The Daredevils and Ode To Gallantry are the director Chang Cheh at his very best. Eureka has given these two Venom Mob films the Blu-ray deluxe treatment.
The Films
The Daredevils
When an Army Commander (Eddie H. Wang) is assassinated by a bandit turned “Solider” Han (Wong Lik) in his own home. Daying (Lo Mang), the Army Commander’s son, the sole survivor finds fellowship with a trio of acrobats Chen Feng (Chiang Sheng), Fu Quanyi (Lu Feng), and Xin Zheng (Sun Chien) – and vengeance. Together the group concocts a plan to avenge Daying’s father.
Director Chang Cheh creates an excellent piece, a sub-90-minute piece of action, revenge martial arts mania. The script by Chang Cheh, Ni Kuang, is light on character but heavy on action. One would think this is a critique but it’s not. The characters are etched so lean, but that does not matter in these types of films. What matters is the action… and Chang delivers. There’s a beauty and complexity to the construction of the dozen of action scenes that play out in the film. Each character has their own style/specialty that helps them get closer and closer to Han until the high-flying finale.
The Daredevils is the sort of lean and mean martial arts film that excels at what everyone wants … the action. In that regard, Chang’s film is pure and undiluted cinema.
Ode to Gallantry
Director Chang Cheh’s action comedy is equal parts funny and thrilling. Ode to Gallantry is an adaptation of the Louis Cha novel of the same name, which is itself a play on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (which itself is a riff on the Prince and the Pauper fairy tale).
When the simple-minded Mongrel (Philip Kwok) is mistaken for Shi Zhongyu (also Kwok), it sets off a series of events that involves lords, gangs, political officials, martial arts masters, and a stolen piece of treasure. Events that have Mongrel mistaken for the lord’s son and culminate in finding that he may be Shi Zhongyu, the long thought dead brother.
Ode to Gallantry is a delight of a film that manages to surprise with its characters for such a well-worn oft-told tale. The adaptation from Chang and co-screenwriter Ni Kung finds the softest of human touches in Mongrel who always wants to see the best in people when we feel like there is nothing there and he’s being duped. The way that this twists and subverts our expectations is true delight in storytelling. Even the martial arts set pieces have a deft comedic touch that always manage to be surprising and comedic.
Even the ending, though some moments are very typical of the genre, finds a way to be uniquely comedic and some would say graceful. Ode to Gallantry’s power is in its comedic and clever moments of humanity rather than its action set pieces.
The Transfers
1080p HD presentations on Blu-ray from masters supplied by Celestial Pictures are an excellent representation of both films. Researching the prior DVD editions of the titles leaves no comparison. The work here is literally night and day. The films look sharp, and the color reproduction is wonderful, popping off the screen. Eureka Entertainment has gone above and beyond to bring us these gorgeous transfers.
The Extras
They include the following;
- Two new commentaries by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist and filmmaker Michael Worth
- Two new commentaries by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
- Deadly Venoms
The Daredevils
The first all-new commentary is by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist and filmmaker Michael Worth, who opens with their credentials and their professional relationship (they both produced the Brucesploitation Documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce). Some of the details include the many titles that the film goes by; the release and the box office success of the film; a discussion of the Venom Mob – who were in this film, who was in the group and history/origins of the film actor/martial artists; a discussion of the era in which the film takes place in – the Warlord era; a discussion of the primary language became Mandarin and not Cantonese; the reason why they set these early 20th century films are set in Mainland and not Hong Kong; the style of martial arts and the inclusion of acrobatics which was new to Chang Cheh’s films; the cinematography of Cho Wai-Kei – both here and throughout his career and the other Venom Mob films he shot; the influence of Jackie Chan and his humor – because of the huge success of his early movies; a discussion of the rise of star Lo Mang; a discussion of the career and history of star Lo Mang – including his career his illustrious career in choreography; a discussion throughout of this studio bound production and the limitations and benefits of this for director Chang Cheh; a discussion throughout of the various cultural touchstones, history, social norms and even signage that appears throughout that may be lost on western audiences; a larger discussion of director Cheng Cheh – his style, his other films, his personal and professional history; 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. Djeng and Worth provide another great informational commentary track.
The second all-new commentary is by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, who begin with Leeder almost falling out of his chair – literally. Some of the details include the first time each had seen the film; a discussion of the Venom Mob were and how they all appeared in the film; a discussion of the Republic era that this takes place in; a great extended discussion of the personal history and career of the HK Acting legend Walter Cho – who had 406 credits to his name and worked for 65 years; how street opera they perform is a part of how the various members of Venom mob made their living before they became actors – which leads to a great discussion about Chang Cheh and his methodology directing and storytelling; stunt men “goofing” on set between shots on HK films – including a great anecdote about Police Story set; a great extended discussion of the career and personal history of Lo Mang; a great discussion of shooting on 35mm – and how Shaw Bros stored and processed during their busiest era of filmmaking; a hilarious discussion about how Nun chucks, ninjas, and ninja stars were censored by the UK censors; a great discussion of HK extras – including a discussion of Leeder’s experience on the third Brendan Fraiser Mummy film; a discussion of the career and personal history of villain of the film actor Wong Lik; a great discussion of the editing and editors Chiang Hsing-Lung and Lee Yim-Hoithat worked on the film and the others they did; a discussion throughout of various cultural touchstones, social norms, pop culture that may be lost on western audiences – oftentimes as great side tangents that have nothing to do with what’s appearing on screen; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors that appear in the film and their personal and professional histories; and much more. Leeder and Venema provide another entertaining, funny, and informational commentary track.
Ode to Gallantry
The first all-new commentary is by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist and filmmaker Michael Worth, who opens with their credentials and their professional relationship (they both produced the Brucesploitation Documentary Enter the Clones of Bruce). Some of the details include the many titles that the film goes by; the release and the box office success of the film; the source material the film is based on; the other adaptation of the Louis Cha’s novel – including a TV series starring Tony Leung in 1989; a discussion of the adaptation itself and how it does not really veer away except at the end; the reason why this film has only a Mandarin track and not a Cantonese track as well; the reasons why this film was filmed completely on studio; the reasons why the novel is called Ode to Gallantry; the work of composer Eddie H. Wang; a discussion throughout of the various cultural touchstones, history, social norms and even signage that appears throughout that may be lost on western audiences; a larger discussion of director Cheng Cheh – his style, his other films, his personal and professional history; 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; a discussion of the ending and how and why it was changed; and much more. Djeng and Worth provide another great informational commentary track with little overlap from the previous commentary track though the films do share many of the same cast and crew.
The second all-new commentary is by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, which begins with a discussion of the opening title sequence. Some of the details include a great discussion how close this film hues to the Jackie Chan’s comedy blockbusters at the time; the literary background this film comes from; a discussion of the career and work here of cinematographer Cho Wai-kei; a great extended discussion of just how Chang Cheh changed the HK film industry – beginning as a critic and moving into actual filmmaking and his visual style evolved; a discussion of the career and personal history of actress Candy Wen; a discussion of the career and work of actor Chan Shen; a discussion of the career and personal history of actor Tang Ching; a discussion of the career and personal history of actor Wong Lik; a discussion of the career and personal history of actress Lau Wai-ling; a discussion of the career and personal history of actor Yeung Chi-hing; the uniqueness of the training sequence here because of the female teaching Phillip Kwok’s character; a discussion of the career and personal history assistant director, choreographer and five Venom actor Chiang Sheng; a great discussion of how K-Pop star training is analogous to Shaw Bros. training; a great side discussion of Keanu Reeves directorial debut Man of Tai Chi; a discussion of the career of lead actor Phillip Kwok – who many were introduced to as Mad Dog in Woo’s classic Hard Boiled; a discussion throughout of various cultural touchstones, social norms, pop culture that may be lost on western audiences – oftentimes as great side tangents that have nothing to do with what’s appearing on screen; discussion throughout the commentary track about the various actors that appear in the film and their personal and professional histories; and much more. Leeder and Venema provide another entertaining, funny, and informational commentary track one that does not overlap with information from their other track on this disc.
Deadly Venoms (18:10) – is an all-new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the Venom Mob. Beginning with the origins of the Mob in the wake of Bruce Lee’s passing, Wong goes through the multiple generations of stars of Director Chang Cheh leading to the Venom Mob. Wong goes on to break down each of the stars, their specialties, and the types of roles they played in various Venom films. The scholar also discusses each of the films and what made them so special within Venom’s filmography and Chang’s, as well as the reason why these types of films and Venoms came out of fashion.
The Final Thought
Eureka Entertainment has given us two truly great martial arts films, giving them wonderful special features. High Recommendations!!