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Ah To (Gordo Liu) has a problem. His wealthy father has set up an arranged marriage between him and the daughter of one of Pop's Japanese business counterparts. He hasn't seen Kung Zi (Yuko Mizuno) since he was a child, yet when she finally arrives for their first meeting as adults, Ah To is extremely pleased to learn that Kung Zi has filled out quite nicely in the intervening years. The two tie the knot (Kung Zi creating a stir -- inadvertently? -- by wearing white to the wedding, the traditional color of death in China) and adapt to married life swimmingly... at first. For you see, Kung Zi wishes to continue honing her Japanese fighting skills, despite her new husband's well-intentioned but firm insistence that she start learning the traditional Chinese martial arts. Kung Zi and Ah To then enter into a heated series of arguments, their verbal sparring blossoming into a series of physical tests with Kung Zi pitting her skills with Japanese weapons and fighting styles against Ah To's Chinese moves and devices.
Eventually, Kung Zi has had enough of her husband's thoughtless dismissal of her way of practicing the martial arts, and she leaves him to return to her father's side in Japan. Ah To's father chases after her in an attempt to save their fraying marriage, but when Ah To's bungling manservant (Cheng Hong-Yip) convinces him to write a letter to Kung Zi challenging her to a final duel to determine who's martial arts skills are superior, Kung Zi's former sensei -- and romantic interest -- Sanzo (Yasuaki Kurata) ends up intercepting the letter. Taking Ah To's challenge (as well as his thoughtless treatment of Kung Zi) as a personal affront to all of Japan, Sanzo rounds up a "Magnificent Eight" gang of superior Japanese martial artists and weapons masters, and the gang travel to Ah To's doorstep in China, looking to take him up on his offer.
 Ah To tries to reason with Sanzo that his letter was misinterpreted, but then makes another cultural faux pas when he refuses to take the Katana sword humbly offered to him by one of Sanzo's fellow warriors after he loses a swordplay bout with Ah To. Enraged even further, Sanzo throws down the gauntlet, challenging Ah To to a series of bouts with the remaining combatants -- one a day -- wherein Ah To must match his Chinese fighting styles and weapons against their Japanese counterparts (three-chambered staff vs. nunchaku, drunken boxing vs. karate, butterfly swords vs. sais, etc.). Not wanting to lose face for both both himself and his country, Ah To reluctantly agrees, setting up a series of matches that will stretch his Chinese skills to the breaking point.
Heroes Of The East reunites Gordon Liu with director Lau Kar-Leung, who previously directed him in the Shaw Bros. classic The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin. Unlike a lot of the Shaw Bros. films being produced at the time, Heroes is actually a rather bloodless affair. There are no deaths, no hyper-bloodletting, just a mixture of amusing marital conflicts and superior tests of martial arts skills. The early scenes with Liu and Mizuno have a charmingly screwball feel to them, and the two actors' sparring matches, both verbal and physical, attain a domicile-smashing, War Of The Roses-like comic grandiosity. It's actually rather unfortunate that their fractured relationship is put on the back burner once Ah To begins his series of matches with his Japanese opponents. Once the final match reaches its conclusion, so does the film (rather abruptly), and we're denied a denouement detailing whether or not Ah To and Kung Zi manage to mend their broken marriage.
 Then again, many action fans will probably prefer it when Liu switches from marriage counseling to ass-kicking, his astoundingly lithe physicality matched perfectly to the film's elaborate fight choreography. There's a clever bit with Liu defeating a much larger foe in a bout of Judo grappling by greasing up his toned body so his opponent can't get an adequate grip (a gag referenced by Jason Statham in the first Transporter flick), and a scene where he learns the ins and outs of Drunken Boxing from an inebriated master (played by director Kar-Leung) features some great slapstick. Heroes Of The East is a must for fans of the old Shaw Bros. films. Hai-KEEBA!
 Presentation
Dragon Dynasty always pulls out all the stops on the presentation level, and Heroes Of The East looks as excellent as a thirty-year-old Hong Kong actioner can. The colorful, Shawscope transfer puts to shame the blurry, often pan & scan versions released on on VHS, laserdisc and earlier DVDs, with detail as razor-sharp as the films edged weapons. The soundtrack (in Mandarin, Cantonese and English mono) fares less impressively, with that tinny quality familiar from the period (especially with the film's musical score), yet that's just part of the charm, with all the twacking of wood, clanging of steel blades, and sounds of exertion coming across nicely.
Extras
An audio commentary with Hong Kong expert Bey Logan is first up, and like all of the tracks he's provided for various Dragon Dynasty titles, it's excellent, filled with personal anecdotes (like how the first VHS release of the film he saw in London during his youth edited out the entire "nunchuks vs. three-chambered staff" fight!), thoughtful examinations of the film's themes of China vs. Japan, and pointing out countless supporting actors and other films they appeared in.
Spotlight On A Legend: A Tribute To Celebrated Martial Arts Icon Lau Kar-Leung By Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan (36:08) offers more thoughts from Logan waxing rhapsodic about Kar-Leung's career in general and Heroes Of The East in particular. Some information from his commentary is repeated, but this is still a fine featurette.
 Hero Of Shaolin: An Exclusive Interview With Leading Man Gordon Liu (22:13) has the film's protagonist (who American audiences will likely recognize from his roles in the two halves of Quentin Tarantino's loving Shaw Bros. homage Kill Bill, playing the Kato mask-sporting "Crazy 88s" ringleader Johnny Mo in Volume One and the Bride's cackling, beard-stroking mentor Pai Mei in Volume Two) discussing (in Cantonese) his career, the sparing use of stuntmen in the film (mostly for high jumps), how contemporary action filmmakers rely too much on fancy editing and computer graphics to hide their lack of "hands-on" martial arts skills, and other topics. It's a fine, probing chat with one of the legends of the genre.
Shaolin vs. Ninja: An Exploration Of The Legendary Martial Arts Weapon Forms Of China & Japan (26:10) has cutie-pie Kea Wong hosting an examination of several of the weapons and fighting styles utilized in the film.
Lastly, the Trailer Gallery offers the theatrical trailers for Heroes Of The East (4:17) and another concurrent Dragon Dynasty release, Come Drink With Me (3:49), both with optional subtitles. Before the main menu boots up, there are also ads for the Shaw Brothers Collection, John Woo's Last Hurrah For Chivalry, and Flash Point with Donnie Yen.
Bottom Line
Funny, fast-paced, and beautifully choreographed, Heroes Of The East offers some superior Kung-Fu Fightin'.
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