Simon (Simon Rhee) wants to know why his sister was killed. This brings him into a war of fists and feet with Master Chan (Phillip Rhee), a sorcerer who has been after the ancient amulet shared by Simon and his sibling  (Arlene Montano).

This is a very simple opening paragraph that doesn’t hint at how absolutely insane this movie is. Shot in six days with no script — “Filmed Entirely on Location in Southern California” — this was directed and written by Tim Everitt and Tom Sartori, who made it with exactly thirty grand. It was probably the best money spent ever.

If you saw the cover art for this, you may expect your everyday kung fu movie. You would not be prepared for magic users who shoot chickens out of their hands. Or aliens. Or flying martial arts. Or a band resembling Devo, the clone army that fuels the evil empire. Or Susanna Hoffs (maybe, supposedly).

Simon and Phillip Rhee went on to appear in many fight scenes, but here, they had all the freedom to do whatever they wanted. They also brought their students on to punch and kick one another for less than a week. They’re not just guys off the streets. These are trained professionals ready to elevate the fight scenes in this to art, even if the budget is less than almost any movie you can find.

This is the kind of movie that has talking dogs and chickens and it’s nearly an afterthought because there’s also a fire-breathing dragon. Most movies would be satisfied with one of these things and have all the money to fully realize all of these many moments, but Furious doesn’t care. I wish that more filmmakers today didn’t care this much, that they would use the cameras in their phones and all the technology at their disposal and make something 5% as cool as this, because this is 200% better than any fighting movie you’ll watch in 4 years. Don’t make me do math.

The Visual Vengeance release is perfect, and I’m in awe of the extras Justin Decloux created for it. He’s sent me down a rabbit hole filled with American chop sockery, and for that, I can only say thank you.

This cult martial arts classic is available for the first time ever on Blu-ray with hours of new interviews and bonus features:

• Limited Edition slipcase by The Dude and a limited edition throwing star key tag
• New director-approved SD master from original tape elements
• Archival commentary with co-director Tim Everitt
• Commentary with Justin Decloux of The Important Cinema Club and Peter Kuplowsky of the Toronto International Film Festival
• High Kicking In Hollywood: Tom Sartori interview
• The Kung Fu Kid: Tim Everitt interview
• North American No-Budget Martial Arts Cinema Primer – video essay by Justin Decloux
• Rhee Brothers Career Overview – Justin Decloux video essay
• Archival Scarecrow Video Podcast with Tim Everitt (2013)
• Furious New Wave Band – behind the scenes Super 8 footage
• Scorched Earth Policy: full six song EP (1987)
• Cinema Face: live in concert (1986)
• Tom Sartori 1980s music video reel
• Tom Sartori Super 8 short films reel
• Original trailers
• Visual Vengeance trailers
• “Stick Your Own” VHS sticker set
• Reversible sleeve featuring original VHS art
• Folded mini-poster reproduction of original Furious one sheet
• 2-sided insert with alternate art

You can get this from MVD.