Richard
Pryor: Live On The Sunset Strip 4K
(1982/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Two
Taoist Tales: Taoism Drunkard
(1984)/Young
Taoism Fighter
(1986/both MVD/Eureka! Blu-rays)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: X/B- Sound: B- Extras: C-/B
Films: B-/C/C
Now
for some wild comedy all around....
The
late, great Richard Pryor made his 4K debut a little while ago, but
it was the inane Superman
III
(1983, reviewed elsewhere on this site) that was the unfortunate
advent. However, he did much better in a film the prior year and
that one was actually a hit. Joe Layton's Richard
Pryor Live On The Sunset Strip 4K
(1982) remains one of the biggest stand-up comedy hits ever issued
theatrically and it was filmed after his drug use gone wrong scandal.
A dated DVD was included in the box set The
Ultimate Richard Pryor Collection Uncensored
that we reviewed at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15984/Ultimate+Richard+Pryor+Collection+U
Running
a tight, bold 81 minutes, he squeezes in plenty, though this
obviously could have gone on much longer and he had many, many times.
Nice to have a vital record of one of the most important comic
talents of all time and in tact, looking and sounding this vivid.
Extras
include Digital Movie copy, while the disc adds an Original
Theatrical Trailer.
Two
Taoist Tales: Yuen
Cheung-yan's Taoism
Drunkard
(1984) and Chen Chi-hwa's Young
Taoism Fighter
(1986) deal with the title religion very, very loosely and are the
peak (or nadir, depending on how much you like wacky, gross comedies
or what you do or do not want from a Martial Arts film) of comedy in
the genre that started to show up when it started crashing post-Bruce
Lee. However, these films make Jackie Chan's early comic works look
like a Jacques Tati masterpiece!
With
more than a little faux witchcraft and supernatural goings-on, with
nothing for Bob Hope to worry about, the first film has the title
drunk damaging a scared statue, unleashing an evil spirit and needing
a virginal male (!?!?!?!) to help defend it all. The latter film has
a guy getting his spirit out of his body (don't ask if the body is
dead or if he can return) and teaming up with a gal who wants to take
down an evil sorcerer.
In
fairness, Hollywood and especially more than a few B-movie units were
coming up with phony-looking-wacky fantasy films (albeit more
reactionary with the lead males very pumped up from the gym) and some
of the cheap effects here are as equally bad as those lame endeavors,
but a few would sometimes be so bad, they might be amusing or get a
cult status. These are just so bad, they are jaw-dropping and owe
more to Monty Python, the Counterculture of the 1970s and art school
than your usual martial arts films. These can also get surprisingly
gross in their humor.
Images
come out of nowhere, like a giant pig head the size of a compact car
trying to run over various characters (is it on a car, motorcycle or
golf cart?) and forget a coherent screenplay. This looks like hose
many bad, silly karate shorts that have been turning up on YouTube
for decades by would-be action stars. At least these films do not
look that cheap, but it is the kind of film Cheech & Chong would
have made if they worked for the Shaw Brothers and if that interests
you, you might want to try these two out. Otherwise, you have been
warned and get what you get if you try them out. Cheers to Eureka!
for even finding them and getting them out on video as I expect
someone is going to actually enjoy them. Others will just be
surprised they still exist and never heard of them before.
Extras
(per the press release) include a
brand
new audio commentaries on both films by East Asian film expert Frank
Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
Brand
new audio commentaries on both films by (the remarkable) action
cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Brand
new interview with director and actor Yuen Cheung-yan
Brand
new interview with critic Andrew Heskins (easternKicks)
Brand
new interview with Leon Hunt, author of Kung
Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger
and
Original Theatrical Trailers.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Pryor
4K
looks very good for its age and since Pryor is wearing a red jacket,
it comes through well in a way that would never be possible in
lower-definition formats. This could have been shot lazily and
cheaply on old analog video the time, but Columbia Pictures was smart
enough to go for 35mm color negative and even with some softness,
obvious darkness (most of this is Pryor performing in a spotlight,
but audience shots look good when they happen) and some expected
grain, this could not look better. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is also just fine for
its age, with so many films still not in stereo or Dolby Stereo yet,
so this sounds as good as it ever will.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers of the two Tao
films can show the age of the materials used, from new 2K
restorations, featuring flaws in the 35mm film materials, wear
(possibly from making prints from the original camera negatives;
these were shot with older anamorphic lenses apparently) and issues
like fading, storage problems and possibly issues from lab work or
the particular color negative film stocks used. Still, they have
survived well enough, but the issues persist throughout screening
both films. The
PCM 2.0 Mono sound in Cantonese and lesser English mixes are included
with both films, with the original Cantonese sounding the best these
films will ever sound. The combination is likely as good as they'll
get.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
