{"id":53136,"date":"2026-05-16T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=53136"},"modified":"2026-05-16T00:18:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:18:41","slug":"the-angry-river-1971-88-film-blu-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/16\/the-angry-river-1971-88-film-blu-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"The Angry River [1971] [88 Film Blu-Ray]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A woman goes on an action-filled journey to save her father in the awesome action fantasy The Angry River, now on Blu-Ray via 88 Films.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After a little break, it\u2019s awesome to get back to Golden Harvest<\/a>! And not only a return to the Hong Kong action classic studio, but their first! Huang Feng\u2019<\/a>s Angry River, from 1971, is the first production of the legendary studio, although not the first released (gotta wait a few days for that). And wow, Angry River, written by Wong Fung, is one heck of a movie to start with. It\u2019s got it all: loads of amazing action, great location use, a sense of goofy fun at times, and an awesome, totally kick-ass lady performance by Angela Mao, out for revenge when a land-grabbing warlord hurts her father after killing so many others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The plot to set up the bevy of action and our awesome heroine is pretty much an excuse. In the Chinese countryside, King Hell and his cronies are killing local leaders in strange and mysterious ways. But one is merely hurt, and his daughter heads on a journey fraught with danger and thrills with such wonderful locations as the titular Angry River. These locations are awesome, filled with winky cheese, such as the river catches fire if touched! But I dare not spoil the fun. The journey is a blast of variety of sequences, interesting characters who come and go, and a great sense of fantasy fighting enjoyment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let it be said, Angela Mao<\/a> is amazing. She gives off a fantastic sense of knowledge of fighting and don\u2019t fuck with me attitude. Love her. I squinted with a \u201creally\u201d where, after getting the herb and fighting a freakin\u2019 dragon after going through a cave of hilarious skull effects, she loses her fighting ability. No longer working through the wilds alone, dutifully taking on whatever tries to stop her, she has to team up with, and be protected by, men: an older monk and a young warrior. But fear not, she still holds her own and has even more awesome sequences as she closes her revenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside the fantasy odyssey are all the amazing fight sequences. Choreographed by total legend Sammo Hung<\/a>, and featuring him as a henchman (Jackie Chan<\/a> is also here, for a very, very quick moment), they are wide-ranging and highly clever entertainment. One-on-ones, giant group fights, in fields and forests, around the river, and in various styles, Hung and team keep it fresh.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Huang Feng directs with an over-the-top energy, giving every frame a sense of playful cartoonishness, from Hung\u2019s choreography to the wild blood splattering over the on-location shooting (listed as in Dyaliscope, indicating wonderful vistas). The Angry River is a great start for a wonderful studio, producing hundreds of films over fifty years. Led by a ferocious Angela Mao, I recommend.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Packaging<\/strong><\/p>\n

88 Films releases The Angry River on a single Blu-ray with a simplified version of the cover art on the disc. It\u2019s housed in a black see-through Blu-ray case, sharing the case with a double-sided poster. The poster and sleeve have options of original art and new art by Aurelio Lorenzo. It has an O-ring slip cover with the new art.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Presentation<\/strong><\/p>\n

88 gives a new 2k scan of the original elements, and it looks great, mostly. Colors pop; it all has amazing detail. This is one of those where the increased details give the special effects lines notice. But that\u2019s a minor as the location work is greatly used, with depth and beauty. Audio options are original Madrine and English dubbed. English subtitles are available.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Features<\/strong><\/p>\n

A little light with just the commentary, plus some marketing.\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Commentary (new)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With the return of 88 Films<\/a> to my player, it also brings the return of master commentator Frank Djeng of the NY Asian Film Festival. This time, he\u2019s joined by Michael Worth. As is the case for Djeng, they give a great, lively talk covering everything you can think about. Especially Golden Harvest\u2019s<\/a> start and star, Angela Mao.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Image Gallery<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

About two minutes of still photos and advertisements.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trailer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The 3-minute trailer leans into all the fantastical elements. Great overview.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Angry River, directed by Huang Feng, is a great start for a legendary studio. Even without the quirk of Golden Harvest\u2019s first film, its still one I\u2019d recommend for fans of over-the-top fantasy action. The commentary is good too.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A woman goes on an action-filled journey to save her father in the awesome action fantasy The Angry River, now on Blu-Ray via 88 Films.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[58,349,631],"class_list":["post-53136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collectors-den","category-movie-reviews","tag-action","tag-fantasy","tag-martial-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53136"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53140,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53136\/revisions\/53140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}