The Magnificent Chang Cheh Blu-ray celebrates one of the Shaw Brothers Studio’s most influential and prolific filmmakers with a two-film collection spanning opposite ends of his legendary career. Known as the “Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema,” Chang Cheh was the visionary behind Five Deadly Venoms, Chinatown Kid, and Boxer Rebellion, shaping the language of martial arts cinema for decades.
 
This set brings together The Magnificent Trio, produced during the mid-1960s when wuxia films dominated the Hong Kong box office, and Magnificent Wanderers, made at the height of the late-1970s kung fu boom. In The Magnificent Trio, Jimmy Wang Yu stars as swordsman Lu Fang, who joins fellow warriors to aid a group of oppressed farmers after they kidnap the daughter of a corrupt magistrate. The film showcases Chang Cheh’s early, straight-faced wuxia style, rich in chivalric ideals and heroic sacrifice.
 
By contrast, Magnificent Wanderers embraces broad comedy and kung fu spectacle, following three eccentric nomads played by Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan-chun, and Li Yi-min as they attempt to join Chinese patriots resisting Mongol invaders. Mixing slapstick humour with energetic action, the film reflects Chang Cheh’s later, more playful approach to martial arts storytelling.
 
From noble swordplay to rambunctious kung fu comedy, this collection highlights the remarkable range of a director who spent over three decades behind the camera. Eureka Classics is proud to present both films on Blu-ray for the first time in North America.
 
directed by: chang cheh
starring: jimmy wang yu, lo lieh, cheng lui, fu sheng, david chiang, chi kuan-chun
1966 / 206 min / 2.35:1 / mandarin mono