In the Hong Kong film pantheon, Kirk Wong's debut work The Club is considered an indispensable link between the oldschool martial arts bangers of the seventies and the John Woo-influenced heroic bloodshed gangster epics of the eighties and early nineties. The raw, neon-lit and almost documentary-style images tell the story of the triad henchman Ah Sai - played by Michael Chan Wai-Man. He has to compete with all kinds of hostile gangsters who are in a bitter power struggle for the nightclub run by Sai's boss. At the same time, Sai is allowed to sleep with his maid - a Japanese escort girl, played by Pinku Eiga starlet Erina Miyai (Zoom In: Rape Apartments) - and a loudmouthed pimp gets his car taken apart and avenges the murder of his boss, after he has been cut to pieces by two assassins with outboard motors (!).

Instead of hyper-stylized shooting orgies like the gun-fu blood operas of the coming years, the battles in The Club are fought exclusively with fists, knives, swords, axes, hammers, fans and even outboard motors. Among the actors are numerous legendary kung fu stars from Shaw Brothers' days, including Norman Tsui Siu-Keung, "Foot Doctor" Wilson Tong or Philip Ko (star of the breathtaking Shaw cult film The Boxer's Omen), who died too young in 2017. The real star is of course Michael Chan Wai-Man, who in the Cinema Of Vengeance interview described The Club wholeheartedly as "the best gangster movie ever made in Hong Kong". The man must know, because it's no secret that Chan himself is a member of the triads. Even today, Chan still likes to tell about his gangster life in the then so wicked district Tsim Sha Tsui, where The Club was filmed, in interviews. For director Kirk Wong - who immediately afterwards directed the cult cyberpunk hit Flash Future Kung Fu - The Club became a career launching pad, which even led him to Hollywood.

Even though the tough triad-smasher is considered a milestone and pioneer work for Hong Kong cinema, the current situation is a real tragedy. The last official home video release was about 25 years ago. The film never made it onto DVD - let alone Blu-ray. What's even worse: Each of the versions we have at hand has different flaws, none of them can be described as really uncut. Towards the end of the movie, all available versions contain curious cuts on archive pictures of police operations during a violent scene (Sai stabs an enemy gangster boss). Whether this is intentional or censorship, we can't say. Also the legal situation around the used songs seems to be problematic: As it is not unusual for Hong Kong productions from that time, The Club cheerfully used soundtracks from other movies and contemporary rock songs. Most of them already had to be removed on the English Ocean Shores VHS, so it's questionable if the original sound could be released today without any problems and without a lawyer's letter from RIAA and Co. Whether this film will ever be released again - let alone uncensored, with original soundtrack and in acceptable quality - is up in the air.

An urgent request:
We are still looking for comparative material! In addition to the Eastern Heroes VHS discussed here, Eastern Heroes has released a cassette marked "Full Uncut Version" in their Gods Gamblers & Gangsters Collection. Here, it would be interesting to compare whether the tape actually contains a different version or if it is just the same cassette with a new cover design. Also, the subtitled VHS released by Ocean Shores in Hong Kong is not available to us yet.
If you are in possession of one of these versions, please contact us in the comments or via e-mail! Thanks a lot!

This comparison is based on the shortened Hong Kong Laserdisc by Ocean Shores and the likewise shortened British VHS by Eastern Heroes. Furthermore, these two versions were compared with the English VHS by Ocean Shores and the VCD by Film City Distribution. Since each of these versions contains scenes that are not included in any of the other versions mentioned, this material is marked RED in the report.

The Eastern Heroes VHS is missing 242.6 seconds compared to the Ocean Shores Laserdisc. The laserdisc is missing is missing: 5 scenes (= 49.7 seconds, 19.8 seconds of which are company logos) compared to the Eastern Heroes VHS.

0:00
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
The Eastern Heroes VHS is the only available comparative version containing the original Verdull company logo.
19.8 sec

3:29
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
Other title insertion. The Eastern Heroes VHS is the only available comparative version that contains the - presumed - original title insertion.
No time difference

BBFC 18	Hong Kong LD

4:18
Great: On the laserdisc you get copyright notices smeared across the image for a few seconds.
No time difference, the fade-in is visible for 12.9 seconds

BBFC 18	Hong Kong LD

4:32
And because it was so beautiful, the company's own seahorse logo is on top of it.
No time difference, the overlay is visible for 9.9 seconds

BBFC 18	Hong Kong LD

18:10
Two western strippers offer a rather tired show. But the audience seems to like it. This scene is also not complete on the laserdisc - some full frontal nudity is missing when the strippers briefly get up. This scene can be seen without sound at the end of the Eastern Heroes tape - funny enough without the full frontal nudity censorship.
101.9 sec

20:21
Once again the stripper, then you see two of Sai's people talking (a very badly set cut, because you see the latter shot for a split second).
12.3 sec

43:11
A taxi drives through the night, then sex between Sai and Jenny.
14.7 sec

46:55
Some remaining frames in which Deep Throat Shing penetrates Brother Hon indicate that there is more missing at this point. These shots can only be seen on the laserdisc.
8 Frames

46:55
Plater Kuen and Deep Throat Shing continue to perforate Brother Hon with outboard engines. Hon takes flight.
5 sec

47:35
Sai and Jenny in the shower.
4.5 sec

47:35
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
Jenny's fixing her hair. This short scene is not included in any other version.
3.8 sec

51:24
It seems that some material got lost during the reel change: Two cars park in front of the club. Some frames of the following shot are also missing at the beginning.
16.7 sec

52:52
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
The elevator displays are missing on the Laserdisc.
4.3 sec

52:56
Again the seahorse logo on the LD. Who wants to use bootlegs anymore?
No time difference, the overlay is visible for 12.8 seconds

1:06:58
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
Plater Kuen presses Ah Kun's head into a toilet bowl. At the beginning the line " Here, wash them down." can be read although nothing is said. What is meant by "them" is not clear either. This suggests that more has been cut here in all versions.
17.5 sec

1:10:33
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
Deep Throat Shing and his men are pursuing Michiko.
4.3 sec

1:15:07
Additional material: Eastern Heroes
After the latest hits from Van Halen to Fleetwood Mac to Tangerine Dream were cheerfully plundered onto the Kanto audio track, a turgid cantopop song of all things had to be deleted from the audio track on the Laserdisc and replaced by legally harmless karaoke. The Eastern Heroes tape is the only version known to us that contains the original song.
No time difference, there is 106,8 sec. of different music to listen to

1:15:38
Michiko takes off her clothes.
27.8 sec

1:16:05
Michiko prepares the bed and lies down.
20.4 sec

1:16:26
Sai gets into bed with Michiko. This short sex scene is not included in any other version.
39 sec

1:25:06
The end fade-in runs a bit longer on LD, but the music is turned off earlier than on the Eastern Heroes VHS.
No time difference

On the Eastern Heroes, a soundless montage of some film scenes is now running for 2:44 minutes, although some - but by no means all! - of the scenes censored in the main movie are included.