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Hong Kong Legends

May 07, 2024

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,[1] who, along with Soulblade bought up the UK distribution rights for film titles previously owned by Eastern Heroes label.

Hong Kong Legends
Company typeThe standard Hong Kong Legends DVD border strip. The image is a composite of stills, including Bryan Leung in Legend of a Fighter, Brigitte Lin in New Dragon Gate Inn, Jackie Chan in Drunken Master and Jet Li in Hitman, plus the company logo.
IndustryVideo production and distribution
Founded1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Defunct2007; 17 years ago (2007)
Key people
Bey Logan
Brian White
ProductsDVDs
ParentMedusa Communications
(1999-2004)
Contender Entertainment Group
(2004-2007)

Hong Kong Legends released 101 Hong Kong classic films, primarily martial arts films and other action films. In preparing the DVDs, they gained access to the vaults of Hong Kong studios such as Golden Harvest, selecting the films with the highest quality prints available. Hong Kong Legends added audio commentaries, most notably by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan, conducted interviews with key actors, directors and other film crew, performed new translations for subtitles and cleaned up damage to the films.

Their catalogue of films included releases featuring Hong Kong stars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh.

History edit

 
The Big Boss (Hong Kong Legends) – Left Original Footage and Right Re-mastered Footage.

In 2004, Contender Entertainment Group took over Medusa Communications, including both Hong Kong Legends, and their sister brand, Premier Asia.[2][3]

Brian White, who had been the Brand Manager and prime mover of the label, left Contender. He was also a close personal friend of Bey Logan. Logan decided it was time to leave Contender as well and shortly afterwards moved to the US.

Harvey Weinstein would bring on board both Bey Logan & Brian White to begin working in a similar capacity for The Weinstein Company's East Asian DVD distribution company Dragon Dynasty, with White also serving as Vice-President of Asian Brand Management and Post Production. [4]

With the loss of both Bey Logan & Brian White (Logan having done his popular commentaries; and White having created the exclusive extras), Contender had to cancel many of the planned Hong Kong Legends releases and as there was no attempt to bring in replacement staff to perform audio commentaries, or to create bonus features, the release schedule significantly dropped.

The directors of Medusa went on to start a new company, Showbox Media Group (which several years later launched the Cine-Asia label).[5]

In September 2005, Contender entered into a co-operation pact with magazine / partwork publisher De Agostini to bring a selection of the better known Hong Kong Legends titles were released along with a fortnightly magazine giving facts and backgrounds on the featured film. The titles released included Fist of Fury, Drunken Master, Island of Fire, Once Upon a Time in China and The Killer. The series continued for 47 issues.[6]

On 5 November 2007, Contender discontinued the Hong Kong Legends label after releasing the last few DVDs (which by then were released as Ultra Bit editions, implying DVDs with improved bitrates or in otherwise "special editions". In fact, the releases were significantly more basic, the company having lost the rights for additional features other than trailers, and the bitrate was no higher than their previous releases).

On 18 March 2011, Cine-Asia announced a revival of the Hong Kong Legends titles under the banner of Cine-Asia Presents Hong Kong Legends (which were released under license from eOne which had purchased Contender 4 years earlier). The press release featured new artwork for The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Game of Death, and Way of the Dragon.[7]

Releases edit

Films edit

Documentaries edit

  • An Introduction To Hong Kong Legends
  • Bruce Lee, The Legend & Bruce Lee: The Man and the Legend
  • Heromakers
  • Jackie Chan: My Story / My Stunts

Box Sets edit

  • Bruce Lee 30th Anniversary Commemorative
  • The Donnie Yen Collection
  • The Epic Action Collection
  • The Fantasy Swordplay Collection
  • The Jackie Chan Collection
  • The Jackie Chan Project A Collection
  • The Jet Li Collection
  • The John Woo Collection
  • Manga in Motion
  • The Michelle Yeoh Collection
  • The Police Story Double Disc Set
  • Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy

Release information taken from various sources, including the now defunct official Hong Kong Legends website,[8] IMDB [9] and online stores such as HKFlix.[10]

References edit

  1. ^ . Elemental Communications. Archived from the original on 11 October 2006. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Contender buys into DVD business". C21 Media. 23 February 2004. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Entertainment One – Our Business". Contender Entertainment Group. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  4. ^ . Press Release. Movie City News. Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  5. ^ . About Us. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  6. ^ . Hong Kong Legends. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  7. ^ "Cine Asia Presents Hong Kong Legends". Press Release. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  8. ^ . Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Hong Kong Legends [gb]". Entry for film distributor. IMDb. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  10. ^ "HKFlix". Search results for Hong Kong Legends. HKFlix. Retrieved 22 January 2010.

May 07, 2024
hong, kong, legends, united, kingdom, distribution, company, based, hertfordshire, operating, from, australia, between, 1999, 2007, initially, part, medusa, communications, along, with, soulblade, bought, distribution, rights, film, titles, previously, owned, . 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 1 who along with Soulblade bought up the UK distribution rights for film titles previously owned by Eastern Heroes label Hong Kong LegendsCompany typeThe standard Hong Kong Legends DVD border strip The image is a composite of stills including Bryan Leung in Legend of a Fighter Brigitte Lin in New Dragon Gate Inn Jackie Chan in Drunken Master and Jet Li in Hitman plus the company logo IndustryVideo production and distributionFounded1999 25 years ago 1999 Defunct2007 17 years ago 2007 Key peopleBey LoganBrian WhiteProductsDVDsParentMedusa Communications 1999 2004 Contender Entertainment Group 2004 2007 Hong Kong Legends released 101 Hong Kong classic films primarily martial arts films and other action films In preparing the DVDs they gained access to the vaults of Hong Kong studios such as Golden Harvest selecting the films with the highest quality prints available Hong Kong Legends added audio commentaries most notably by Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan conducted interviews with key actors directors and other film crew performed new translations for subtitles and cleaned up damage to the films Their catalogue of films included releases featuring Hong Kong stars such as Bruce Lee Jackie Chan Sammo Hung Yuen Biao Jet Li Chow Yun fat Donnie Yen and Michelle Yeoh Contents 1 History 2 Releases 2 1 Films 2 2 Documentaries 2 3 Box Sets 3 ReferencesHistory edit nbsp The Big Boss Hong Kong Legends Left Original Footage and Right Re mastered Footage In 2004 Contender Entertainment Group took over Medusa Communications including both Hong Kong Legends and their sister brand Premier Asia 2 3 Brian White who had been the Brand Manager and prime mover of the label left Contender He was also a close personal friend of Bey Logan Logan decided it was time to leave Contender as well and shortly afterwards moved to the US Harvey Weinstein would bring on board both Bey Logan amp Brian White to begin working in a similar capacity for The Weinstein Company s East Asian DVD distribution company Dragon Dynasty with White also serving as Vice President of Asian Brand Management and Post Production 4 With the loss of both Bey Logan amp Brian White Logan having done his popular commentaries and White having created the exclusive extras Contender had to cancel many of the planned Hong Kong Legends releases and as there was no attempt to bring in replacement staff to perform audio commentaries or to create bonus features the release schedule significantly dropped The directors of Medusa went on to start a new company Showbox Media Group which several years later launched the Cine Asia label 5 In September 2005 Contender entered into a co operation pact with magazine partwork publisher De Agostini to bring a selection of the better known Hong Kong Legends titles were released along with a fortnightly magazine giving facts and backgrounds on the featured film The titles released included Fist of Fury Drunken Master Island of Fire Once Upon a Time in China and The Killer The series continued for 47 issues 6 On 5 November 2007 Contender discontinued the Hong Kong Legends label after releasing the last few DVDs which by then were released as Ultra Bit editions implying DVDs with improved bitrates or in otherwise special editions In fact the releases were significantly more basic the company having lost the rights for additional features other than trailers and the bitrate was no higher than their previous releases On 18 March 2011 Cine Asia announced a revival of the Hong Kong Legends titles under the banner of Cine Asia Presents Hong Kong Legends which were released under license from eOne which had purchased Contender 4 years earlier The press release featured new artwork for The Big Boss Fist of Fury Game of Death and Way of the Dragon 7 Releases editFilms edit 2000 AD Armour of God The Avenging Fist Battle Creek Brawl Beast Cops A Better Tomorrow 2 The Big Boss The Blacksheep Affair Body Weapon Bullet in the Head A Chinese Ghost Story A Chinese Ghost Story 2 City Hunter City on Fire Crime Story Dragon Fist The Dragon from Russia Dragon Lord Dragons Forever Dreadnaught Drunken Master Duel to the Death Eastern Condors Encounters of the Spooky Kind The Fearless Hyena First Option Fist of Fury Flaming Brothers Full Contact Game of Death Game of Death II Hand of Death Hapkido Heart of the Dragon Heroes Shed No Tears Hitman Hong Kong 1941 The Iceman Cometh In the Line of Duty Iron Fisted Monk Iron Monkey Island of Fire The Killer King of Beggars Knockabout Last Hurrah for Chivalry Legend of a Fighter Magnificent Bodyguards Magnificent Butcher Magnificent Warriors The Master Millionaire s Express Miracles Mr Vampire Moon Warriors My Lucky Stars Naked Killer Naked Weapon New Dragon Gate Inn New Fist of Fury New Police Story Ninja in the Dragon s Den The Odd Couple Once a Thief Once Upon a Time in China Once Upon a Time in China II Once Upon a Time in China III Outlaw Brothers The Peacock King Police Assassins Police Story Police Story 2 The Postman Fights Back The Prodigal Son Project A Project A Part II The Protector Purple Storm Red Wolf Riki Oh The Story of Ricky The Scorpion King Seoul Raiders Seven Swords Sex and Zen Shaolin Wooden Men aka Shaolin Chamber of Death She Shoots Straight Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon Snake amp Crane Arts of Shaolin Snake in the Eagle s Shadow Spiritual Kung Fu The Swordsman Tai Chi Boxer Tiger on the Beat Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars Warriors Two Way of the Dragon Wheels on Meals Wing Chun Winners and Sinners The Young Master Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain Documentaries edit An Introduction To Hong Kong Legends Bruce Lee The Legend amp Bruce Lee The Man and the Legend Heromakers Jackie Chan My Story My Stunts Box Sets edit Bruce Lee 30th Anniversary Commemorative The Donnie Yen Collection The Epic Action Collection The Fantasy Swordplay Collection The Jackie Chan Collection The Jackie Chan Project A Collection The Jet Li Collection The John Woo Collection Manga in Motion The Michelle Yeoh Collection The Police Story Double Disc Set Tsui Hark s Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy Release information taken from various sources including the now defunct official Hong Kong Legends website 8 IMDB 9 and online stores such as HKFlix 10 References edit Press Releases gt Egovision Elemental Communications Archived from the original on 11 October 2006 Retrieved 22 January 2010 Contender buys into DVD business C21 Media 23 February 2004 Retrieved 5 February 2024 Entertainment One Our Business Contender Entertainment Group Retrieved 16 May 2008 THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY BUILDS A DRAGON DYNASTY Press Release Movie City News Archived from the original on 16 February 2007 Retrieved 22 January 2010 Showbox Media Group About Us Archived from the original on 7 December 2008 Retrieved 16 May 2008 Deagostini Hong Kong Legends Archived from the original on 12 February 2008 Retrieved 16 May 2008 Cine Asia Presents Hong Kong Legends Press Release Retrieved 18 March 2011 Hong Kong Legends Archived from the original on 25 December 2007 Retrieved 1 September 2018 Hong Kong Legends gb Entry for film distributor IMDb Retrieved 22 January 2010 HKFlix Search results for Hong Kong Legends HKFlix Retrieved 22 January 2010 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hong Kong Legends amp oldid 1214398470, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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