When Shaw Brothers Studios was thriving, another company was jumping on the bandwagon called Golden Harvest. They delivered similar content, and some of Shaw’s talent would make the move to Harvest, including director Huang Feng (Bandits from Shantung). He then discovered the young and talented Angela Mao, who had only done a few pictures. She was launched into superstardom with the one-two punch of Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido, both released in 1972. Arrow Video is doing the world a favor by bringing those two films to Blu-ray in a special edition set that martial art fans will want to own.
Lady Whirlwind, aka Deep Thrust, tells the story of a woman, played by Mao, who is out to get revenge against the man who killed her sister. Then in an interesting twist, she has to team up with him to defeat a common enemy.
In Hapkido, Mao single-handedly goes after a gang of Japanese thugs using the titular fighting style to do so. That film also has early appearances by both Sammo Hung (Dragons Forever) and Carter Wong (Big Trouble in Little China).
RELATED: ‘Dragons Forever’ (1988) Blu-ray Review: A Deserving Release for This Legendary Film
This review is based on preview copies sent from Arrow, which did not include any packaging or booklets that will come with the retail release. The titles are traditional martial arts films from that time period. You get exactly what you would expect, and that’s alright. It’s what we want. Angela Mao is a trailblazer and an inspiration to women all over Asia who want to be the hero. She was one of the first female action stars, and sometimes she’s unfairly overlooked in that respect. She’s beautiful, deadly, and charismatic, truly a one-of-a-kind star.
What’s great about this two-disc set is the extras included. Lady Whirlwind and Hapkido have their own unique features that must be seen. They feature brand new 2K restorations from Fortune Star with both the original Mandarin audio and the English dubbed.
Lady Whirlwind features a commentary by Frank Djeng and Robert “Bobby” Samuels, commentary by Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, commentary by Samm Deighan, “Lady Whirlwind Speaks,” the first part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao, “Kung Fu Cooking,” a newly filmed conversation with Mao’s son Thomas King, alternate English credits, Hong Kong theatrical trailer, plus US theatrical trailer and radio spot, and an image gallery.
RELATED: James Hong Wants Lo-Pan to Return in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ Sequel
Hapkido features three options of English dub: vintage “kung fu” and “hapkido” dubs in lossless mono, plus 2006 DVD dub in 5.1 surround, commentary by Frank Djeng and Robert “Bobby” Samuels, commentary by Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, “Lady Kung Fu Speaks,” the second part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao, archive interviews with Angela Mao, Carter Wong, and Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, an original vintage featurette showing Ji Hanjae teaching the lead actors hapkido, newly restored in 2K by Fortune Star, three alternate opening credits sequences (textless, English and US), Hong Kong theatrical trailers plus US theatrical trailer and TV spot, and an image gallery.
Just judging these discs off the merit of the films and bonus content on them, it’s a must-own. Thank you to Arrow Video for helping keep these films alive and introducing them to new audiences. Check it out on the official website.
