DVD Review - Heroes of the East
Rating: 
Anyway you cut it, Heroes of the East is a fine example of classic martial-arts filmmaking. The name Lau Kar Leung may not immediately ring a bell with younger fans of the genre, but if you’ve seen Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master 2 (aka Legend of the Drunken Master), his performance as the tough-as-nails Fu Wen-Chi is nigh-unforgettable, and on more than one level.
The character portrayed by Jackie Chan, Wong Fei-Hung, is well-known to martial arts film enthusiasts as the subject of over 100 films stretching back to the beginnings of China’s movie industry. Lau Kar Leung, a well-respected martial artist in his own right, studied under one of the real-life Wong Fei Hung’s students, making him a living link to this legendary figure. To say that he’s as good a director as he is a martial-artist is a high compliment, and after viewing Heroes of the East I’d say it’s a distinction he rightly earns.
As noted in some of the supplemental material that accompanies the recent Dragon Dynasty DVD release of Heroes of the East, Lau Kar Leung’s film is one of the few martial arts films in which nobody dies, or indeed is meant harm. The fights are honorably conducted and won with an appreciation of the styles being the highest aim. As a result, Heroes of the East is a unique piece of martial arts entertainment that cleverly sidesteps many of the standard tropes that dog the genre as a whole.
Gordon Liu (who himself portrayed Wong Fei Hung in the 1976 film Challenge of the Masters) stars as Ah To, a Chinese martial arts disciple who is forced into an arranged marriage with a Japanese bride, Kuda (Yuko Mizuno). It is during their whimsical, albeit dangerous, courtship and abbreviated honeymoon that Ah To learns that his wife is herself quite a martial artist. Finding her Japanese fighting methods brutish and inelegant, he presses her to set aside her style in favor of Chinese kung fu. Kuda attempts to convice her to return to China, and in the process offends her entire family, who travel back to China to teach her impudent husband a lesson in manners.
The rest of the film is a series of martial arts bouts that pits Ah To against a slew of Japanese opponents, each an expert in a different method or weapon style. In many ways, it’s similar to the unfinished Bruce Lee vehicle Game of Death, but with much lower stakes. The fights escalate upwards from a katana-wielding samurai, a nunchaku-and-tonfa wielding Bruce Lee-clone, on up through judo and spear fighting, eventually terminating in a wonderful fight between Gordon Liu and Yasuaki Kurata, who here portrays a master of ninjitsu.
It’s clear from the outset that this will be a film in which the styles themselves will take center stage. Ah To and Kuda spend a good deal of time testing one another’s abilities, giving the first half of the film a light, entertaining tone, as well as showcasing many of the skills which come into play later in the film. Lau Kar Leung, being a fighting master himself, captures each fight perfectly. The dichotomy between the Japanese and Chinese styles is apparent, although being a Chinese production it’s clear that the outcome of each fight will favor Ah To.
Lau Kar Leung himself makes a wonderful appearance as a drunken fighing master who passes his technique on to Ah To, a performance that hints at Jackie Chan’s own Drunken Master films.
The final showdown against the ninja master is wonderful. The choreography is fast and furious, and you can’t help but laugh as Kurata breaks into his ninja ‘crab fist’ style. It’s ludicrous, but Kurata pulls it off perfectly.
Heroes of the East is pure fun from beginning to end and would be worth checking out even with a lackluster release. Fortunately Dragon Dynasty has pulled out all the stops, loading their recent DVD with a metric ton of goodies. It has to be said that martial arts film expert Bey Logan is a real gem, and all the Dragon Dynasty releases truly benefit from his input. Heroes of the East is no exception, featuring a full-length commentary track and a 30-minute interview in which Bey Logan gushes about the director. There’s a little repetition between the two pieces, but they both stand out as a worthy appreciation of the film. Logan is an absolute blast to listen to - he never misses a beat, and you will truly watch the film with a new eye on subsequent viewings, which should be the aim of any good commentary.
Actor Gordon Liu himself appears in a 20-minute featurette entitled ‘Hero of Shaolin: An Exclusive Interview with Leading Man Godron Liu‘. Again, this is a great piece in which the actor describes his career and relationship with Lau Kar Leung. The respect Liu has for Leung is evident and it’s great to hear what this one film legend has to say about the other. It must also be stated that Liu is in amazingly good shape…
‘Shaolin vs. Ninja: An Exploration of the Legendary Martial Arts Weapon Forms of China and Japan’ sounds like it could be a serious piece of fluff, but it’s actually quite informative and entertaining. Running nearly 30-minutes in length, this hosted featurette brings you into the training spaces of a number of martial arts experts describing many of the films on display in Heroes of the East. Host Kea Wong clearly loves her job (wouldn’t you?) and does a pretty good job of handling the various weapons as well.
A pair of trailers, one for Heroes of the East and one for it’s companion DD release Come Drink With Me, round out the extras.
Heroes of the East is a remarkable film and a worthy DVD. You won’t be disappointed.
Details
Publisher: Dragon Dynasty
Director: Lau Kar Leung
Stars: Gordon Liu, Yuko Mizuno, Yasuaki Kurata
Running Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: n/a
MSRP: $19.97
Release Date: 05/27/08
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