Premier Asia was a UK DVD distribution company, operating between the years 2003 and 2008. It was owned by Medusa Communications throughout its first year. In 2004, Contender Entertainment Group took over Medusa Communications, including both Premier Asia and its sister label, Hong Kong Legends. [1] In 2007, Contender was themselves purchased by Entertainment One (now Lionsgate Canada). [2] Premier Asia is the sister company of Hong Kong Legends, and whilst that company specialised only in Hong Kong films, Premier Asia encompassed films from all of the major film making centres of Asia (outside of mainland China), specifically Japan, South Korea & Thailand. [3]
In keeping with the Hong Kong Legends DVD format, many of the earlier releases included audio commentaries from Hong Kong cinema expert, producer and screenwriter Bey Logan, he would be partnered here for many releases with Asian cinema expert Mike Leeder.
Samuel "Sammo" Hung Kam-bo is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and film director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreographer for other actors such as Kim Tai-chung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, and Yuen Wah. Throughout the 1980s, he was part of the "Three Dragons" along with Chan and Biao; the three starred in six Hong Kong films together.
Tsui Hark, born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong filmmaker. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983), the Once Upon a Time in China film series (1991–1997) and The Blade (1995). Tsui also has been a prolific writer and producer; his productions include A Better Tomorrow (1986), A Better Tomorrow II (1987), A Chinese Ghost Story (1987), The Killer (1989), The Legend of the Swordsman (1992), The Wicked City (1992), Iron Monkey (1993) and Black Mask (1996). He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema and is regarded by critics as "one of the masters of Asian cinematography".
Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over 100 feature film, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films span a variety of different genres, ranging from violent and bizarre to dramatic and family-friendly movies. He is a controversial figure in the contemporary Japanese cinema industry, with several of his films being criticised for their extreme graphic violence. Some of his best known films are Audition, Ichi the Killer, Visitor Q, Dead or Alive, One Missed Call, and various remakes: 13 Assassins, Hara-kiri, and Graveyard of Honor. He has also acted in more than 20 films.
Ichi the Killer is a 2001 Japanese horror yakuza film directed by Takashi Miike, written by Sakichi Sato, and starring Tadanobu Asano and Nao Omori. Based on Hideo Yamamoto's manga series of the same name, its plot follows a psychologically damaged man who is manipulated into assaulting or killing rival faction members of feuding yakuza gangs while being pursued by a sadomasochistic enforcer.
Japanese horror is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends to focus on psychological horror, tension building (suspense), and the supernatural, particularly involving ghosts (yūrei) and poltergeists. Other Japanese horror fiction contains themes of folk religion such as possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition, and yōkai. Media in which the genre of Japanese horror fiction can be found include artwork, theater, literature, film, anime and video games.
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kong filmmakers combined with elements from Hollywood and Japanese cinema along with new action choreography and filmmaking techniques, to create a culturally distinctive form that went on to have wide transcultural appeal. In turn, Hollywood action films have been heavily influenced by Hong Kong genre conventions, from the 1970s onwards.
Raymond Chow Man-wai, was a Hong Kong film producer, and presenter. He was responsible for successfully launching martial arts and the Hong Kong cinema onto the international stage. As the founder of Golden Harvest, he produced some of the biggest stars of the martial arts film genre, including Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. In 2020, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame.
Ju-On: The Grudge is a 2002 Japanese supernatural horror film written and directed by Takashi Shimizu. It is the third installment in the Ju-On series and the first to be released theatrically. It stars Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Takashi Matsuyama and Yui Ichikawa.
Mr. Vampire is a 1985 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ricky Lau and produced by Sammo Hung. The film's box office success led to the creation of a Mr. Vampire franchise, with the release of four sequels directed by Ricky Lau from 1986 to 1992, and subsequent similarly themed films with different directors released between 1987 and 1992, with Lam Ching-ying as the lead for the majority of them. The vampire of the film is based on the jiangshi, the hopping corpses of Chinese folklore. The film was released under the Chinese title 暫時停止呼吸 in Taiwan. The film was the breakthrough success of the jiangshi genre, a trend popular in Hong Kong during the 1980s, and established many of the genre's recognisable tropes.
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires is a 1974 martial arts horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker. The film opens in 1804, when seven vampires clad in gold masks are resurrected by Count Dracula. A century later, Professor Van Helsing, known in the world for his exploits with Dracula, is recruited by a man and his seven siblings after giving a lecture at a Chinese university to take on the vampires. The film is a British-Hong Kong co-production between Hammer Film Productions and Shaw Brothers Studio.
Winners & Sinners is a 1983 Hong Kong action comedy film written and directed by Sammo Hung, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, the latter serving as one of the film's action directors. It was the first in the Lucky Stars series of films, a highly successful series in Hong Kong.
The Cinema of East Asia is cinema produced in East Asia or by people from this region. It is part of cinema of Asia, which in turn is part of world cinema.
Dragon Lord is a 1982 Hong Kong martial arts comedy film starring and directed by Jackie Chan, who also wrote the screenplay with Edward Tang and Barry Wong. It was originally supposed to be a sequel to The Young Master and even had the name Young Master in Love until it was changed to Dragon Lord. The film was experimented by Chan with various elaborate stunt action sequences in a period setting, serving as a transition between Chan's earlier kung fu comedy period films and his later stunt-oriented modern action films.
Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain is a 1983 Hong Kong supernatural wuxia fantasy film directed by Tsui Hark and based on the xianxia novel Legend of the Swordsmen of the Mountains of Shu by Huanzhulouzhu. The film has been noted for combining elements of Hong Kong action cinema with special effects technology provided by a team of Western artists including Robert Blalack. It served as an influence for the 1986 American film Big Trouble in Little China.
Ocean Shores Video Limited is the home video division of Win's Entertainment Co Ltd. The company is owned by Television Broadcasts Limited the entertainment division of Panasonic, Pioneer and Philips was a Hong Kong–based distributor of martial arts films in the 1980s.
Millionaires Express is a 1986 Hong Kong western action comedy film starring, written and directed by Sammo Hung. The film co-stars Yuen Biao, Rosamund Kwan, Fan Mei-sheng, and Hwang Jang-lee.
Dragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006, for the sole purpose of distributing East Asian films on DVD in the U.S., whose licenses are held by, or will be acquired by, The Weinstein Company. Dragon Dynasty showcases classic and contemporary Asian cinema, particularly those films which fall under the action and martial arts genre.
Killer Constable is a 1980 Hong Kong martial arts-action film directed by Chih-Hung Kwei, starring martial arts star Chen Kuan-tai. The movie was produced by the Shaw Brothers studio and is a loose reworking of the 1969 movie The Invincible Fist by the film director Chang Cheh, a frequent collaborator of Chih-Hung Kwei.
Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bought up the UK distribution rights for film titles previously owned by Eastern Heroes label.
Magnificent Warriors is a 1987 Hong Kong action adventure film directed by David Chung. The film stars Michelle Yeoh, Yee Tung-shing, Ng Yiu-hon and Hwang Jang-lee.