Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126274 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-11-17
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: Cantonese, Mandarin Chinese
• Subtitled in: English, Vietnamese, Japanese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
An adrenaline-rush masterpiece, this period action comedy is so hyperactive and ingenious that it'll make your head spin. Along with John Woo's The Killer and Jackie Chan's Project A, Peking Opera Blues is one of the key works of a great period of Hong Kong cinema in the mid-1980s. Director Tsui Hark had been studying Spielberg under a microscope, but he uses the multilayered visuals knowingly, to capture the frantic complexity of a turning point in Chinese history. In a period of political chaos around the turn of the century, just before the first republican revolution, three women are thrown together: Cherie Chung as the daughter of a recently deposed warlord, who only wants to protect her jewel case from the loot-crazed troops; Sally Yeh as the daughter of the manager (Wu Ma) of a traveling Peking Opera company, who desperately wants to break the taboo against women on the stage; and Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia as the daughter of the newly installed warlord, and a dedicated revolutionary. All the characters converge upon an inn where the boisterous opera troupe is gearing up for a performance. Tsui transforms action slapstick into a form of acrobatic ballet, and a final shootout sequence on a crumbling tile rooftop is beyond thrilling: you'll believe a man can fly. --David Chute

Customer Reviews

Very strong female alliance and well character development.
I used to love this one and consider it as a sentimental drama. It do has meaning something, in a hilarious, entertainment way. Now I own the DVD, play it over and over again. Finally I can read the hidden message. In it's multilayers there's a little bit of everything. It's feminism above all, IMHO.

It doesn't matter if you know nothing about Chinese history. Tsao Wan could be the most bewildered role to the audience, rebel without a cause. She should knew her action might lead to her father's collapse. Though dress like a man, she's fragile inside. Sheung Hung is a material girl care about only her own profit, provide comic relief. She has justified herself by come to the rescue for Tsao Wan, still lovable. Pat Neil seems to be quite ordinary in comparison, actually toughest of the three leads. Helping uncle Fa escape shows her tenderness. Her wish to be an actress only got the blame everytime there're bad things happen. ( For ex. Troops wrecked the theater. ) Cause only male were allowed to perform on stage at that time. Then I found similar tradition in ancient Britain too. ( Shakespeare In Love ) Women were under restraint by old culture. She grew up in the troupe. She tried to prove her talent, how good she could be, seize every chance. But the first obstacle came from her father, how ironic. ( Well. " It's the trend of time, and the father merely trying to protect her " kind of speech. ) Though she has no ambition, was drawn into the revolute unwittingly. Sally Yeh was trained hard to perform her own acrobatics, without a stunt double. To make the character convincible. She's at her best, never can be more gorgeous than this role. To see greedy warlords scramble for power and profit. How flexible the manager ( Wu-Ma ) is. There're diversity characteristic in this hilarious film.

There're some outtakes in the trailer. The catchy ballad along with the soundtrack quite enjoyable. Those " hide and seek "

roar with laughter scenes. And the metaphor " Life is dramatic " theme. You can watch this film many times and still find things you missed before. My only criticism would be, if they spent more budget on shoot some substantial landscape, might persuade me it's in real Beijing. By the way, I think the English subtitle is O.K. but there's a pun joke it can't deliver well. While the warlord took Pat Neil to blackmail her father, he asked what's tonight's show? It was named " Stubborn King " the true meaning is " force her to be my concubine ". Sorry force you to tolerate my poor English.

A Classic
First of all, the movie: I was very hesitant to see this movie, as it is relatively old (released around 1986, I think). However, I've become a big fan of HK movies lately, and many critics consider this the quintessential Hong Kong movie. The story centers around the escapades of three women (played by Brigitte Lin, Sally Yeh and Cherie Chung, all popular HK starlets), with plenty of action, comedy, espionage and political intrigue set in a Chinese opera house. Although this was one of Tsui Hark's (considered by some the "Spielberg of Hong Kong") earliest works, this is still considered to be his best. Very entertaining movie which, more than any other HK movie I won, is worthy of repeated viewing. One of the few TRUE Hong Kong classics. You won't be disappointed.

The DVD: not the best video quality around, but surprisingly good considered this is a 15-year old Hong Kong movie. The sound is in 5.1 surround sound, and Cantonese and Mandarin audio are provided (with plenty of options for subtitles, including English). Of course, the subtitles can be horrid at times, but you can follow the dialogue easily and they certainly will not detract from your enjoyment of the movie. Trailers for this movie (and a couple others) are included. Nice menus.

Highly recommended. You COULD wait for a special edition, or a remastered version to come out, but I haven't heard of one in the works. Plus, this is still a good quality disk that is worth the purchase.

A very enjoyable Tsui Hark film, without all the frills
The most enjoyable aspect of this movie is it's three lead female characters: Tsao Wan, who is the daughter of a powerfull general, Pat Neil, who is an aspiring actress in her father's Chinese opera theater, and Sheung Hung, a mischievous musician chasing after a box of lost jewelry. The three end up joining forces to aid a revolutionary faction, bent on foiling a government plot.

This well-conceived story never drops the ball for a moment, combining tense drama, intrigue, and a lot of great laughs. Brigette Lin's performance as general Tsao's loyalty-torn daughter is especially enjoyable, as are the performances of all the main characters.

Contrary to the tradition Tsui Hark seems to have built for himself, this movie relies very little upon special effects and wire-oriented choreography. Although there is a fair amount of action, this is by no means a martial arts or swordplay film. In nearly all its respects, it is a film which can easily be enjoyed by western audiences, even if they are unfamiliar with the Hong Kong movie tradition.

For fans of Hong Kong cinema, this film is definitely a must-see. It is without question a classic of the genre and guaranteed to entertain.