Miracles (奇蹟), also known as Miracles: The Canton Godfather, is an 1989 live-action theatrical Hong Kong film directed & written by Jackie Chan, and produced by Leonard Ho & Raymond Chow with distribution by Golden Harvest. The film starred Jackie Chan, Anita Mui, Gua Ah-leh, Chun Hsiung Ko, Wu Ma and Lo Lieh, with writer Edward Tang and music composed by Su Cong & Michael Lai. The film was theatrically released in June 1989 for Hong Kong.
Background:
“Set in 1930s Hong Kong, Miracles is a heart-warming martial arts comedy-drama directed by and starring Jackie Chan. The film follows Kuo Cheng-Wah, an honest but struggling young man who accidently becomes the leader of a powerful gang after a twist of fate involving a mystical rose.
Despite his new position in the underworld, Kuo remains kind-hearted and determined to help those in need. His sense of justice leads him to assist Madame Kao, an impoverished flower seller, in fulfilling her dream of diving her daughter a lavish wedding to impress her fiance’s wealthy family.
As Kuo navigates the challenges of balancing his criminal responsibilities with his good-hearted endeavours, he must also contend with rival gangs, police investigations, and a slew of comedic misunderstandings. The story crescendos in an exhilarating blend of Jackie Chan’s signature action sequences and heartfelt moments, underscoring themes of loyalty, love, and redemption.
Miracles is a charming blend of slapstick humour, dazzling stunts, and period drama, showcasing Jackie Chan at the height of his creative prowess.”
Plot Synopsis via 88 Films, April 2025.
It’s been five years since I first started picking up Jackie Chan releases from distributor 88 Films, and one of the first films I watched from my backlog were Miracles: The Canton Godfather and it was a pretty solid film with a light-hearted tone compared to the others. I watched the original Hong Kong cut in Cantonese so for many that would be the ‘Mr. Canton and Lady Rose‘ version of the film. The story is based on two of Frank Capra’s films; Lady for a Day (1933) and Pocketful of Miracles (1961), both of which were also based on Damon Runyon’s 1929 short story “Madame La Gimp“.
Jackie Chan is one of Hong Kong’s biggest stars and one that has managed to break through into the Hollywood scene, so we saw a lot of his films released in the UK as far back as the VHS era. The version that was released over here in the UK was called Miracles, distributed by both Video Programme Dists Ltd and MIA Video Entertainment Ltd for VHS in 1990, and it was given a 15, which was a pretty common rating for the martial art themed films. Eventually it was re-rated as PG over time.
The license eventually shifted over to distributor Hong Kong Legends for a DVD release from 2001, and then 88 Films for a Blu-ray release from 2019. 2019 was also around the time that 88 Films started to put more work on their releases, with better authoring, packaging and content which included the latest restorations and cuts whenever possible. Now in 2025, six years after the UK Blu-ray release, Miracles: The Canton Godfather is back for the 4K Ultra HD format, which works because the film already received a 4K restoration with the previous Blu-ray release.
Deluxe Limited Edition Contents:
So 88 Films have different names for their special editions and here they have given Miracles the ‘deluxe limited edition’ treatment which offers as much as their deluxe collector’s edition sets in the past. The film has received a first print edition when it was first released in the UK on Blu-ray, but here there’s more to the package.
This deluxe limited edition release is presented with a rigid slipcase containing a 4K amaray case housing the discs and art cards, a double-sided poster and an 80-page illustrated booklet featuring new and archived articles. The articles covered are ‘Jackie Chan Stunt Team: Miracles on Set’ by William Blaik (Fighting Spirit Film Festival), ‘Mr. Chan and a Fork in the Road: A Look at Miracles’ Decisive Role in Jackie Chan’s Career’ by Paul Bramhall, and ‘Something to Prove: Frank Capra, Lion Rock Spirit and Jackie Chan’s Miracles’ by David West.
The box art is clean with no ratings/information on all sides, with a sheet to cover the synopsis, information about the release and any ratings and specs. The artwork on the Amaray cases (both covers) do include information and specs on the back but there’s no BBFC logos. The deluxe limited edition 4K Ultra HD release retailed for £34.99 SRP, and the previously released Blu-ray (which was also based on a 4K restoration) from a years ago is still available. A standard edition 4K Ultra HD release will likely appear once this deluxe limited edition sells out.
I pre-ordered this release alongside a couple of their other new titles from April’s slate as soon as they were made available to order on their online store.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Slipcase with brand-new art by Sam Green
- 4K Amaray case packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC rating details
- Double-sided foldout poster
- 6 Artcards
- 80-page illustrated book featuring new and archive articles by David West, Paul Bramhall & William Blaik.
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: 88 Films
Released: 21st April 2025
The deluxe limited edition release for Miracles: The Canton Godfather contains the film on a single 4K Ultra HD disc and a single Blu-ray disc. All the discs were encoded and authored by Fidelity in Motion on behalf of 88 Films.
This release features two versions of the film; the 127 min Original Hong Kong cut (known as Mr Canton & Lady Rose) in Cantonese audio with newly-translated English subtitles and the classic English dub, and the 107 min International cut (known as Miracles aka Black Dragon) in English audio (using the classic English dub) with English SDH subtitles, both using a ‘brand-new’ 4K restoration from the Original Camera Negative.
Various remastered soundtracks are also included; Original Cantonese Mono, Alternative Cantonese Mono that features a unique mix and different music cues, and Home Video Mix Cantonese Mono.
The 4K Ultra HD release features Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback and the 4K Ultra HD disc is playable to 4K players of any region. The regions for the Blu-ray disc however is locked to players set to B.
4K Ultra HD Specs (Main Feature Film):
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Original Hong Kong Cut: Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese Mono (Alternative) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese Mono (Home Video Mix) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 International (Export) Cut: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 2.35:1 aspect ratio Dolby Vision HDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-100 |
Blu-ray Specs (Main Feature Film + Extras):
| Languages | Cantonese, English |
| Audio | Original Hong Kong Cut: Cantonese Mono DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese Mono (Alternative) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese Mono (Home Video Mix) DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Cantonese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 International (Export) Cut: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition format 2.35:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 1 BD-50 |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto (HK version)
- Hong Kong Trailer (04:19 runtime)
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
- Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng and F.J. DeSanto (HK version)
- Jackie Chan – Film Director (10:32 runtime)
- Excerpts from the Taiwanese Version (10:38 runtime)
- Hong Kong Teaser (04:18 runtime)
- Hong Kong Trailer (04:19 runtime)
- English Trailer (02:20 runtime)
- Japanese Trailer (01:32 runtime)
- Japanese TV Spot (00:18 runtime)
- Stills Gallery (00:23 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Miracles: The Canton Godfather is available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray by 88 Films in the United Kingdom.
The deluxe limited edition 4K Ultra HD release can be purchased across different retailers including 88 Films, Amazon UK, HMV, Terracotta Distribution and Zavvi.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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