Duel to the Death

Your chances of dying from a 20-foot-tall ninja made up of 30 ninjas standing on top of each other are low, but as 1983’s Duel to the Death proves, not totally impossible. The directorial debut of action choreographer Tony Ching is a riotously inventive hodge-podge of wuxia, kung-fu, chanbara and the aforementioned army of mystical ninja warriors that never stops trying to top itself.

Two warriors are chosen to compete in a once-a-decade contest that will determine the superiority of Chinese or Japanese martial arts. But subterfuge on both sides results in a series of assassination attempts that bring the combatants together to defend their mutual sense of honor and fair play. Meanwhile, the daughter of their host wages her own campaign to fulfill her clans’ destiny and break into this elitest boys’ club.

Duel to the Death manages to be both ridiculous and thoughtful at the same time, offering up a respectful view of Japanese culture and combat that was all too rare in Hong Kong cinema. An anti-war film featuring Katana swords instead of carbine rifles, Tony Ching’s film sends mixed messages as it revels in the gravity-defying, limb-chopping, blood-spewing antics of its action scenes. But it’s always giving the audience something it’s never seen before, particularly with the addition of its black-clad ninja assassins whose powers veer into the supernatural. A fast-paced, furiously energetic, lesser-known title in HK history, Duel to the Death stands on the vertigo-inducing peak of traditional wuxia romanticism and the anything-goes extremity that would define Hong Kong action for years to come.

The Blu-ray from 88 Films delivers a new 2K restoration, Cantonese and English language options, audio commentary, interviews (new and archival), wirework featurette, alternate English credits, image gallery, trailers, slipcover and reversible sleeve. That’s a pretty sweet piece of physical media swagger!