Deception, lies, and double-crossing are all used to take down a criminal organization threatening the Chinese Empire in To Kill a Mastermind. New to Blu-ray from 88 Films.
The Film
There’s a cynical edge to everything that happens in To Kill a Mastermind that makes it even forty-five years later one of the freshest martial arts thrillers ever produced. Director Chung Sun and writer Kuang Ni create a crackingly good story of sowing the seeds of destruction through spy-craft.
As the Qi Sha clan has only gotten stronger and more feared in the eight years since the Chinese Empire tried to take them down. The Minister of Crime decides another way is deemed smarter. They years earlier had planted a spy in Qi Sha’s midst. Though their leader simply known as Mastermind is ahead of the Ministry’s plans and begins his own counter-intelligence operation. As both parties dive deeper into their respective plans blood spills heavily as trust begins to evaporate. The inner circle of assassins and criminals of Qi Sha begin to fall, it is all going according to the mysterious and never-seen Mastermind’s ultimate goal; clean house, find the rat, and begin anew… unless the ministry’s spy can stop him.
Director Chung Sun and writer Kuang Ni’s film is packed with recognizable stars that exit the film as bloodied as no-named hoods. There is a refreshingly cynical and witty tone that runs through the entire film. One wonders if Johnnie To and Andrew Lau/Alan Mak were inspired by To Kill a Mastermind with their HK Crime Noirs. The way that the film continually makes use of paranoia and the troupe ‘no honor amongst thieves” is a counterpoint to these types of heroic wuxia/martial arts films is wonderfully fun in the way that the best entertaining noirs are when criminals get their comeuppance.
To go into too much detail over the plot dynamics and even performances would be to ruin a film that has been little seen in the four decades since its release. There is a huge amount of entertainment beyond the treachery and deceitfulness on display. To Kill a Mastermind also manages to have some truly great action scenes, the kind that one expects from Shaw Brothers productions and the work of Director Chung Sun who it was said was inspired by the previous year’s mega-successful The Five Deadly Venoms. It shows and it would surprise no one to learn that both share screenwriting legend Kuang Ni as their writer.
To Kill a Mastermind is masterful storytelling with a central mystery that will have one guessing until its final confrontation.
The Transfer
The transfer provided to 88 Films is one of the Celestial Pictures Film transfers, so the original coloring and titles have been replaced by newer cleaner ones. The handsome sharp image is as clean and flawless as the day it was produced. Many will critique the grading on the transfers but what we get in return and the fidelity of the image is just too good in a way that any of the Shaw Bros Studio films have looked. 88 Films continues its vital work of curating Asian Genre films both popular and obscure.
The Extras
They include the following;
- Original Trailer
- Stills Gallery
Stills Gallery (0:40) – the still gallery consists of 5 production stills that automatically plays with the score from the film. One can navigate the gallery by using your remote’s next and back chapter stop buttons.
The Final Thought
To Kill a Mastermind is elite-level martial arts action filmmaking. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
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Deception, lies, and double-crossing are all used to take down a criminal organization threatening the Chinese Empire in To Kill a Mastermind. New to Blu-ray from 88 Films.
The Film
There’s a cynical edge to everything that happens in To Kill a Mastermind that makes it even forty-five years later one of the freshest martial arts thrillers ever produced. Director Chung Sun and writer Kuang Ni create a crackingly good story of sowing the seeds of destruction through spy-craft.
As the Qi Sha clan has only gotten stronger and more feared in the eight years since the Chinese Empire tried to take them down. The Minister of Crime decides another way is deemed smarter. They years earlier had planted a spy in Qi Sha’s midst. Though their leader simply known as Mastermind is ahead of the Ministry’s plans and begins his own counter-intelligence operation. As both parties dive deeper into their respective plans blood spills heavily as trust begins to evaporate. The inner circle of assassins and criminals of Qi Sha begin to fall, it is all going according to the mysterious and never-seen Mastermind’s ultimate goal; clean house, find the rat, and begin anew… unless the ministry’s spy can stop him.
Director Chung Sun and writer Kuang Ni’s film is packed with recognizable stars that exit the film as bloodied as no-named hoods. There is a refreshingly cynical and witty tone that runs through the entire film. One wonders if Johnnie To and Andrew Lau/Alan Mak were inspired by To Kill a Mastermind with their HK Crime Noirs. The way that the film continually makes use of paranoia and the troupe ‘no honor amongst thieves” is a counterpoint to these types of heroic wuxia/martial arts films is wonderfully fun in the way that the best entertaining noirs are when criminals get their comeuppance.
To go into too much detail over the plot dynamics and even performances would be to ruin a film that has been little seen in the four decades since its release. There is a huge amount of entertainment beyond the treachery and deceitfulness on display. To Kill a Mastermind also manages to have some truly great action scenes, the kind that one expects from Shaw Brothers productions and the work of Director Chung Sun who it was said was inspired by the previous year’s mega-successful The Five Deadly Venoms. It shows and it would surprise no one to learn that both share screenwriting legend Kuang Ni as their writer.
To Kill a Mastermind is masterful storytelling with a central mystery that will have one guessing until its final confrontation.
The Transfer
The transfer provided to 88 Films is one of the Celestial Pictures Film transfers, so the original coloring and titles have been replaced by newer cleaner ones. The handsome sharp image is as clean and flawless as the day it was produced. Many will critique the grading on the transfers but what we get in return and the fidelity of the image is just too good in a way that any of the Shaw Bros Studio films have looked. 88 Films continues its vital work of curating Asian Genre films both popular and obscure.
The Extras
They include the following;
Stills Gallery (0:40) – the still gallery consists of 5 production stills that automatically plays with the score from the film. One can navigate the gallery by using your remote’s next and back chapter stop buttons.
The Final Thought
To Kill a Mastermind is elite-level martial arts action filmmaking. Highest Possible Recommendations!!!
88 Films’ Blu-Ray edition of To Kill a Mastermind is out now.
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