April 15, 2023

Arrow Video November Slate Will Have Humour And Greed

Costner’s Robin Hood, more Shaw Brothers mayhem, and a Scorsese masterpiece in UHD

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Autumn is knocking on our doors, however Arrow Video has our cooler Autumn days covered in November. A month of humour and greed with a lineup that includes the UHD debut of phenomenal rise and fall biopic starring Leonardio DiCaprio as a money-making maverick. A newly-restored 1970s possession thriller par excellence, an outstanding release of a Robin Hood box office smash hit with extras to set you a quiver, and an unmissable second instalment of an all-out Hong Kong action.

First in November, the brilliant  The Wolf of Wall Street. Few filmmakers depict greed and amorality on screen like Martin Scorsese. Thrilling, glamourous, seductive: his unflinching eye sees all and refuses to look away. Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, The Wolf of Wall Street is a monstrous masterpiece, equal parts hilarious and horrifying. Arrow Video is proud to present a director-approved 4K transfer (making its UK premiere) of this extraordinary ode to American excess, in a special edition as sleek and sharp as the Wolf himself.

November also sees the release of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, helmed by director Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld, The Count of Monte Cristo), that transforms the famous outlaw of Sherwood Forest into a movie icon fit for the 1990s. This grand, swashbuckling adventure in the classic tradition is brought to life by an all-star supporting cast, including Christian Slater (True Romance), Brian Blessed (Flash Gordon) and a memorable cameo from Sean Connery (himself a former Robin Hood), plus an instantly recognisable score by Michael Kamen (Highlander) – not to mention a chart-topping Bryan Adams theme song. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves dazzles in an all-new 4K restoration.

Also in November, the unique and hugely enjoyable Incredible But True. Quirky, deadpan humour, an absurdist eye for French social etiquette and a keen sense of the folly of existence are among the hallmarks of the oddball comedies of director Quentin Dupieux (Rubber, Deerskin, Smoking Causes Coughing), and Incredible But True is no different. An inventive and nimble tale that perfectly showcases the singular and eccentric vision that has made Dupieux the most exciting director working in France today.

Next, the supernatural thriller Audrey Rose, directed by Robert Wise (The Haunting), in a brand new 2K restoration from Arrow Films. Released in the wake of The Exorcist and The Omen, Audrey Rose is an intelligent, heartfelt drama that approaches its subject with an open mind and seriousness of intent that caught many off guard but typifies Wise’s previous genre forays (including horror classics The Curse of the Cat People and The Body Snatcher for producer Val Lewton). Sensitively played by a sterling cast at the top of their game, this underseen gem deserves a place on the shelf of any fan of classic horror.

Finally in November, Shawscope Volume Two – Picking up where Volume One left off, this sophomore collection of Hong Kong cinema classics draws together many of the best films from the final years of the Shaw Brothers studio, proving that while the end was nigh, these merchants of martial arts mayhem weren’t going to go out without a fight!

The Wolf of Wall Street 7th November
The Wolf Of Wall Street UK Artwork (arrow video)
Leonardo DiCaprio is on dazzling form in the frenetic true life tale of New York stock-broker Jordan Belfort and his rise from boiler room brokerage firm to a decadent life of obscene wealth, stratospheric drug-use, and rampant corruption. Spiralling out of control as government investigators close in, Belfort’s fall is as spectacular as his meteoric rise.

Limited Edition Blu-ray / 4K UHD 

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves 28th November
Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves Arrow Video
Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner, Waterworld) returns from the Crusades to find his father dead and vows revenge. With his Moorish companion Azeem (Morgan Freeman, Unforgiven), he joins a band of peasant rebels to do battle against the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman, Die Hard) and win the hand of the fair Maid Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, The Abyss), cousin of the absent King of England.

Limited Edition Blu-Ray / 4K UHD / Steelbook 4K UHD / Deluxe Steelbook 4K UHD

Incredible But True Blu-ray 7th November
Incredible But True Packshot
Alain (Alain Chabat, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets) and Marie (Léa Drucker, War of the Worlds) are a middle-aged bourgeois couple who move to their new house in a quiet suburb. A key feature of their new abode that the estate agent points out to them is a mysterious tunnel in the basement. Little do they realise that it will turn their lives upside down…

Audrey Rose Blu-Ray 7th November
From Audrey Rose (19770
All Bill and Jane Templeton wish for is a quiet, peaceful life with their 11-year-old daughter Ivy. But their dreams turn to nightmares as Ivy is besieged first by terrifying ‘memories’ of events that never occurred… and then by a mysterious stranger who stalks her every move, and claims that Ivy was in fact his daughter in another life.

Shawscope Volume Two On Limited Edition Blu-ray 21st November
Shawscope Volume 2 Artwork
We begin with kung fu master Lau Kar-leung’s instant classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, in which his adoptive brother Gordon Liu achieved overnight stardom as the young man who unexpectedly finds spiritual enlightenment on the path to vengeance; Lau and Liu followed the original with two comically inventive sequels, Return to the 36th Chamber and Disciples of the 36th Chamber, both included here. Already established as a genius at blending dazzling action with physical comedy, Lau himself plays the lead role in the hilarious Mad Monkey Kung Fu, coupled here with Lo Mar’s underrated Five Superfighters. Next, we once again meet Chang Cheh’s basher boy band the Venom Mob in no less than four of their best-loved team-ups: Invincible Shaolin, The Kid with the Golden Arm, Magnificent Ruffians and culminating in the all-star Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, co-starring Ti Lung and Fu Sheng. After Lau brings us perhaps his best high-kicking comedy with My Young Auntie, a playful star vehicle for his real-life muse Kara Hui, we see Shaw Brothers fully embracing Eighties excess in our strangest double feature yet: Wong Jing’s breathtakingly wild shoot-‘em-up Mercenaries from Hong Kong, and Kuei Chih-hung’s spectacularly unhinged black magic meltdown The Boxer’s Omen. Last but certainly not least, Lau Kar-leung directs the last major Shaw production, Martial Arts of Shaolin, filmed in mainland China with a hot new talent named Jet Li in the lead role; it is paired in this set with The Bare-Footed Kid, a reverent remake of a Chang Cheh classic with Johnnie To (Running Out of Time) in the director’s chair and Lau back on fight choreography duties, in arguably the ultimate filmed tribute to Shaws’ everlasting cinematic legacy.

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