Shawscope: Volume Two (Blu-ray Review – Part 1)

• Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
• Review Date: Dec 09, 2024
• Format: Blu-ray Disc
• 

Director

Various

Release Date(s)

Various (December 6, 2022)

Studio(s)

Shaw Bros Studio/Celestial Pictures (Arrow Video)

• Film/Program Grade: See Below
• Video Grade: See Below
• Audio Grade: See Below
• Extras Grade: A+
• Overall Grade: A+

Review

From the mid-1960s and through to the early 1980s and beyond, the Hong Kong-based Shaw Brothers Studio ruled the roost when it came to martial arts cinema. Producing a number of successful films that traveled all over the world, particularly to the US, Britain, and Europe, their brand of extreme hand-to-hand combat films entertained audiences under a myriad of different titles and in various languages. Today, they’re still beloved to genre fans, particularly to those who grew up seeing these films in grindhouse cinemas or repeatedly on television.

Arrow Video presents twelve of these films, encapsulating the Shawscope: Volume Two Blu-ray boxed set, a massive and beautifully-rendered release. It’s loaded with an amazing amount of extras per film in gorgeous packaging with an accompanying booklet, making it a massive undertaking for a single review. Because of its size, I’ll be covering this release one disc at a time, updating this review of the entire set over time to go over it in better detail.

Below, you’ll find quick links that will take you to reviews of Discs 1 through 5:

(Click Below to Jump to Individual Disc/Film Reviews):

DISC ONE: THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN

DISC TWO: RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER

DISC TWO: DISCIPLES OF THE 36TH CHAMBER

DISC THREE: MAD MONKEY KUNG FU

DISC THREE: FIVE SUPERFIGHTERS

DISC FOUR: INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN

DISC FOUR: THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM

DISC FIVE: MAGNIFICENT RUFFIANS

DISC FIVE: TEN TIGERS FROM KWANGTUNG

DISC ONE (THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN)

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (aka Shao Lin san shi liu fang, Master Killer, Shaolin Master Killer) was released in Hong Kong in 1978 and in the US in 1979 by World Northal, and is often cited as one of the best that the martial arts film genre has to offer. In the story, Liu Yude (Gordon Liu) escapes his once peaceful village after it comes under the deadly rule of General Tien Ta (Lo Lieh). He makes his way to a Shaolin temple, where he hopes to learn the ways of kung fu and return to avenge his friends and family, as well as liberate them from tyranny. He spends several years faithfully studying kung fu in all 35 chambers of training, becoming the monk known as San De. Upon the completion of his training, he seeks to create a 36th chamber, dedicated to training the common man in how to defend himself and returning to his village to help those in need.

Though many martial arts films before and after The 36th Chamber of Shaolin feature similar plots, Shaolin stands above them as it not only makes the extended training more important than the setup or the outcome, not to mention much more engaging and fascinating to watch, but it also excels at superb fight choreography mixed with camera movement. We follow Liu Yude’s transformation into San De (or San Te, according to Chinese history) with great exhilaration, and we want to see him to succeed. Yet in the end, it’s less about revenge and more about self-discipline and compassion, which is more in tune with Buddhist morality than other incarnations of this type of story. They all end in bloodshed, but San De is more concerned with aiding the oppressed. As a result, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was a massive box office hit and led to two sequels, firmly asserting Shaw Brothers Studio as the all-time king of martial arts cinema.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was shot by director of photography Huang Yeh-tai on 35mm film with anamorphic (Shawscope) lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Arrow Video presents the film in a 2020 4K restoration by Celestial Pictures and L’Immagine Ritrovata, with additional grading by R3Store Studios, London in 2022. The picture appears to mostly be sourced from the original camera negative, though there are moments when it appears that other sources might have been used to make it more complete. It’s a slightly soft but organic presentation with mild grain and a healthy bitrate. Occasional artifacts crop up, but nothing overly intrusive. Detail is high with decent contrast and excellent color. Blacks are mostly deep, but they can appear slightly gray from time to time. The image is otherwise stable and clean.

Audio is included in Mandarin or Cantonese 1.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional English subtitles, or English 1.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. The Mandarin track is the clear winner as it’s the cleanest and clearest with good support for the various elements, and more even keeled than the other tracks. It’s also the best option in terms of performance. The Cantonese track is much thinner, but still a fine alternative. The English dub is the poorest of the three, not necessarily in terms of performance which is better than most, but it seems to be from a lesser quality source. It’s a decent enough track, but it has an overly-cleaned up, mechanical quality. All three tracks are free of any leftover hiss or dropouts.

The following extras are included:

• Audio Commentary by Travis Crawford
• Scene Select Commentary by Tony Rayns (HD – 74:00)
• Master Killer: An Interview With Gordon Liu (HD – 20:51)
• Kung Fu Cinematographer: An Interview With Arthur Wong (HD – 28:34)
• Shaolin: A Hero’s Birthplace – The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Upscaled SD – 16:02)
• Elegant Trails: Gordon Liu (Upscaled SD – 6:23)
• Tiger Style: The Musical Impact of Martial Arts Cinema (HD – 37:22)
• Cinema Hong Kong: Swordfighting (SD – 50:21)
• Master Killer Alternate English Credits (Upscaled SD – 3:16)
• Trailer Gallery:
  • Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer (Mandarin) (HD – 3:54)
  • Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer (English) (HD – 3:54)
  • Master Killer US TV Spot (HD – :32)
  • Die 36 Kammern der Shaolin German Theatrical Trailer (HD – 2:36)
  • Digital Reissue Trailer (HD – 1:08)
• Image Gallery (HD – 62 in all)
• Easter Egg (HD and SD – :27)

The late film journalist Travis Crawford delivers another excellent audio commentary, discussing many aspects of the film, including its cast and crew, the era in which it was made, the state of Shaw Brothers at the time of the film’s release, and an analyzation of the film’s quality. Film critic and historian Tony Rayns then follows with his terrific audio commentary, which doesn’t run the entire length of the film, but instead focuses on seventy-four minutes of it, delving into the film’s director, its cast, its content, how it relates to other Shaw Brothers projects, and its release history. In Master Killer, Gordon Liu (Sin Kam-hei) is interviewed in 2003 discussing his background in martial arts and his career in film. In Kung Fu Cinematographer, Arthur Wong is interviewed in 2006 and also talks about his background and career at length. Elegant Trails is a 2003 profile on Gordon Liu, while Tiger Style is a newly-filmed interview with music historian Lovely Jon about about the influence of Shaw Brothers on various genres of music. Cinema Hong Kong: Swordfighting is the second part of a three-part documentary featuring interviews with Shao-Peng Chen, Cheng Pei-Pei, David Chiang, Chin Tsi-Ang, Chu Yuan, Sammo Hung, Gordon Liu, Lau Kar-Leung, Wai Ying-Hung, Dr. Ng Ho, Chan Siu-Pang, Terry Tong, and Tsu Chung-Hok. Next are a set of Alternate English Credits with the Master Killer title, and a Trailer Gallery featuring the film’s Hong Kong trailers in Mandarin or English, the US TV spot, a German trailer, and a reissue trailer. The Image Gallery contains 62 images of color and black and white promotional stills, posters, lobby cards, and home video artwork. The Easter Egg can be found by pressing right on your remote control when Alternate English Credits is highlighted, revealing a standard definition outtake of San De headbutting sandbags, which is not included in the main presentation.

THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO/EXTRAS): A/B+/A-/A+

DISC TWO (RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER)

Return to the 36th Chamber (aka Shao Lin ta peng hsiao tzu, Return of the Master Killer, and Master Killer II) was released in Hong Kong in 1980 and in the US in 1982 by World Northal. The second film contains a completely new story and characters, with Gordon Liu returning in the central role of Chu Jen-chieh, a down-on-his-luck con man who’s recruited by fabric dye mill employees to frighten their Manchurian rulers into restoring their recently cut wages by posing as the legendary monk San De. He ultimately fails and leaves the village, vowing to learn martial arts at the Shaolin temple by sneaking in and pretending to be one of them. He’s quickly found out by the real San De, who instructs to build scaffolding around the temple for renovation, but not to take part in the temple’s training. Jen-chieh mostly follows these orders, but manages to learn kung fu by observing from above and incorporating the training into his work. Once the scaffolding is complete, San De sends Jen-chieh away, unaware that San De has actually overseen his training without him knowing it. He returns to his village and quickly discovers his new skills, once again taking on the tyrannical overlords, demanding they hand over their wealth to the workers.

Though director Lau Kar-leung was initially against the idea of making a sequel, he was eventually pressured into doing so, opting to make a more comedic version of what is essentially the same story. Most dismiss the second film because of this, but I’ve found that once you get over that initial setup, it’s much easier to digest. That said, the film isn’t nearly as interesting or as captivating as its predecessor, at least at first. Indeed, it doesn’t get all that intriguing until nearly an hour in when Chu Jen-chieh (or Zhou Renjie as he’s identified in the Cantonese/Mandarin subtitles) unwittingly begins his training, before barreling towards another show-stopping climax. Interestingly, like the first film, he doesn’t come back for revenge, but merely to aid those who are oppressed, which in a way, makes him more of Buddhist monk than even he realizes. Return to the 36th Chamber was a hit upon release, but it wasn’t nearly the juggernaut that the previous film was. Many dislike it today because it takes such radical left turns in relation to the awe-inspiring first film, but it its own set of charms, even if they’re not as quantifiable comparatively.

Return to the 36th Chamber was shot by director of photography Chi-Chun Ao (Peter Ngor) on 35mm film with anamorphic (Shawscope) lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Arrow Video presents the film from a restoration carried out by Celestial Pictures between 2003 and 2007. The opening and closing titles have been re-created digitally, and the footage used during the titles lacks some of the depth of the rest of the footage, which appears to be from the original camera negative. It’s another excellent presentation, but a minor step down from the first film. It carries the same healthy bitrate and appears organic to its source (outside of the title re-creations, of course). Speckling and minor negative damage is more visible, but it’s infrequent. Fine detail is high with nice contrast and color reproduction, and like the first film, features black levels that are mostly deep, with only occasional instances of slightly gray backgrounds during nighttime scenes. It’s not perfect, but it’s quite enjoyable.

Audio is included in Cantonese or Mandarin 1.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional English subtitles, or English 1.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. The Cantonese track is the main option and offers the cleanest and clearest experience with plenty of support for score and sound effects. The Mandarin track is a bit thinner by comparison, but similar in most ways otherwise. The English track, by far the least in terms of performance, also sounds overly-cleaned up, lacking any depth in the various elements. No matter what option is chosen, all three are clean and lack any leftover instances of hiss or dropouts.

The following extras are included:

• For a Few Chambers More: An Interview with Gordon Liu (HD – 14:50)
• Citizen Shaw (Upscaled SD – 57:42)
• Hero on the Scaffolding (Upscaled SD – 14:40)
• Alternate Opening Credits:
  • Hong Kong Theatrical Credits (HD – 1:32)
  • Alternate English Title Sequence (Upscaled SD – 1:45)
• Trailer Gallery:
  • Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer (Upscaled SD – 3:21)
  • Digital Reissue Trailer (HD – 1:12)
• Image Gallery (HD – 52 in all)

In For a Few Chambers More, Gordon Liu (Sin Kam-hei) is once again interviewed in 2003, going over the second and third Chamber films. Citizen Shaw is a 1980 French TV documentary about Shaw Brothers, featuring footage of the studio itself and behind-the-scenes moments on Return to the 36th Chamber. Hero on the Scaffolding examines the martial arts techniques in the film. Also included are the film’s original Hong Kong Theatrical Credits and an Alternate English Title Sequence, both bearing the same title of Return to the 36th Chamber. Next is a Trailer Gallery featuring the film’s Hong Kong trailer and a reissue trailer, as well as an Image Gallery containing 52 images of production photos, posters, lobby cards, and home video artwork.

RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO/EXTRAS): C+/B/B+/B+

THIS REVIEW CONTINUES IN PART 2 [COMING SOON]

- Tim Salmons

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