Triple Threat: Three Films with Sammo Hung

As one of the most important figures in Hong Kong cinema, a study of Sammo Hung’s career is a study of the HK film industry itself.  And that’s exactly the case with Triple Threat: Three Films with Sammo Hung which captures his talents as a performer and fight choreographer in various stages of development.  Never content to simply play “pudgy villain number 2,” Hung worked his way up from a Shaw Brothers role player to the golden boy of Golden Harvest, leaning into the fat jokes for laughs and turning himself into the most unlikely of superstars.

The Manchu Boxer (1974) walks a well-trodden path of ‘70s kung fu flicks:  a wandering fighter, a town in trouble and a band of thugs in need of a beat-down.  Shot using cut-rate sets in the freezing cold (you can see the actors’ breath in every scene), this is pretty much as far from the well-oiled machinery of a Shaw Brothers production as you can get.  But Hung’s presence, both on camera and behind it, gives the film its backbone.  Cast as a Japanese enforcer, his hairstyle and hair-lip are anything but endearing here, charged with eliminating the competition in a provincial kung-fu competition.  The film has a long-winded sense of honor and humility that marches dutifully towards the expected climax, but Hung’s fight choreography is a brilliantly bruising reminder of what’s to come.

1988’s Paper Marriage is the ultimate expression of Hung’s unexpected charm.  A lovable loser who agrees to a sham marriage to pay off his gambling debts, Bo Chin (Hung) and Jade Li (Maggie Cheung) settle into a squabbling relationship trying to make ends meet and fool the US immigration authorities.  That means volunteering for oddball science experiment, foxy mudwrestling, underground boxing and dodging the drug smugglers whose money they accidently stole.  It all comes together inside a gigantic mall/waterpark where Hung and Cheung team up for some breathtaking stunts and combat as good as anything in the Jackie Chan library.

Shanghai, Shanghai (1990) finds Hung settling down into his role as the elder statesman of Hong Kong action films, playing a villainous kingpin out to take monetary advantage of China’s fragile political situation in the 1930s under British rule.  Co-starring Yuen Biao, George Lam and Anita Mui, this is an all-star, big-budget period production that’s drowning in gorgeous set design and dripping in oversaturated colors.  All that, and the action is fast, furious and non-stop!  Hung proves he can do much more than play the funny fat guy, embodying some serious menace as the traitorous Chin Hung-yun, who unleashes some serious fighting skills in the finale.

A limited edition set that also includes extended international cuts for Manchu Boxer and Shanghai, Shanghai, Eureka springs for new 2K restorations of all three films plus commentary tracks and an interview with Paper Marriage director Alfred Cheung.  Packaging includes an O-card slipcase, new artwork and collector’s booklet.  Even if you’re suffering from a pre-holiday spending ban, this is one you should splurge on.