The Miracle Fighters — The Miracle Fighters(Blu Ray)

The Miracle Fighters is a 1982 Hong Kong martial arts movie directed by acclaimed filmmaker/ martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping (Drunken Master, Iron Monkey and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Woo-Ping’s work on Crouching Tiger is credited with introducing him to mainstream Hollywood cinema where he has since gone on to choreograph the Matrix sequels for the Wachowski’s and the Kill Bill movies for Tarantino.  The film stars Yat-Chor Chuen (Shaolin Drunkard, Legend of A Fighter and The Postman Strikes Back), Eddy Ko (The Bride with White Hair, Shaolin Drunkard and The Martian), Shun-Yee Yuen (Shaolin Drunkard, Once Upon A Time in China and Operation Scorpio, he also worked as a stunt man on the Matrix films), Ka-Yan Leung (Last hero in China, The Man with the Iron Fists and Five Shaolin Masters) and Cheung-Yan Yuen (Dragon Inn, Once Upon A Time in China and Shaolin Drunkard).

The film is set during the Qing dynasty 1644-1911, at a time when the Han and Manchu were not permitted to intermarry. Ko-Hung (Ko) has married a Han girl and the Emperor has found out. Ko-Hung is told to kill her and when he refuses he is forced to watch her die at the hand of another. There is a fight and Ko-Hung takes the young prince prisoner in order to escape. After reaching safety he plans to let the young prince go, however he accidentally kills the boy and takes his jade medallion. Ko-Hung finds another young boy sat under a tree and takes him under his wing. He places the prince’s jade medallion on the boy and names him Shu Kan (Yat-Chor Yuen). A number of years later, Ko-Hung has grown old and Shu Kan has grown into young man, trained in the martial arts by Ko-Hung and calling him uncle. Ko-Hung’s former nemesis Sorcerer Bat (Shun-Yee Yuen) shows up and tries to kidnap the boy, before murdering Ko-Hung in the process. Sorcerer Bat plans to pass Shu Kan off as the missing prince and use him to gain power, however the young man has other ideas.

The Miracle Fighters is a very enjoyable Hong Kong martial revenge movie that sits alongside other Yuen Woo-Ping movies as a classic of Hong Kong cinema. Like many of Woo-Ping’s movies, it features a fairly large smattering of comedic moments, the fight sequences with the clown in the jar are among my favourites. The film also features some breathtaking choreography by Woo-Ping that really makes it worth a look. This new release from Eureka Entertainment features a lovely new print of the movie, taken from a brand new 2k restoration, and comes complete with both the original Cantonese audio and the English dub track, as well as a couple of brand new audio commentaries from Frank Djeng and Mike Leeder and Arne venema. There are also interviews with Woo-Ping, assistant director Fish Fong and choreographer and stuntman, John Kreng. 

Overall, The Miracle Fighters is a great slice of occult-tinged martial arts, where our lead character, Shu Kan, fights against a succession of sorcerers in order to get revenge for the death of Ko-Hung. This new Blu-ray edition from Eureka is stacked with a host of bonus features and a lovely new print of the movie. If you’re a fan of Yuen Woo-Ping’s other movies or the Wachowskis and Tarantino’s Hollywood martial arts epics then grab yourself a copy of this, you won’t be disappointed.