BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

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Apperson
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK

BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#1 Post by Apperson » Thu Aug 10, 2017 10:49 am

Just saw on blu-ray.com that King Hu's Legend of the Mountain is coming in 2018.

Eureka's statement:
We are thrilled to reveal that Eureka! have collaborated with US distributor, Kino Lorber to acquire all rights for UK, Ireland and North America, from the Taiwan Film Institute for King Hu’s LEGEND OF THE MOUNTAIN.

Presented in a new 4K digital restoration, the three-hour director’s cut of King Hu’s Legend of the Mountain received its debut at the Venice Film Festival. Hu, a master of the wuxia swordplay subgenre of martial arts cinema, is perhaps best known for COME DRINK WITH ME, DRAGON INN, and A TOUCH OF ZEN. For his late-period Legend of the Mountain, Hu turned instead to a supernatural fable set during the 11th-century Sung Dynasty, drawing upon Pu Songling’s classic 18th-century collection Stories from a Chinese Studio and filming independently on location in the South Korean countryside.

Ruth Schofield, Managing Director for Eureka Entertainment commented “We are delighted to have acquired the rights for the UK and US for this wonderful film and to have the chance to work again with The Taiwan Film Institute. This has developed into an opportunity to collaborate with Kino Lorber, who will be releasing the film in the USA, and hope this is will be the start of an ongoing relationship between our two companies, to work together on other titles in the future.”

“We are proud to bring to North American audiences such an exquisite film, so beautifully restored by the Taiwan Film Institute,” said Bret Wood, V.P. and executive in charge of restorations at Kino Lorber, "The Eureka brand is a hallmark of quality, and we look forward to cultivating other opportunities for collaboration”

LEGEND OF THE MOUNTAIN will be screened at festivals (UK & Ireland) in 2017 and will be released as part of Eureka’s Award-winning The Masters of Cinema Series in 2018, joining two previously released King Hu titles, DRAGON INN and A TOUCH OF ZEN. In North America, the film will receive theatrical play dates in select cities, followed by a 2018 home video release, coinciding with Eureka’s Masters of Cinema release.

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rapta
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:04 pm
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Re: Forthcoming: Legend of the Mountain

#2 Post by rapta » Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:39 pm

Massive news, as far as I'm concerned. I was pestering them about it months ago but never got a response, and also enquired about the anthology film FOUR MOODS (suggesting they could release it in a double-pack with LEGEND OF THE MOUNTAIN, since they've both been restored by TFI). I'm sure whatever happens, they'll do the film justice, and we might even see another Limited Edition set like A TOUCH OF ZEN got (assuming they have much more to add than what they already delivered for that set).

Anyway, I'm just glad it's on its way. Is it just me or do Eureka now only seem to tease Chinese-language cinema like this? We may have to wait 'til this time next year for it at the earliest...I remember the other Hu titles took ages to finally arrive. I'm happy to be patient though - those are two of my favourite MoC titles, and were well worth the wait.

PS: I surmised on the Blu-ray.com forums that perhaps Eureka and Kino are joining forces due to interest in titles like this from Criterion (and possibly even Arrow). Sounds like they'd be up for 'collaborating' again in future, so maybe we'll see more Hu coming from both labels (or perhaps even just more Taiwanese/Hong Kong/Chinese cinema in general, if we're lucky).

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
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Re: Forthcoming: Legend of the Mountain

#3 Post by Finch » Thu Aug 10, 2017 3:33 pm

I only skimread the announcement and assumed it was one of his other martial arts films, Raining in the Mountains, but a supernatural tale by King Hu is such a tantalising prospect. That's what I'd call a major announcement rather than the seemingly never-ending milking of the Metropolis cash cow. Hopefully the Taiwanese will restore the Valiant Ones, Lee Khan, Raining in the Mountains as well.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Forthcoming: Legend of the Mountain

#4 Post by knives » Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:20 pm

Exciting indeed.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
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Re: Forthcoming: Legend of the Mountain

#5 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Thu Aug 10, 2017 5:45 pm

Finch wrote:I only skimread the announcement and assumed it was one of his other martial arts films, Raining in the Mountains, but a supernatural tale by King Hu is such a tantalising prospect. That's what I'd call a major announcement rather than the seemingly never-ending milking of the Metropolis cash cow. Hopefully the Taiwanese will restore the Valiant Ones, Lee Khan, Raining in the Mountains as well.
The Fate of Lee Khan and The Valiant Ones are with Fortune Star. Wouldn't hold my breath for those.

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L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
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Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#6 Post by L.A. » Wed Mar 14, 2018 7:03 pm


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tenia
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Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#7 Post by tenia » Thu Mar 15, 2018 4:23 am

No surprise about the visual aspect there, it looks every bit like A Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn.

Costa
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:10 pm

Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#8 Post by Costa » Thu Mar 15, 2018 8:20 am

tenia wrote:No surprise about the visual aspect there, it looks every bit like A Touch of Zen and Dragon Inn.
This was not made by Ritrovata/Eclair? (because the review doesn't mention such a thing).
We have a 3rd laboratory that tealifies the restorations?

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tenia
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Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#9 Post by tenia » Thu Mar 15, 2018 8:32 am

It's from Ritrovata.

Costa
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Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#10 Post by Costa » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:26 am

tenia wrote:It's from Ritrovata.
Oh, ok.
yeah, first thing I thought when I saw the screenshots. :lol:

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#11 Post by Orlac » Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:29 pm

Easy pass for me, can't justify throwing money at bad releases.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
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Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#12 Post by Finch » Thu Mar 22, 2018 6:09 pm

Enjoyed the film a lot but of the King Hu's I've seen, I felt it was one of his lesser efforts. The images are often stunning but unlike Touch of Zen, another three hour film, Legend of the Mountain made me a bit impatient at times. I haven't delved into the extras yet but I do gather from MoC's blurb that the film was heavily trimmed upon release. I'm not saying I agree that it needed to be significantly shorter but I reckon if it'd been about 20 mins or so shorter, it'd have felt less drawn out to me. I'll read the booklet shortly and watch the Tony Rayns piece another day. Lest this all sounds too negative, I do think it's a very good film, and it's worthwhile just for Hu venturing outside the martial arts genre and it does have two or three moments I found genuinely eerie.

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whaleallright
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Re: BD 185 Legend of the Mountain

#13 Post by whaleallright » Mon May 07, 2018 4:40 pm

I'm curious if the much shorter original release has likewise been restored—I suspect not, as then it might have also been included on this and the Kino release. I ask because per Tony Rayns, prior to a surprise festival screening in the 2000s, the 190-minute version had been seen by almost nobody—it never received a commercial release anywhere. Although I'm glad we have it, it would also be nice to be able to see, in a nice transfer, the version of the film that people actually saw at the time.

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