By Mark Pollard | Published August 11, 2009

KING EAGLE (DVD – Image Entertainment)

From Shaw Brothers and martial arts filmmaker Chang Cheh comes this wuxia actioner starring Ti Lung as a fiercely independent swordsman reluctantly drawn into clan infighting after falling in love with a swordswoman. It’s a modest film, one of Chang’s lesser works from this era yet should still be enjoyable to fans of old school Hong Kong swordplay. Image Entertainment’s DVD comes with a re-mastered 16:9 print with original Mandarin-language Mono audio and English subtitles.

LONE WOLF AND CUB TV SERIES COLLECTION 1 (DVD/Blu-ray – Warner)

The blood-soaked adventures of assassins Itto Ogami and his young son Daigoro move from the big screen to the small screen in this popular TV series spinoff of producer Shintaro Katsu’s six-film adaptation of the “Lone Wolf and Cub” manga. Actor Kinnosuke Nakamura replaces Katsuo’s brother Tomisaburo Wakayama in the role of the Shogun’s former chief executioner who now wanders the countryside as a sword-for-hire while coming to the aid of peasants and clashing with his mortal enemies, the Yagyu Shadow Clan of ninja. This box set from AnimEigo gathers three previously released volumes into one 615-minute value package well worth the investment for chambara fans. Episodes are presented in their original fullsvreen format (1.33:1) with Japanese dialogue and custom English subtitles.

REPLICANT (Blu-ray – Lionsgate)

It’s Jean-Claude Van Damme vs. Jean-Claude Van Damme as the action star portrays a serial killer and his genetic clone created and tasked with aiding police in tracking down and stopping his evil twin before he kills again. REPLICANT is the second of three Van Damme films directed by Hong Kong action filmmaker Ringo Lam (CITY OF FIRE, FULL CONTACT). It’s not one of his better films but it’s not his worst either. This Lionsgate release introduces the film onto Blu-ray.

SASORI (DVD – Showbox)

This is Hong Kong filmmaker Jo Ma’s (LOVE UNDERCOVER) remake/homage to Toei’s ’70s-era women-in-prison exploitation film series FEMALE PRISONER: SCORPION, itself based on a manga series. Veteran actress Miki Mizuno steps into the role of Nami Matsushima, originally portrayed by Meiko Kaji. Nami is set up by street thugs and wrongly imprisoned in a jailhouse filled with vicious inmates and guards. She decides to fight back, escape, train her fighting skills, and seek revenge on the men who ruined her life. The original SCORPION films are considered classic WIP movies made at a time when exploitation cinema in Japan was at its creative and artistic peak. Bloody action is choreographed by Wong Wai-fai (BROTHERS, DRUNKEN MASTER II). This U.K. release is from Showbox Media and can be found at www.amazon.co.uk.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES FILM COLLECTION (DVD/Blu-ray – Warner)

The new live-action Ninja Turtles movie won’t be out till 2011 but this is a great time to pick up the four previous films. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the TMNT, Warner Bros. has re-released TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990), TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: THE SECRET OF THE OOZE, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III, and the animated TMNT (2007) all in one value-priced DVD or Blu-ray box set.

THE ART OF WAR III: RETRIBUTION (DVD – Sony Pictures)

Wesley Snipes has so far managed to stay out of jail and keep acting while he appeals a three-year conviction for tax evasion but he didn’t make it into this second sequel to the action thriller THE ART OF WAR (2000). Anthony ‘Treach’ Criss (LOVE AND A BULLET) steps up to portray secret agent Neil Shaw, who must prevent a North Korean terrorist from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Criss gave a god performance in the indie crime actioner LOVE AND A BULLET but he slipped off the action radar since. Perhaps he’ll be able to build on the foundation Snipes created. Michael Jai White was able to do so by taking over Ving Rhames’ boxing role in UNDISPUTED for Isaac Florentine’s sequel.

THE SAMURAI I LOVED (DVD – AnimEigo)

This romantic period drama from director Mitsuo Kurotsuchi is based on a novel by Shuhei Fujisawa, the same author whose works have provided the basis for Yoji Yamada’s excellent samurai trilogy, THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI, THE HIDDEN BLADE and LOVE AND HONOR. This is a slow-moving, dramatic work. The story follows a samurai who endures the ritual suicide of his father brought on by corrupt official and the loss of his childhood sweetheart when she is sent away to work for a lord. Years later, he comes to her rescue when she and her illegitimate child are threatened in a murder plot. Although not directed by Yamada, this film is similar in tone. AnimEigo is offering the original Japanese soundtrack (5.1) with English subtitles.

Related Topics:
Blu-ray  •  DVD  •  King Eagle (1971)  •  Lone Wolf and Cub TV Series  •  Replicant  •  Sasori  •  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles  •  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)  •  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)  •  The Art of War III  •  The Samurai I Loved (2005)  •  TMNT