The wonderful people at Arrow have given this cult classic lavish treatment in a beautiful multi-disc package that allows fans to really see this film for the first time. Remember Legend? Tom Cruise was barely a star when Ridley Scott’s divisive fantasy epic was released way back in 1985. Even Sammo Hung’s Once Upon a Time in China and America from 1997 is included in the set, which is loaded with special features like deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, archival interviews, and a new interview with Tsui Hark. Four sequels would follow - the first two have also been restored here in 4K, the final two in 2K, all presented with original Cantonese sound mixes. It starts with the 4K restoration of 1991’s Once Upon a Time in China, the first collaboration between Hark and Li, a gorgeous blend of modern action filmmaking and classic Chinese culture. These films not only elevated Jet Li to an international audience but the great Hong Kong New Wave auteur Tsui Hark.
#THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY EXTENDED EDITION ON BLU RAY MAY 1ST SERIES#
The movies that made Jet Li a star, the Once Upon a Time in China series bring China of the late-19th century to life with vivid period detail and mesmerizing action sequences. He will truly be missed, but it feels like his influence isn’t going anywhere.įans of Hong Kong cinema should have one box set on their list, this six-disc release of one of the most popular series of films of the 1990s around the world. The man himself even introduces each of his works. And that’s not it - there are documentaries and featurettes about Van Peebles, along with archival interviews from throughout his career, and three early short films. All four films were restored and approved by Melvin Van Peebles, and the gorgeously packaged box set also includes new conversations with Mario and film critic Elvis Mitchell, producers, and scholars. In fact, this set only includes four works by the senior Van Peebles (along with the wonderful Baadassss! by his son Mario Van Peebles), but they’re all so essential to the history of American filmmaking: The Story of a Three Day Pass, Watermelon Man, Don’t Play Us Cheap, and his most famous film, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song. Few people in the history of independent film have made the kind of impact that Van Peebles did with a relatively small number of films. We lost the godfather of Black Cinema earlier this year, around the same time that Criterion was finally giving him the physical-media pedestal that his career deserved all along. Some of the restorations here were a little controversial, but they are undeniably Wong’s vision, and this is a set that even his most casual fans have to own. Gorgeously packaged, this must-own for cinephiles also includes new behind-the-scenes materials, making-of documentaries, archival interviews, and even short films from Wong, including an extended version of The Hand that had never been available Stateside before.
Wong’s films regularly feel like they are in conversation with each other, as the filmmaker revisits themes (and sometimes even characters) from one to another, making them a perfect filmography for a box set.
The 4K restorations include Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, As Tears Go By, and Days of Being Wild. For the first time ever, Criterion has assembled the most essential films in the career of one of the best filmmakers of the modern era, Wong Kar-wai - including three films that had never been on Blu-ray before and new, director-approved transfers of all seven films.