Saga of the Phoenix is the sequel to Peacock King,an adaptation of the Japanese Manga series. Where the Peacock King was a darker, more violent piece of fantasy filmmaking, Saga of the Phoenix was far more kid-friendly, opting for a more jovial and less menacing tone. The result is a film that, at a certain point, has a puppet demon (who oddly looks similar to Joe Dante’s Gremlin characters) that shoots toxic fart gas out of its ass as kids chase it.
The story concerns the Hell Virgin (Gloria Yip), who recklessly causes chaos on earth (what else would a Hell Virgin do?) is finally caught and sent back to the underworld to be jailed. Her friends and protectors, Monks Lucky Fruit and Peacock (Hiroshi Mikami and Yuen Biao), make a case for her to get a final chance. The Master Monk of the underworld (played by Zatoichi himself, Shintaro Katsu) allows her to go back to earth for seven days as long as she doesn’t cause the end of days. Though Hell Concubine has other plans for Hell Virgin and her powers to destroy the earth.
Saga makes some terrible mistakes. The biggest one is the sidelining of Yuen Biao’s character, which made the first such a memorable, darker action fantasy. All of the horror has been traded in for a more jokey comedic tone that makes everything feel like an extended episode of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. In fact, that is a perfect comp for the film, along with something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze. It just has no stakes or narrative drive.
That does not take away from the entertainment value. Where the original was a bit smaller in scale, Saga of the Phoenix manages to be an all-around bigger film. There are more creatures and visual FX that invoke the best of the low-budget, charming films of the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, there is never truly a dull moment in the film. Confusing, absolutely, but always with an eye to keep your attention. Though it’s the final fifteen minutes, the film becomes more akin to the original film with kaiju-inspired action set pieces.
The Transfer
The new 2K restoration from the original camera negative is another flawless transfer from 88 Films. The transfer is sharp and without defects. The image’s slight grain structure ensures the transfer retains that 35mm cinematic look at all times. Bravo to the boutique label’s continued efforts in bringing their beautiful restoration work to Blu-ray.
The Extras
They include the following;
Audio Commentary by HK Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto
Saga of Golden Harvest – The International Connection: Albert Lee discusses Golden Harvest’s strategy of distribution overseas
Alternate Japanese Footage
Image Gallery
Original Trailer
The Audio Commentary by HK Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto opens with DeSanto introducing the film, which is a rarity as Djeng usually begins. They do note this is a sequel to a prior movie (Peacock King) for which they did do a commentary track, which has yet to be released in the US (but has been in the UK on Blu-ray from 88 Films) as of the time of writing this. Some of the details include the literal translation of the Chinese Title, the Japanese Title; the Box office results and release details; the fact that the film was directed by two directors Lam Ngai Kai, Sze Yu Lau – and the reasons why there were two directors; a discussion of the actors that were replaced for the sequel; the use of CG VFX through Japanese FX houses which wasn’t the norm in HK productions at the time; the very different styles of directors Lam Ngai Kai and Sze Yu Lau; a discussion of the gods and demigods that appear in the film;
; a discussion of the dubbing and how the mixture of Japanese and Hong Kong actors worked and how the dubbing worked more akin to Spaghetti Westerns with the actors speaking their dialog in their native tongue; a discussion of the various social and religious themes, gags, and visuals that Western audiences would not be familiar with; a larger discussion of the various locations that the production used; 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.
Alternate Japanese Footage (11:58) – the footage, as explained in the title card proceeding the footage, was produced exclusively for the Japanese release of the film. The footage is mostly from the beginning third of the film, though there are some key additions to the end of the film, including an explanation of what happened to the three Abbesses. 88 Films has made sure that the footage itself, which was pulled from an SD Master, is inserted where the footage would have been in the HK cut of the film. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Saga of Golden Harvest – The International Connection: Albert Lee discusses Golden Harvest’s strategy of distribution overseas (22:16) – is an all-new interview that begins with his early childhood with his father being involved in distribution. Lee goes on to discuss studying in Britain and working for British distributors during his summer breaks because he hated to travel (in the 1970s, it took over a day to travel from England to Hong Kong); after his education, he worked as a film journalist and eventually transitioned over to the studio side, being hired by Golden Harvest; his responsibilities running the international distribution at Golden Harvest; territories that Raymond Chow would handle himself; a fascinating discussion of how complex network of marketers, and other employees that helped Golden Harvest get their films out to the various sections of the world; how their relationship with Toho bore the production of Peacock King and its sequel Saga of the Phoenix; and much more.
Image Gallery (5:25) – this animated image gallery consists of various lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos, production stills, and poster art set to the score from the film by composer Philip Chan Fei-Lit.
Original Trailer (3:38) – in Cantonese with English Subtitles.
The Final Thought
88 Films continues to release the best of underseen HK Action Films from the 80s and 90s. Recommended!!
Yuen Biao stars in the Supernatural Fantasy Epic Saga of the Phoenix. New to Blu-ray from 88 Films.
The Film
Saga of the Phoenix is the sequel to Peacock King, an adaptation of the Japanese Manga series. Where the Peacock King was a darker, more violent piece of fantasy filmmaking, Saga of the Phoenix was far more kid-friendly, opting for a more jovial and less menacing tone. The result is a film that, at a certain point, has a puppet demon (who oddly looks similar to Joe Dante’s Gremlin characters) that shoots toxic fart gas out of its ass as kids chase it.
The story concerns the Hell Virgin (Gloria Yip), who recklessly causes chaos on earth (what else would a Hell Virgin do?) is finally caught and sent back to the underworld to be jailed. Her friends and protectors, Monks Lucky Fruit and Peacock (Hiroshi Mikami and Yuen Biao), make a case for her to get a final chance. The Master Monk of the underworld (played by Zatoichi himself, Shintaro Katsu) allows her to go back to earth for seven days as long as she doesn’t cause the end of days. Though Hell Concubine has other plans for Hell Virgin and her powers to destroy the earth.
Saga makes some terrible mistakes. The biggest one is the sidelining of Yuen Biao’s character, which made the first such a memorable, darker action fantasy. All of the horror has been traded in for a more jokey comedic tone that makes everything feel like an extended episode of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. In fact, that is a perfect comp for the film, along with something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze. It just has no stakes or narrative drive.
That does not take away from the entertainment value. Where the original was a bit smaller in scale, Saga of the Phoenix manages to be an all-around bigger film. There are more creatures and visual FX that invoke the best of the low-budget, charming films of the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, there is never truly a dull moment in the film. Confusing, absolutely, but always with an eye to keep your attention. Though it’s the final fifteen minutes, the film becomes more akin to the original film with kaiju-inspired action set pieces.
The Transfer
The new 2K restoration from the original camera negative is another flawless transfer from 88 Films. The transfer is sharp and without defects. The image’s slight grain structure ensures the transfer retains that 35mm cinematic look at all times. Bravo to the boutique label’s continued efforts in bringing their beautiful restoration work to Blu-ray.
The Extras
They include the following;
The Audio Commentary by HK Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto opens with DeSanto introducing the film, which is a rarity as Djeng usually begins. They do note this is a sequel to a prior movie (Peacock King) for which they did do a commentary track, which has yet to be released in the US (but has been in the UK on Blu-ray from 88 Films) as of the time of writing this. Some of the details include the literal translation of the Chinese Title, the Japanese Title; the Box office results and release details; the fact that the film was directed by two directors Lam Ngai Kai, Sze Yu Lau – and the reasons why there were two directors; a discussion of the actors that were replaced for the sequel; the use of CG VFX through Japanese FX houses which wasn’t the norm in HK productions at the time; the very different styles of directors Lam Ngai Kai and Sze Yu Lau; a discussion of the gods and demigods that appear in the film;
; a discussion of the dubbing and how the mixture of Japanese and Hong Kong actors worked and how the dubbing worked more akin to Spaghetti Westerns with the actors speaking their dialog in their native tongue; a discussion of the various social and religious themes, gags, and visuals that Western audiences would not be familiar with; a larger discussion of the various locations that the production used; 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.
Alternate Japanese Footage (11:58) – the footage, as explained in the title card proceeding the footage, was produced exclusively for the Japanese release of the film. The footage is mostly from the beginning third of the film, though there are some key additions to the end of the film, including an explanation of what happened to the three Abbesses. 88 Films has made sure that the footage itself, which was pulled from an SD Master, is inserted where the footage would have been in the HK cut of the film. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Saga of Golden Harvest – The International Connection: Albert Lee discusses Golden Harvest’s strategy of distribution overseas (22:16) – is an all-new interview that begins with his early childhood with his father being involved in distribution. Lee goes on to discuss studying in Britain and working for British distributors during his summer breaks because he hated to travel (in the 1970s, it took over a day to travel from England to Hong Kong); after his education, he worked as a film journalist and eventually transitioned over to the studio side, being hired by Golden Harvest; his responsibilities running the international distribution at Golden Harvest; territories that Raymond Chow would handle himself; a fascinating discussion of how complex network of marketers, and other employees that helped Golden Harvest get their films out to the various sections of the world; how their relationship with Toho bore the production of Peacock King and its sequel Saga of the Phoenix; and much more.
Image Gallery (5:25) – this animated image gallery consists of various lobby cards, behind-the-scenes photos, production stills, and poster art set to the score from the film by composer Philip Chan Fei-Lit.
Original Trailer (3:38) – in Cantonese with English Subtitles.
The Final Thought
88 Films continues to release the best of underseen HK Action Films from the 80s and 90s. Recommended!!
88 Films’ Blu-ray Edition of Saga of the Phoenix is out now.
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