Eureka Video: Jet Li's Superhero Cult Classic, Black Mask (1996) - Limited Edition Blu-Ray, Reviewed
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| All Images Courtesy: Eureka Video/Fortune Star |
The 1990s were a wild time for superhero movies. Every studio seemed to want the next Batman, but nobody seemed quite sure what that actually meant, or how to replicate the success of Tim Burton's classic. X-Men and Spider-Man had not yet teamed up to standardize the genre conventions and narrative template of the superhero movie as we now know it, and it was a decade defined by sometimes-strange experimentation with different ideas of what a superhero movie could and should be. We got the kid-friendly version with stuff like the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, we got the adults-only version with gritty and bloody gothic fever-dreams like The Crow, Spawn, and Blade, we got some truly bonkers genre experiments like Sam Raimi's lovably demented cult favorite Darkman, and we got an oddly prolific quantity of films based on old-timey pulp comic strips and radio serials, like The Shadow, The Phantom, Dick Tracy, and The Rocketeer. While the superhero genre thrived primarily in Hollywood, Hong Kong cinema produced at least a couple choice entries in the 1990s post-Batman superhero wave, which fit just as strongly into this movement as they fit into Hong Kong fantasy-action, with a heavy dose of martial arts and a touch of wuxia-style wirework. Probably the coolest such genre entry is one that has just recently gotten its proper due in America, thanks to the Criterion Collection: Johnnie To's The Heroic Trio. But not far behind is one that managed to successfully cross over into American multiplexes as part of that superhero wave, becoming an instant cult favorite in the US as well as Hong Kong, and launching Jet Li as an international action superstar: director Daniel Lee and action-director Yuen Woo-Ping's Black Mask. Now, as one of their first US releases, long-respected UK boutique label Eureka Video have presented Black Mask on an excellent two-disc limited edition, with plenty of very good new extras, and no less than four different cuts of the film.
THE FILM:
Of the aforementioned varieties of 1990s superhero movies, Black Mask mainly fits into the latter two: a modern retelling of decidedly old-school pulp comic-strip tropes (based on a Hong Kong comic, but strongly inspired by Kato from The Green Hornet, specifically as played by Bruce Lee on the 1960s TV show), but also a wild and unhinged genre experiment which shares a lot of its violently wacky DNA with Darkman. But of course, all of this is filtered through a uniquely Hong Kong Cinema lens, with the hard-hitting martial arts action, wuxia-style wirework, canted camera angles, and pulpy visual panache that one would expect from powerhouse producer Tsui Hark. It is quite violent, easily earning its R-rating, but also has a very campy vibe that keeps it fun and light-hearted without getting too dark; a very odd but extremely fun mixture of tones. The plot concerns a group of genetically and surgically modified supersoldiers, the 701, who were created by the government as weapons, before they were deemed too dangerous and hard to control, and an order was sent out to kill them all. One of the 701 (Jet Li) escaped, and is now living a quiet life in Hong Kong under the secret identity of mild-mannered pacifist librarian Tsui Chik, a kind person who regrets the violent deeds of his past. But unbeknownst to him, some of the other 701 survived, and took a very different path: they have become a squad of supervillain criminals, and they have just arrived in Hong Kong with plans to take over the drug-smuggling trade in and out of China. Tsui must tap back into his superhuman fighting abilities to stop them, as the superhero Black Mask.
The film wears its pop-culture influences on its sleeve, with Black Mask's costume looking almost identical to Bruce Lee's Kato (very similar mask, very similar black coat, identical old-fashioned chauffeur's cap), and his geeky and extremely earnest secret identity being an obvious Clark Kent archetype. The film engages with these old-school comic-book-media archetypes with an endearingly campy postmodern wink: the scenes of Tsui in his Clark Kent day-to-day life, with his hard-boiled cop best friend (Lau Ching-Wan) and awkward, lovestruck library colleague (Karen Mok) are very funny, silly, and broad, starting the film off with an almost screwball tone. But the genetically-engineered supersoldier premise feels a good deal more modern, and very anime influenced, and this side of the film is played in a strongly contrasting tone that is dark and violent, with a brooding and mysterious supervillain (Patrick Lung), a morally conflicted ex-partner-turned-femme-fatale (Francoise Yip), and a grotesquely sleazy drug kingpin (Hong Kong cinema's master of grotesquely sleazy villains, Anthony Wong). The collisions between these tones make for some deeply odd moments, especially as the film speeds through a ton of wild plot points and twists and turns, but that's all part of the gleefully wacky charm. It definitely feels like the Hong Kong sister film to Darkman that way - again, perhaps not surprising given that this is a Tsui Hark production, and some of his other films have felt very much like kindred spirits to Sam Raimi's as well, in a way that has made me suspect that Hark is a Raimi fan, or at least on a remarkably similar wavelength (A Chinese Ghost Story having major Evil Dead 2 vibes to some of its slapstick horror scenes, for instance).
Just as much as the enjoyably eccentric comic-book storytelling tho, the other major thing that makes Black Mask so much fun is the first-rate action direction and fight choreography by one of Hong Kong's most iconic action directors, Yuen Woo-Ping. Shortly after this film, Woo-Ping would give us two of the most iconic action films of the late-90s/early-2000s, The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and elements of the styles of both films can be found here in Black Mask. The gritty and fast-paced, highly stylized superpowered martial arts battles of The Matrix have predecessors in the brawls with the 701 in this film, and one fight sequence high atop a building uses wirework in wuxia-inspired ways that echo Crouching Tiger. Woo-Ping is in excellent form here, and he is a perfect match for the sleek, fast, and calmly cool fighting style of Jet Li. It is no wonder that this film helped him break through into Hollywood, and helped make him an international sensation: in terms of the action sequences this is easily one of his finest films.
While its weird combination of tones and styles may not be for everyone, those who want a different, more eccentric type of superhero movie from that pre-MCU anything-goes era of the genre will have a blast with it. And those who love Hong Kong action, especially if they are fans of the work of Jet Li or Yuen Woo-Ping, will especially love it. The action is phenomenal and sees both men in their prime, and the film is a stylish example of 1990s Hong Kong cinema which easily earns its cult classic reputation. It balances its coolness and its weirdness in a way that still makes it a thoroughly enjoyable and unique experience 28 years later, and it is very deserving of the type of swanky special edition that Eureka has given it.
Eureka presents Black Mask in an extremely thorough limited edition package, containing no less than FOUR cuts of the film, as well as plentiful new and archival extras. Disc 1, which will presumably reappear as-is in the standard-edition release once the limited set sells out, contains all of the extras, and the two primary cuts of the film: the Hong Kong director's cut, and the heavily-altered US release version. Disc 2, which will be exclusive to this limited edition, contains two more cuts of the film: the extended Taiwanese cut which runs a couple minutes longer than the director's preferred Hong Kong version, and a composite "supercut" version which compiles all footage from all three of the other cuts, as each has some material that is exclusive to it.
All four presentations of the film use the same 2016 2k restoration provided to Eureka by Fortune Star. The restoration is very good, although I would not say it is great. For the most part detail is reasonably sharp, and the colors and contrast are beautiful. The film is also excellently restored in the sense of there being no scratches, damage, or wear. I did, however, find it to be a bit soft, and occasionally murky in darker scenes. Considering that Eureka has not specified what film element was used by Fortune Star for their 2k restoration, my guess is that perhaps it was using an interpositive or something like that, rather than the original camera negative, and that might account for the slight softness. The restoration work is strong enough in other aspects that I am inclined to think that the slight softness looks like a source material limitation, and it is unfortunate that Eureka could not source a 4k scan from the OCN. It is by no means a problematic transfer: it is still very good, and a massive upgrade over whatever previous DVD version of Black Mask you have seen before. It is just clearly a step down from other recent restorations, like the 4k restoration of The Heroic Trio from Criterion.
It looks like the same scan was used for all four versions of the film on this set, but it is worth noting that the 2k restoration appears to have ONLY been of the elements for the Hong Kong cut - in each of the other cuts, when a scene or scene-extension happens that is exclusive to that cut, it goes to a different, visibly inferior source, although for the US cut that appears to just be an older and somewhat outdated but still perfectly fine 1080p scan (the Taiwanese cut... more on that in a minute). It is also worth noting the Hong Kong and US versions have RADICALLY different color-grades. The Hong Kong version (and the Taiwanese and supercut versions on disc 2) has a very cool blue/green color palette, with intense pops of purple and red: it is highly stylized, in keeping with the comic-book aesthetic of it all. The US cut on the other hand dials back the stylized colors quite a bit, opting instead for a warmer, more natural look. Both color grades look excellent on this disc, and it is very cool to be able to compare them. Personally I prefer the Hong Kong grade, but I'm sure each will have their fans. The US cut is also very different in every other aspect: it runs ten minutes shorter, has scenes restructured and shuffled around throughout, and has a different soundtrack and score. For how different it is, and because many American viewers will know this version best and probably have some nostalgia for it, including the US version on the set was definitely important. However, the Hong Kong director's cut is definitely the superior version, and the one to watch first if you are a newcomer to the film.
On the limited-edition-exclusive disc 2, the extended Taiwanese cut is mostly identical to the Hong Kong version (although it is dubbed in Mandarin), but it has short dialogue and scene extensions added throughout the film, as well as a couple moments with additional violence and gore. None of the additions make a huge difference to the film, but if you are a hardcore fan of the movie it is cool to see them. However, the added moments exclusive to the Taiwanese cut have been spliced in from a MUCH lower quality source (the Taiwanese laserdisc release, I would guess), so a seamless viewing experience it is not. The composite supercut version of the film is once again based off of the Hong Kong cut, using that color grade and the Cantonese audio, and it adds in both the extra moments from the Taiwanese version, as well as the few short scenes exclusive to the US cut. This composite version is just over three minutes longer than the Hong Kong cut; not a huge change, but significant. Considering that it uses the original Cantonese language track, I would recommend viewing this version over the Mandarin-dubbed Taiwanese cut, but once again it is not a seamless experience: not only are the Taiwanese-cut scenes once again spliced in from what I assume is a laserdisc rip, but the language switches when we hit a scene that is exclusive to either of the export cuts, with the Taiwanese scenes being dubbed in Mandarin and the US scenes being dubbed in English. This supercut version is very very cool to have, and if you're a big fan of the film you will want to get the limited edition so you can see it, but the Hong Kong director's cut is definitely still the best and most enjoyable viewing experience overall, and where newcomers should start.
Eureka produced quite a lot of new extras for this disc, although most of the new extras are of the film historian/critic retrospective variety. Sadly no new interviews with the likes of Jet Li, Daniel Lee, or Tsui Hark, but that is also not that surprising. Eureka's extras are, however, uniformly excellent. They were able to get a new interview with one major player in the film: stuntman/actor/fight choreographer Mike Lambert, who plays one of the film's supporting villains, who faces off against Li in one of Black Mask's most memorable fight scenes. The half-hour sit-down interview with Lambert is very thorough, covering not only the production of Black Mask, but his whole fascinating career in Hong Kong and Hollywood. It is a very good interview. Film critic Andrew Heskins and film scholar Leon Hunt also provide interviews/video essays, both of which are very interesting and offer a lot of context about where Black Mask fits both in the pantheon of Hong Kong cinema, and in the trajectory of Jet Li's career. The Hong Kong and US cuts of the film both have film scholar commentaries as well. The Hong Kong cut has a commentary by Frank Djeng, who frequently provides commentaries for Eureka and Arrow discs, and as always his track is extremely interesting and full of information, this time focusing on the film's comic book/superhero roots, and why that was quite unusual for a Hong Kong film at that time. The US cut has a commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, who focus much more on the production of the film itself. Both tracks are great, and because they focus on different aspects of the film, they don't overlap as much as one might fear, and both are worth a listen. Rounding out the extras is a vintage making-of featurette, which features interviews with producer Tsui Hark and stars Jet Li, Sean Lau, Karen Mok, and Francoise Yip. None of the interviews are particularly long or in-depth, but it is great to be able to hear from the whole principal cast at least a little, as well as producer Hark who was clearly a main artistic force on the project.
Overall this is a very strong package, befitting such an internationally-loved cult classic. If you are a fan of Black Mask already, picking this up is a no-brainer: between the extras and all four cuts, fans should be very happy, even with some unevenness and flaws as far as picture quality are concerned. If you have never seen Black Mask, this is definitely a good way to see it for the first time, in the Hong Kong director's cut that is definitely the ideal viewing experience.
Recommended.
- Christopher S. Jordan