Cast: Angela Mao, Ying Bai, George Lazenby, Carter Wong, Sammo Hung, Sing Chen Review by Colin Dibben
The Angry River, Stoner, The Tournament and The Himalayan are all written and directed by Huang Feng, who may not be known for signature film making high kicks, but who rings the changes on film styles as the early 70s turns into the mid-70s. As a writer, too, he keeps the tropes fresh, being especially good at villains and the piling on of the heroine’s troubles.
There is the King Hu style feudal swordplay of The Angry River; the psychedelic contemporary cop action of Stoner; the hardnosed Thai boxing theme of The Tournament (also set in the 1970s), and the exotic locations of Nepal for a full-throated historical conspiracy-and-revenge thriller in The Himalayan.
Given how male-centred Hong Kong martial arts cinema was at the time, it is interesting just how much of a lead protagonist Mao is in each film. This is especially true when she is the hero on an almost mythical quest in The Angry River, and as the woman who stands up to both weaker male Chinese kung fu artists and Thai boxers in The Tournament. Just watch her face set hard before the action begins: she is The Boss in these films.
Angela Mao was known as the female Bruce Lee and although their screen presences are very different, it is amazing how – in a similar fashion – the screen lights up and the frame is energised whenever Mao steps in or kicks off. She does not have the physical size of Lee – you see how small she is relative to the men with whom she shares the screen – so I guess it is her energy. Indeed, she is a strong ‘reactive and resolute’ actor, visibly responding to what is going on around her and then initiating action; whereas some of the character actors’ faces tend to the mask-like as they gurn and laugh humourlessly. Having beautiful eyes helps too!
Despite dissing the other actors, there is sterling work here from some of the villains, especially Sing Chen and the late Ying Bai, not to mention Sammo Hung, who also worked on fight choreography.
There are some wonky special effects in The Angry River and, until Angela starts laying into perps and drug-dealing scumbags, Stoner is surreally bad. What was George Lazenby thinking? “Where’s the paycheck?”, I imagine. But we all love the right kind of bad, correct? Here, it definitely adds to the charm of this set.
All four films are presented in 1080p from new 2K restorations. Stoner is presented in both its original Hong Kong theatrical version and an alternate English dubbed export version.
Limited edition (2000 copies) special features include:
- O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Chris Malbon
- Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the life and career of Angela Mao by Hong Kong cinema expert Camille Zaurin
The Blu-rays themselves feature:
- Original Mandarin mono audio
- Optional English dub tracks
- Optional English subtitles, newly translated for this release
- New audio commentary on the theatrical cut of Stoner by film critic James Oliver
- New audio commentary on the export cut of Stoner by action cinema expert Arne Venema and filmmaker Domting
- New audio commentaries on The Angry River, The Tournament and The Himalayan by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
- Huang Tough – new interview with martial arts scholar Wayne Wong on writer, director, producer, actor and frequent Angela Mao collaborator Huang Feng
Reap the Whirlwind is out on Blu-ray on 24 August 2026 from Eureka Classics.
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