Brave And The Evil

BRAVE AND THE EVIL (c 1971)

CAST
Jimmy Wang Yu	Polly Shang Kwan	Paul Chang Chung	Sit Hon

Miao Tien	Su Chen Ping	Min Min	Lung Fei

Liu Chu	Tsang Ming Cheong	Man Chung San	Ma Kei
Li Min Lang	Chan San Yat	Ho Wai Hung


DIRECTOR
Jimmy Wang Yu

ACTION CHOREOGRAPHERS
Jimmy Wang Yu	Yu Tien Lung

PRODUCTION COMPANY
Union Films

RAREKFM SPECIAL EDITION DVD REVIEW
THE BRAVE & THE EVIL once played around the West Indian theater circuit in English dubbed format, however, only versions in raw Chinese have ever surfaced on VHS/DVD. At Rarekungfumovies.com, we've created the ultimate edition of this Wang Yu and Polly Shangkuan classic, adding extra footage, using 3 different prints! Our DVD is presented with English subtitles.

*We decided to leave out the Chapters Menu, as we feel this is unecessary for a private collector's DVD.

*Also, a special thanks to Steve Moore for providing source materials.

*Andy Smith inspired us to work on this project.

*The Photo Gallery is an automatic slide show of 13 stills.

*Excellent NTSC quality - best available!

*The imbedded Korean subtitles no longer interfere with the optional English subtitles because they are now in yellow, making them easy to read.

After watching The Brave & The Evil, we never wanted it to end! Polly Shangkuan's performance is so good in this film (this is before she had her plastic surgery in real life). Her character, whose on a mission of revenge, is extremely aggressive and full of hatred. She has a major fight that takes place in the courtyard of an inn, using double knives against the Abacus man (played by Miao Tien) and his men. This scene has been especially extended for our DVD release, using the Taiwanese VHS or Taiwanese DVCD (where the VHS print was damaged), and what a remarkable fight it is! It's been edited so well that you don't even notice the transition between the main Korean VHS and the other 2 Taiwanese sources.

The evil villain Chow Yi Fei (played by Paul Chang Chung) and his men make all their fortunes by fighting and robbing gold from any escorts who pass through the big road (nobody will dare take the shortcut down the small road). Polly's character is related to one of the defeated escorts, and Wang Yu's character is linked somehow with the main pirate Chow, as you will find out...

As with the majority of films he directs, Wang Yu always invents some kind of weapon or tool, in order to defeat the main villain. Brave & The Evil is no exception. The hero fights with a Belt Sword, but he will need something a little extra if he's to defeat Pirate Chow's Doom Rod! Their end fight in the moat, that surrounds the fort, is absolutely breathtaking. You need to see this film to believe it!

The Union Films catalogue lists a slightly longer running time (10 minutes extra), and despite our work to restore the Introduction, Restaurant Scene + Courtyard Scene, there still remains some other lost footage. It's our guess that there's a training scene with Polly and Wang Yu (both wearing gis), which can be seen in the Photo Gallery, although we might be mistaken, for these stills could simply be pictured from behind the scenes. Buy the DVD and judge for yourself.

Toby has done an outstanding job with the translations and presenting them as faithful English lyrics with a touch of slang and humour, so we can better relate to the characters, like "The Black Pirate Massive" and "The Blazing Squad" (the team of bad guys who perform the burning rope formations). One character who works in a kitchen is called "Turnip", and one of the bad guys is called "Black Dog". Toby has made good use of shorthand like "The Bill", ie. "Can I have the Bill please?" and "Shift change", ie. a set of guards requesting to take over the nightwatch, suggesting that the old guards should go home. The dialogue flows really well, making you feel comfortable and clearly aware of what's happening at all times throughout the movie. After comparing the original and edited scripts though, we must stress that both Linn and Chris have really helped Toby's translations shine through, so it was really a team effort.

We feel we done a good job with the subtitling. There was only 2 ocassions when the subs flashed on screen too quickly, and we're pleased with the all-round synchronisation. Sometimes the subs appear just before a person is speaking, but most times it's simultaneous or a split second afterwards, which is how it should be.

Every Wang Yu fan should own this DVD without fail, especially as it's also directed by the man himself! We thoroughly enjoyed it...top film!!!

UPDATE: A new English subtitled version has surfaced--widescreen and fully uncut.

VERSION(S)
	Format	Language(s)	Subtitles	Presentation	Quality	Time	Screenshots
1	NTSC	Chinese	English (Opt.) Chinese (Opt.)	Widescreen	0 Gen.	01:42	Download
2	NTSC	Chinese	Chinese (Emb.) English (Opt.)	Widescreen	1st Gen.	01:37	Download
3	NTSC	Chinese	Korean (Emb.)	Fullscreen	1st Gen.	01:23	Download
3	Introduction cut among other things
4	NTSC	Chinese	English (Opt.)	Fullscreen	0 Gen.	01:28	Download
4	RareKFM special edition

CUSTOMERS WHO ORDERED THIS ALSO ORDERED
Woman Avenger
Two Fists Against The Law
Tournament
The Best Of Shaolin Kung Fu
Swordsman Of All Swordsmen