Overview: During his long and industrious career, the Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema Chang Cheh made several films with the celebrated Venom Mob, a group of skilled martial arts performers - including Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Philip Kwok, Sun Chien, Lo Mang, and Wai Pak - who rose to fame as the stars of his own Five Deadly Venoms.

Here, Eureka Classics presents two of the Venom Mob’s best: The Daredevils and Ode to Gallantry. Set in Republic era China, The Daredevils follows Yang Ta-ying (Lo Mang) as he sets out to avenge his father, a military commander who was murdered in cold blood by Han Pei-tsang (Wong Lik), a thief-turned-soldier who killed Yang’s father - along with the rest of his family - to take control of his estate and his army. With the help of his friends Chen Feng (Chiang Sheng), Fu Quanyi (Lu Feng), and Xin Zheng (Sun Chien), he sets out for justice.

Then, in Ode to Gallantry, a lone martial artist nicknamed Mongrel is continually drawn into an intense struggle between several warring martial arts clans after he stumbles across the Black Iron Token, which entitles the owner to have any wish granted by Xie Yanke (Wong Lik), a brutal kung fu master.

After forming in 1978 for Five Deadly Venoms, the Venom Mob made over a dozen films with Chang Cheh that featured at least three of their number in starring roles. Filled with thrilling action set-pieces courtesy of some of the most talented martial artists to emerge in the 1970s, The Daredevils and Ode to Gallantry are two of the finest among them.

Blu-ray Verdict: First up is The Daredevils (1979) which may well be noticeably light on plot but makes it up with some wonderful Martial Arts choreography led by Lu Feng, Phillip Kwok, Chiang Sheng and Robert Tai Chi-Hsien.

It’s not as bloody for a Chang Cheh film but gun use is still prevalent in the film and so as much as it ell might be one of Cheh’s lesser-violent films of the 1970’s, it brings forth one of the rare instances where all of the Venoms are fighting in the same side/team. Plus, it was strange seeing Lu Feng in a sympathetic role, which was weirdly comforting.

Simply put, a gaggle of ragamuffin acrobatic buskers turn their talents towards spycraft and mayhem, helping a friend avenge his family against an evil wannabe General. And now I want to know, why isn’t buskers fighting crime a whole genre by now? I mean, this is the kung fu equivalent of the Globetrotters taking on the mafia, which obviously frickin’ rules!

The other film is Ode to Gallantry (1982) and is yet another film adaptation of Louis Cha Leung-yung (Jin Yong) Wuxia novels made by Chang Cheh. This one also stars Philip Kwok Chun-Fung in the lead once more, this time playing a dual role along with his Venoms costars Sun Chien and Chiang Sheng having very minor roles. Candy Wen has a fairly large female role but her character is quite annoying, in truth, sorry.

Moving on and with the movie ending with a vibrant swordfight between Chiang Sheng and Phillip Kwok, one that is just so good it almost makes up for almost everything slow that went before it, at close to ten minutes or so!

Overall, the story is interesting, the characters semi-memorable but the pacing, for me, was just off throughout, and yet the one thing that’s still fun are the various kung fu action scenes. Oh, and although it’s not bad but we have seen better from the Venoms, in my humble opinion.

Bonus Features:
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Chris Malbon [2000 copies]
1080p HD presentations on Blu-ray from masters supplied by Celestial Pictures
Original mono audio tracks
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
Two new commentaries by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) and martial artist and filmmaker Michael Worth
Two new commentaries by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Deadly Venoms – new interview with Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong on the Venom Mob
A limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by writer and critic James Oliver [2000 copies]

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