Paula Hammond - Features EditorHong Kong films are that rare nostalgia-gold—as good when you revisit as they were back in the day. Add Sammo Hung into the mix and you know you’re in classic action-movie territory.
Warriors Two and Prodigal Son are the latest action classics to get the Eureka 2K restoration treatment, and are being released as a limited edition 2-disc blu-ray, that is sure to leave fans of the genre smiling.
Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son both depict a version of the real-life kung fu master Leung Jan, whose mastery of Wing Chun would make him a legend.
In Warriors Two, Sammo Hung and Casanova Wong play two students of master Jan (played here by Bryan “Beardy” Leung) who must use their skills to defend their town against an evil businessman and his gang of killers.
The Prodigal Son follows Leung Jan as a younger man (played by Yuen Biao). Lazy and spoilt, he believes himself to be a great kung fu master not realising that his father has been bribing his opponents to intentionally lose. After being humbled in a real fight, Leung Jan decides to become a real Wing Chun master.
Featuring some of Sammo Hung’s most memorable action choreography, Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son have everything you’d expect from the genre—tongue-in-cheek slapstick, whirlwind fight sequences, and tons of heart.
Sadly, as seems to be the case with a lot of Hong Kong restorations, the new subtitles may be more technically accurate, but lack much of the humour and subtleties of the originals. It’s also worth nothing that the English audio was originally created for the shorter export version, so when playing the English audio on the Hong Kong version, some scenes are still in Cantonese with subtitles.
Despite those niggles, the restoration is a joy to own, with plenty of extras to reward frequent rewatches. The blue-ray itself comes with an o-card slipcase, reversible poster and collectors’ booklet.
Warriors Two
- Two versions of the film, both fully restored in 2K.
- Warriors Two: Hong Kong Theatrical Version (95 mins).
- Warriors Two: International Export Version (90 mins).
- Original Cantonese mono audio (Hong Kong Version).
- Optional English dubbed audio (Hong Kong and Export Versions).
- Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release.
- Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist / actor Robert “Bobby” Samuels ([Hong Kong Version).
- Brand new feature length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema (Export Version).
- Making of Warriors Two featurette.
- Stills galleries including rare production stills, artwork, and ephemera.
- Trailers.
The Prodigal Son
- Fully restored in 2K.
- Original Cantonese mono audio.
- Optional English dubbed audio.
- Optional English Subtitles, newly translated for this release.
- Brand new feature length audio commentary by Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist / actor Robert “Bobby” Samuels.
- Brand new feature length audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema.
- Archival interview with Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Frankie Chan.
- Archival interview with Guy Lai.
- Alternate English credits.
- Stills galleries including rare production stills, artwork, and ephemera.
- Trailers.
