance to survive. Along with the Bat Sorcerer, the Emperor’s unpredictable freakshow of assassins come calling, but there’s no way that Shu Gan will go down without a fight. A climax involving a test of trials where contestants must extract a key from a vat of boiling oil, and then trying to cross a bridge made of paper will prove that young Shu Gan might have what it takes to defeat the Bat Sorcerer once and for all.
From director Yuen Woo Ping, The Miracle Fighters is a truly unique martial arts extravaganza in the style of Cirque du Soleil before there was such a thing, with wild and inventive fight scenes that infuse comedic elements and clever set pieces to tell its entertaining story. It goes for broke with imaginative and innovative stunts, weird and bizarre characters, and it never stops being eye-popping and gob smacking with its over-the-top moments. My favorite bits involved rolling jars with supernatural hunters encased within them, using paper swords as weapons. It’s really crazy!
Eureka! brings The Miracle Fighters to Blu-ray in an edition packed with special features. This is yet another release by Eureka! that deserves to be added to the collection, no question about it. The disc features the Hong Kong cut in a striking new 2K restoration, and includes two new audio commentaries, a booklet, and more.
Bonus Materials
- Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray of the original Hong Kong theatrical cut from a brand new 2K restoration
- Original Cantonese mono audio and optional classic English dub
- Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
- Brand new audio commentary on the Hong Kong theatrical version by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- Brand new audio commentary on the export version by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- John Kreng on Yuen Woo-ping – brand new documentary featurette by Michael Worth
- Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork
- Trailer
- Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by James Oliver