Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son

This Limited Edition 2-disc Blu-ray set contains two films by the one and only Sammo Hung who not only features but also directs. WARRIORS TWO and THE PRODGIAL SON both depict, as ever with Sammo’s films, highly entertaining and action-packed scenarios - this time revolving around real-life Kung Fu master Leung Jan.

In WARRIORS TWO (1978) we have Hong Kong actor Bryan Leung (no relation) taking on the role of Kung Fu master Leung Jan aka Master Tsang. It may be worthwhile pointing out that ‘Warriors Two’ is not a sequel but the title refers to the two main fighters in the story. Leung Jan is still considered a living legend when it comes to the Wing Chun fighting technique, a close combat fighting style. His main student Fei Chun (Sammo Hung), a street vendor who never makes any money from selling his delicious rice dumplings as he prefers to scoff them himself, tries to persuade Leung Jan to teach this special kind of Kung Fu to Cashier Hua aka ‘Money Clutcher Wah’ (Casanova Wong) who keeps a low profile in Fei Chun’s abode. This is because Hua has overheard his nasty-minded boss Mo (Fung Hak-on) and his gang plotting to take over the town by means of bumping off the current head of town. In an act of naivety (or perhaps stupidity) Hua revealed what he’d overheard to his associate Master Yao (Dean Shek)… who happens to be one of Mo’s henchmen. As expected, Mo and his gang are setting a trap for Hua entailing an almost deadly outcome for him. Escaping only by the skin of his teeth, Hua has been in hiding ever since. Despite his pleading with Fei Chun to warn the town’s head of looming danger, Fei Chun fails to do so, which results in the town’s head being attacked by Mo.
Meanwhile, Hua is going through rigorous and merciless training courtesy of Leung Jan though all seems in vain when Mo and his men manage to locate Hua’s hideout (while Hua is practising his Wing Chun in the nearby woods) and kill his mother in the process. At first, Fei Cheun tries everything to avoid breaking the tragic news to his friend as he feels it may interfere with his focus during training sessions but when the truth comes to light Hua, Fei Chun and Cheung Man Ting (Leung Jan’s tough-as-nails niece) take on the battle against Master Mo’s leading fighters Thunder Pai (Tiger Yang), Iron Fist (Lee Hoi-sang) and the Chief Bodyguard (Lau Kar Wing). Trust the bumbling Fei Chun to throw a spanner in the works – unintentionally of course – which jeopardises the safety of Leung Jan’s students…
WARRIORS TWO is a mighty concoction of jaw-dropping action, brutal violence and the usual injection of comedy, especially whenever Sammo Hung is concerned.
Bonus material includes two fully restored versions of the film, different audio options, audio commentaries, ‘Making of Featurette’, trailers, stills gallery and more.

In THE PRODIGAL SON (1981) it’s Yuen Biao who takes on the part of the (here considerably younger) Leung Jan although this self-styled ‘street fighter’ is in actuality a somewhat deluded and spoilt brat who comes from a wealthy family and was trained by instructors in his father’s employ. Boasting at every opportunity that he has fought over three hundred times in his native Foshan, Leung has no idea that his father had arranged for his servant Yee Tung-choi (Chan Lung) to bribe his son’s opponents to lose to him in order to protect his precious offspring. This of course contributed to Leung’s delusional thinking that he really is a master of Kung Fu though behind his back everyone calls him Prodigal Son because of the money his father continues to fork out to protect him from getting injured during fights. When some of Leung’s dorky friends decide to pay the Lok Fung Lin Chinese Opera troupe a visit, one of the lads gets the hots for the lead female performer and, gate-crashing backstage after the performance, brashly asks Leung Yee-tai (Lam Ching-ying) for a date – which she promptly refuses. Angry over the rejection the man then destroys some of the actresses’ costumes, prompting Yee-tai to hit back (quite literally) and smearing the wannabe paramour’s face with make-up in the process. The interloper is further humiliated when he realises that Yee-tai is in fact a ‘Lady Boy’. Revealing his experience to his friend Leung, he appears in the theatre the next day to challenge Yee-tai to a fight (which has to be seen to be believed) though what he doesn’t know is that the ‘Lady Boy’ is in fact a master of the Wing Chun technique and after a hefty sermon involving a bit of home truth, Leung begs Yee-tai to take him on as his apprentice to teach him Wing Chun. Naturally, Yee-tai refuses.

No problem… seeing how Leung’s long suffering father is super wealthy he buys the entire Lok Fung Lin theatre troupe and now Yee-tai has no option other than putting up with the overtly eager Leung – for better or for worse. Along the rocky learning curve Leung comes to realise that Yee-tai has one weakness: his severe asthma! When the shady Lord Ngai Fei (Frankie Chan) arrives on the scene and forces Yee-tai to a duel it emerges that he too is a prodigal son whose father had ordered bodyguards to protect him wherever he goes. Taking the order seriously indeed, Ngai’s ruthless ninja bodyguards burn down the Lok Fung Lin theatre and massacre everyone save Yee-tai and Leung who, unbeknownst to the assassins, manage to escape and seek shelter many miles away at the house of Wong Wah-bo (Sammo Hung), Yee-tai’s martial arts brother who lives a quiet life with his daughter ‘Skinny’ (she is anything but) and fancies himself as a painter and calligrapher, leading up to one of the most sidesplittingly funny scenes of the entire film. Months pass and Leung trains under the watchful eye of Wah-bo and Yee-tai though when the latter’s asthma gets worse, Leung decides to take his friend to seek medical help in Foshan… a decision that will put Leung’s expertise of Wing Chun to the test…
‘The Prodigal Son’ is more complex in structure and although Sammo Hung turns up relatively late into the film his scenes – as ever – steal the show! At the same time it’s a more disjointed affair as the film’s first half, although funny in parts, relies on violent action scenes whereas the second half with Sammo descends into slapstick aplenty.
The film is fully restored in 2K and bonus material includes various audio options, audio commentaries, archival interviews, stills gallery and more.