The Tiger Cage trilogy is director/action choreographer Yuen Woo Ping at his overheated best. Shout Factory has brought the trilogy to the US in an impressive box set package.
The Films
Tiger Cage
The story is straight ahead. A group of anti-drug police officers are besieged by a drug lord out for vengeance. The difference between Tiger Cage and your run-of-the-mill Cop Thriller is director Yuen Woo-Ping. In the legendary action choreographer and director, Tiger Cage has the sort of sentimentality mixed in with harrowing violence and brutal turns of events that brings it to delirious heights of the very best of the Heroic Bloodshed films of the 1980s.
The standout is obviously Donnie Yen who shines so bright as the hot-headed Terry in a supporting role. His work is so exceptional he’d take on the lead in the sequel. Though co-leads Jacky Cheung and Simon Yam are no slouches bring their gravitas to their respective roles. Many who are unfamiliar with Woo-Ping’s work beyond what he did for The Matrix will be surprised at how efficient and well suited the director is at the police procedural aspect of the film. His work is well balanced trading between crackling action set pieces and moments of tense and terse double-crossing and manipulation.
Tiger Cage II
What this reviewer loves about HK Series is said series often do not care if an actor’s character dies in the film. They just create a new story surrounded by all-new characters. Which is the case with Tiger Cage II.
Knowing they had someone special in Donnie Yen, they built a film around him and a new character. The result is a fun, funny, often thrilling, action film that is a showcase for Yen’s amazing physical abilities. Woo-Ping returning to the director’s chair makes sure that fun is the of the highest order here. More an action comedy in the vein of 48 HRS that trades comedic barbs with brutal action scenes.
One’s enjoyment will depend on how they feel about the story of a chauvinist disgraced super-cop named Dragon Yau (Yen) who gets entangled with an uptight by the numbers lawyer Mandy (Rosamund Kwan) after drug dealers think they have the millions of dollars from a drug deal double cross. Much of the time is spent with Mandy’s shrill complaints and weeping willow responses during the action set pieces. Luckily this does not last the entire duration of the film and she manages to even get a few moments during the finale.
The film is a showcase for Yen who is on fire as the disgraced detective trying to keep himself and Mandy alive long enough to solve the case and prove their innocence. There are many cultural references and comedic bits that will be loss on a western audience but there is enough here done with universal complications we all understand.
Though with any Woo-Ping film, you’re here for the action and he and his team delivers the good. Wither it’s a chase scene, a fight, a gun play set piece there is a clever and ingeniousness to everything that’s executed. They also complicate matters by having Kwan’s character in the middle of the action. The skill and style on display here is unreal. There are moments especially in the warehouse finale (I mean it is an HK heroic bloodshed film during the heyday, a warehouse finale is all but guaranteed) that will demand repeated viewing. The final sword showdown between Yen and the main baddie (the villain’s identity kept secret to not ruin the fun) is a marvel.
Tiger Cage II is the best of the series and one of the best of the Yen and Woo-Ping collaborations.
Tiger Cage III
It’s always hard following up a truly magnificent entry in any series. Add to the fact that your star is not returning to boot. Tiger Cage III goes in a very different direction than the first two. If the first was a police procedural thriller and the second was an action comedy, then the third is a neo noir thriller about corporate greed and corruption.
There’s an intricacy to the plot that keeps twisting and turning – where the criminals (here Corporate Executives) are smarter than the people chasing them. The complexity here that there isn’t “good guys” or “bad guys” but rather moral corrupt people doing morally corrupt actions to get what they want. Woo-Ping’s film dives more into the human drama of the piece, showcasing again just how skilled the director is at the various genres beyond action. That isn’t to say the action is secondary or doesn’t deliver what you expect. By no means as Tiger Cage III features some of the most stylish set pieces of the trilogy. Including a great boat chase/action scene that one will want to watch a few times to see how everything was done.
The film though starring Michael Wong and Kwok Leung Cheung as police officers using their skill sets for less than morally righteous means (one to get rich, the other to spy on his girlfriend), it is Man Cheung as Suki Cheung that’s the find here. The cruel journey that Cheung, the character, goes through is harrowing, to say the least. The complexity that Cheung, the actor, brings to the part is extraordinary. Using the Femme Fatale model as a reference point, Cheung adds a layered complexity that in the end is the best performance out of the three films. One wonders why she did not get more showcase roles after this film.
Tiger Cage III may not be what you expect for a final film in a trilogy but it is a thrilling end to what is a varied and arresting – pun intended – trilogy of HK Action Films.
The Transfers
All three films have been restored in 2K by licenser Fortune Star. The work here as with the work this reviewer has covered in the past is everything you would want from an image. The sharp transfers have been meticulously cleaned up leaving nary a scratch, blemish, or speck of dirt present. The grain structure has been left intact in each of the three films leaving a wonderful patina of grain that imbues each film with a beautiful 35mm-like quality. Bravo to Shout Factory, Fortune Star, and their respective technical staff for bringing the highest possible quality transfers to this box set.
The Extras
They include the following;
DISC ONE: TIGER CAGE (1988)
- Two Cuts Of The Film – The Cantonese Cut And The English Cut
- NEW Audio Commentary With David West, Critic And Author Of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction To The Martial Arts Film (English Cut)
- NEW An Apex Predator – An Interview With Actor Vincent Lyn
- NEW A Tiger’s Tale – An Interview With Frank Djeng Of The New York Asian Film Festival
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- English Trailer
- Additional Shot From The Taiwanese Cut
DISC TWO: TIGER CAGE II (1990)
- NEW Audio Commentary With David West, Critic And Author Of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction To The Martial Arts Film (Cantonese Cut)
- NEW Clawing A Living – An Interview With Action Choreographer Bill Lui
- NEW Hunting High And Low – An Interview With Academic And Author Victor Fan
- Original Theatrical Trailer
DISC THREE: TIGER CAGE III (1991)
- NEW Audio Commentary With David West, Critic And Author Of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction To The Martial Arts Film
- NEW A New Wave Of Violence – An Interview With Film Critic James Mudge
- NEW Inventing An Icon – Film Critic Ricky Baker Discuss The Emergence Of The “Heroic Bloodshed” Term
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- English Trailer
- English Credits
DISC ONE: TIGER CAGE (1988)
The all-new Audio Commentary with critic/author David West begins with his credentials, and how he plans to dissect the film. Some of the details include the box office returns – and its success; the formation of D&B Films who produced the film– a production company created by Dickson Poon and Sammo Hung; where the HK film industry was during this era – including the demise of Shaw Brothers Studios; a large discussion of Yuen Woo-Ping’s personal life, career and his various successes and failures film; a side discussion of Woo-Ping’s father and his very successful and legendary career; much discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open you’ll want to write some of the films down; and much more. West gives us a great informative commentary track about the film.
An Apex Predator – An Interview with Actor Vincent Lyn (17:52) – in this all-new interview with the HK-based character actor opens with how he was cast in Tiger Cage, his first film. Some of the other details include his first day of shooting; speaking in both Cantonese and English during the production; the work of Simon Yam, the work of Donnie Yen – and how closely the star collaborated with Woo-ping; and much more.
A Tiger’s Tale – An Interview with Frank Djeng of The New York Asian Film Festival (19:56) – in this all-new interview with Djeng the historian/author/curator discusses this trilogy and the rise of Donnie Yen. Some of the details include Donnie Yen’s time in Boston – and the trouble he was getting into and eventually his mother moving him to Beijing for 4 years, Yen’s chance meeting with Woo-ping during a stop in HK, Yen’s mentoring by Woo-ping and eventually starring in various films that eventually led to the first Tiger Cage, the fact the trilogy are not related to each other – via the titles literal translation, the style of the three films and how the match up to the era at the time of HK action films, Yen’s work in the first and second film – and how much the differ; and much more.
Original Theatrical Trailer (3:23) – in Cantonese with English Subtitles.
English Trailer (4:46) – in English
Additional Shots from The Taiwanese Cut (0:36) – in SD and unrestored, the various bits of additional gore. No Subtitles but no dialog either.
DISC TWO: TIGER CAGE II (1990)
The all-new audio commentary with critic/author David West on the Cantonese Cut is a continuation of his track for the first film with setting the stage for what he will discuss during his track. Some of the details include the box office performance – and its lesser returns but how many consider it one of Woo-ping’s best films of the era; the various films that came out during 1990 – when it was released including the “Women with guns” genre which this is a part of, the success of the gambling genre (get your notes app ready again as there are so many fun titles); the very outdated sexual politics of the film – which West gives an example of; a discussion of Donnie Yen’s mother who was a hugely famous martial arts instructor – and her influence on the arts and also on Yen’s life as a whole; a great discussion about Donnie Yen’s career, personal life, his successes and failures, his ties to mainland China and more; much discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors and their work here and throughout their career – keep your notes app open you’ll want to write some of the films down; and much more. West gives us another great informative commentary track about the film.
Clawing A Living – An Interview with Action Choreographer Bill Lui (30:06) – in this all-new interview with Lui he discusses his work on Tiger Cage II. Some of the discussion points include his entry into the industry in the early 1980s; the changes to the industry from that time to the current era; the hierarchy of the stunt crews at the time; the various people that helped him through the industry – including his time with Jackie Chan’s stunt team – and various the crew, and performers that worked on Tiger Cage II; working with Donnie Yen specifically – a great conversation about how before his stardom Yen worked with Woo-ping and was a student of the master; his work on Tiger Cage I; a detailed account of his work on the sequel where he was primary fight choreographer – including a discussion of the various set pieces and examples of just how hard of a shoot it was; and much more. In Cantonese with English Subtitles.
Hunting High and Low – An Interview with Academic and Author Victor Fan (18:31) – in this all-new interview with Fan discusses what many consider the Golden Age of HK Action cinema which includes the Tiger Claw Trilogy. Fan opens with how after a successful film in HK and how they begin a series – which wasn’t necessarily a “Franchise” with the same characters just keeping actors/stars and plots or genre; how the formulas and plots were created and developed in the 1980s HK – specifically when it’s a series of films; a discussion of Donnie Yen’s career before and after Tiger Claw – and how he’s a part of the second generation of modern martial artists; the martial arts style that Yen was educated in and the praise that his fellow actors and martial artists had for him; a discussion of the “Heroic Bloodshed” genre – how it originated, John Woo’s part in it; and much more.
Original Theatrical Trailer (4:00) – in Cantonese with English Subtitles.
DISC THREE: TIGER CAGE III (1991)
The all-new audio commentary with critic/author David West on the final film of the set also sets the stage for what he will discuss during his track. Some of the details include the box office performance – and its lesser returns; the various films that came out during 1991 – when it was released including the biggest film of the year Fight Back to School, which leads to a larger discussion of star Charlotte Cheung aka Man Cheung and her banner year this was for her other than Tiger Cage III (it was a failure); a discussion of Charlotte Cheung’s career – and how that lines up to many of the Starlets during the 1980s; a great side conversation about Michelle Yeoh; a discussion about producer (and Yeoh’s first husband) Dickson Poon’s life and rise as a producer; a larger discussion of Woo-ping’s later career, his influence of on Western action films, his work in The Matrix; and much more. West’s third commentary track may be the best of the three because of the various discussions and unique topic points that are gone into.
A New Wave of Violence – An Interview With Film Critic James Mudge (19:57) – in this all-new featurette Mudge discusses how the “heroic bloodshed” movies rose to acclaim. Mudge discusses the term and confirms what Ricky Baker had said in his interview, a dissection of the genre and examples of that genre, a discussion about the emergence of A Better Tomorrow as the first true-blue ‘heroic bloodshed” move of the 1980s, what makes a “heroic bloodshed” film, and much more.
Inventing an Icon – Film Critic Ricky Baker Discuss The Emergence Of The “Heroic Bloodshed” Term (8:12) – in this all-new featurette, Baker gives us a great – and all-too-brief – discussion about the various subgenres and the rise of the “Heroic Bloodshed” films including his first experience with the genre seeing The Killer at an early screening in the UK, the term “heroic bloodshed” was coined by him, a great discussion about Quentin Tarantino, and more.
Original Theatrical Trailer (3:48) – In Cantonese with English Subtitles.
English Trailer (4:01)
English Credits (2:53) – includes both the opening and closing title sequences.
The Final Thought
The Tiger Cage Collection Box Set is Shout Factory at its very best, delivering the extras and transfers you’ve come to expect from the label. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
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