Overview: When director Huang Feng (The Shaolin Plot) jumped ship from Shaw Brothers to their upstart rivals Golden Harvest, he swiftly launched the career of a Taiwanese ingenue barely out of Beijing opera school named Angela Mao, who despite her fresh-faced femininity became one of Hong Kong�s toughest action icons of the 1970s.

Lady Whirlwind, directed by Huang in 1972, sees Mao dead set on avenging the death of her sister, only to find herself fighting a common enemy alongside the man she wants revenge on.

Hapkido, made the same year, sees her once more pitted against a gang of Japanese thugs, alongside fellow soon-to-be kung fu legends Sammo Hung (Knockabout) and Carter Wong (Big Trouble in Little China) as disciples of the titular Korean fighting style, studying under real-life hapkido grandmasters Ji Han-jae (Game of Death) and Hwang In-shik (The Way of the Dragon).

Blu-ray Verdict: Originally released in the US as Deep Thrust and Lady Kung Fu respectively, these two restored martial arts classics show Mao at her mightiest � every bit as formidable as the great Bruce Lee, whose sister she played in Enter the Dragon the following year.

Released in the United States as Deep Thrust, Raymond Chow�s upstart company sure played it smart with this movie, using Chang Yi as the male lead. Chang Yi was an established Shaw Brothers actor doing martial arts films since about King Cat in 1967, but was shelved due to new talent such as David Chiang and Ti Lung.

Next add Pai Ying for the bad guy. He�s another Shaw Brothers actor who did a fine job as an evil eunuch in the 1971 The Eunuch. Sammo Hung was the martial arts choreographer and with some side burns (quite stylish in 1972, but ridiculous otherwise) he got good screen time as a co-villain.

Bruce Lee had just done Fist of Fury so add the theme of evil Japanese to the mix. Actually the movie still works fine without the subplot, but why not? With all that foundation, the only risky element was casting Angela Mao as the hot kung fu chick female lead.

But, that was really no risk at all. Angela was fabulous despite the otherwise impression that the entire movie was done in one take. Yes, the whole movie seems to have been made with a budget for the price of the rolls of film, with just a few dollars left over to pay the crew, but nevertheless, here I am 40 years later and watching it for the second time on crystal clear Blu-ray from Arrow Films and enjoying every minute of it!

Then we get Hapkido where it�s Korea, 1934. During the Japanese occupation, there is open warfare between rival martial arts schools. There is a fight in the marketplace, and three Chinese students cannot stand the unfair way of students that side up with the invaders, when they gang assault one of the fighting men. Between the three, they send the aggressors away. Retaliation is heavy: their school is destroyed, and they are banished.

This film may be best known for an uncredited cameo from Jackie Chan before he became an international star, but it is a decent film in its own right. While not quite as action-packed as Lady Whirlwind (which came out the same year from the same director), there is a better plot here, and the production value from Golden Harvest is noticeably higher.

Brand new 2K restorations by Fortune Star
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of both films
Original lossless Mandarin mono audio for both films, plus lossless English dubbed mono audio
Optional newly translated English subtitles for both films
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady

DISC ONE � LADY WHIRLWIND:
Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert �Bobby� Samuels
Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
Commentary by Samm Deighan
Lady Whirlwind Speaks, the first part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
Kung Fu Cooking, a newly filmed conversation with Mao�s son Thomas King
Alternate English credits
Hong Kong theatrical trailer, plus US theatrical trailer and radio spot
Image gallery

DISC TWO � HAPKIDO:
Three options of English dub: vintage �kung fu� and �hapkido� dubs in lossless mono, plus 2006 DVD dub in 5.1 surround
Commentary by Frank Djeng & Robert �Bobby� Samuels
Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth
Lady Kung Fu Speaks, the second part of a newly filmed interview with Angela Mao
Archive interviews with Angela Mao, Carter Wong and Sammo Hung & Yuen Biao
Original vintage featurette showing Ji Han-jae teaching the lead actors hapkido, newly restored in 2K by Fortune Star
Three alternate opening credits sequences (textless, English and US)
Hong Kong theatrical trailers plus US theatrical trailer and TV spot
Image gallery

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