The Valiant Ones Limited Edition Blu-Ray

The Valiant Ones is perhaps the last true wuxia film directed by the renowned filmmaker King Hu, an undisputed master of the genre. It was filmed back-to-back with The Fate of Lee Khan (but wasn't released until two years later) and is a worthy successor to his earlier works Come Drink with Me, Dragon Inn, and A Touch of Zen.During the reign of Emperor Jiajing (Zhao Lei), China's coastal regions have been attacked by wokou - Japanese pirates led by the notorious Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung). To combat this threat, the emperor tasks a trusted general, Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi), with assembling a group of skilled warriors to find and eliminate the pirates. Under the command of General Yu Dayou (Roy Chiao), the soldiers—among them the married couple Wu Ji-yuan (Pai Ying) and Wu Ruo-shi (Hsu Feng)—set out to draw Hakatatsu, his ally Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) and their pirate clan in a series of spectacular battles. The Valiant Ones is inspired by historical events and features several historical figures from Chinese history. It is a unique wuxia film produced during the genre's final days, when audience tastes shifted toward more down-to-earth kung fu films. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the film on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration.

SPECIAL EDITION ON BLU-RAY INCLUDES:

Limited edition O-Card case with new artwork by Grégory Sacré (Gokaiju)

1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a digital 4K restoration of the original negatives donated by director King Hu to the Hong Kong Film Archive

Uncompressed original Mandarin mono restored from the original audio negative

Brand new audio commentary by Frank Djeng, expert on Asian cinema (NY Asian Film Festival)

Tony Rayns on The Valiant Ones - Brand new interview with critic and Asian film expert Tony Rayns

Tsar of All Wuxia - Brand new video essay by David Cairns

The Life of a Lucky Stuntman - Brand new interview with stuntman Billy Chan

My Father and I - Brand new interview with actor Ng Ming-choi

Memories of Hu - Archive interview from 2003 with Roger Garcia (Hong Kong International Film Festival Society) by Frédéric Ambroisine

Archive photo 2003 interview with actress Hsu Feng by Frédéric Ambroisine

Archive photo 2016 interview with actor Ng Ming-choi by Frédéric Ambroisine

PLUS: A collection of new texts about the film by Jonathan Clements