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Release: September 18, 2018

$7.99

Description

Carole Lombard and William Powell dazzle in this definitive screwball comedy, directed by Gregory La Cava—a potent cocktail of romantic repartee and Depression-era social critique. Irene (Lombard), an eccentric Manhattan socialite, wins a society-ball scavenger hunt after finding one of the “items” on the list, a “lost man” (Powell), at a dump. She gives the man she believes to be a down-and-out drifter work as the family butler, and soon falls head over heels in love. Her attempts to both woo Godfrey and indoctrinate him in the dysfunctional ways of the household make for an unbeatable series of madcap hijinks. La Cava’s deft film was the first to garner Oscar nominations in all four acting categories, and it is one of Hollywood’s greatest commentaries on class and the social unrest of its time. SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • New piece about the film with jazz and film critic Gary Giddins • New discussion about director Gregory La Cava with critic Nick Pinkerton • Outtakes • Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1938, starring actors William Powell, Carole Lombard, Gail Patrick, and Mischa Auer • Newsreels from the thirties documenting the class divide during the Great Depression • Trailer • PLUS: An essay by critic Farran Smith Nehme

Release: January 20, 2015

$6.99

Description

The geographical dead center of North America and the beloved birthplace of Guy Maddin (Brand Upon the Brain), Winnipeg is the frosty and mysterious star of Maddin’s “docu-fantasia.” A work of memory and imagination, Maddin’s film burrows into what the filmmaker calls “the heart of the heart” of the continent, conjuring a city as delightful as it is fearsome, populated by sleepwalkers and hockey aficionados. Take part in Winnipeg’s annual epic scavenger hunt! Pay your respects to the racehorses forever frozen in the river! Help judge the yearly homoerotic Golden Boy pageant! What is real and what is fantasy is left up to the viewer to sort out in Maddin’s hypnotic, expertly conceived paean to that wonderful and terrifying place known as My Hometown.

Release: June 15, 2010

$7.99

Description

Aloof teenage Japanese tourists, a frazzled Italian widow, and a disgruntled British immigrant all converge in the city of dreams-which, in Mystery Train, from Jim Jarmusch (Stranger Than Paradise, Night on Earth), is Memphis. Made with it's director's customary precision and wit, Mystery Train is a triptych of stories that pay playful tribute to the home of Stax Records, Sun Studio, Graceland, Carl Perkins, and, of course, the King himself, who presides over the film like a spirit. Mystery Train is one of Jarmusch's very best movies, a boozy and beautiful pilgrimage to an iconic American ghost town and a paean to the music it gave the world.

Release: July 12, 2011

$7.99

Description

The brilliant and controversial Naked, from director Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy), stars David Thewlis (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) as Johnny, a charming and eloquent but relentlessly vicious drifter. Rejecting anyone who might care for him, the volcanic Johnny hurls himself through a nocturnal odyssey around London, colliding with a succession of other desperate and dispossessed people, and scorching everyone in his path. With a virtuoso script and raw performances from Thewlis and costars Katrin Cartlidge (Before the Rain) and Lesley Sharp (The Full Monty), Leigh’s picture of England’s underbelly is an amalgam of black comedy and doomsday prophecy that took the best director and best actor prizes at the 1993 Cannes International Film Festival.

Release: September 8, 2020

$7.99

Description

“There are eight million stories in the Naked City,” as the narrator immortally states at the close of this breathtakingly vivid film—and this is one of them. Master noir craftsman Jules Dassin and newspaperman-cum-producer Mark Hellinger’s dazzling police procedural, The Naked City, was shot entirely on location in New York. Influenced as much by Italian neorealism as it is by American crime fiction, this double Academy Award winner remains a benchmark for naturalism in noir, living and breathing in the promises and perils of the Big Apple, from its lowest depths to its highest skyscrapers. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 4K digital restoration by TLEFilms FIlm Restoration & Preservation Services, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Audio commentary from 1996 featuring screenwriter Malvin Wald • Interview from 2006 with film scholar Dana Polan • Interview from 2006 with author James Sanders (Celluloid Skyline) on the film’s New York locations • Footage of director Jules Dassin from a 2004 appearance at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art • Stills gallery • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing • PLUS: An essay by author and critic Luc Sante and production notes from producer Mark Hellinger to Dassin

Release: May 17, 2016

$7.99

Description

Director Kaneto Shindo s documentary-like, dialogue-free portrayal of daily struggle is a work of stunning visual beauty and invention. The international breakthrough for one of Japan s most innovative filmmakers who went on to make such other marvelous movies as Onibaba and Kuroneko The Naked Island follows a family whose home is on a tiny, remote island off the coast of Japan. They must row a great distance to another shore, collect water from a well in buckets, and row back to their island a nearly backbreaking task essential for the survival of these people and their land. Featuring a phenomenal modernist score by Hikaru Hayashi, this is a truly hypnotic experience, with a rhythm unlike that of any other film. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - New, high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack - Video introduction by director Kaneto Shindo, recorded for a 2011 retrospective of his work - Audio commentary recorded in 2000, featuring Shindo and composer Hikaru Hayashi - New appreciation of the film by actor Benicio Del Toro - New interview with film scholar Akira Mizuta Lippit - Trailer - New English subtitle translation - PLUS: An essay by film scholar Haden Guest

$7.99

Description

An exterminator and writer descends into a hallucinatory world of addiction, espionage and imagination.

Release: October 2, 2018

$7.99

Description

Glamorous leading man turned idiosyncratic auteur Cornel Wilde created in the 1960s and ’70s a handful of gritty, violent explorations of the nature of man, none more memorable than The Naked Prey. In the early nineteenth century, after an ivory-hunting safari offends a group of South African hunters, the colonialists are captured and hideously tortured. A lone marksman (Wilde) is released, without clothes or weapons, to be hunted for sport, and he begins a harrowing journey through savanna and jungle back to a primitive state. Distinguished by vivid widescreen camera work and unflinchingly ferocious action sequences, The Naked Prey is both a propulsive, stripped-to-the-bone narrative and a meditation on the concept of civilization.

Release: October 31, 2023

$7.99

Description

A spellbinding blend of social observation and artful shocks, the debut feature from Nikyatu Jusu plunges into the increasingly fractured consciousness of Aisha (Anna Diop), a Senegalese immigrant who takes a job as a nanny for a wealthy white family in New York City. Separated from her own son and casually exploited by her employers, Aisha finds herself consumed by unsettling visions and a growing rage—one that could either destroy or empower her. This visually captivating tour de force—the first horror movie to win the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival—distills complex ideas about motherhood, inequality, and cultural dislocation into a work of dreamlike dread. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital master, approved by director Nikyatu Jusu, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and uncompressed stereo soundtracks New program featuring Jusu, actors Anna Diop and Michelle Monaghan, and director of photography Rina Yang Suicide by Sunlight (2019), a short film by Jusu Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio PLUS: An essay by critic Angelica Jade Bastién

Release: February 28, 2017

$7.99

Description

The cornerstone of director Richard Linklater’s career‑long exploration of cinematic time, this celebrated three-part romance captures a relationship as it begins, begins again, deepens, and strains over the course of almost two decades. Chronicling the love of Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke), from their first meeting as idealistic twentysomethings to the disillusionment they face together in middle age, The Before Trilogy also serves as a document of a boundary-pushing and extraordinarily intimate collaboration between director and actors, as Delpy and Hawke imbue their characters with a sense of lived-in experience, and age on-screen along with them. Attuned to the sweeping grandeur of time’s passage as well as the evanescence of individual moments, the Before films chart the progress of romantic destiny as it navigates the vicissitudes of ordinary life. DIRECTOR-APPROVED THREE-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New, restored 2K digital transfers of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset and a 2K digital master of Before Midnight, approved by director Richard Linklater, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on Before Sunrise and 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks on Before Sunset and Before Midnight New discussion featuring Linklater and actors Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, moderated by critic Kent Jones Behind-the-scenes footage and interviews from the productions of Before Sunrise and Before Sunset Audio commentary on Before Midnight by Delpy, Linklater, and Hawke Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny, a feature-length 2016 documentary by Louis Black and Karen Bernstein After Before, a new documentary by Athina Rachel Tsangari about the making of Before Midnight in Greece New conversation between scholars Dave Johnson and Rob Stone about Linklater’s work Episode of the radio program Fresh Air featuring host Terry Gross, Linklater, Delpy, and Hawke Linklater // On Cinema & Time, a 2016 video essay by filmmaker :: kogonada English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay on the trilogy by critic Dennis Lim BEFORE SUNRISE An exquisitely understated ode to the thrill of romantic possibility, the inaugural installment of The Before Trilogy opens with a chance encounter between two solitary young strangers. After they hit it off on a train bound for Vienna, the Paris university student Celine and the scrappy American tourist Jesse impulsively decide to spend a day together before he returns to the U.S. the next morning. As the pair roam the streets of the stately city, Richard Linklater’s tenderly observant gaze captures the uncertainty and intoxication of young love, from the first awkward stirrings of attraction to the hopeful promise that Celine and Jesse make upon their inevitable parting. BEFORE SUNSET In the breathtaking follow-up to Before Sunrise, Celine tracks down Jesse, now an author, at the tail end of his book tour in Paris, with only a few hours left before he is to board a flight back home to the States. Meeting almost a decade after their short-lived romance in Vienna, the pair find their chemistry rekindled by increasingly candid exchanges about professional setbacks, marital disappointments, and the compromises of adulthood. Impelled by an urgent sense of the transience of human connection, Before Sunset remains Richard Linklater’s most seductive experiment with time’s inexorable passage and the way love can seem to stop it in its tracks. BEFORE MIDNIGHT The conclusion of The Before Trilogy finds Celine and Jesse several years into a relationship and in the midst of a sun-dappled Greek retreat with their twin daughters and a group of friends. The couple soon find their vacation upended, however, by long-simmering problems that come to a boil. Marked by the emotional depth, piercing wit, and conversational exuberance that Linklater and his actors honed over two decades of abiding with these characters, Before Midnight grapples with the complexities of long-term intimacy, and asks what becomes of love when it has no recourse to its past illusions.

Release: February 18, 2020

$7.99

Description

One of the iconoclastic Pier Paolo Pasolini’s most radical provocations, Teorema finds the auteur moving beyond the poetic, proletarian earthiness that first won him renown and notoriety with a coolly cryptic exploration of bourgeois spiritual emptiness. Terence Stamp stars as the mysterious stranger—perhaps an angel, perhaps a devil—who, one by one, seduces the members of a wealthy Milanese family (including European cinema icons Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti, Laura Betti, and Anne Wiazemsky), precipitating an existential crisis in each of their lives. Unfolding nearly wordlessly in a procession of sacred and profane images, this tantalizing metaphysical riddle—blocked from exhibition by the Catholic Church for degeneracy—is at once a blistering Marxist treatise on sex, religion, and art and a primal scream into the void. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Alternate English-dubbed soundtrack, featuring the voice of actor Terence Stamp and others • Audio commentary from 2007 featuring Robert S. C. Gordon, author of Pasolini: Forms of Subjectivity • Introduction by director Pier Paolo Pasolini from 1969 • Interview from 2007 with Stamp • New interview with John David Rhodes, author of Stupendous, Miserable City: Pasolini’s Rome • New English subtitle translation • More! • PLUS: An essay by film scholar James Quandt

Release: February 24, 2026

$7.99

Description

This media satire, directed by Sidney Lumet from a brilliantly incisive script by Paddy Chayefsky, is an X-ray of the corrupted soul of a corporate-dominated America, startlingly prescient in its anticipation of today’s outrage-driven news cycle. At a struggling television network, ambitious executive Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) finds herself with a hit on her hands when disgruntled newscaster Howard Beale (Peter Finch) goes off script, transforming himself into a mad-as-hell prophet railing against the ills of modern society. But can she control the populist revolution they have unleashed on the airwaves? Garnering four Oscars, including for Dunaway, Finch, and Chayefsky, this no-holds-barred New Hollywood classic remains as fearlessly funny as it is unnervingly relevant. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary featuring director Sidney Lumet Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words (2025), a feature-length documentary about the screenwriter by Matthew Miele The Making of “Network” (2006), a six-part documentary by Laurent Bouzereau Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by writer and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie

Release: February 24, 2026

$7.99

Description

This media satire, directed by Sidney Lumet from a brilliantly incisive script by Paddy Chayefsky, is an X-ray of the corrupted soul of a corporate-dominated America, startlingly prescient in its anticipation of today’s outrage-driven news cycle. At a struggling television network, ambitious executive Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) finds herself with a hit on her hands when disgruntled newscaster Howard Beale (Peter Finch) goes off script, transforming himself into a mad-as-hell prophet railing against the ills of modern society. But can she control the populist revolution they have unleashed on the airwaves? Garnering four Oscars, including for Dunaway, Finch, and Chayefsky, this no-holds-barred New Hollywood classic remains as fearlessly funny as it is unnervingly relevant. 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features Audio commentary featuring director Sidney Lumet Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words (2025), a feature-length documentary about the screenwriter by Matthew Miele The Making of “Network” (2006), a six-part documentary by Laurent Bouzereau Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by political commentator and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie

Release: February 24, 2026

$6.99

Description

This media satire, directed by Sidney Lumet from a brilliantly incisive script by Paddy Chayefsky, is an X-ray of the corrupted soul of a corporate-dominated America, startlingly prescient in its anticipation of today’s outrage-driven news cycle. At a struggling television network, ambitious executive Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) finds herself with a hit on her hands when disgruntled newscaster Howard Beale (Peter Finch) goes off script, transforming himself into a mad-as-hell prophet railing against the ills of modern society. But can she control the populist revolution they have unleashed on the airwaves? Garnering four Oscars, including for Dunaway, Finch, and Chayefsky, this no-holds-barred New Hollywood classic remains as fearlessly funny as it is unnervingly relevant. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary featuring director Sidney Lumet Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words (2025), a feature-length documentary about the screenwriter by Matthew Miele The Making of “Network” (2006), a six-part documentary by Laurent Bouzereau Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by writer and New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie

Release: February 9, 2016

$7.99

Description

This monumental mid-nineteenth-century epic from Jan Troell (Here Is Your Life) charts, over the course of two films, a poor Swedish farming family s voyage to America and their efforts to put down roots in this beautiful but forbidding new world. Movie legends Max Von Sydow (The Seventh Seal) and Liv Ullmann (Persona) give remarkably authentic performances as Karl-Oskar and Kristina, a couple who meet with one physical and emotional trial after another on their arduous journey. The precise, minute detail with which Troell depicts the couple s story which is also the story of countless other people who sought better lives across the Atlantic is a wonder to behold. Engrossing every step of the way, the duo of The Emigrants and The New Land makes for perhaps the greatest screen drama about the settling of America. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - New high-definition digital restorations of both films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks - New introduction by critic and Swedish-film expert John Simon - New conversation between film scholar Peter Cowie and director Jan Troell - New interview with actor Liv Ullmann - To Paint with Pictures, a 2005 documentary on the making of the films, featuring archival footage as well as interviews with Troell, Ullmann, producer and coscreenwriter Bengt Forslund, and actor Eddie Axberg - Trailers - New English subtitle translations - PLUS: An essay by critic Terrence Rafferty

Release: July 19, 2016

$6.99

Description

Ten years after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, filmmaker Alain Resnais (Hiroshima mon amour) documented the abandoned grounds of Auschwitz and Majdanek in Night and Fog (Nuit et brouillard), one of the first cinematic reflections on the Holocaust. Juxtaposing the stillness of the abandoned camps empty buildings with haunting wartime footage, Resnais investigates the cyclical nature of humanity s violence against humanity, and presents the devastating suggestion that such horrors could occur again. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack - Excerpt from a 1994 audio interview with director Alain Resnais - New interview with documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer - Face aux fantômes, a ninety-nine-minute 2009 documentary featuring historian Sylvie Lindeperg that explores the French memory of the Holocaust and the controversy surrounding the film s release - New English subtitle translation - PLUS: An essay by film scholar Colin MacCabe

Release: March 25, 2025

$7.99

Description

Arthur Penn’s haunting neonoir reimagines the hard-boiled detective film for the disillusioned, paranoid 1970s. In one of his greatest performances, Gene Hackman oozes world-weary cynicism as a private investigator whose search for an actress’s missing daughter (Melanie Griffith) leads him from the Hollywood Hills to the Florida Keys, where he is pulled into a sordid family drama and a sinister conspiracy he can hardly grasp. Bolstered by Alan Sharp’s genre-scrambling script and Dede Allen’s elliptical editing, the daringly labyrinthine Night Moves is a defining work of post-Watergate cinema—a silent scream of existential dread and moral decay whose legend has only grown with time. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New audio commentary by Matthew Asprey Gear, author of Moseby Confidential New audio interview with actor Jennifer Warren Interview with director Arthur Penn from a 1975 episode of Cinema Showcase Interview with Penn from the 1995 documentary Arthur Penn: A Love Affair with Film The Day of the Director, a behind-the-scenes featurette Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris

Release: March 25, 2025

$7.99

Description

Arthur Penn’s haunting neonoir reimagines the hard-boiled detective film for the disillusioned, paranoid 1970s. In one of his greatest performances, Gene Hackman oozes world-weary cynicism as a private investigator whose search for an actress’s missing daughter (Melanie Griffith) leads him from the Hollywood Hills to the Florida Keys, where he is pulled into a sordid family drama and a sinister conspiracy he can hardly grasp. Bolstered by Alan Sharp’s genre-scrambling script and Dede Allen’s elliptical editing, the daringly labyrinthine Night Moves is a defining work of post-Watergate cinema—a silent scream of existential dread and moral decay whose legend has only grown with time. 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features New audio commentary by Matthew Asprey Gear, author of Moseby Confidential New audio interview with actor Jennifer Warren Interview with director Arthur Penn from a 1975 episode of Cinema Showcase Interview with Penn from the 1995 documentary Arthur Penn: A Love Affair with Film The Day of the Director, a behind-the-scenes featurette Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris

Release: March 25, 2025

$6.99

Description

Arthur Penn’s haunting neonoir reimagines the hard-boiled detective film for the disillusioned, paranoid 1970s. In one of his greatest performances, Gene Hackman oozes world-weary cynicism as a private investigator whose search for an actress’s missing daughter (Melanie Griffith) leads him from the Hollywood Hills to the Florida Keys, where he is pulled into a sordid family drama and a sinister conspiracy he can hardly grasp. Bolstered by Alan Sharp’s genre-scrambling script and Dede Allen’s elliptical editing, the daringly labyrinthine Night Moves is a defining work of post-Watergate cinema—a silent scream of existential dread and moral decay whose legend has only grown with time. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New audio commentary by Matthew Asprey Gear, author of Moseby Confidential New audio interview with actor Jennifer Warren Interview with director Arthur Penn from a 1975 episode of Cinema Showcase Interview with Penn from the 1995 documentary Arthur Penn: A Love Affair with Film The Day of the Director, a behind-the-scenes featurette Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris

Release: April 8, 2014

$6.99

Description

A tall, handsome preacher his knuckles eerily tattooed with love and hate roams the countryside, spreading the gospel...and leaving a trail of murdered women in his wake. To Reverend Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), the work of the Lord has more to do with condemning souls than saving them,especially when his own interests are involved. Now his sights are set on $10,000 and two little children are the only ones who know where it is. Chill... dren! the preacher croons to the terrified boy and girl hiding in the cold, dark cellar... innocent young lambs who refuse to be led astray. The Night of the Hunter stars Mitchum in the most daring and critically acclaimed performance of his career. Spellbinding, ominous, and hauntingly suspenseful, this extraordinary film noir classic remains one of the most frightening movies ever made (Pauline Kael).

Release: October 4, 2022

$7.99

Description

Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget, by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, Night of the Living Dead, directed by horror master George A. Romero, is a great story of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box-office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combining gruesome gore with acute social commentary and quietly breaking ground by casting a Black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital restoration, supervised by director George A. Romero, coscreenwriter John A. Russo, sound engineer Gary R. Streiner, and producer Russell W. Streiner, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack One 4K UHD disc of the film and two Blu-rays with the film and special features Night of Anubis, a work-print edit of the film Program featuring filmmakers Frank Darabont, Guillermo del Toro, and Robert Rodriguez Sixteen-millimeter dailies reel Program featuring Russo on the commercial and industrial-film production company where key Night of the Living Dead participants got their starts Two audio commentaries from 1994 featuring Romero, Russo, producer Karl Hardman, actor Judith O’Dea, and others Archival interviews with Romero and actors Duane Jones and Judith Ridley Programs about the film’s style and score Interview program about the direction of the film’s ghouls, featuring members of the cast and crew Interviews with Gary Streiner and Russell Streiner Newsreels from 1967 Trailer, radio spots, and TV spots English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Stuart Klawans

Release: February 13, 2018

$6.99

Description

Shot outside Pittsburgh on a shoestring budget, by a band of filmmakers determined to make their mark, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, directed by horror master George A. Romero, is a great story of independent cinema: a midnight hit turned box office smash that became one of the most influential films of all time. A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh eating ghouls, Romero's claustrophobic vision of a late 1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role. Stark, haunting, and more relevant than ever, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is back. BLU RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director George A. Romero, coscreenwriter John A. Russo, sound engineer Gary R. Streiner, and producer Russell W.

Release: April 9, 2019

$7.99

Description

Jim Jarmusch assembled an extraordinary international cast of actors for these transitory tales of urban displacement and existential angst, all staged as encounters between cabbies and their fares. Spanning time zones, continents, and languages, Night on Earth traverses through scenes of uproarious comedy and nocturnal poetry.

Release: December 9, 2014

$6.99

Description

In this unsettling drama from Italian filmmaker Liliana Cavani (RIPLEY'S GAME), a concentration camp survivor (SWIMMING POOL's Charlotte Rampling) discovers her former torturer and lover (DEATH IN VENICE's Dirk Bogarde) working as a porter at a hotel in postwar Vienna. When the couple attempt to re-create their sadomasochistic relationship, his former SS comrades begin to stalk them. Operatic and disturbing, THE NIGHT PORTER deftly examines the lasting social and psychological effects of the Nazi regime.

Release: March 27, 2012

$6.99

Description

On April 14, 1912, just before midnight, the unsinkable Titanic struck an iceberg. In less than three hours, it had plunged to the bottom of the sea, taking with it more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers. In his unforgettable rendering of Walter Lord’s book of the same name, A Night to Remember, the acclaimed British director Roy Ward Baker (Don’t Bother to Knock) depicts with sensitivity, awe, and a fine sense of tragedy the ship’s final hours. Featuring remarkably restrained performances, A Night to Remember is cinema’s subtlest, finest dramatization of this monumental twentieth-century catastrophe.

Release: September 6, 2016

$7.99

Description

Night Train to Munich, from writers Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat (Hitchcock s The Lady Vanishes) and director Carol Reed (The Fallen Idol, The Third Man), is a twisting, turning, cloak-and-dagger delight. Paced like an out-of-control locomotive, this gripping, occasionally comic confection takes viewers on a World War II era journey from Prague to England to the Swiss Alps, as Nazis pursue a Czech scientist and his daughter (Margaret Lockwood, of The Lady Vanishes), who are being aided by a debonair British undercover agent, played by Rex Harrison (Major Barbara, My Fair Lady). This captivating adventure which also features Casablanca s Paul Henreid mixes comedy, romance, and thrills with enough skill and cleverness to give the Master of Suspense himself pause. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES - Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack - Conversation from 2010 between film scholars Peter Evans and Bruce Babington about director Carol Reed, screenwriters Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and the social and political climate in which Night Train to Munich was made - PLUS: An essay by film critic Philip Kemp

Release: October 28, 2025

$7.99

Description

Noir fatalism has rarely been so alluring as in this vision of the world as a soul-sick carnival of corruption. Putting his own luxuriantly stylized spin on the classic hard-boiled novel by William Lindsay Gresham, master fabulist Guillermo del Toro conjures a sordid, seductive portrait of America on the cusp of World War II. The film follows Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a roustabout in a traveling sideshow who uses charm and deception to become a phony mentalist preying on the rich and powerful—but at what cost? Brought to life by an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, and Rooney Mara, and nominated for four Oscars (including Best Picture), Nightmare Alley is a haunting descent into the illusory abyss of the American dream. DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital master of Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light (2025), a new 159-minute, black-and-white extended director’s cut, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack 4K digital master of the theatrical version of the film, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features New audio commentary on the extended director’s cut featuring del Toro New documentary on the film’s performances, visual language, costume and production design, and score New introduction by del Toro on the different versions of the film New conversation between del Toro and actor and producer Bradley Cooper New conversation between del Toro and coscreenwriter Kim Morgan Trailers English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio PLUS: An essay by crime-fiction and true-crime expert Sarah Weinman

Release: October 28, 2025

$7.99

Description

Noir fatalism has rarely been so alluring as in this vision of the world as a soul-sick carnival of corruption. Putting his own luxuriantly stylized spin on the classic hard-boiled novel by William Lindsay Gresham, master fabulist Guillermo del Toro conjures a sordid, seductive portrait of America on the cusp of World War II. The film follows Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a roustabout in a traveling sideshow who uses charm and deception to become a phony mentalist preying on the rich and powerful—but at what cost? Brought to life by an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, and Rooney Mara, and nominated for four Oscars (including Best Picture), Nightmare Alley is a haunting descent into the illusory abyss of the American dream. DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital master of Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light (2025), a new 159-minute, black-and-white extended director’s cut, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack 4K digital master of the theatrical version of the film, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features New audio commentary on the extended director’s cut featuring del Toro New documentary on the film’s performances, visual language, costume and production design, and score New introduction by del Toro on the different versions of the film New conversation between del Toro and actor and producer Bradley Cooper New conversation between del Toro and coscreenwriter Kim Morgan Trailers English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio PLUS: An essay by crime-fiction and true-crime expert Sarah Weinman

Release: October 28, 2025

$7.99

Description

Noir fatalism has rarely been so alluring as in this vision of the world as a soul-sick carnival of corruption. Putting his own luxuriantly stylized spin on the classic hard-boiled novel by William Lindsay Gresham, master fabulist Guillermo del Toro conjures a sordid, seductive portrait of America on the cusp of World War II. The film follows Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a roustabout in a traveling sideshow who uses charm and deception to become a phony mentalist preying on the rich and powerful—but at what cost? Brought to life by an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, and Rooney Mara, and nominated for four Oscars (including Best Picture), Nightmare Alley is a haunting descent into the illusory abyss of the American dream. DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital master of Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light (2025), a new 159-minute, black-and-white extended director’s cut, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack 4K digital master of the theatrical version of the film, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features New audio commentary on the extended director’s cut featuring del Toro New documentary on the film’s performances, visual language, costume and production design, and score New introduction by del Toro on the different versions of the film New conversation between del Toro and actor and producer Bradley Cooper New conversation between del Toro and coscreenwriter Kim Morgan Trailers English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio PLUS: An essay by crime-fiction and true-crime expert Sarah Weinman

Release: October 28, 2025

$7.99

Description

Noir fatalism has rarely been so alluring as in this vision of the world as a soul-sick carnival of corruption. Putting his own luxuriantly stylized spin on the classic hard-boiled novel by William Lindsay Gresham, master fabulist Guillermo del Toro conjures a sordid, seductive portrait of America on the cusp of World War II. The film follows Stan Carlisle (Bradley Cooper), a roustabout in a traveling sideshow who uses charm and deception to become a phony mentalist preying on the rich and powerful—but at what cost? Brought to life by an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, and Rooney Mara, and nominated for four Oscars (including Best Picture), Nightmare Alley is a haunting descent into the illusory abyss of the American dream. DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital master of Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light (2025), a new 159-minute, black-and-white extended director’s cut, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack 4K digital master of the theatrical version of the film, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack Two 4K UHD discs of the films presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the films and special features New audio commentary on the extended director’s cut featuring del Toro New documentary on the film’s performances, visual language, costume and production design, and score New introduction by del Toro on the different versions of the film New conversation between del Toro and actor and producer Bradley Cooper New conversation between del Toro and coscreenwriter Kim Morgan Trailers English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing and English descriptive audio PLUS: An essay by crime-fiction and true-crime expert Sarah Weinman

Release: May 25, 2021

$7.99

Description

Darkness lurks behind the bright lights of a traveling carnival in one of the most haunting and perverse film noirs of the 1940s. Adapted from the scandalous best seller by William Lindsay Gresham, Nightmare Alley gave Tyrone Power a chance to subvert his matinee-idol image with a ruthless performance as Stan Carlisle, a small-time carny whose unctuous charm propels him to fame as a charlatan spiritualist, but whose unchecked ambition leads him down a path of moral degradation and self-destruction. Although its strange, sordid atmosphere shocked contemporary audiences, this long difficult-to-see reflection of postwar angst has now taken its place as one of the defining noirs of its era—a fate-fueled downward slide into existential oblivion. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Audio commentary from 2005 featuring film historians James Ursini and Alain Silver • New interview with critic Imogen Sara Smith • New interview with performer and historian Todd Robbins • Interview from 2007 with actor Coleen Gray • Audio excerpt of a 1971 interview with Henry King in which the filmmaker discusses actor Tyrone Power • Trailer • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing • PLUS: An essay by film critic and screenwriter Kim Morgan

Release: October 17, 2023

$7.99

Description

One of the world’s great cinema artists, Jafar Panahi has been carefully crafting self-reflexive works about artistic, personal, and political freedom for the past three decades, despite being banned from filmmaking by the Iranian government since 2010. In No Bears—completed shortly before his imprisonment in 2022—Panahi plays a fictionalized version of himself, a dissident filmmaker who relocates to a rural border town to direct a film remotely in nearby Turkey and finds himself embroiled in a local scandal. As he struggles to complete his feature, Panahi must confront the opposing pulls of tradition and progress, city and country, belief and evidence, as well as the universal desire to reject oppression. SPECIAL FEATURES On Panahi’s Films, a new interview with filmmaker Ramin Bahrani about director Jafar Panahi’s work PLUS: Panahi Speaks from Prison Trailer Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews No Bears (Criterion Premieres) [Blu-ray]

$7.99

Description

A hunter’s discovery of drug money unleashes a relentless killer and a weary sheriff on converging paths.

Release: December 10, 2024

$7.99

Description

A deadly game of chance and destiny plays out against the stark backdrop of early-1980s West Texas in Joel and Ethan Coen’s powerful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s novel. When he happens upon more than two million dollars from a drug deal turned desert massacre, a retired welder and Vietnam veteran (Josh Brolin) sets into motion a wave of senseless, inexorable violence as he’s stalked across the plains by a soul-weary sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) and a psychopathic hit man (Javier Bardem). Winner of four Academy Awards—including Best Picture, and Best Supporting Actor for the indelibly disturbing Bardem—this darkly deadpan borderlands noir keeps both the tension and the existential unease mounting through each cruelly ironic twist of fate. DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital master, supervised and approved by director of photography Roger Deakins, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features New conversation between filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen and author Megan Abbott New conversation between Deakins and associate producer David Diliberto, also featuring Abbott Archival interviews with actors Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kelly Macdonald Behind-the-scenes documentary by Brolin Three documentaries about the making of the film featuring on-set footage and interviews with members of the cast and crew English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by author Francine Prose and a 2007 piece on the film by author Larry McMurtry

Release: August 20, 2024

$7.99

Description

Trailblazing filmmaker Martha Coolidge made her feature debut with this unflinchingly personal hybrid of documentary and fiction. Centered on an intense reenactment of Coolidge’s experience of rape in her adolescence, the film casts Michele Manenti (also a survivor) as the director’s younger self, and observes the actor and her castmates as they engage in a profound dialogue about what it means to recreate these traumatic memories, and about their attitudes concerning consent and self-blame. A high-stakes experiment in metacinema that broke new ground with its uncompromising examination of date rape, Not a Pretty Picture brings a stunning immediacy to questions about the on-screen representation of sexual violence and the limits of artistic catharsis. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Martha Coolidge, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Interview with Coolidge conducted by filmmaker Allison Anders Old-Fashioned Woman (1974), a documentary by Coolidge about her grandmother English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by film critic Molly Haskell

Release: February 20, 2024

$7.99

Description

Michael Roemer’s groundbreaking first feature, sensitively shot by his close collaborator Robert M. Young, is a still-resonant expression of humanity in the face of virulent prejudice. Made at the height of the civil rights movement, Nothing but a Man reveals the toll of systemic racism through its honest portrait of a southern Black railroad worker (Ivan Dixon) confronting the daily challenges of discrimination and economic precarity, as he attempts to settle down with his new wife (jazz great Abbey Lincoln) and track down his father (Julius Harris). Admired by Malcolm X and now recognized as a landmark of American cinema, this tender film grounds its social critique in characters of unforgettable complexity and truth. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES New, restored 4K digital master, approved by director Michael Roemer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack An Introduction to Michael Roemer, a new interview program featuring Roemer Conversation from 2004 between Roemer and coproducer and cinematographer Robert M. Young Program featuring archival interviews with actors Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, and Julius Harris English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Gene Seymour Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Nothing but a Man (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: January 15, 2019

$7.99

Description

With this twisted love story, Alfred Hitchcock summoned darker shades of suspense and passion by casting two of Hollywood’s most beloved stars starkly against type. Ingrid Bergman plays Alicia, an alluring woman with a checkered past recruited by Devlin (Cary Grant), a suave, mysterious intelligence agent, to spy for the U.S. Only after she has fallen for Devlin does she learn that her mission is to seduce a Nazi industrialist (Claude Rains) hiding out in South America. Coupling inventive cinematography with brilliantly subtle turns from his mesmerizing leads, Hitchcock orchestrates an anguished romance shot through with deception and moral ambiguity. A thriller of rare perfection, Notorious represents a pinnacle of both its director’s legendary career and classic Hollywood cinema.

Release: September 22, 2026

$7.99

Release: September 22, 2026

$7.99

Release: November 26, 2019

$7.99

Description

Nervous spinster Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) is stunted from growing up under the heel of her puritanical Boston Brahmin mother (Gladys Cooper), and remains convinced of her own unworthiness until a kindly psychiatrist (Claude Rains) gives her the confidence to venture out into the world on a South American cruise. Onboard, she finds her footing with the help of an unhappily married man (Paul Henreid). Their thwarted love affair may help Charlotte break free of her mother’s grip—but will she find fulfillment as well as independence? Made at the height of Davis’s reign as the queen of the women’s picture and bolstered by an Oscar-winning Max Steiner score, Now, Voyager is a melodrama for the ages, both a rapturous Hollywood romance and a poignant saga of self-discovery. BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack • Episode of The Dick Cavett Show from 1971 with actor Bette Davis • Interview with Paul Henreid from 1980 • Selected-scene commentary on the film’s score by professor Jeff Smith • New interview with film critic Farran Smith Nehme on the making of the film • New interview with costume historian Larry McQueen • Two radio adaptations from 1943 and 1946 • PLUS: An essay by scholar Patricia White and a 1937 reflection on acting by Davis

Release: April 14, 2015

$7.99

Description

Taking place largely over the course of one tense night, Carol Reed's psychological noir, set in an unnamed Belfast, stars James Mason (Lolita) as a revolutionary ex-con leading a robbery that goes horribly wrong. Injured and hunted by the police, he seeks refuge throughout the city, while the woman he loves (Kathleen Ryan) searches for him among the shadows. Reed and cinematographer Robert Krasker (who would collaborate again on The Fallen Idol and The Third Man) create images of stunning depth for this intense, spiritual depiction of a man's ultimate confrontation with himself.

Release: July 5, 2022

$6.99

Description

Master genre exploder Bong Joon Ho swirls pathos, dark satire, action, and horror into an exhilarating twenty-first-century fairy tale. An all-star cast including Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, and Jake Gyllenhaal is led by An Seo Hyun as Mija, a South Korean girl growing up on an Edenic mountainside with her grandfather and best friend: Okja, a giant, empathetic “superpig” created as part of a secret GMO experiment. When Okja is abruptly torn away from her, Mija embarks on a perilous rescue mission that places her at the center of a sinister corporate conspiracy. While Bong’s trademark virtuosic set pieces dazzle, Okja’s beating heart is the connection between a girl and her superpig, made all the more poignant by the brilliant special effects that bring the animal star to unforgettable life. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital master, approved by director Bong Joon Ho, with Dolby Atmos sound New conversation between Bong and producer Dooho Choi New interviews with actors An Seo Hyun and Byun Heebong New interviews with members of the crew about the film’s cinematography, visual effects, and costume and production design Short programs including a director’s video diary, featuring Bong; actors Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, and Steven Yeun; and others Teaser, trailer, and web promos English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Karen Han Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Okja (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: July 5, 2022

$7.99

Description

Master genre exploder Bong Joon Ho swirls pathos, dark satire, action, and horror into an exhilarating twenty-first-century fairy tale. An all-star cast including Tilda Swinton, Paul Dano, Steven Yeun, and Jake Gyllenhaal is led by An Seo Hyun as Mija, a South Korean girl growing up on an Edenic mountainside with her grandfather and best friend: Okja, a giant, empathetic “superpig” created as part of a secret GMO experiment. When Okja is abruptly torn away from her, Mija embarks on a perilous rescue mission that places her at the center of a sinister corporate conspiracy. While Bong’s trademark virtuosic set pieces dazzle, Okja’s beating heart is the connection between a girl and her superpig, made all the more poignant by the brilliant special effects that bring the animal star to unforgettable life. DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES 4K digital master, approved by director Bong Joon Ho, with Dolby Atmos sound One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features New conversation between Bong and producer Dooho Choi New interviews with actors An Seo Hyun and Byun Heebong New interviews with members of the crew about the film’s cinematography, visual effects, and costume and production design Short programs including a director’s video diary, featuring Bong; actors Paul Dano, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tilda Swinton, and Steven Yeun; and others Teaser, trailer, and web promos English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Karen Han Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Okja (The Criterion Collection) [4K UHD]

Release: December 10, 2019

$7.99

Description

Two old friends reunite for a quietly revelatory overnight camping trip in Kelly Reichardt’s breakout feature, a microbudget study of character and masculinity that introduced many viewers to one of contemporary American cinema’s most independent artists. As they drive from Portland into the woods in search of a secluded hot spring, expectant father Mark (Daniel London) and nomadic Kurt (Will Oldham) make fumbling attempts to reconnect, butting up against the limits of their friendship and coming to grips with just how much their paths have diverged since their shared youth. Adapted from a short story by Jonathan Raymond and accompanied by an atmospheric Yo La Tengo score, Old Joy is a contemplative, wryly observed triumph whose modest scale belies the richness of its insight. DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 2K digital restoration, approved by director Kelly Reichardt and cinematographer Peter Sillen, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack • New interviews with Reichardt, Sillen, and author Jonathan Raymond • New conversation between actors Daniel London and Will Oldham • Trailer • PLUS: An essay by film critic Ed Halter and the short story by Raymond on which the film is based

Release: November 16, 2021

$6.99

Description

One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema’s 1990s golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame. It brings to vivid life the colorful world of China in the late nineteenth century, an era of immense cultural and technological change, as Western imperialism clashed with tradition and public order was upended by the threats of foreign espionage and rising nationalism. Against this turbulent backdrop, one man—the real-life martial-arts master, physician, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung—emerges as a noble protector of Chinese values as the country hurtles toward modernity. Conceived by Hong Kong New Wave leader Tsui Hark, this epic cycle is not only a dazzling showcase for some of the most astonishing action set pieces ever committed to film but also a rousing celebration of Chinese identity, history, and culture. SIX-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES 4K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II and III, and new 2K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China IV and V, all presented with their original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo Alternate stereo Cantonese soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II, featuring the original theatrical sound effects, and monaural Cantonese soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in China III Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and ’05 Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City’s Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America Trailers New English subtitle translations PLUS: An essay on the films by critic Maggie Lee and an essay on the cinematic depictions of Wong by novelist Grady Hendrix ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1991 • 134 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark’s sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li’s status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-yet-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of loyal disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local alike—threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China’s breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns vs. fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II 1992 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Having chronicled the social upheaval wrought by Western influence in the opening chapter of the Once Upon a Time in China series, Tsui Hark turned his attention to the perils of unchecked nationalism in his sensational follow-up, the rare sequel to equal the dizzying highs of the original. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, who here takes on the diabolical White Lotus Sect, a virulently xenophobic cult whose anti-foreigner sentiments unleash a wave of destructive violence. Fellow martial-arts icon Donnie Yen dazzles in a star-making turn as Wong’s nemesis, who faces off with the hero in a battle royal that showcases the kinetic brilliance of revered Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA III 1993 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • STEREO • IN CANTONESE AND MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Jet Li’s third outing as the storied martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films is an exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture peppered with a dash of international espionage. This time around, Wong travels to Beijing, where he finds himself drawn into the intrigue surrounding an epic lion-dance competition, spars with a Russian rival for the affections of his beloved Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), and fights to foil a foreign plot to assassinate the real-life Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang. The eye-popping lion-dance set pieces—which combine vibrantly colored, fire-breathing pageantry with martial-arts mayhem—rank among the most visually spectacular achievements of the series. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA IV 1993 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Though it picks up the narrative thread where the previous installment left off, Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA V 1994 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Tsui Hark returned to the director’s chair for the rollicking comedic adventure Once Upon a Time in China V, in which the indomitable hero Wong Fei-hung (Vincent Zhao) tangles with a band of ruthless, finger-removing pirates who are exploiting the political chaos created by the invasion of foreigners in order to terrorize the Chinese coast. The fist-and-foot kung-fu set pieces—including a showstopping, gold-hued melee set in a warehouse of pirate treasure—are plentiful, but Tsui ups the ante by introducing acrobatic gunplay to the proceedings, infusing this furiously entertaining crowd-pleaser with a bracing jolt of John Woo–style bullet ballet mayhem. Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: November 16, 2021

$6.99

Description

One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema’s 1990s golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame. It brings to vivid life the colorful world of China in the late nineteenth century, an era of immense cultural and technological change, as Western imperialism clashed with tradition and public order was upended by the threats of foreign espionage and rising nationalism. Against this turbulent backdrop, one man—the real-life martial-arts master, physician, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung—emerges as a noble protector of Chinese values as the country hurtles toward modernity. Conceived by Hong Kong New Wave leader Tsui Hark, this epic cycle is not only a dazzling showcase for some of the most astonishing action set pieces ever committed to film but also a rousing celebration of Chinese identity, history, and culture. SIX-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES 4K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II and III, and new 2K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China IV and V, all presented with their original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo Alternate stereo Cantonese soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II, featuring the original theatrical sound effects, and monaural Cantonese soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in China III Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and ’05 Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City’s Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America Trailers New English subtitle translations PLUS: An essay on the films by critic Maggie Lee and an essay on the cinematic depictions of Wong by novelist Grady Hendrix ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1991 • 134 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark’s sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li’s status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-yet-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of loyal disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local alike—threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China’s breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns vs. fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II 1992 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Having chronicled the social upheaval wrought by Western influence in the opening chapter of the Once Upon a Time in China series, Tsui Hark turned his attention to the perils of unchecked nationalism in his sensational follow-up, the rare sequel to equal the dizzying highs of the original. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, who here takes on the diabolical White Lotus Sect, a virulently xenophobic cult whose anti-foreigner sentiments unleash a wave of destructive violence. Fellow martial-arts icon Donnie Yen dazzles in a star-making turn as Wong’s nemesis, who faces off with the hero in a battle royal that showcases the kinetic brilliance of revered Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA III 1993 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • STEREO • IN CANTONESE AND MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Jet Li’s third outing as the storied martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films is an exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture peppered with a dash of international espionage. This time around, Wong travels to Beijing, where he finds himself drawn into the intrigue surrounding an epic lion-dance competition, spars with a Russian rival for the affections of his beloved Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), and fights to foil a foreign plot to assassinate the real-life Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang. The eye-popping lion-dance set pieces—which combine vibrantly colored, fire-breathing pageantry with martial-arts mayhem—rank among the most visually spectacular achievements of the series. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA IV 1993 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Though it picks up the narrative thread where the previous installment left off, Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA V 1994 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Tsui Hark returned to the director’s chair for the rollicking comedic adventure Once Upon a Time in China V, in which the indomitable hero Wong Fei-hung (Vincent Zhao) tangles with a band of ruthless, finger-removing pirates who are exploiting the political chaos created by the invasion of foreigners in order to terrorize the Chinese coast. The fist-and-foot kung-fu set pieces—including a showstopping, gold-hued melee set in a warehouse of pirate treasure—are plentiful, but Tsui ups the ante by introducing acrobatic gunplay to the proceedings, infusing this furiously entertaining crowd-pleaser with a bracing jolt of John Woo–style bullet ballet mayhem. Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: November 16, 2021

$6.99

Description

One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema’s 1990s golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame. It brings to vivid life the colorful world of China in the late nineteenth century, an era of immense cultural and technological change, as Western imperialism clashed with tradition and public order was upended by the threats of foreign espionage and rising nationalism. Against this turbulent backdrop, one man—the real-life martial-arts master, physician, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung—emerges as a noble protector of Chinese values as the country hurtles toward modernity. Conceived by Hong Kong New Wave leader Tsui Hark, this epic cycle is not only a dazzling showcase for some of the most astonishing action set pieces ever committed to film but also a rousing celebration of Chinese identity, history, and culture. SIX-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES 4K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II and III, and new 2K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China IV and V, all presented with their original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo Alternate stereo Cantonese soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II, featuring the original theatrical sound effects, and monaural Cantonese soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in China III Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and ’05 Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City’s Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America Trailers New English subtitle translations PLUS: An essay on the films by critic Maggie Lee and an essay on the cinematic depictions of Wong by novelist Grady Hendrix ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1991 • 134 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark’s sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li’s status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-yet-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of loyal disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local alike—threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China’s breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns vs. fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II 1992 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Having chronicled the social upheaval wrought by Western influence in the opening chapter of the Once Upon a Time in China series, Tsui Hark turned his attention to the perils of unchecked nationalism in his sensational follow-up, the rare sequel to equal the dizzying highs of the original. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, who here takes on the diabolical White Lotus Sect, a virulently xenophobic cult whose anti-foreigner sentiments unleash a wave of destructive violence. Fellow martial-arts icon Donnie Yen dazzles in a star-making turn as Wong’s nemesis, who faces off with the hero in a battle royal that showcases the kinetic brilliance of revered Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA III 1993 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • STEREO • IN CANTONESE AND MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Jet Li’s third outing as the storied martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films is an exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture peppered with a dash of international espionage. This time around, Wong travels to Beijing, where he finds himself drawn into the intrigue surrounding an epic lion-dance competition, spars with a Russian rival for the affections of his beloved Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), and fights to foil a foreign plot to assassinate the real-life Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang. The eye-popping lion-dance set pieces—which combine vibrantly colored, fire-breathing pageantry with martial-arts mayhem—rank among the most visually spectacular achievements of the series. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA IV 1993 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Though it picks up the narrative thread where the previous installment left off, Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA V 1994 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Tsui Hark returned to the director’s chair for the rollicking comedic adventure Once Upon a Time in China V, in which the indomitable hero Wong Fei-hung (Vincent Zhao) tangles with a band of ruthless, finger-removing pirates who are exploiting the political chaos created by the invasion of foreigners in order to terrorize the Chinese coast. The fist-and-foot kung-fu set pieces—including a showstopping, gold-hued melee set in a warehouse of pirate treasure—are plentiful, but Tsui ups the ante by introducing acrobatic gunplay to the proceedings, infusing this furiously entertaining crowd-pleaser with a bracing jolt of John Woo–style bullet ballet mayhem. Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: November 16, 2021

$6.99

Description

One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema’s 1990s golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame. It brings to vivid life the colorful world of China in the late nineteenth century, an era of immense cultural and technological change, as Western imperialism clashed with tradition and public order was upended by the threats of foreign espionage and rising nationalism. Against this turbulent backdrop, one man—the real-life martial-arts master, physician, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung—emerges as a noble protector of Chinese values as the country hurtles toward modernity. Conceived by Hong Kong New Wave leader Tsui Hark, this epic cycle is not only a dazzling showcase for some of the most astonishing action set pieces ever committed to film but also a rousing celebration of Chinese identity, history, and culture. SIX-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES 4K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II and III, and new 2K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China IV and V, all presented with their original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo Alternate stereo Cantonese soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II, featuring the original theatrical sound effects, and monaural Cantonese soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in China III Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and ’05 Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City’s Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America Trailers New English subtitle translations PLUS: An essay on the films by critic Maggie Lee and an essay on the cinematic depictions of Wong by novelist Grady Hendrix ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1991 • 134 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark’s sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li’s status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-yet-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of loyal disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local alike—threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China’s breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns vs. fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II 1992 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Having chronicled the social upheaval wrought by Western influence in the opening chapter of the Once Upon a Time in China series, Tsui Hark turned his attention to the perils of unchecked nationalism in his sensational follow-up, the rare sequel to equal the dizzying highs of the original. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, who here takes on the diabolical White Lotus Sect, a virulently xenophobic cult whose anti-foreigner sentiments unleash a wave of destructive violence. Fellow martial-arts icon Donnie Yen dazzles in a star-making turn as Wong’s nemesis, who faces off with the hero in a battle royal that showcases the kinetic brilliance of revered Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA III 1993 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • STEREO • IN CANTONESE AND MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Jet Li’s third outing as the storied martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films is an exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture peppered with a dash of international espionage. This time around, Wong travels to Beijing, where he finds himself drawn into the intrigue surrounding an epic lion-dance competition, spars with a Russian rival for the affections of his beloved Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), and fights to foil a foreign plot to assassinate the real-life Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang. The eye-popping lion-dance set pieces—which combine vibrantly colored, fire-breathing pageantry with martial-arts mayhem—rank among the most visually spectacular achievements of the series. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA IV 1993 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Though it picks up the narrative thread where the previous installment left off, Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA V 1994 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Tsui Hark returned to the director’s chair for the rollicking comedic adventure Once Upon a Time in China V, in which the indomitable hero Wong Fei-hung (Vincent Zhao) tangles with a band of ruthless, finger-removing pirates who are exploiting the political chaos created by the invasion of foreigners in order to terrorize the Chinese coast. The fist-and-foot kung-fu set pieces—including a showstopping, gold-hued melee set in a warehouse of pirate treasure—are plentiful, but Tsui ups the ante by introducing acrobatic gunplay to the proceedings, infusing this furiously entertaining crowd-pleaser with a bracing jolt of John Woo–style bullet ballet mayhem. Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: November 16, 2021

$6.99

Description

One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema’s 1990s golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame. It brings to vivid life the colorful world of China in the late nineteenth century, an era of immense cultural and technological change, as Western imperialism clashed with tradition and public order was upended by the threats of foreign espionage and rising nationalism. Against this turbulent backdrop, one man—the real-life martial-arts master, physician, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung—emerges as a noble protector of Chinese values as the country hurtles toward modernity. Conceived by Hong Kong New Wave leader Tsui Hark, this epic cycle is not only a dazzling showcase for some of the most astonishing action set pieces ever committed to film but also a rousing celebration of Chinese identity, history, and culture. SIX-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES 4K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II and III, and new 2K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China IV and V, all presented with their original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo Alternate stereo Cantonese soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II, featuring the original theatrical sound effects, and monaural Cantonese soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in China III Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and ’05 Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City’s Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America Trailers New English subtitle translations PLUS: An essay on the films by critic Maggie Lee and an essay on the cinematic depictions of Wong by novelist Grady Hendrix ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1991 • 134 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark’s sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li’s status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-yet-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of loyal disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local alike—threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China’s breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns vs. fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II 1992 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Having chronicled the social upheaval wrought by Western influence in the opening chapter of the Once Upon a Time in China series, Tsui Hark turned his attention to the perils of unchecked nationalism in his sensational follow-up, the rare sequel to equal the dizzying highs of the original. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, who here takes on the diabolical White Lotus Sect, a virulently xenophobic cult whose anti-foreigner sentiments unleash a wave of destructive violence. Fellow martial-arts icon Donnie Yen dazzles in a star-making turn as Wong’s nemesis, who faces off with the hero in a battle royal that showcases the kinetic brilliance of revered Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA III 1993 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • STEREO • IN CANTONESE AND MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Jet Li’s third outing as the storied martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films is an exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture peppered with a dash of international espionage. This time around, Wong travels to Beijing, where he finds himself drawn into the intrigue surrounding an epic lion-dance competition, spars with a Russian rival for the affections of his beloved Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), and fights to foil a foreign plot to assassinate the real-life Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang. The eye-popping lion-dance set pieces—which combine vibrantly colored, fire-breathing pageantry with martial-arts mayhem—rank among the most visually spectacular achievements of the series. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA IV 1993 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Though it picks up the narrative thread where the previous installment left off, Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA V 1994 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Tsui Hark returned to the director’s chair for the rollicking comedic adventure Once Upon a Time in China V, in which the indomitable hero Wong Fei-hung (Vincent Zhao) tangles with a band of ruthless, finger-removing pirates who are exploiting the political chaos created by the invasion of foreigners in order to terrorize the Chinese coast. The fist-and-foot kung-fu set pieces—including a showstopping, gold-hued melee set in a warehouse of pirate treasure—are plentiful, but Tsui ups the ante by introducing acrobatic gunplay to the proceedings, infusing this furiously entertaining crowd-pleaser with a bracing jolt of John Woo–style bullet ballet mayhem. Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: November 16, 2021

$6.99

Description

One of the pinnacles of Hong Kong cinema’s 1990s golden age, the Once Upon a Time in China series set a new standard for martial-arts spectacle and launched action star Jet Li to international fame. It brings to vivid life the colorful world of China in the late nineteenth century, an era of immense cultural and technological change, as Western imperialism clashed with tradition and public order was upended by the threats of foreign espionage and rising nationalism. Against this turbulent backdrop, one man—the real-life martial-arts master, physician, and folk hero Wong Fei-hung—emerges as a noble protector of Chinese values as the country hurtles toward modernity. Conceived by Hong Kong New Wave leader Tsui Hark, this epic cycle is not only a dazzling showcase for some of the most astonishing action set pieces ever committed to film but also a rousing celebration of Chinese identity, history, and culture. SIX-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES 4K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II and III, and new 2K digital restorations of Once Upon a Time in China IV and V, all presented with their original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo Alternate stereo Cantonese soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China II, featuring the original theatrical sound effects, and monaural Cantonese soundtrack for Once Upon a Time in China III Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997) in a 2K digital transfer, featuring 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio and monaural Cantonese soundtracks, along with a stereo Mandarin track with the voice of actor Jet Li New interviews with director Tsui Hark, Film Workshop cofounder Nansun Shi, editor Marco Mak, and critic Tony Rayns Excerpts from audio interviews with Li conducted in 2004 and ’05 Deleted scenes from Once Upon a Time in China III Documentary from 2004 about the real-life martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung From Spikes to Spindles, a 1976 documentary about New York City’s Chinatown featuring uncredited work by Tsui Excerpts from a 2019 master class given by martial-arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping Archival interviews featuring Tsui and actors John Wakefield, Donnie Yen, and Yen Shi-kwan Behind-the-scenes footage for Once Upon a Time in China and Once Upon a Time in China and America Making-of program from 1997 on Once Upon a Time in China and America Trailers New English subtitle translations PLUS: An essay on the films by critic Maggie Lee and an essay on the cinematic depictions of Wong by novelist Grady Hendrix ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA 1991 • 134 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Writer-producer-director Tsui Hark’s sprawling vision of a changing nineteenth-century China begins with this riotously entertaining epic, a blockbuster hit that cemented Jet Li’s status as the greatest martial-arts superstar of his generation. Li displays his stunning, fast-yet-fluid fighting style as the legendary martial-arts teacher and doctor Wong Fei-hung, who, with a band of loyal disciples, battles a host of nefarious forces—foreign and local alike—threatening Chinese sovereignty as British and American imperialists encroach upon the Mainland. Once Upon a Time in China’s breathtaking blend of kung fu, comedy, romance, and melodrama climaxes in a whirlwind guns vs. fists finale that is also a thrilling affirmation of Chinese cultural identity. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA II 1992 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Having chronicled the social upheaval wrought by Western influence in the opening chapter of the Once Upon a Time in China series, Tsui Hark turned his attention to the perils of unchecked nationalism in his sensational follow-up, the rare sequel to equal the dizzying highs of the original. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, who here takes on the diabolical White Lotus Sect, a virulently xenophobic cult whose anti-foreigner sentiments unleash a wave of destructive violence. Fellow martial-arts icon Donnie Yen dazzles in a star-making turn as Wong’s nemesis, who faces off with the hero in a battle royal that showcases the kinetic brilliance of revered Hong Kong action choreographer Yuen Wo-ping. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA III 1993 • 112 MINUTES • COLOR • STEREO • IN CANTONESE AND MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Jet Li’s third outing as the storied martial-arts hero Wong Fei-hung in the Once Upon a Time in China films is an exhilarating celebration of Chinese culture peppered with a dash of international espionage. This time around, Wong travels to Beijing, where he finds himself drawn into the intrigue surrounding an epic lion-dance competition, spars with a Russian rival for the affections of his beloved Thirteenth Aunt (Rosamund Kwan), and fights to foil a foreign plot to assassinate the real-life Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang. The eye-popping lion-dance set pieces—which combine vibrantly colored, fire-breathing pageantry with martial-arts mayhem—rank among the most visually spectacular achievements of the series. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA IV 1993 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Though it picks up the narrative thread where the previous installment left off, Once Upon a Time in China IV introduces a new director, action choreographer Yuen Bun, and star, Vincent Zhao, who takes over the role of Wong Fei-hung from Jet Li. Once again, foreign skulduggery and a violent nationalist group—in the form of the fierce women warriors known as the Red Lantern Sect—swirl around a magnificent lion-dance competition, with Wong caught in the fray. Toning down the comedic and romantic elements of the first three films in favor of almost wall-to-wall kung-fu action, the fourth entry is the leanest and meanest of the series, highlighted by a gravity-defying fight atop a field of collapsing, domino-like planks. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA V 1994 • 101 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • IN CANTONESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES • 2.39:1 ASPECT RATIO Tsui Hark returned to the director’s chair for the rollicking comedic adventure Once Upon a Time in China V, in which the indomitable hero Wong Fei-hung (Vincent Zhao) tangles with a band of ruthless, finger-removing pirates who are exploiting the political chaos created by the invasion of foreigners in order to terrorize the Chinese coast. The fist-and-foot kung-fu set pieces—including a showstopping, gold-hued melee set in a warehouse of pirate treasure—are plentiful, but Tsui ups the ante by introducing acrobatic gunplay to the proceedings, infusing this furiously entertaining crowd-pleaser with a bracing jolt of John Woo–style bullet ballet mayhem. Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]