Two recent Blu-ray arrivals which both show that
the Brits are now regularly releasing some of the best BR Special Editions.
The KILLER CONSTABLE dual format disc I consider to
be one of the best BR releases of this year.
I've always liked Sidney Lumet's NY heist pic, THE
ANDERSON TAPES: the idea of an ex-con knocking over an apartment block
inhabited by rich families always appealed to me...especially if Sean Connery
was in charge. Apart from the film's early 1970s "hi-tech" equipment,
THE ANDERSON TAPES has aged well and is still an exciting, well-made crime
movie. Interestingly, director Lumet cast a very young Christopher Walken as a
budding psycho...how prescient. .
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| Killer Constable |
The Shaw Bros movie KILLER CONSTABLE (1980) from
the 88 Asia DVD Company is probably the best this Hong Kong swordplay pic will
look, apart from seeing it in a cinema on the big screen. The film was produced
in the twilight years of the famous Hong Kong based Shaw Brothers film studio.
It stars Chen Kuan-Tai (THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG) and is directed by veteran
film-maker Kuei Chi-Hung who was best known for his often lurid and violent
horror and crime movies (THE DELINQUENT, KILLER SNAKES). He definitely wasn't
known for his wuxia films...which is a pity because KILLER CONSTABLE ranks up
there with the best martial-arts pics ever made.
The film is a visceral and at times surreal mix of
blood, mud, mist and flame. It's relentlessly grim with a central character
whose unbending righteousness eventually destroys himself and all those around
him. I won't give too much detail here except to say that Officer Leng Tian
Ying (Chen Kuan-Tai) is summoned by the Empress Dowager and ordered to find the
criminals responsible for robbing the Royal Treasury of a fortune in gold. Leng
Tian is given 10 days to track down and bring back to the Empress the robbers'
heads.
As a Special Edition, this is a pretty good disc. A
highlight is an audio commentary by Chinese film expert, Bey Logan, who is no
stranger to these additional tracks. But even by Logan's high standards his
work on KILLER CONSTABLE is exemplary.
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