Dreadnaught

DREADNAUGHT must count among the most iconic martial arts-action comedies from the early 1980s. Directed by legendary action choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, this high-octane adventure skilfully blends jaw-dropping action with perfectly timed comedy and is now – for the first time in the UK – available on Blu-ray.

Director Woo-Ping wastes no time before we’re off to an all-out bust-up in a tavern when the law ambushes notorious and unhinged criminal White Tiger (Yuen Shun-yee) and his wife who, despite her considerable martial arts skills, ends up dead after the fight. White Tiger, however, manages to escape… and is naturally more enraged than ever! When White Tiger tries to hide in a nearby town, the rather dubious Master Tam King (Philip Ko), who appears to have a shady past which somehow forges a link to the criminal, advises Tiger to “lay low” for a while and the best way of doing so is by hiding among the local theatre troupe. It doesn’t take long, however, before the law in the shape of incompetent Marshal Pao (Mei Sheng Fan) and his dim-witted, cross-eyed assistant arrive in order to track the Tiger down. As if this isn’t enough cause for ensuing mayhem we are introduced to Mousy (Yuen Biao) – a lazy and cowardly young fellow who helps out in his sister’s launderette (a job which he hates and which he is not good at) whilst secretly hoping to become a student of the great martial arts master Wong Fei-hung (Kwan Tak-hing in his last role portraying Chinese folk hero Fei-hung)). To achieve this grand ambition, Mousy’s best friend Leung Foon (Bryan Leung), already a student of Master Fei-hung, is supposed to help but Mousy is so clumsy that any attempt to convince Master Fei-hung’s assistant (Sai Gwa-Pau) to take him on as a student fails.

Soon though, Mousy is forced to shed his cowardly persona, namely when he accidentally exposes White Tiger whilst creating havoc delivering clean costumes to the theatre troupe. Now the criminal is after Mousy, which is of course the cue for insane stunts and action sequences, including a particularly riotous scene taking place in a narrow back alley with Mousy hiding from Tiger in a barrel filled with rainwater. Running out of oxygen he thinks he’s made a smart move by climbing up an adjoining wall but – just as Tiger stands underneath on the lookout for him – Mousy’s dripping wet clothes betray him… In another absolutely breath-taking scene a fight between two gigantic Chinese dragon puppets (operated by men), which spit fire at each other, almost brings the marketplace down.

It’s not all manically physical action comedy though, far from it, as the plot becomes more complex continuing with various other characters, including a Demon Tailor (Fung Hark-on), a Bounty Hunter (Yuen Chueng-yan) and of course Mousy’s sister (Lily Li) who is in a constant state of despair over her brother’s bumbling incompetence. Fate takes a turn when, through sheer coincidence, Mousy saves a little girl from being scalded by boiling hot water in a canteen and with Fei-hung’s assistant witnessing the incident. Finally Mousy is taken on as a student of Master Fei-hung and it couldn’t have come soon enough as shortly after, his best buddy Leung Foon is brutally killed during an altercation with the dreaded White Tiger. Vowing revenge, Mousy must put all his newly acquired skills (plus the ones he already knows due to laundry work) to the test during the film’s spectacular showdown in a theatre where he finds himself confronted with his fearsome nemesis…

DREADNAUGHT is a truly astonishing (not to mention visually stunning) film with equally astonishing performances led by Yuen Shun-yee as the scarred, psychotic killer White Tiger (who would give Leatherface a run for his money) and – at the other end of the spectrum – Mousy who started out as a loser and coward and who evolves to the status of a hero. To western audiences, director Yuen Woo-ping is known as the action choreographer for THE MATRIX TRILOGY starring Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving, as well as the martial arts hit CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000). Here, however, his considerable talents are showcased in this 1981 cult classic.
The new Blu-ray version has been 2K restored and the first print run (2000 copies) are presented in a Limited Edition O-card Slipcase plus collector’s booklet. The release furthermore offers various audio options, brand-new audio commentaries, archival interview with actress Lily Li plus trailers.