Blu-ray Release: Lady Whirlwind & Hapkido Double Feature

Blu-ray Release Date: Jan. 17, 2023
Price: Blu-ray $27.99
Studio: Arrow/MVD

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 (The Bodyguard) 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).

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.

Angela Mao is Lady Whirlwind

Here’s a breakdown of the formidable bonus package:

• 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
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the films by critic James Oliver