Some Kung Fu is excellent. Some Kung Fu is only so-so. And other Kung Fu is somewhere in the middle. Director Lo Wei’s The Invincible Eight is nowhere near the kinetic masterpieces his Bruce Lee-starring films are, but it’s still an entertaining albeit familiar martial arts tale of vengeance.
A group of eight nomadic warriors band together to take on the evil general who killed their fathers. Each of the eight (the legendary Angela Mao being amongst them) has a specific skill set plan to exact said vengeance against the general and his right hand, who still holds the country in their vice grip of terror. Will the Eight be able to execute their plan and get the justice their fathers so rightfully deserve?
The Invincible Eight is no Five Deadly Venoms. With that adjustment to expectations, one can have a lot of fun watching this silly diversion. It is nowhere near an accomplished piece of cinema that director Lo Wei, or fight choreographer Sammo Hung, would later go on to make. Rather, it feels exactly what the film was/is: a programmer in the middle or beginning of their respective careers. The fights are nowhere near the impactful set pieces each would go on to create, but rather standard-issue Shaw Brothers Wuxia Martial Arts movements.
The cast is a who’s who of HK Cinema royalty, with Nora Miao, Angela Mao, Paul Chang Chung, and James Tien all a part of the ensemble cast. Sammo even shows up in a small cameo as a background henchman (part of the whip clan that uses… whips). Surprisingly its Miao and Mao that steal the show here and are each given roles that showcase their fighting abilities. One can feel each knows the moment at hand and uses the film effectively.
In the end, The Invincible Eight builds to your prototypical third act with good guys vs. bad guys that culminates in a finale that, if anyone has seen any Shaw Brothers film from the 1970s, will know. Though it may use the tried and true formula of this specific subgenre, it’s still a fun exercise in genre proficiency.
The Transfers
This is the all-new 2K restoration from the original film elements, which is almost too good. The transfer is so sharp that it highlights the softer focus areas that are inherent in shooting with imperfect anamorphic lenses. This is something that isn’t an issue with the transfer, but illuminating to the actual production of the film. On DVD in lesser resolution, this isn’t apparent, but on Blu-ray, it becomes very apparent and is a fascinating watch as one realizes we are probably the first audiences since the film’s theatrical release to see it this way. Regardless of this, the image is flawless without much of a scratch or sign of age, and a wonderful transfer.
The Extras
They include the following;
Audio Commentary with Asian Cinema Experts Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
Image Gallery
Reversible sleeve with original Hong Kong poster artwork
Original Trailer
The Audio Commentary with Asian Cinema Experts Frank Djeng & Michael Worth begins with the fact that this is one of the first Golden Harvest films before diving into the film. Some of the details include the literal translation of the title; the box office results of the film; the use of scope lenses, and why they chose to film with these lenses; why films at the time that Mandarin was the primary language, and what changed a year later, making Cantonese the primary language films were made in; a fascinating discussion of the focus on scope films and why these films sometimes have soft focus; a discussion of the interesting personal and professional history of star Angela Mao; a larger discussion of the novel this is based on and the novelists work; a larger discussion of the action choreography by Sammo Hung; a discussion of the studio and locations the production used and why they could not use Golden Harvest studios; a larger discussion of the time in history this film takes place; a larger discussion throughout the voice actors; 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.
Image Gallery (1:41) – the gallery, which consists of production photos, lobby cards, and poster art, runs automatically while the film’s score plays.
Original Trailer (3:39) – Mandarin with English Subtitles
The Final Thought
Another excellent Blu-ray release from 88 Films. Recommended!!
The Invincible Eight will get their vengeance… New to Blu-ray from 88 Films.
The Film
Some Kung Fu is excellent. Some Kung Fu is only so-so. And other Kung Fu is somewhere in the middle. Director Lo Wei’s The Invincible Eight is nowhere near the kinetic masterpieces his Bruce Lee-starring films are, but it’s still an entertaining albeit familiar martial arts tale of vengeance.
A group of eight nomadic warriors band together to take on the evil general who killed their fathers. Each of the eight (the legendary Angela Mao being amongst them) has a specific skill set plan to exact said vengeance against the general and his right hand, who still holds the country in their vice grip of terror. Will the Eight be able to execute their plan and get the justice their fathers so rightfully deserve?
The Invincible Eight is no Five Deadly Venoms. With that adjustment to expectations, one can have a lot of fun watching this silly diversion. It is nowhere near an accomplished piece of cinema that director Lo Wei, or fight choreographer Sammo Hung, would later go on to make. Rather, it feels exactly what the film was/is: a programmer in the middle or beginning of their respective careers. The fights are nowhere near the impactful set pieces each would go on to create, but rather standard-issue Shaw Brothers Wuxia Martial Arts movements.
The cast is a who’s who of HK Cinema royalty, with Nora Miao, Angela Mao, Paul Chang Chung, and James Tien all a part of the ensemble cast. Sammo even shows up in a small cameo as a background henchman (part of the whip clan that uses… whips). Surprisingly its Miao and Mao that steal the show here and are each given roles that showcase their fighting abilities. One can feel each knows the moment at hand and uses the film effectively.
In the end, The Invincible Eight builds to your prototypical third act with good guys vs. bad guys that culminates in a finale that, if anyone has seen any Shaw Brothers film from the 1970s, will know. Though it may use the tried and true formula of this specific subgenre, it’s still a fun exercise in genre proficiency.
The Transfers
This is the all-new 2K restoration from the original film elements, which is almost too good. The transfer is so sharp that it highlights the softer focus areas that are inherent in shooting with imperfect anamorphic lenses. This is something that isn’t an issue with the transfer, but illuminating to the actual production of the film. On DVD in lesser resolution, this isn’t apparent, but on Blu-ray, it becomes very apparent and is a fascinating watch as one realizes we are probably the first audiences since the film’s theatrical release to see it this way. Regardless of this, the image is flawless without much of a scratch or sign of age, and a wonderful transfer.
The Extras
They include the following;
The Audio Commentary with Asian Cinema Experts Frank Djeng & Michael Worth begins with the fact that this is one of the first Golden Harvest films before diving into the film. Some of the details include the literal translation of the title; the box office results of the film; the use of scope lenses, and why they chose to film with these lenses; why films at the time that Mandarin was the primary language, and what changed a year later, making Cantonese the primary language films were made in; a fascinating discussion of the focus on scope films and why these films sometimes have soft focus; a discussion of the interesting personal and professional history of star Angela Mao; a larger discussion of the novel this is based on and the novelists work; a larger discussion of the action choreography by Sammo Hung; a discussion of the studio and locations the production used and why they could not use Golden Harvest studios; a larger discussion of the time in history this film takes place; a larger discussion throughout the voice actors; 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.
Image Gallery (1:41) – the gallery, which consists of production photos, lobby cards, and poster art, runs automatically while the film’s score plays.
Original Trailer (3:39) – Mandarin with English Subtitles
The Final Thought
Another excellent Blu-ray release from 88 Films. Recommended!!
88 Films’ Blu-ray Edition of The Invincible Eight is out now.
Share this:
Like this:
Discover more from The Movie Isle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.