The Valiant Ones is perhaps the last true wuxia film directed by celebrated Taiwanese filmmaker King Hu, an undisputed master of the genre. Shot back-to-back with The Fate of Lee Khan (but not released until two years later), it stands as a worthy follow-up to his earlier works Come Drink with Me, Dragon Inn and A Touch of Zen.

During the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (Chao Lei), China’s coastal regions have come under attack by wokou – Japanese pirates under the leadership of the infamous Hakatatsu (Sammo Hung). To combat this threat, the Emperor tasks a trusted general, Zhu Wan (Tu Kuang-chi), with assembling a group of skilled warriors to find and eliminate the pirates. Under the command of General Yu Dayou (Roy Chiao), the band of soldiers – including husband-and-wife sword-fighters Wu Ji-yuan (Wing Bai) and Wu Ruo-shi (Feng Hsu) – set out to draw Hakatatsu, his ally Xu Dong (Han Ying-chieh) and their pirate clan into a series of spectacular showdowns.

Inspired by historical events and featuring several storied figures drawn from Chinese history, The Valiant Ones is a standout wuxia film produced during the dying days of the genre, as audience tastes were shifting towards more grounded kung fu cinema. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the film on 4K Ultra HD for the first time.

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Video Quality

Eureka Entertainment presents The Valiant Ones with a splendid 2160p Dolby Vision/HDR transfer sourced from a 4K restoration of the original negatives gifted by director King Hu to the Hong Kong Film Archive. This presentation retains the original look of the film with the enhanced resolution making elements seem more natural. The level of detail is unimpeachable with an ideal amount of natural film grain intact. The grain resolves well with only fleeting moments appearing a bit thick or noisy due to how it was captured. This transfer is practically free of stray specks and scratches throughout the runtime. The textures present in the period costumes, production design, and environments are more prominent than we could have imagined—distinct facial details such as pores or cuts and bruises present with supreme clarity.

The Dolby Vision HDR improves upon the natural splendor of this one, as it makes these lush locales spring to life. The most impressive moments of HDR implementation are in the film’s exterior locations in daylight with natural vegetation that provides colors that saturate the screen with immediacy. The luminous highlights are showcased with greater stability without succumbing to blooming. Black levels are firm when it comes to crush, as they maintain a stellar amount of depth and detail in darker environments. Skin tones look natural, and color saturation is top-notch throughout. Eureka Entertainment has knocked this one out of the park.

Audio Quality

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc provides a newly restored LPCM 1.0 track for the original Mandarin mono which sounds great. The dialogue comes through clearly with no words clipped by competing sounds. The clashes between the warriors resonate to good effect with effects crisply defined. Parallel environmental sounds are rendered perfectly alongside all other elements. The low end response is minimal given this period in filmmaking, but there is some texture within the mono soundscape. The score is used effectively to establish the mood of the story. This track renders everything that is thrown at it with ease. There do not seem to be any serious instances of age-related wear and tear. Eureka Entertainment has delivered for this film. Optional English subtitles are provided.

Special Features

The 4K UHD Blu-Ray of The Valiant Ones includes a 20-page booklet featuring an essay from Jonathan Clements which delves into the film and the career of King Hu. These works provide a great analysis of the film and the genre at large in a thoughtfully written style. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: Asian Film Expert Frank Djeng provides a commentary track in which he discusses various aspects of the history and production including the planning of the stunts, where this fits into the genre, the career of King Hu, the backgrounds of the performers, the scarcity of the film, the legacy of this film and more that is well worth a listen.

Tony Rayns on The Valiant Ones: A 24-minute piece with Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns in which he discusses the career of King Hu, how things shifted when he moved to Taiwan, bringing back performers from some of his greatest hits, how he uses martial arts strategies and more.

Tsar of All Wuxia: A 22-minute video essay that explores the work of King Hu in the wuxia genre, the character archetypes, the abstraction expressionism of the fight scenes, the change in location in this outing, and more.

The Life of a Lucky’s Stuntman: A 21-minute interview with stuntman Billy Chan in which he discusses attending the Beijing Opera, getting into stunt work, what a typical day of training looks like, how things differed for stuntmen in the 60s and 70s, working with King Hu, and more.

My Father and I: A 26-minute interview with actor Ng Ming-choi in which he shares memories of his father, working with King Hu, what he was like off the set, the inspirations for his creativity, and more.

Memories of Hu: A 26-minute excavation of the career of King Hu with Roger Garcia.

Frederic Ambroisine 2003 Interview with Hsu Feng: A 17-minute interview with the actress who discusses her entry into the film business.

Frederic Ambroisine 2016 Interview with Ng Ming-Choi: A brief four-minute discussion about the production of the film and working with the cast and creative team.

Final Thoughts

The Valiant Ones is a thrilling outing from King Hu that ranks as one of our favorites from the master that we have seen. The storyline is patient but never boring as you experience a number of expertly choreographed battles. The performers do a nice job with both the dramatic moments and the fighting. If you enjoy this genre, you will have a good time here. Eureka Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray with a fantastic new A/V presentation and a slew of special features that fans will appreciate. Recommended

The Valiant Ones is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray and Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Eureka Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.