Home Theater Highlight for Action Fans: Martial Arts Hit Starring Donnie Yen & Michelle Yeoh Releases Blu-ray for the First Time

Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen have been in-demand action stars in Hollywood for several years now – but their global popularity has recently taken a big leap with “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and “John Wick 4”. However, long before they broke through in the dream factory, the two action fans delivered plenty of spectacular, acrobatic and brutal hits that are relatively unknown to this day. A real genre jewel, for which the two even appear together in front of the camera, is now about to finally get more attention:

“Wing Chun – Dangerous as a panther cat‘ starring Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen will first be released on Blu-ray on November 3, 2023 – thus celebrating its long-awaited return to home cinema. The film was re-released shortly after the turn of the millennium in 2008 after its DVD premiere, but even the re-release has not been available in the third market for some time. Now the movie is finally making a comeback – and showing up at the same time for the first time in HD, of course completely uncut:

At least For the author of this article, a long cherished wish has come true. For him, “Wing Chun” is not only one of the best martial arts movies of the 90s, but also clearly the strongest collaboration between Yeoh and Yen. – known to have also played side-by-side in Netflix’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, and in The Power of the Sword. The Blu-ray is therefore an absolute must-have for him. The only question is which version. In addition to the above variant, the film will also appear with one alternative covers*.

Old School Martial Arts Extravaganza: This is “Wing Chun”

At the center of the story is veteran fighter Wing Chun (Michelle Yeoh), whose small village is regularly plagued by a gang of thieves. But enough is enough: the young woman no longer wants to tolerate the exploitation and oppression – and decides to declare war on the criminals.

“Wing Chun” lives mainly from its spectacular fight scenes, which not only Yeoh and Yen, but especially the director Yuen Woo Ping are due to – one of the most influential figures of martial arts cinema. Not only did he celebrate his debut with the Jackie Chan classics “The Serpent in the Shadow of the Eagle” and “Drunken Master” aka “They Called Him Bone Crusher”, but over the course of his 50+ year career – Hits responsible.

His incomparable style of choreography and capturing fights with the ease of dancing has also earned him numerous engagements in Hollywood: The impressive hand-to-hand combat in “Matrix” And “Kill Bill“We owe that mainly to Yuen Woo-Ping.

Which of course, in Wing Chun’s case, also helped capture action on film that still amazes three decades later: Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen were at their physical best at that time (mid-90s). You notice that in every action scene where the two throw fists, swing swords or zoom through the air. But even though the film is based on a certain amount of brute force, you shouldn’t be prepared for a hard tear. “Wing Chun” is an over-the-top cracker that’s mainly meant to be fun – with a mix of action and comedy.

This is Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen

Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen are among Hong Kong’s biggest action stars. Yeoh had her breakout starring with Jackie Chan in the ’80s and ’90s before gaining international fame for her roles in Oscar-winning ‘Tiger & Dragon’ and ‘The Geisha’. She’s now part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (in two different roles!) and is also a crowd pleaser of Star Trek: Discovery, which is now even getting its own offshoot of the series.

Yen has stood for masterful martial arts cinema such as “Iron Monkey” (also by Yuen Woo-Ping) since the 1990s, but only took the international film world by storm in the 2000s – with roles in “Blade II”, “Hero” and “ Shanghai Knights” alongside Jackie Chan. Today, the almost 60-year-old martial arts ace is best known for the series “Ip Man” about Bruce Lee’s mentor and of course as the blind assassin from “John Wick 4“.