Blu Tuesday is a weekly column where we review the newest Blu-ray and 4K releases, along with a brief rundown of the included bonus material, to determine whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping.
Pick of the Week: “The Jet Li Collection”
Hong Kong cinema fans have been spoiled lately with the various boutique labels releasing long-forgotten and hard-to-find titles in the U.S., including Shout! Factory, which recently announced it had secured exclusive rights to the Golden Princess movie library. On the back of that acquisition, Shout! has launched the new Hong Kong Cinema Classics label dedicated to restoring and releasing classic Hong Kong films. While it’s a bit strange that their first physical release — the 10-disc “Jet Li Collection” — doesn’t actually include any titles from the Golden Princess catalog, it’s nevertheless an excellent box set that contains impressive 4K restorations of some of Li’s biggest hits from the early ‘90s: “Fong Sai Yuk,” “Fong Sai Yuk II,” “Tai Chi Master,” “The Bodyguard From Beijing” and “Fist of Legend.” All five movies look better than ever before, and though it would have been nice to provide fans the option to purchase them individually, there’s not a weak link in the bunch, making this a no-brainer for collectors.
Extras include audio commentaries by film critic James Mudge on every title, as well as additional interviews with various cast and crew. FINAL VERDICT: BUY
Also Out This Week:
“Thunderbolts” — The MCU has been stuck in a bit of a rut in recent years, so it’s nice to see a film like “Thunderbolts” come along to remind audiences why they fell in love with these movies in the first place. Though it’s still very much rooted in the MCU at large — its cast is comprised of supporting characters from previous films and TV shows —“Thunderbolts” exists mostly as a standalone story that isn’t weighed down by the usual baggage. It certainly helps that the cast has such great chemistry, as the movie relies on whether you care about this ragtag team of morally gray characters, and their fun banter keeps things lively despite some heavy themes around mental health. “Thunderbolts” is far from perfect, but it’s a funny, action-packed and surprisingly thoughtful superhero flick that ranks as one of Marvel’s best films in years. FINAL VERDICT: BUY
“The Phoenician Scheme” — Though it didn’t seem like it at the time, 2014’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” feels like an inflection point of sorts for Wes Anderson’s filmography — the moment when his movies started feeling almost like parodies of themselves. This became more apparent with 2021’s “The French Dispatch” and 2023’s “Asteroid City,” and continues with “The Phoenician Scheme,” which offers flashes of brilliance and deadpan humor (especially in the first act) but quickly loses momentum due to a weak script that’s more interested in introducing oddball characters and situations than telling a story. Benicio del Toro is great as the latest in Anderson’s coterie of bad dads, and the ensemble cast play their parts well, but the film lacks the charm and heart of his earlier work. Extras include a behind-the-scenes look at making the film. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
