By | Published January 11, 2010

We’ve got the exclusive scoop on Dragon Dynasty’s next two home video releases. After a hiatus in their release schedule, The Weinstein Company’s premiere Asian action film label has announced two new classic Hong Kong action releases coming to home video on March 2. Say hello to remastered editions of John Woo’s gunplay masterpiece THE KILLER (on Blu-ray and DVD) and Lau Kar-leung’s kung fu comedy masterpiece RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER (on DVD). On the same day, DD will also be releasing a Blu-ray edition of THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN.

RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER (DVD – Trailer)

The action-packed sequel to perhaps the greatest martial arts classic of all time reunites kung fu superstar Gordon Liu and legendary director Lau Kar-leung for another unforgettable adventure. This time, Liu stars as a con man who impersonates his own character from The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, along the way to becoming an unstoppable fighting force. This Shaw Brothers classic recaptures the magic of the original, but with an inspired twist that makes it “one of the rare sequels that’s just as much fun as its predecessor” (Calvin McMillin, LoveHKFilm.com).

Starring: Gordon Liu (Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), Kara Hui (My Young Auntie, Challenge of the Masters), Hsiao Ho (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Heroes of the East)

Run Time: 97 minutes
Languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Price: 19.93
Street Date: March 2, 2010

THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (Blu-ray) (DVD – Trailer)

A seminal classic and “widely considered to be the greatest kung-fu flick of all time” (New York Times), produced by the founding fathers of kung fu film, the Shaw brothers, this is the story of a student who undertakes a grueling program of martial arts training at the secretive and legendary monastery of Shaolin, where he plots revenge upon the enemies who ravaged his village.

Starring: Gordon Liu (Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2, Heroes of the East), Lo Lieh (King Boxer)

Run Time: 119 minutes
Languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Price: $19.97
Street Date: March 2, 2010

THE KILLER (2-Disc DVD / Blu-ray – Trailer)

John Woo’s guns-blazing masterpiece about a hitman with a code of honor ranks among the best action movies ever. International superstar Chow Yun-Fat plays an assassin who agrees to one last job before quitting for good, but when his bosses double-cross him, he must take on the mob and the police in one of the most explosive showdowns in cinematic history. Loaded with some of the most outrageously choreographed action sequences ever committed to film and an absolute hailstorm of bullets, critics agree – The Killer is “as perfect an action film as one could ask for” (James Rocchi, Netflix).

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat (Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), Kenneth Tsang (Rush Hour 2, The Replacement Killers), Danny Lee (Bruce Lee and I, City on Fire)

Bonus Features: Extensive behind-the-scenes bonus features, including an exclusive new interview with legendary director John Woo; packaged in a limited edition o-sleeve (SD only)

Run Time: 106 minutes
Languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Price: $24.99 (DVD), $29.99 (Blu-ray)
Street Date: March 30

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  • http://www.kungfucinema.com Mark Pollard

    CORRECTION: RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER is due out March 2 and not January 26 as originally stated.

  • NH

    What is with the 106min runtime on “The Killer?” My UNCUT Fox Lober DVD is 110mins; is this going to be an edited release? If so NO SALE.

  • Rhythm-X

    I will wait for reviews, but to be fair DD's Shaw titles have (mostly) been best-if-only-by-default as far as English-friendly releases (of those specific titles) go. THE KILLER is less promising. A running time of 106 minutes? More dubtitles and stretch-o-vision ahoy? I'd say they wouldn't dare screw up such an important title – but we ought to know better by now.

    I also don't understand why there's no Blu-Ray for RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER. With the original 36TH CHAMBER film coming out on that format, a DVD-only release seems like a great way to suppress sales of the sequel. People who'd have bought both 36TH CHAMBER titles on Blu will just get the first film, opting to wait for the (they think) inevitable Blu-ray release of RETURN – which never happens because of the perceived lack of demand for RETURN as a result of its comparatively lower sales figures.

  • http://goldenpigsy.blogspot.com GoldenPigsy

    I'm just hoping that they stay in business long enough to release some of their more interesting titles. I understand they own the rights to Painted Faces, and a good release of that is long overdue.

  • http://www.wirthconsulting.org Kraak Mo

    RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER “saved” to my Neflix queue. Availability–”unknown.”

  • Andre J

    About time that they release The Killer. I have watched that film so many times on a recorded tape that it barely works. Return to the 36th is also a great pick up, but DD should release The Crippled Avengers and Dragons Forever. Classic HK films

  • Rhythm-X

    If you want DRAGONS FOREVER, you'll need to write to Miramax Films, as the Weinsteins did not take it with them when they left the Disney empire to start their own company. It was last spotted being licensed to BCI/Navarre, who shut down operations not long before the first of the titles they'd licensed from Miramax were due to be released. If the DVD/BD rights didn't revert back to Miramax, it might now be at (shudder) Mill Creek, who recently managed to mess up ALL the movies in the SPIRITED KILLER 3-pack… but not all in the same way.

    No idea about CRIPPLED AVENGERS.

  • Randy

    Yes! Yes! Yes! Finally. We've been waiting how long for The Killer? I'll be going for the Blu-ray.

  • 107

    About time they start to release the next installment to 36 Chambers – hope they hurry up on the next one!