Beach of the War Gods— Film/Blu-Ray Review
Personal History:
Jimmy Wang Yu has always been a staple in the history of my journey with Martial Arts Cinema, but not in the way that one familiar with the genre might expect. One might surmise that my first exposure to this juggernaut of Asian Action Cinema might come from his gonzo sequel to One Armed Boxer, Master of the Flying Guillotine, his Shaw Brothers output, or even his collaboration with Jackie Chan in The Killer Meteors. Nay, it was through his independent Taiwanese pictures that permeated many public domain DVD collections. Namely, Blood of the Dragon was my first exposure to the “Million Dollar Star” of Hong Kong Cinema, a film that made an indelible impact on a most impressionable child. This was quickly followed by Rage of the Masters and Screaming Tiger (Under the title Screaming Ninja in a $5 10-Film Echo Bridge set courtesy of K-Mart). What stood out most about his films was that the action sequences were not like the intricately- choreographed spectacles of Yuen Woo Ping or Lau Kar-Leung, the slapstick stylings of Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung, nor the graceful brutality of Jet Li. They were unsophisticated, carnal, brutish, completely unlike anything that I had seen prior. The narratives were nihilistic and vindictive, featuring heroes that were not of a much higher moral standing than the antagonists. Wang Yu was only the hero by proxy of having killed slightly fewer people than the villain, only maiming the remainder. Blood of the Dragon in particular made a big impact on me, in that it was the first film that I had seen in which literally every character died, most of them in a savage fashion set to killer electric-guitar riffs. Needless to say, it was sick in every meaning of the word. After seeing that personally seminal film on a disc paired with other oddities like The Clones of Bruce Lee and Bloodfight, I had to research other films with this Jimmy Wang Yu fellow, later finding Rage of the Masters, Screaming Tiger, The Great Hunter, Fast Fists, and The Killer Meteors on DVD, and a few films in his Shaw Brothers output thanks to Dragon Dynasty DVD releases and Celestial’s short-lived deal with Amazon Prime. It was not until much later that I was able to see any of his Golden Harvest films. But I was about to discover that YouTube could host a treasure trove of martial arts classics, as long as one was able to tolerate watching about 12–15 videos to catch the whole movie, often omitting dialogue to get to the next fight scene. It was far from ideal, even for my third to fourth grade self. As for Jimmy Wang Yu’s output, I was able to check out Master of the Flying Guillotine and Beach of the War Gods in this fashion. There may have been a Shout Factory box set of Jimmy Wang Yu films during their brief licensing deal with Fortune Star, but that was always way out of my budgetary range. Plenty of time passed. I had seen some other Wang Yu films in various budget-minded box sets and El Rey Network’s “Way of the Turkey" Thanksgiving marathons (Look them up, they were a real thing, and they were awesome!) But it wasn’t until the 2023 Eureka Blu Ray Release that I would finally have the chance to witness this classic of Taiwanese Action Cinema! It may have taken me longer than I expected, but it was well worth the wait!
The Film:
Just like any Jimmy Wang Yu film, but especially the ones he directed and wrote himself, he has to look like the coolest person on the planet. Beach of the War Gods is no different, as we are treated to some iconography straight out of Kurosawa’s Yojimbo or Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars, wide-open vistas, nearly every piece of tumbleweed imaginable billowing past the frame. Here, Wang Yu presents himself as a stoic, mysterious stranger entering the town with a certain flair, for killing oppressive Japanese people. As the nephew of a leader of the resistance, swordsman Hsiao Feng is making his way through the countryside in order to help his uncle and save the Chinese people from Japanese invasion. Hearing that it may already be too late to save his uncle, he decides to take it upon himself to do what he can and rally the local townspeople to stop the Japanese in their tracks. After the opening sequence, the Yojimbo parallels stop, and the Seven Samurai ones begin. Even the villain (played excellently by the dependable Taiwanese martial artist Lung Fei) is named Shinobu Hatsumoto, which just so happens to be the name of the co-writer of Seven Samurai. Jimmy Wang Yu is many things, but subtle is not one of them, as he always wears his influences on his sleeve. Taking major inspiration from that iconic slice of Chanbara Cinema, Jimmy Wang Yu crafts a tale of resistance and resilience in the vein of Kurosawa with some King Hu flourishes. While the film may not feature the same level of characterization, stylistic panache, or narrative complexity as the works of those auteurs, Jimmy Wang Yu still manages to craft a compelling film whose greatest strengths are in its pacing and its focus on thrills and providing the audience with something they’ve never seen before. Here, the action is handled with stunning brutality and it is relentless in maintaining scope and keeping the proceedings as fresh as possible. The weapons are interesting, and an emphasis is placed on strategy and cunning that other western contemporaries in the genre were never able to replicate. Not to mention, the appeal for any action fan, is the promise of a nearly 40 minute long uninterrupted battle in the back half of the film, and as mentioned earlier, it delivers. As Frank Djeng notes in his commentary found on the disc, even the background soldiers are engaging in intricate choreography. This is opposed to the minimal effort filler that usually distracts, rather than drawing attention to action in the foreground. The film may not reach the same levels of poetic lyricism as Seven Samurai or A Touch of Zen, but it more than makes up for artful ruminations with a glut of inventive mayhem and staggeringly staged battle sequences. What else could one ask for when putting on a film called Beach of the War Gods? 4.5/5
How is the Blu Ray?:
As with any Eureka release, the presentation blows anything else out of the water. Granted, prior to the stunning 2K Restoration, I had only seen the film in a VHS rip to YouTube. Naturally, a Fortune Star restoration in the original aspect ratio was going to be a major improvement. Needless to say, the color timing is impeccable, and they maintain the original film grain which really allows Chiu Yao-Hu’s cinematography to flourish! The audio may not have the same “wow factor” of the visuals, but that is not to say that the mixes are lackluster. On the contrary, the Mandarin mix was immersive and provided great sonic fidelity. Personally, I did not watch the film with the English Dub. So I cannot comment on the quality of the track, but if the Mandarin is anything to go by, I am sure that it would deliver just as well. In all, the presentation felt like how it would look and sound when it came out in 1973 projected in a pristine print. We truly are lucky to be living a golden age as far as beautiful Blu-Ray releases of films that have been largely neglected in Cinema History. Who would have thought that Eureka would go to such great lengths to restore a film that had been largely forgotten and even a box office bomb when it originally came out in Hong Kong?
As for bonus features, this release is stacked. To begin, there is a half-hour long interview with Asian Cinema Academic Tony Rayns. As always, his contributions are invaluable and as informative as a college lecture on the subject. For this release, he begins with an overview of Jimmy Wang Yu’s career before settling in to Beach of the War Gods, discussing its significance in the grand scheme of Wang Yu’s career, Golden Harvest’s history, and the real scope of its all-male cast. This piece is incredible, and is definitely worth listening to. Next, there is a half-hour long interview with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, this is more of an overview of Jimmy Wang Yu’s life as they lounge on the real Beach of the War Gods. While they are always interesting to listen to, this piece in particular especially delivers as they dive into more of the controversies that plagued Wang Yu’s career, including the triad connections, murder trials, and how he saved Jackie Chan from getting killed by triads. They make a claim that I am not entirely convinced is true in that Jimmy Wang Yu is an auteur. I do not know if I would go that far, but that is the beauty of film discourse, it is all subjective, and up for discussion. There is one additional interview on the disc, and that is a career-spanning interview with Jimmy Wang Yu himself! He provides forty minutes of his life story, insights into the film business, and boastful anecdotes. He may be a tad arrogant; but as the coward I am, I would never say this to his face. Lastly, but surely not least, there is the highlight of any release that he is a part of, the Frank Djeng commentary. It is perfect, funny, informative, and easily worth the price of admission. It’s scholarly analysis, cinema history lessons, and encyclopedic knowledge all rolled into one. As for off-disc content, there is a wonderful booklet in the Limited Edition that includes a written Tony Rayns piece, an excellent James Oliver essay, and an old review from the The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s.
Overall:
A great achievement in Taiwanese action cinema, Beach of the War Gods provides all of the exhilarating thrills that one expects from the genre, which also makes an interesting companion piece to other homages and remakes of Seven Samurai, such as Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins and John Sturges’ The Magnificent Seven. Jimmy Wang Yu is truly a singular talent in front of and behind the camera, and Beach of the War Gods could serve as a great introduction for those who are curious about expanding their horizons beyond the works of Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and whatever America is putting out. The Eureka release is stellar, offering pristine audio, visuals, and supplements that make this release essential for anyone that is already a fan of martial arts cinema.