Two Venom Mob Films: The Daredevils & Ode to Gallantry

Eureka Entertainment

Blu-ray Release: March 25, 2024

Video: 2.35:1/1080p/Color (both films)

Audio: Mandarin LPCM 2.0 Mono (both films), English LPCM 2.0 Mono (The Daredevils only)

Subtitles: English (both films)

Run Time: 104:30 (The Daredevils), 86:54 (Ode to Gallantry)

Director: Chang Cheh

No other director had a bigger impact on Hong Kong action cinema than Chang Cheh, who directed and/or wrote around 100 movies across six decades. His films were steeped in a formula now known as ‘heroic bloodshed,’ which emphasized brotherhood, redemption, and violent sacrifice, but his style evolved with the times and helped usher in the Hong Kong New Wave styles that, in turn, took Hollywood by storm in the mid-to-late ‘90s. While he was not the first filmmaker of his kind and borrowed from other great filmmakers, Chang might still be the single most influential wuxia/kung fu director of all time.

Some might say his crowning achievement was cultivating the team of actors and choreographers known as The Venom Mob. The Venom Mob was so-named, because its members – Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Lo Mang, and Wei Pai – appeared in the massive 1978 hit Five Venoms (aka: Five Deadly Venoms). According to fan/critic estimates, Chang made 32 movies featuring at least two Venom Mobsters and most were released through Shaw Bros. 

Disc 1: The Daredevils (1979)

Yang Ta-ying (Lo Mang) 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 entire family to take control of their estate and army. With the help of his friends Chen Feng (Chiang Sheng), Fu Quanyi (Lu Feng), and Xin Zheng (Sun Chien), Yang sets out for justice. (From Eureka’s official synopsis)

The Daredevils (aka: Shaolin Daredevils, Daredevils of Kung Fu, Magnificent Acrobats, Venom Warriors, and 5 Kung Fu Heroes) was the sixth entry in what fans consider the official Venom Mob canon, but what I find more insane is that it was the third of five Venom Mob films that Chang made and released in 1979. That insane level of output is dwarfed only by the fact that co-writer Ni Kuang worked on a mind-boggling 22 total films that same year. Chang’s preferred choreographer Lau Kar-Leung had moved onto a role as full-time lead director, so actors/Venoms Philip Kwok, Chiang Sheng, and Lu Feng picked up the slack, designing their own fights, alongside Robert Tai.

Structurally, The Daredevils is basically two shorts smooshed into one somewhat disparate whole. The first half is all listless set-up for the second and the kind of thing that a lot of kung fu movies would reduce to five minutes or even a flashback. Once it finds its rhythm, the second half is an entertaining procession of convoluted revenge schemes, though a lot of the stunt action revolves around acrobatic routines and sleight of hand. Aside from Lo Mang’s spectacularly bloody death scene and a cool weapons demonstration (a fighter dons a padded costume that sprays different colors of powdered paint when punctured), there isn’t a lot of combat until the climax. The extended final battle is mostly worth the wait.

Disc 2: Ode to Gallantry (1982)

A lone martial artist nicknamed 'Mongrel' (Phillip Kwok) 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. (From Eureka’s official synopsis)

Ode to Gallantry was the final ‘official’ Venom Mob film (1984’s Shanghai 13 was the last Chang directed film to include more than one Mobber in a major role) and one of the hardest to see on home video. It was, as per usual, co-written by Chang and Ni, but, this time, based on an existing novel by Jin Young (aka: Louis Cha Leung-yung), whose work was also adapted into Tsui Hark’s The Swordsman series (1990, ‘92, ‘93), Wong Jing’s Kung Fu Cult Master (1993), and Pao Hsueh-li’s Battle Wizard (1977), among others. The book was later adapted into three separate television series, which gives you an idea of its potential scope, despite this film’s under 90-minute runtime.

Exposition is dumped at an alarming rate, but, ultimately, the jam-packed pacing is a plus, bolstering the film’s cheeky sense of humor (a lot of the graphic violence is played for laughs in this one) and befitting the narrative point-of-view, as the main character doesn’t understand what’s going on, either. Though advertised as another ensemble piece, Ode to Gallantry is really a showcase for Phillip Kwok’s comedic chops and acrobatic skills, which is okay by me, since he’s my personal favorite member of the Venom Mob (he technically plays two characters in a Prince and the Pauper-like twist). The fight choreography is again credited to the performers (including Kwok) and has an amusing supernatural slant, facilitating a slight, but potent collection of fun, superhuman fisticuffs and charmingly clumsy optical effects.

Video

Neither The Daredevils or Ode to Gallantry were officially released on stateside DVD, though both have been streamable in HD. German company Koch had previously premiered The Daredevils on Blu-ray, while both it and Ode to Gallantry debuted on subpar PAL-to-NTSC Hong Kong DVDs. The 2.35:1, 1080p transfers were provided to Eureka directly by Celestial Pictures and the image quality matches the standard set for the company’s other Shaw Bros. HD masters.

Colors are rich and bright, separation is crisp without edge halo effects, and everything is generally clean. There are typical issues with soft textures, but actually fewer digital artifacts than I’ve seen from Eureka and 88 Films Shaw discs (Ode to Gallantry features decent grain representation as well). There are a number of warping effects due to the extreme squeeze of the anamorphic lenses and this, too, is often expected from Shaw Bros. films of this era, particularly those directed by Chang. There are also some blurry moments that we can’t blame on Celestial or Eureka.

Audio

Both films are presented in Mandarin mono and The Daredevils includes an alternate English option, also in mono (the Koch Blu-ray has Cantonese and German audio options, for the record), and all tracks are in uncompressed LPCM sound. Daredevils’ English dub is a tad louder than its Mandarin counterpart, but it’s also notably tinnier. Ode to Gallantry’s solo Mandarin track has a slightly muffled quality at times, but isn’t otherwise overly-crushed or inconsistent. Both films share a composer credit, Eddie H. Wang, but the majority of tracks are taken from library sources, several of which are shared with the American and extended cuts of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978).

Extras

• Commentary with Frank Djeng and Michael Worth (both films) – Everyone’s favorite NY Asian Film Festival programmer is joined by critic/expert/choreographer Worth for a pair of tracks that explore the production and release of the two films, the Venom Mob phenomenon, various filmmaking and choreography techniques, Chang’s wider career and favorite themes, and the careers of other cast & crew members. On the Ode to Gallantry track, they specifically discuss Jin Young’s novel and other literature.

• Commentary with Mike Leeder and Arne Venema (both films) – Casting director/stunt coordinator/producer Leeder and Venema, the critic and director/co-writer (with Leeder) of the upcoming doc Neon Grindhouse: Hong Kong cover some of the same ground as Djeng and Worth, but they put their own personable spin on things. I always appreciate their slightly off-topic tangents.

• Deadly Venoms (18:10, HD) – Hong Kong cinema scholar Wayne Wong closes things out with a look at the creation of the Venom Mob, the careers of each member, the group’s importance to the fourth generation of Hong Kong martial arts cinema, and each film’s place in the Venom canon.

The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.