Hong Kong’s action cinema of the 1980s and ’90s featured some of the most ambitious filmmakers, charismatic stars, and memorable set pieces of any era of moviemaking anywhere. But for the last 20 years, almost all of the era’s classics have been unavailable for digital rental, purchase, or streaming in the U.S. due to international rights issues. Shout! Studios is changing that, with an announcement Monday of an exciting upcoming slate of digital and physical restorations through its new Hong Kong Cinema Classics label, including many releases in 4K. The titles include classics from Hong Kong action legends John Woo and Tsui Hark, a Jet Li collection, and many more features that in my opinion are some of the greatest movies ever made.
This is news I have been waiting for (along with other action fans around the country) since the January announcement that Shout! had secured the rights to 156 Hong Kong movies from that era. This initial announcement only represents a small portion of that library, but it started with the big ones, bringing back some of the era’s best and most influential movies.
Long-lost Hong Kong action classics from John Woo, Tsui Hark, and more finally getting 4K and digital releases appeared first on Polygon.
