The Yuen Woo-ping director Tiger Cage Trilogy gets the deluxe treatment on blu-ray from 88 Films UK.
Release Date: July 28th, 1988 (Tiger Cage) / August 11th, 1990 (Tiger Cage II) / November 14th, 1991 (Tiger Cage III)
Run Time: 1 hour 33 minutes 34 seconds (Tiger Cage) / 1 hour 36 minutes 18 seconds (Tiger Cage II) (HK Cut), 1 hour 36 minutes 36 seconds (Tiger Cage II) (Malaysian Cut) / 1 hour 33 minutes 38 seconds (Tiger Cage III)
Region Code: B (locked)
Picture: 1080p (1.85:1 aspect ratio) (all films)
Sound: English LPCM 2.0 mono, Cantonese LPCM 2.0 mono, Mandarin LPCM 2.0 mono (Tiger Cage) / Cantonese LPCM 2.0 mono, English LPCM 2.0 mono (Tiger Cage II) / Cantnonese LPCM 2.0 mono, English LPCM 2.0 mono (Tiger Cage III)
Subtitles: English (all films)
Slipcover: Yes (hard box)
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Simon Yam, Carol Cheng, Jacky Cheung, Irene Wan, Donnie Yen (Tiger Cage) / Donnie Yen, Rosamund Kwan, David Wu, Robin Shou, Garry Chow (Tiger Cage II) / Man Cheung, Kwok Leung Cheung, Michael Wong, Kam-kong Wong, John Cheung (Tiger Cage III)
Written by Anthony Wong, Kim Yip (Tiger Cage) / Fong Chi-ho, Patrick Yuen, Kim Yip (Tiger Cage II) / Wing-fai Wong, Patrick Leung (Tiger Cage III)
Directed by Yuen Woo-ping (all films)
Rating: BBFC: 18 (strong bloody violence) (Tiger Cage I and II) / BBFC: 18 (sexual threat) (Tiger Cage III)____________________________________________
Poster
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What's It About?
A team of cops get brutally exposed to violence after raiding a drug operation and discovering a link between few members of the police force and an American crime syndicate dealing with drug trafficking. (Tiger Cage)
An ex-cop and divorce lawyer team up with a gangster to clear their names after getting involved in a dirty money scheme led by a vicious money launderer, who plans to expand his business and wipe out anyone who stands in his way. (Tiger Cage II)
Earnest cop James works for the Commercial Crime Bureau and is keeping a sharp eye on slick business man Lee Siu-pong. When his business endeavours garner the attention of an enterprising extortionist, Lee has the blackmailer killed. Fearing that the incriminating document has fallen into the hands of James, Lee does the only thing that a red-blooded criminal might – he kidnaps the cop’s girlfriend Suki. When James gives chase, he finds himself horribly burned in an explosion detonated by Lee. After months of painful recovery, James dons a silver mask and sets out for bloody, gut-wrenching vengeance. Meanwhile, Suki, who has become Lee’s unwilling mistress, plots for the thug’s gory demise as well. (Tiger Cage III)
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Video/Audio
All three films here have been given restorations and they all look gorgeous. Film grain is present and can be moderately heavy at times. There is no print damage and the negatives are clean. Detail is nice especially in close-ups. Colors are nice and skin tones are accurate. Overall, this is another fine release from 88 Films.
Each film gets an original language track along with an English language track. The English track sounds a bit softer than the original language track, but they all sound great. The first film also gets a Mandarin track that features a different music score that sounds much different than the original score. I like the original score as it fits the film a lot better.
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Extras/Packaging
Disc 1: Tiger Cage
Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and Vincent Lyn
Vincent Lyn's Personal "Behind the Scenes" Footage (6m 14s, SD, 1.33:1) This is fly-on-the-wall footage shot by Vincent Lyn. It is very rough but very welcome at the same time. It is in Cantonese with English subtitles.
Tiger King - An Archive Interview with Donnie Yen (17m 22s, SD/HD, 1.33:1) This is a weird hybrid of an interview. The Donnie Yen interview footage is taken from a standard definition source, but any film footage or photos used to break up the interview footage is done from high definition sources. It's weird. I have never seen anything like this before. I guess the Donnie Yen interview had no cutaways. It's a solid interview.
English Titles (2m 27s, HD, 1.85:1) These are the titles used for the English language release of the film.
Extra Shots from the Taiwanese Version (33s, HD, 1.85:1) A few extra cutaway shots that are not in the original version of the film for some reason.
Triads - with Vincent Lyn and Frank Djeng (4m 22s, HD, 1.78:1) Djeng and Lyn stand in front of a tv with a fire place playing on it as they talk about a few things that they meant to cover in the commentary track, but forgot to. Hearing them is a bit tough as they are in what sounds like a crowded room, possible a restaurant.
English Trailer (4m 43s, HD, 1.78:1) I love this trailer! It is so cheesy. The narrator calls the film "Dragon Cops" when the onscreen title that comes up at the exact same time as him saying the title says "Tiger Cage". I really hope that there are more trailers like this one out there.
Original Hong Kong Trailer (3m 23s, HD, 1.85:1)
Disc 2: Tiger Cage II
Commentary with Action Specialists Mike Leeder and Arne Venema (HK Cut)
Commentary with Asian Cinema Expert Frank Djeng (HK Cut)
Original Theatrical Trailer
Disc 3: Tiger Cage III
Audio Commentary by Kenneth Brorosson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast on Fire Network
English Titles (2m 52s, HD, 1.85:1)
Original Trailer (3m 49s, HD, 1.85:1)
The TIGER CAGE TRILOGY comes to us from 88 Films and the package is just like their previous boxsets for SPECIES, URBAN LEGEND, and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. The artwork on the outer hard box was done by Sean Longmore, who did the outstanding artwork for 88 Films' release of THE SEVENETH CURSE. He is also doing the artwork for the upcoming DRAGONS FOREVER 4K blu-ray and the RIGHTING WRONGS blu-ray, both of which are coming soon from 88 Films. His artwork is gorgeous and really helps a release stand out.
Inside the case, you will find three 12mm black blu-ray cases, one for each film in the set. Each of these cases features reversible artwork featuring some more Sean Longmore artwork on one side and the original theatrical poster on the other side. Inside the case for the first TIGER CAGE is a folded double-sided poster with one side featuring the same artwork as the outer box and the original theatrical poster for the first film on the other side.
Last but not least, there is a 100-page booklet that features interviews with Vincent Lyn, Stephen Berwick, and Michael Woods along with production stills, posters, and cast listings for each film.
Each of the three discs features a scene from their respective films.
Each disc is REGION B (locked)
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Overall
I had a lot of fun with the TIGER CAGE trilogy even if the films themselves are wildly uneven. Each from of the trilogy is a different film from the one that came before. This makes for a wild viewing experience. 88 Films really did a great job with this collection. Each film features a brand new restoration, which looks amazing, and the audio has been given the lossless treatment. There are at least one commentary track for each film and the first film has some interviews on top of that.
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Extras/Menus
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Film
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Packaging
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