Legend of the Sacred Stone - Deluxe Edition (Blu-ray) ***Preorder*** 5/31

• Limited to 1500 units

LEGEND OF THE SACRED STONE (SHENG SHI CHUAN SHUO) – 2000, Pili International Multimedia, 99 min.  Dir. Chris Huang.  If you’ve ever dreamed of seeing a wuxia martial arts epic filled with occult secrets and black magic spells, incredibly choreographed sword fights with spinning / flying / leaping combatants, hidden tombs, lakes of fire, the eternal battle between darkness and light – but told entirely with puppets – then your wait is over!  LEGEND OF THE SACRED STONE is based on the tremendously popular Taiwanese TV show “PILI” launched in 1984 that uses traditional Chinese budaixi glove puppetry to tell amazingly elaborate wuxia stories packed with nonstop action and swordplay.  An equal mix of classic Shaw Brothers martial arts movies, THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO, TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE, and Jim Henson’s beloved THE DARK CRYSTAL, LEGEND revolves around a group of warriors of Wulin led by white-maned hero Su Huan-Jen trying to prevent Mo Kuei and his spectral assassins called "The Unkind" from gaining possession of the all-powerful Sacred Stone.  The Unkind in particular are a riot with their screechy Skeksis-like voices and unexpected sense of humor:  “We’re the most handsome men in the world!” one chortles.  Along the way you get treated to martial arts moves like Aeolian Surprise, Thunder Bars, heroes riding a flying sword like the Silver Surfer, living corpses with melting flesh – oh, and if you’ve ever wondered how a puppet bleeds, you’ll see that too.

In Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles.

Special Features:

• New video interview with director Chris Huang and members of the PILI puppeteering team.  (In Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles)

• New audio commentary by puppeteer & filmmaker Ben Wolf Page, Associate Editor of The Puppetry Journal for the Puppeteers of America

• "Puppets, Wuxia, and Spirituality: The Lore and Inspirations Behind Legend of the Sacred Stone" -- new visual essay by film historian Evan Chester (17 min.)

• “Su Huan-Jen Character Spotlight” (1987-2024, 5 min.) – a newly-edited compilation for this release showing the evolution of the character of Su Huan-Jen over the course of nearly 40 years of PILI TV

• Two original trailers for the feature (with English subtitles)

• New art by Beth Morris

Deluxe Edition Bonus Content:

• Slipcase featuring stunning new artwork by Richard Cox

• 60-page illustrated booklet

• New essay by Fantasia Festival programmer Rupert Bottenberg

• New essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central)