The tenth movie, co-directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, this is the story of Big (Andy Lau), a man who has become a bodybuilder and exotic dancer after turning his back on his life as a Buddhist monk when he was overcome by his ability to see past lives and how karma can play into peoples’ current existence. After he meets a cop named Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung), he decides to use his ability to help her solve a murder but worries that he will see too much when he looks into her many lives.

In Love On a Diet, Lau wore a suit to look overweight. Here, he has on a muscle suit that makes him look filled with growth hormone. Yet once you get past that special effect, this is quite a special film that presents the nature of karma and that we must come to terms with not only the path in this life but in all of our former lives to achieve balance. If this were a Western film, the end of the movie would not be so upsetting and put Big through so much, yet it is through this journey that he finally finds peace and gets past the artificial world that he now lives in, a place where he tries to forget all that he can see and do. That said, when this was released in mainland China, it was cut to pieces and lost much of what makes it perfect.

Available for the first time on Blu-ray outside of Asia, this Eureka! release has extras such as a limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Time Tomorrow; two audio commentary tracks (one by East Asian film experts Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto and another by Djeng going it alone); a new interview with Gary Bettinson, editor-in-chief of Asian Cinema Journal; a making-of featurette; a trailer and a collector’s booklet featuring a new essay by David West of NEO Magazine. You can order Running On Karma from MVD.