At least since the horror-remake wave that hit Hollywood in the early 2000s and has never really sat still since, remakes have been criticized as a trend that results from the creative minds in the dream factory slowly moving through their ( own) ) ideas. On the one hand, remakes are certainly not automatically bad or unimaginative, on the other hand it has always been part of cinema to tell familiar stories in a new way. That’s also “Black Cat”.
Director Stephen Shin’s relentless Hong Kong action thriller made its way to us many years ago, but was only released in abbreviated form on VHS and DVD. On January 27, 2023, “Black Cat” will not only be released completely uncut for the first time, but also for the first time on Blu-ray. And the HD premiere is being celebrated in style – with three strictly limited collector’s editions:
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The film will be released in three Mediabook versions, each limited to 1,000 copies, containing the film on both DVD and the new 2K master on Blu-ray. In addition, there is a 16-page booklet with exciting information about the long-unnoticed FSK-18-Actioner and bonus material on board. All three editions have the same content and differ only in their appearance.
“Nikita” by cult director Luc Besson (“Leon – The Professional”, “The Fifth Element”) narrowly missed the top score with 4.5 stars in the FILMSTARTS review, making it one of the best action films of all time. Unsurprisingly, then, after the international success of the French action hit in 1990, a battle for the rights to a new film ensued—similar to how soon after with “The Joker and the Jackpot,” which James Cameron eventually called “True.” mentioned. Lies” edited. The problem in the case of “Nikita” (which is now also available as a series): Disney secured the rights and thus stood in the way of the Hong Kong version.
However, Stephen Shin was not deterred by this and decided to continue with his take on the material. So “Black Cat” is not an official remake. However, the “Nikita” DNA cannot simply be brushed aside – even if the trade press was much less sympathetic to the new edition. Fans of brutal Hong Kong action will still get their money’s worth – especially now, with the uncut version in HD. Jade Leung (“Code name: Cobra”) in her first title role, cult mime Simon Yam (“Ip Man”, “Raging Fire”) and an equally brutal and revealing mix of action and eroticism.
And that’s what Black Cat is about: Catherine (Jade Leung) is impulsive, emotional and prone to violent outbursts. They already have a murder on their bill, but before that happens, the CIA intervenes. Now she is faced with a choice: either go to prison for life or work as a murderer for the Secret Service. She chooses freedom and is eventually trained to become the ultimate killing machine. And everything actually runs smoothly until one day she falls in love with one of her goals…