Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain [DVD] (1983)

I was happy to buy this again because it's one of my favorite films ever. I still don't completely understand it (a lot of that is due to fast dialogue, and I only have so much patience for rewinding to re-read it all).I was surprised to hear this was initially a flop. Now it seems like the main cinematic foundation for every chinese fantasy blockbuster. depending on how specific you want to be about approaches to wuxia, this can be considered the first of a certain kind of wuxia and I haven't seen or heard of anything bettering it. The costumes and designs are wonderful (I think Brigette Lin has as many as 3 different costumes/hairstyles and they're all great) and the wirework scenes at least seem to me a lot more complex than almost any other film I can think of.Interesting things from the Tony Rayns commentary: Talking about Stanley Kwan's documentary on gender flipping in chinese film, I'd love to see this. I didn't know that this was an adaptation (don't know why I was surprised because most fantasy leaning wuxia films seem to be adaptations of books), he says that Tsui Hark only did a very loose adaptation and wasn't interested in following what the novels were actually about. Rayns says the book series by Huanzhulouzhu is 64 books but I seen one listing saying 8 books; perhaps there's a core series and various spinoffs? Only the prequel is available in english and I'm hoping the recent Jin Yong and Gu Long translations make this series a possibility in english print.The bonus interviews included are very long so the Eureka version has a lot that the Hong Kong Legends dvd didn't.Why is this a limited edition (2000 copies)? Is there a standard edition coming out?

You've just got to love Amazon when they recommend things based on your previous purchases. Because I bought five King Hu films and a selection of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, it recommended the film Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain. I honestly ignored it for a bit due to the high price. However, after I caught a visually over whelming trailer on Youtube, I decided that I had to see this movie.Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain is a wuxia fantasy film from Hong Kong, originally released in 1983. The film was directed by Tsui Hark and is based on a novel by Haunzhulouzhu. It was produced by Raymond Chow and stars Yuen Biao, Adam Cheng, Corey Yuen, Brigitte Lin and more. The film has a paper thin (and confusing) plot based around a group of warriors who need to locate the "dual swords" to destroy an evil creature known as the Blood Devil. There's lots of action scenes that involve swords, laser beams, people flying in circles, vampires and crazy old wizards. It's quite fantastical and very over the top.I think it is safe to say that this movie isn't too serious and should be looked at as a special effects spectacle. The story is there (sort of) but the incredible visual effects just steal the show. There's a huge amount of wire work, lots of people and objects flying allover the place. It's easily some of the most impressive I think I've seen. It's also wrapped together around some incredible lighting and even a clever use of what I think was cel animation. My favourite scenes being the beginning with the vampires and the later scene in which the characters face the Blood Devil for the first time.As for the plot, it leaves a lot to be desired. If I'm going to be honest. I admittedly found it a bit confusing and extremely over whelming at times. This is partially because the visual effects are so distracting. But it also because the script wasn't very well written. It seems they tried to take a longer, more detailed story and watered it down to fit the run time. The result was a lot of strange plot points that came out of the blue and others that simply vanished, the lead characters forgetting all about them.The Eureka! bluray release features a new 2k restoration in 1080p. You can watch the film with the original mono Cantonese audio track as well as an optional English track. There's new subtitles, made specifically for this release. The extra features include an audio commentary by Tony Rayns, an exclusive to this release interview with Tsui Hark from 2020, a European cut of the film and other cool stuff. It's a neat little package and about the usual standard for Eureka!.Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain is quite an intense watch. The plot is a load of nonsense (IMO) but it more than makes up for it with the great visual effects. I would go so far as to recommend it for this alone. It really is impressive. Unfortunately, the price for this film is a bit high. I can fully understand if you wouldn't buy it at the asking £15+.

One of my all time favourite films. The blu ray transfer is superb although it does some of the glitches in the special effects. Whilst there is no actual feature commentary there is a scene specific one. Also included is a standard definition transfer of a different cut which includes a modern day wrap around story 93 mins, a segment of an old Jonathan Ross programme about Tsui Hark and a lot more. Totally recommend.

Its a great film i realy enjoyed watching this film and im glad i own it in my collection. As you watch though you cant help but see the wires that help the cast fly about the set lol. Great 5 stars.

An absolute fever dream of a movie. Nonsensical plot, horrendous editing, amazingly over the top acting. Terrible! I loved it, can’t recommend it more.

My husband collect these films

Great

I loved this delightful fantasy