Eureka Entertainment has announced its August batch of 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray releases. They are: The Sons of Great Bear (1966), The Old Dark House (1932), The Tattooed Dragon (1973), and High Noon (1952).
The Sons of Great Bear
By the mid-1960s, Westerns had become extremely popular in West Germany due to a series of films adapted from the novels of Karl May. In response, DEFA – the state-operated studio of East Germany or the GDR – made its own film set in the Old West. But The Sons of Great Bear wasn't just designed to compete with West German genre films – it was also intended as a pointed corrective to the American frontier myth, pitting its Native American protagonists against violent white settlers in a battle for survival.
Adapted from Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich's book series of the same name, The Sons of Great Bear stars Gojko Mitić as Tokei-Ihto, a Native American warrior belonging to a Dakota tribe. As a young man, Tokei-Ihto witnesses his father's murder at the hands of Jim Fred Clark (Jiří Vršťala), alias "Red Fox," a scout who suspects there is gold to be found on the Dakota lands. Later, Tokei-Ihto is forced to defend his people from Red Fox as he tries to take possession of the gold by any means necessary.
Followed by the likes of Trail of the Falcon, Ulzana, Blood Brothers and Severino, The Sons of Great Bear made a star of Gojko Mitić and launched an entire series of Westerns at DEFA, known in East Germany as Indianerfilme and historically nicknamed "Red Westerns" due to their socialist politics. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present The Sons of Great Bear on Blu-ray for the first time ever in the UK from an astonishing 2K restoration by the DEFA Foundation.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 2K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE BY DEFA
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
New audio commentary by Western scholar Jenny Barrett
World Wide West – new discussion of The Sons of Great Bear in a global context with Austin Fisher, author of Radical Frontiers in the Spaghetti Western
Homelands – new video essay on the depiction of Native American life in The Sons of Great Bear by Lee Broughton, author of The Euro-Western
Eyewitness Report on The Sons of Great Bear – archival newsreel featuring a report on the making of DEFA's first Western
New Masters of Cinema trailer
Original theatrical trailer
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Colin Murdoch
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on The Sons of Great Bear and DEFA's approach to the Western by Mariana Ivanova, Academic Director of the DEFA Film Library
UK STREET DATE: JULY 21.
The Old Dark House 4K Blu-ray
A group of weary travellers, a spooky mansion – and a madman upstairs! The Old Dark House – directed by James Whale, the writer-director of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man – is one of the finest and most entertaining horror films of the 1930s. Dripping with atmosphere and packed to the brim with thrills, chills and gallows humour, it was considered lost for many years before its rediscovery and restoration. Available on 4K (2160p) Blu-ray from a 4K digital restoration, presented in a new and exclusive Dolby Vision HDR (HDR 10 compatible) grade.
Caught in a storm whilst journeying through a remote part of Wales, a group of travellers take refuge in a sinister mansion inhabited by the bizarre Femm family and their mute butler, Morgan (played by the iconic Boris Karloff, star of Frankenstein and The Mummy). Trying to make the best of a bad situation, the group settles in for the night – but the Femm family have a few skeletons in their closet, and one of them is on the loose…
One of the last and best films to be produced by the original cycle of "old dark house" films that began in the 1920s (typified by The Cat and the Canary), The Old Dark House boats an incredible cast featuring Melvyn Douglas (Twilight's Last Gleaming), Gloria Stuart (Titanic) and Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution). Available for the first time in the UK on 4K Blu-ray.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW EXCLUSIVE 4K DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Uncompressed LPCM audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Audio commentary by critic and author Kim Newman and Stephen Jones
Audio commentary by Gloria Stuart
Audio commentary by James Whale biographer James Curtis
Meet the Femms – video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns
Daughter of Frankenstein – an interview with Sara Karloff
Rescuing a Classic – archival interview with director Curtis Harrington focused on his efforts to save The Old Dark House, then considered a lost film
2018 re-release trailer
Stills gallery
A limited edition O-card slipcase, featuring artwork by Sara Deck strictly exclusive to this edition only
A limited edition collector's booklet featuring a new essay on The Old Dark House by Craig Ian Mann, an essay by Philip Kemp and select archival material
UK STREET DATE: JULY 28.
The Tattooed Dragon
Written and directed by Lo Wei, the man behind the Bruce Lee's international hits The Big Boss and Fist of Fury, The Tattooed Dragon was designed to bring martial arts superstar Jimmy Wang Yu (The One-Armed Swordsman) to a global audience still hungry for kung fu cinema in the aftermath of Lee's death. Featuring Sylvia Chang (Slaughter in San Francisco) and James Tien (Shaolin Boxer) in a villainous role, it follows The Big Boss in pitting a legendary fighter against organized crime.
Wang Yu stars as the eponymous Tattooed Dragon, a virtuous martial artist who makes a habit of defending the defenceless. After he is injured in a fight, he is taken in by a farmer (Samuel Hui, The Swordsman) and his sweetheart (Chang), and soon finds himself having to defend their local village when it becomes the target of a gangster (Tien) and his crew. Determined to lay their hands on the village's rich resources, the gangsters install a casino and encourage the locals to gamble away everything they have. But the Tattooed Dragon has other ideas…
The Tattooed Dragon is a showcase for Jimmy Wang Yu following his move from Shaw Brothers to Golden Harvest in the early 1970s, boasting cinematography by Cheung Yiu-tsou (Police Story) and stunts coordinated by Simon Hsu (The Flying Guillotine). Eureka Classics is proud to present The Tattooed Dragon for the first time on Blu-ray anywhere in the world from a new 2K restoration.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
NEW 2K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
Original Mandarin mono and English dubbed audio options
Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
New audio commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
New audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Here Be Dragons – new discussion of Tattooed Dragon with martial arts cinema expert Wayne Wong
Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Sean Longmore
Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on The Tattooed Dragon by film critic and writer James Oliver
U.S. AND CANADA STREET DATE: JULY 22.
UK STREET DATE: JULY 21.
High Noon 4K Blu-ray
One of the most influential and iconic Westerns ever made, High Noon is a powerful film about the individual drive to do good in the face of a society that would rather turn a blind eye to evil. Directed by Fred Zinnemann (From Here to Eternity) and produced by Stanley Kramer (The Defiant Ones), it remains just as riveting, nail-bitingly tense and fiercely political as it was in the 1950s.
In an Oscar-winning performance, Gary Cooper (Man of the West) stars as small-town Marshal Will Kane, who is preparing to retire and ride off into the sunset with his bride Amy (Grace Kelly, Rear Window). However, his plans are derailed when he is informed that an outlaw he once sent to jail, Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald, Johnny Guitar), is soon to arrive with his brutal gang in tow. High Noon then follows Kane in real time as he tries to assemble a posse – but the townspeople are reluctant to help him and Amy, a pacifist who abhors violence, wants him to simply walk away. But as high noon approaches, Kane realises he must do the right thing… with or without help.
While High Noon is now an acknowledged American masterpiece, its release was controversial. Both John Wayne (who turned down its central role) and Howard Hawks (who made Rio Bravo in response) hated the film for its thinly veiled critical commentary on McCarthyism and the persecution of those accused of having "communist" beliefs. The film has lost none of its political power – or its irrefutable entertainment value. Having brought the film to Blu-ray in 2019, the Masters of Cinema series is now proud to present its UK debut on 4K Blu-ray.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
PREVIOUSLY RESTORED IN 4K
DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
Audio commentary by historian Glenn Frankel, author of High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic
Audio commentary by western authority Stephen Prince
Women of the West: A Feminist Approach to High Noon – new video essay by Western scholar J. E. Smyth
Interview with film historian Neil Sinyard, author of Fred Zinnemann: Films of Character and Conscience
A 1969 audio interview with writer Carl Foreman from the National Film Theatre in London
The Making of High Noon – a documentary on the making of the film
Inside High Noon and Behind High Noon – two video pieces on the making and context of the film
Theatrical trailer
Limited edition O-card slipcase
A limited edition collector's booklet featuring the original short story The Tin Star by John W. Cunningham, a 1974 essay by screenwriter Carl Foreman and a retrospective review of the film from 1986
UK STREET DATE: JULY 28.
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