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The Man from Hong Kong
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Umbrella Entertainment Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (2nd February 2022). |
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The Film
 “The Man from Hong Kong” (1975) A drug deal taking place at Ayer’s Rock has turned into an international criminal case when a Chinese man named Chan (played by Sammo Hung) is arrested, so Hong Kong police inspector Fang Sing Ling (played by Jimmy Wang Yu) must come to Australia to investigate. He meets inspector Taylor (played by Roger Ward) and Sergeant Grosse (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) at the airport who are to guide him around Australia to talk to Chan and find answers on who he was working and for which organization. But Fang does not play by the rules. Force by martial arts rather than the gun and badge is how he gets things done, which causes mass mayhem in restaurants, on the streets, and anywhere down under. But when all leads point to Jack Wilton (played by George Lazenby), everyone tells him that Wilton is untouchable and too powerful to bring down. But what’s that to stop Fang? Wilton is also a master of martial arts with a towering frame surrounded by many henchmen at all times. And when Fang gets closer, Wilton is ready to take him down at whatever cost. “The Man from Hong Kong” was the first Australian-Hong Kong co-produced film, with a sizeable budget, large setpieces in two countries, stuntwork scenes with kung fu, car chases, guns, and more. George Lazenby’s career in the mid 70s was not at a good place. Following his declining of continuing as James Bond following his first and only 007 film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” in 1969, his career stalled as an actor. With the martial arts craze of the early 1970s with Bruce Lee, Lazenby befriended him in Hong Kong and was set to co-star with Lee in a feature. Unfortunately with Lee’s sudden death, that was never to be. He did star in the Hong Kong production “A Man Called Stoner” in 1974, but it did not do much for his career. Jimmy Wang Yu was a contract player for Shaw Brothers Studios who shot to stardom with “The One-Armed Swordsman” in 1967, followed by the sequel, ”Return of the One-Armed Swordsman” two years later. While he became the highest paid Chinese actor at the time, things started taking a downhill turn. He broke his contract with Shaw Brothers which led to a lawsuit. He was involved in love triangles with Chinese co-stars, and his not-so-friendly brawls that were not on movie sets became tabloid headliners. On top of that, newer faces such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung were replacing the older stars of the 1960s. Both Lazenby and Wang were not at the top of their game in the film world at the moment, and both were more known for their off screen antics and troubles more than on screen roles, but the opportunity to make an international coproduction was a possible fresh new start for both actors. The director was Brian Trenchard-Smith who had directed documentary films focusing on stuntwork and martial arts action, as well as television work in Australia and film trailer editing. The film was shot in both Australia and Hong Kong - showcasing the beauty of Ayer’s Rock as well as the bustling cityscape of Hong Kong in differing scenes. The production was filled with many scenes of choreographed kung fu such as the Fang vs Chen in the jail cell, Fang vs the sniper in the Chinese restaurant, and Wilton versus his henchmen disciples. The fights are quite different from the dancelike quality of many Chinese productions, the jail cell fight is more on realism, and the restaurant fight is bloody and violent with anger. But there is still humor in many of the fight scenes and a sense of danger as well. Granted there were safety precautions, but stuntman and actor Grant Page has stated the fishtank crash stunt was quite dangerous, and the scene of Lazenby doing his own stunt of being on fire took a wrong turn when he physically could not get his jacket off, leading to a severe burn on his arm, halting production for a short time. The lengthy car-chase revenge scene was insane filled with explosions and crashed vehicles, and even though it was carefully done with professional stunt drivers, there were cuts and injuries all around. Other problems came about with the major ego of star Jimmy Wang Yu. He was by accounts quite rude to costars and especially unfriendly towards Trenchard-Smith which led to bad tension behind the scenes. But his martial arts technique was highly praised and for his English language debut to play almost all the dialogue in English was praised. As with most Australian films at the time, location sound was not used and dialogue was post-synced in studio, so it was not Wang’s own voice used but dubbed over by another actor. The film was supposedly written as a somewhat parody of a James Bond film, but ended up quite close to how the 1970s Roger Moore movies became, filled with silly one-liners, high octane action, and a charismatic lead that gets the bad guy as well as getting some from the ladies. It was interesting casting to see Lazenby play the villain rather than the hero and Wang to play a “Dirty Harry” type cop. Lazenby has a lower amount of screentime but does make quite an impression as the bad guy with his towering size, his truly 70s mustache, and actually excellent martial arts skills which he trained hard for. Wang was a skilled martial arts player as seen in many of his movies and had the good guy looks, but he lacked the dramatic action which hurt his career especially internationally. He was always slightly frustrated and angry throughout the movie but he could never quite register the scenes of dramatic loss. The scene of the car ambush which kills Angelica (played by Rebecca Gilling) but he survives - it does recall the ending of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” where Lazenby’s 007’s wife is killed in the car ambush while he survives. For the 007 it was one of the most surprisingly heartbreaking and shocking moments in any Bond film, while Wang’s performance is flat out uncaring. It also doesn’t help that Angelica is never mentioned again and the audience is supposed to not care either. Speaking of, the character of Angelica is one of the most unnecessary additions to the story. Fang’s other love interest, Caroline (played by Rosalind Speirs) was an interesting character, and if it was her character that was killed it would have given a much bigger impact for the audience and for the character of Fang to seek revenge. Yes the film has its flaws and the plot should not be taken too seriously. The film is all about the action and in that case it is packed. The film was completed in 1975 and was quite successful in its initial run. At Cannes it was sold to multiple territories where it enjoyed success in almost every country, breaking in-house records in the UK, Pakistan, Hong Kong, and more. In Australia, the film had some issues with the ratings board. The violence, the balls grabbing, and some nudity made the film get an R rating to which Trenchard-Smith refused to budge for cuts - although he has later regretted that he didn’t make any cuts since it suffered a little financially in Australia since the younger teen audiences were not able to see it. A shorter version was released for Hong Kong and other international markets where some cuts were made and in a late punch after the film was completed, the “International Version” credits Jimmy Wang Yu as co-director. In the United States the film was renamed “The Dragon Flies” and released by Twentieth Century Fox with two scenes removed, in Japan the film was renamed “Sky High” - after the hit theme song by the British group Jigsaw, and the UK kept the original title but had to further remove the groin punching shots that were supposedly a first to have in Australian cinema. Although the film was a success financially worldwide it did not do major wonders for careers. Lazenby’s career did not improve, Trenchard-Smith’s next film “Deathcheaters” was unsuccessful, and while Jimmy Wang Yu directed and starred in the highly praised “The Master of the Flying Guillotine” the next year, his career essentially did not move up. Though in later years Trenchard-Smith’s films have had a new reappraisal from filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright and by Ozploitation film fans worldwide with favorites such as “Dead End Drive In” and “BMX Bandits”, Lazenby’s lone 007 film is now regarded as one of the best in the long running series, and Wang made an exceptional comeback as the villain in the 2011 film “Wu xia”. “The Man from Hong Kong” made its worldwide Blu-ray debut courtesy of Australian distributor Umbrella Entertainment back in 2016, with the original Australian version of the film remastered in 4K. The disc was an incredibly packed experience with the amount on content included, but it did have some issues. Five years later, Umbrella has reissued the film as part of their recent numbered "Ozploitation Classics" series with some interesting changes. Note this is a region ALL Blu-ray which can be played on any Blu-ray player worldwide
Video
Umbrella Entertainment presents the film in the theatrical 2.351 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC MPEG-4. The film was restored in 4K for the 2016 Blu-ray edition. While the 2016 disc and the 2021 disc use the same 4K restored master, the transfers are not the same. The 2016 disc had an issue with the digital cleaning that removed film grain, giving a fairly waxy look that loses finer detail. Colors are saturated with deep blues, browns, reds, but sometimes the dark portions look a little too dark including skin tones, and that also resulted in lost detail as well. For this new 2021 reissue, film grain is back, with a more filmic look to the transfer. Colors have much better tones with both light and dark hues, and detail is much better here. With that being said, damage marks do seem more noticeable as there is no artificial digital scrubbing. Dust, scratches, and speckles are visible but on the brighter side they are not major distractions for viewing. With the grain and colors, there are still issues with color fluctuation and some of the colors looking a bit unnatural, but it is a much better and more pleasing experience in comparison to the 2016 disc. It's still the same restoration master, but a newer and improved transfer. The film is the original Australian version with a runtime of 105:56.
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo There are two lossless mixes, one in 5.1 and another in 2.0 stereo. The 5.1 remix is the same as the mix on the 2016 disc and it was not done very well. The dialogue is spread through the front three speakers and the surrounds spread out the rest of the effects and music. It sounds more like an automated surround sound process rather than going back to the original soundtrack materials to remix the tracks. In a more positive note there are no “new” sound effects added to the remixed track. Although on a positive note, the audio dropouts that sometimes occurred on the 2016 disc have been fixed, so there are no issues with dropout on this new release. There are no issues of hiss, pops, crackle, or other issues to speak of. The 2.0 stereo track on the other hand, sounds actually worse. Everything with the dialogue, music, and effects are fully separated to the left and right channels, offering nothing for the center when mixing via Pro-Logic. There is a balancing issue here and it again sounds like an automated process rather than a true stereo mix. The 2016 disc also offered the original mono mix in 1.0 and that was quite the preferred track. Unfortunately it has not been carried over for this 2021 release. There are optional English HoH subtitles for the main feature in a white font. In addition, the few Cantonese portions have burned-in English subtitles. The subtitle track seems to be identical to the one used on the previous release. I did catch a spelling mistaken at the 70 minute mark where the character of Caroline says "I wouldn't say anythting at all Sergeant. Unfortunately this was also the spelling on the 2016 release which I happened to miss on that disc's initial review. Umbrella, please hire a spellchecker as there are multiple issues caught with disc subtitles, packaging, as well as product pages on the website.
Extras
DISC ONE (Blu-ray) Audio commentary with director/writer Brian Trenchard-Smith and stars Hugh Keays Byrne and Grant Page In this screen specific commentary, Trenchard-Smith offers great technical information while also joking about the cheesy and satirical dialogue, behind the scenes tidbits, and jokes about with the B-movie aspects. In addition, actors Byrne and Page give comments via telephone calls on their roles. This commentary was first offered on the Australian Madman DVD, as well as being available on the previous Umbrella Blu-ray from 2016. in English Dolby Digital 2.0 with no subtitles "Raw Real Quick!" an interview with legendary stuntman Grant Page (10:22) Culled from outtakes from the 2008 “Not Quite Hollywood” documentary, this newly edited interview with the stuntman and actor who played the sniper in the film shares his memories of the film. Talked about are Wang's attitude on set, the dangerous stunts such as Lazenby's arm burn, using a real restaurant for the fight scene between him and Wang, the Kite flying in Hong Kong, and more. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1 / 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Uncut "Not Quite Hollywood" (2008) Interviews (93:14) The documentary film “Not Quite Hollywood” is an essential documentary about Ozploitation films, but with 100 minutes to talk about the entire genre, there isn’t a lot of time focusing on a specific title. Here are the “uncut” extended interviews with Trenchard-Smith, Lazenby, Rebecca Gilling, and producer David Hannay, first assistant director Hal McElroy, cinematographer Russell Boyd, and assistant cameraman John Seale. The interviews cover quite a lot of ground including personal recollections with Lazenby’s and Trenchard-Smith’s being the lengthiest and most interesting. From the difficult shooting on Ayer’s Rock, the difficulty working with Wang by many of the cast and crew, difficulties and accidents on set, there are some great stories to be heard here. Note that the Trenchard-Smith, Lazenby, Gilling, Hannay, and Seale interviews were included on the previous Umbrella Entertainment Blu-ray, but for this release they have also included previously unreleased comments from McElroy and Boyd. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "The Stuntmen" 1973 documentary (51:29) For the “men who live to die another day”, here is a narrated documentary directed by Trenchard-Smith on the people who make the core of action films - the stuntmen. There are clips of war films, car chases, westerns along with tanks, explosives, choreographed horsefalls, water gel for burning effects, and more tricks of the trade get revealed. Trenchard-Smith even appears on camera himself to demonstrate the fire effect. The picture quality is weak with scratches and damage all over, but is again watchable. The library music used - I actually used some of that music when I was a high school student doing video productions! Brought back a lot of memories but at the same time - I had no idea that some of the library music I had in my high school days dated back to the 1970s! This documentary was also available on the previous Umbrella Blu-ray from 2016. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles "Kung Fu Killers" 1974 documentary (76:17) This vintage documentary directed by Trenchard-Smith follows Grant Page’s journey to Hong Kong to learn about the trending martial arts film genre of Hong Kong which is taking the world by storm. There is footage of films such as “The Way of the Dragon”, “The Game of Death”, and more featured, along with an interview with George Lazenby on the set of his film “A Man Called Stoner” being filmed in Hong Kong. There is also footage of Angela Mao, Carter Wong, and even a topless bar. Was that broadcast on TV? The picture is filled with scratches, debris, and with faded colors but it is watchable. Audio has some funky library music and there are no major issues with the mono audio. This documentary was also available on the previous Umbrella Blu-ray from 2016. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono without subtitles "Behind the Scenes" featurette (14:31) This featurette is made up of on-set 8mm footage which includes the hang glider scenes, behind the scenes of the car chase, and more. Some shots are very scratchy while others are actually quite clean. Since these are home movies, quality wildly differs. There is no on set sound recorded so the film’s soundtrack plays as background. This featurette was on the Madman DVD and the previous Blu-ray release from Umbrella in 2016, but under the title “The Making of The Man from Hong Kong”. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, Music Dolby Digital 2.0 Press Conference and Opening Night Newsreel Footage (2:30) Vintage black and white news footage is unearthed of Jimmy Wang Yu arriving in Australia and also footage of the premiere. The black and white footage looks quite good, with very little damage and good sound as well with the narration and music. This was also on the previous Umbrella Blu-ray from 2016. in 1080p AVE MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Trailer with commentary by Brian Trenchard-Smith from Trailers from Hell (6:25) If anyone is not familiar with “Trailers from Hell”, please bookmark it immediately. The site founded by director Joe Dante collects various vintage movie trailers and includes them with commentary and introductions from the original filmmakers, famous fans of films, and other surprises. Trenchard-Smith does his own TFH intro and commentary with the introduction taking up almost half the screentime. Within 6.5 minutes there is a lot of fun information covered which some is not in the above extras. The intro is in 1.78:1 while the trailer itself is in 2.35:1. This was also available on the previous Umbrella Blu-ray. This is also embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.78:1 / 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Theatrical Trailer (Alternate Edit) (1:55) This “alternate trailer” is actually the DVD trailer created by Fortune Star for the Hong Kong DVD release from a few years ago. It is newly edited, features new music, and includes the Chinese title as well. Personally I would rather have the original only, but it shows how differently edited trailers make a world of a difference.This was also available on the previous Umbrella Blu-ray. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles HD Theatrical Trailer (3:50) This remastered original trailer in HD features exciting narration and a certain vintage feel missing from trailers these days. The audio is a bit crackly at times though. This was also available on the previous Umbrella Blu-ray. It is also embedded below. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 2.35:1, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles Brian Trenchard-Smith Trailer Reel for "The Love Epidemic", "The Man from Hong Kong", "Death Cheaters", "Stunt Rock", "Turkey Shoot", "BMX Bandits", "Frog Dreaming", "Dead End Drive-In", "Day of the Panther", "Strike of the Panther", "Out of the Body", "Danger Freaks", "Night of the Demons 2", "Leprechaun 3", "Leprechaun 4 in Space", "Britannic", "Megiddo", "Operation Wolverine", "Arctic Blast", "The Cabin", "Chemistry", "Absolute Deception", "Drive Hard" (40:55) As the title says, here is a lengthy reel of Trenchard-Smith's film trailers. "The Love Epidemic", "BMX Bandits", "Out of the Body", "Danger Freaks", "Night of the Demons 2", "Leprechaun 3", "Leprechaun 4", and "Britannic" are in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio. “Death Cheaters”, “Stunt Rock” are in the 1.66:1 ratio. "Dead End Drive-In", "Chemistry", "Absolute Deception", and "Drive Hard" are in full 1.78:1 while "Megiddo", "Operation Wolverine", "Arctic Blast", and "The Cabin" are in windowboxed 1.78:1. "Turkey Shoot", "Frog Dreaming", "Day of the Panther", and "Strike of the Panther" are in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and "The Man from Hong Kong" is in 2.35:1. The image quality of the trailers can range from pristine to muddy, depending on the title. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in various ratios, in English Dolby Digital 2.0 without subtitles DISC TWO (Soundtrack CD) 1. "Rock Top Battle" by Noel Quinlan (3:09) 2. "Chopper Chase" by Noel Quinlan (4:03) 3. "Sky High" (Opening Credits) by Jigsaw (3:58) 4. "Airport" by Noel Quinlan (1:40) 5. "Foot Chase" by Noel Quinlan (2:16) 6. "Wilton Building" by Noel Quinlan (1:02) 7. "Working Out" by Noel Quinlan (2:00) 8. "Kite Slow" by Noel Quinlan (1:09) 9. "Party" by Noel Quinlan (3:38) 10. "The Incursion" by Noel Quinlan (3:53) 11. "After Fight" by Noel Quinlan (0:48) 12. "Escape" by Noel Quinlan (1:38) 13. "Drinking Soup" by Noel Quinlan (1:17) 14. "Maurie's Theme" by Noel Quinlan (2:42) 15. "A Man is a Man is a Man" by Noel Quinlan, with vocals by Deena Webster Greene (2:36) 16. "A Man is a Man is a Man" (version 2) by Noel Quinlan, with vocals by Deena Webster Greene (1:30) 17. "Bomb on Car" by Noel Quinlan Noel (1:37) 18. "Revenge" by Noel Quinlan Noel (2:58) 19. "Kite Fast" by Noel Quinlan Noel (2:07) 20. "Roof Top" by Noel Quinlan Noel (3:13) 21. "The Last Moment of Wilton" by Noel Quinlan (6:40) 22. "Sky High" (Closing Credits) by Jigsaw (4:25) 23. "Power" (Unused Title Track) by Noel Quinlan, with vocals by Peter Nelson (3:44) For many years, the only official release of the film's soundtrack was the 1977 vinyl only edition from Japan by Overseas Records. For the first time ever, the soundtrack is now on CD as a bonus disc of the 2021 Blu-ray release, only with the first 3,000 copies. Not only does this CD have the remastered soundtrack album with the funky and cool compositions by Noel Quinlan in stereo, but also includes some bonus tracks that were not on the Japanese vinyl release, including an unused title track sung by New Zealand vocalist Peter Nelson. Australian composer Noel Quinlan was a studio musician that left for Hong Kong in the late 1960s to perform at the Hong Kong Hilton Den, which led to work around Asia at various venues. In addition to live performances, Quinlan established the first multi-track recording studio in Asia and composed for a large number of works for advertising. His first work as a composer for a feature film was "S.T.A.B.", a Hong Kong Thailand co-production, which was followed by "The Man from Hong Kong" two years later. He would later work on music for "Aces Go Places III" (1984), "Undeclared War" (1990) and more in the world of Hong Kong cinema over the years, as well as releasing the concept album "Middle Kingdom" (1991) and its sequels "Middle Kingdom II"(1993), "Middle Kingdom III" (1996), and "Middle Kingdom IV" (1998). He is currently at work in 2022 on a new album. Peter Nelson was vocalist for the band The Diamonds, which later became The Castaways, releasing released a few singles from 1965. In 1966 the band relocated to Sydney, Australia, but Nelson decided to leave the group and headed to Hong Kong with high prospects of a solo career. He performed at NSO shows for American troops heading to Vietnam, stage shows all around Southeast Asia, as his wide-ranged voice was excellent at covering a multitude of songs. In 1974, Nelson was looking to retire from stage singing, but before was all set to dry, he teamed with composer Noel Quinlan for some songs, including "Power", a ballad that was a tribute for Hong Kong and martial arts as a theme song for "The Man from Hong Kong". Unfortunately, the producers wanted an upbeat song that could be a hit for the film's theme, and the song was sadly removed from the soundtrack. Instead, "Power" ended up on his extremely rare 1976 self titled first and only album, released only in Hong Kong, with production by Quinlan and music accompaniment by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra on some tracks. Most were covers, such as Morris Albert’s ‘Feelings’, Rod Stewart’s ‘Sailing’ and Tom Rush’s ‘No Regrets’. After his retirement, he continued worked in the music business with sound system installations for venues. Nearly thirty years after he left his home country, he returned to New Zealand in 1996, and in 2005, The Castaways performed a reunion show with Nelson - their first time in nearly 40 years. There are also two tracks with vocals by Deena Greene - the two versions of "A Man Is a Man Is a Man". The Japanese LP didn't have a name credited for the vocals and even had the song names mistakenly listed as "Love Theme From Sky High", even though the film itself had the correct name for the song and the singer's name in the end credits. But there is a mystery here. There seems to be no information on a recording artist with the name of "Deena Greene", but the Blu-ray's inlay credits the songs as having vocals by "Deena Webster Green". Is it possible this is Deena Webster, the English singer? The voice does sound similar, and the timing seems right if Deena Webster had changed her name to Greene through marriage. There seems to be no information on a biography for Deena Webster, and as to what happened to her career after releasing one album in 1968 and a handful of singles until 1970. English group Jigsaw saw their biggest hit ever with the theme song "Sky High" that plays over the opening and closing credits. The song hit was a top 10 hit in multiple countries around the world including the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Japan. It had its biggest success in Japan, where it hit #1 in 1977 and topped the international charts for eleven weeks, and over the years has been used as background music in commercials, sporting events, variety shows, and more. Though in an ironic twist, the band had to change their name for the Australian market as there was already a country pop group called Jigsaw in the country, and so they were renamed "British Jigsaw" only in that country. The group formed in 1966 and released their first album in 1970, but chart success wouldn't come until "Sky High" from their self titled fifth album in 1975. The band would release six more albums, with some minor hits including "Love Fire" (1976) and "If I Have to Go Away" (1977), but they would not repeat the success of "Sky High". The band members went their separate ways in 1983. There are some differences between the 2016 Blu-ray and this 2021 Blu-ray in the extras department. On the 2016 Blu-ray all the extras except for the theatrical trailer were encoded in standard definition 480i. On the 2021 Blu-ray, all extras are in 1080p. Some are upscales from standard definition, but overall look much better here in HD. The 2021 Blu-ray has twenty minutes of additional interviews from the "Not Quite Hollywood" sessions and a lengthy trailer reel. The following are on the 2016 Blu-ray and not carried over to the 2021 Blu-ray: "The Headman's Daughter" Book Trailer (1:25) "Deathcheaters" (1976) (95:19) Audio commentary on "Deathcheaters" with Brian Trenchard-Smith, Richard Brennan and Margaret Gerard "Stunt Rock" (1978) (95:13) Audio commentary on "Stunt Rock" with Brian Trenchard-Smith, Grant Page and Margaret Gerard "Dangerfreaks" (1989) (94:22) "Stunt Rock" Promo Reel (19:29) "Stunt Rock" Trailer (2:36) "Dangerfreaks" Trailer (1:56) "The Headman's Daughter" was Trenchard-Smith's first novel and a promo trailer was included. "Deathcheaters" will receive a new remastered Blu-ray from Umbrella in 2022 with the commentary and new extras, and "Dangerfreaks" will be a bonus on that release. "Stunt Rock" received a remastered Blu-ray earlier in 2021 with the above extras plus many additional exclusives.
Packaging
This is spine #9 in the "Ozploitation Classics" range, which comes with a slipcase. Th inlay has original theatrical poster artwork including the alternate "The Dragon Flies" from the US. There is also the soundtrack listing inside.
Overall
“The Man from Hong Kong” may not have had the long going status as a martial arts classic, but it was an important film in terms of the Ozploitation genre and the careers of director Brian Trenchard-Smith as well as actors Jimmy Wang Yu and George Lazenby. It’s an absolute blast of fun with a story that is inconsistent but it’s all about the action and stuntwork here. Umbrella’s presentation has improved video over the older Blu-ray with a remastered transfer, but it has some issues with the audio track mixes and lacking the original mono track. The extras are also improved with better encoding and the inclusion of newly released interviews. You’ll definitely be humming “Sky High” for days on end. Very recommended.
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