A spectacular wuxia martial arts epic filled with occult secrets and sword play, but told entirely with Taiwanese budaixi glove puppets!

'My friend, I'm not sure if you're pulling me into the abyss or helping me,' muses white-maned hero Su Huan-Jen as he confronts a spectacular mystery filled with occult manuscripts, palace betrayals, kaiju-like Qilin monsters, incredibly-choreographed wuxia sword battles - all performed by puppets - in the struggle to control the Five Mountains and obtain the Limitless Celestial Book. Twenty years after directing the epic LEGEND OF THE SACRED STONE (also released by Deaf Crocodile) and building on the long-running 'PILI' TV show in Taiwan, director Chris Huang returned with this amazing fusion of traditional budaixi glove puppetry, wuxia martial arts storytelling ala CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and wildly imaginative fantasy filmmaking in the vein of AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER and THE DARK CRYSTAL. The serpentine plot revolves around the murder of the Lord of Globe Castle and Huan-Jen's quest to prove his innocence and unmask the killer, and involves (we kid you not) secrets like the Needle of Roaring Snow, puppets perspiring and spurting blood, the Seven Words Poison, lovable con men named Shark Qin and Three Dots, and priceless dialogue like 'Dumbass! You betrayed my teachings for a book!' and 'Why would Evil Brink attack the Fantastic Academy??' In other words, a pure joy from start to finish for fantasy and wuxia martial arts fans! With voice performances by Vincent Huang. In Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles.

Bonus Materials

• New video interview with director Chris Huang. (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.
• Original trailer and 6 making-of featurettes
• 'Innovation Within Tradition: How Pili and Demigod Synthesize Millenia of History' -- new visual essay by film historian Evan Chester
• Trailers for the PILI TV series “PILI FANTASY: War of Dragons” (2019), “PILI FANTASY: Doom of Dragons” (2020) and “PILI FANTASY – Doom of Dragons II” (2022).

 

Cast & Crew

Actors:

•       Vincent Huang

Director: Chris Huang

Additional Details

Label: Deaf Crocodile

Genre: Sci Fi/Fantasy

Language: Chinese (Mandarin)

Run Time: 103 mins

Region: 1

Release Date: 11/10/26

UPC: 850066568811