Paula Hammond - Features EditorMartini swilling butcher (and disgraced former spy) Ling Ling Chat (Stephen Chow) is dispatched to recover a stolen dinosaur skull from a golden-gun wielding super-villain. Equipped with the latest gadgets, our hero dons his tuxedo and swaggers into a world of danger, beautiful women, and metal-mouthed assassins. Sound familiar?
From Beijing With Love wears its Bond-parody colours proudly — and the result is a possibly Stephen Chow’s funniest film to date. True, From Beijing With Love isn’t as fresh or as inventive as Kung Fu Hustle but Chow proves that he’s still the master of observational humour and deft direction.
While the likes of Shaolin Soccer owed much of their styling to the movies of Hong Kong greats such as Sammo, here Chow channels John Woo, with fevered action sequences and enough blood geysers to sate the most demanding action fan.
Fast, fun, and more immediately accessible than many of Chow’s films, From Beijing With Love does exactly what it says on the tin. And it does it with tons of style, and its tongue planted firmly in its cheek.
Presented as part of the Eureka Classics range in its UK debut on Blu-ray, From Beijing With Love comes with an impressive range of extras, including:
- Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase (first print run of 2000 copies only), featuring new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju).
- 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a restoration of the original film elements.
- Original Cantonese mono audio.
- Optional English dubbed audio.
- Optional English Subtitles.
- Brand new feature length audio commentary Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival).
- Wong Kam Kong on “From Beijing With Love” – new interview with actor Wong Kam Kong about his role in the film.
- Wong Kam Kong in conversation – actor Wong Kam Kong discusses his career. Archival interview with Lee Lik-chi.
- Trailer
- A Limited Edition Collector’s Booklet (first print run of 2000 copies only) featuring new writing by James Oliver.
