Written by Richard Durrance on 01 Mar 2024
Yers, it's that time again, for more film announcements and Eureka are keeping to tradition with more genre goodness, in the shape and form of firstly a Teruo Ishii triple: Prison Walls : Abashiri Prison 1-3 , starring Ken Takakura who graced their earlier Golgo 13 and Bullet Train releases (as well as many other fine films). But add to that Wuxia master King Hu's The Valiant Ones in both HD and 4K, Hu's wuxia being on simply another plane.
Want to know more? Yes. Good.
Synopses shamelessly 'borrowed' from Eureka:
Prison Walls : Abashiri Prison 1-3
In Abashiri Prison, Takakura stars as Shinichi Tachibana, a yakuza sent to Abashiri as punishment for an attack on a rival gangster. He intends to serve his time as a model prisoner until he is shackled to the bullish Gonzo Gonda (Kōji Nanbara), unwittingly roped into an escape attempt orchestrated by Heizo Yoda (Tōru Abe) and forced to face the frozen wilderness of Hokkaidō. In Another Abashiri Prison Story, Tachibana has just been released when he stumbles across a stash of diamonds recently stolen in a bank heist – and attracts unwanted attention from criminals and cops alike. Finally, in Abashiri Prison: Saga of Homesickness, Tachibana reunites with his former yakuza associates, who are trying to go straight. That is, at least, until old rivals come looking for trouble…
The Valiant Ones
During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (Chao Lei), China’s coastal regions have come under attack by wokou – Japanese pirates under the leadership of the infamous Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung). To combat this threat, the Emperor tasks a trusted general, Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi), with assembling a group of skilled warriors to find and eliminate the pirates. Under the command of General Yu Dayou (Roy Chiao), the band of soldiers – including husband-and-wife sword-fighters Wu Ji-yuan (Wing Bai) and Wu Ruo-shi (Feng Hsu) – set out to draw Hakatatsu, his ally Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) and their pirate clan into a series of spectacular showdowns.
As always recommended to order from Eureka direct, no P&P and always arrive early.
Eureka have dropped a new trailer for The Valiant Ones:
Long-time anime dilettante and general lover of cinema. Obsessive re-watcher of 'stuff'. Has issues with dubs. Will go off on tangents about other things that no one else cares about but is sadly passionate about. (Also, parentheses come as standard.) Looks curiously like Jo Shishido, hamster cheeks and all.
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