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Black Friday 2023

Read More Black Friday With Black Friday coming up this Friday (November 25), we are already starting to see some really good deals on Bluray/UHD discs. Some of my favorite A24 films are on sale, including X, Everything Everywhere All At Once …

The annual shopping holiday, Black Friday, is this week, November 24, 2023. However, if you have been paying attention, Black Friday sales actually started as early as November 1st.

The best deal I’ve seen for the Xbox Series X is this Target with a $75 Gift Card and $110 off for the Diablo IV bundle. That’s about $200 off, making the cost roughly $360 for the whole thing. If you already own an X, like I do, I’ll have to pass on this… but man, it’s a good deal since I paid full price of $500 with no free games.

LG 48” 4k WebOS TV for $570 (Black Friday 2022)

I’m also in the market for an OLED screen. Like last year, the cheapest OLED Television is from Best Buy, who is selling their LG 48” 4k WebOS TV for $550, twenty dollars cheaper than last year’s Black Friday Deals. I do want the television… but last year I spent my entire time looking at my computer’s monitor, so I’m more interested in an OLED Monitor.

Unfortunately, despite sales, the cheapest OLED monitors are still around $800 to $1,200 (and that’s the sale prices). The main reason for wanting OLED on a monitor is that the response time on these monitors is less than .3 millisecond, have higher refresh rates, and they have NVIDIA or AMD video card support (meaning fast response and no screen tearing).

Alienware AW3423DW 34" 2K WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor (Dell)

I think I have my heart set on the Alienware AW3423DW 34" 2K WQHD Curved OLED Gaming Monitor. It is an ultrawide curved 2K screen (3440 x 1440), and has support for NVIDIA G-Synch at 175Hz with less than 0.1 ms response time. The best part is that it’s QD-OLED, which stands for quantum dot organic light-emitting diode. It’s basically a better version of OLED, as the Quatum Dots widens the color palette even further: brighter lights, better saturations.

There are some concerns with burn-in that is common with OLED displays… but I’m not that worried about this since you need to have the same images in the same spot for long hours. The other concern is that it’s an ultrawide. I’ve been using a standard 4k monitor and have gotten used to the large resolution. Downgrading to 2k might be tough, but with that said, with the curve display, with HDR-support, and gaming might be improved (running at a lower resolution), it might be a good tradeoff.

In the past, I have complained that some games do not support UltraWide, so in those cases, the games have large black borders on the left and right of the screen. It’s very annoying, but I can’t fault the monitor for not being a 16:9… but I blame the game developers for not taking into account people’s displays (or more like they don’t care).

Most movies are shot on Widescreen (16:9), so you’ll get black bars on the sides. However, since I do enjoy Shaw Brothers films, they use “Shaw Scope”, which is basically UltraWide… so you can maximize Shaw Brothers films on these monitors.

Anyway, the Alienware monitor is normally $1,299.99, but it’s currently on sale for $900 at MicroCenter… which I may actually have to pick up this Black Friday. Also, I did notice that there were two returns, so you can get an open box for $650. I’m not sure if there are missing items, but if I can save even more, I will ask about it.

Update: It appears that MicroCenter has dropped the Alienware monitor to $800, making it a little more desirable than going with an open-box. Also worth checking out is the LG’s 48 inch OLED 4K Gaming Monitor is $700. That’s $800 off and seems like such a good deal. I think my problem is that 48 inches might be a little too large for a computer desk. I don’t know how close I want to sit next to the monitor... but at that size, it would make for a really good television. Of course, you have to factor in buying a speaker system to pair with the monitor. Still, that is something doable, since I do have audio solutions (or can look into buying a good soundbar).

I will be at MicroCenter this Black Friday to make my OLED monitor purchase. At the moment, I am leaning heavily towards the Alienware, but if I walk out with the LG Monitor, no one can blame me for going with a larger display for a cheaper price...

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

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Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Two

Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Two Product Description This spectacular box set comprises 12 classic martial arts films from the famous Shaw Brothers' library, featuring some of their greatest stars—Cheng Pei-pei (Come Drink with Me), Lo Lieh (King Boxer), Sammo Hung (Wheels on Meals), Ti Lung (A Better Tomorrow), and David Chiang (The Boxer from Shantung). Many of these films are debuting for the first time on Blu-ray. Get ready for some exciting thrills and chills as heroes meet villains in a duel to the death! Read More Shaw Brothers Now enter Shout Factory, who also has a Shaw Brothers boxset in the works, set for release on June 13, 2023. They are releasing 11 titles, with special features yet to be announced. …

As you know, I am a huge Shaw Brothers… particularly their martial arts/kung fu movies. While we have exhausted all of Arrow Videos and 88 Films (so far), Shout Factory has stepped in to release even more Shaw Brothers titles to the American market.

Although I purchased Shaw Brothers Classics Volume 1 on June 13, 2023 … I just haven’t had the time to watch them all. And looking at the aggressive schedule of Volume 2 to be released last month on August 15, 2023, and Volume 3 set for October 25, 2023… it’s become a really expensive hobby for me, at $160 a boxset.

Originally, I wasn’t going to buy Volume 2 until I fully watch enjoy all of Volume 1, but with the sudden free $260 money from the state of Minnesota… I thought why not order Volume 2 and be done with that.

So, the problem is that Amazon misdelivered my Volume 2 package! This is the second time that it happened for me in the past few months. It was so upsetting that going forward, I’m having everything deliver to an Amazon Locker.

Anyway, after getting a replacement shipped to a secured locker, I’m finally watching Volume 2.

Between Volume 1 and Volume 2, the first boxset focused on pre-1970 Shaw Brothers films, with the earliest titles from 1967 with The Assassin and The Thundering Sword.

Many of these late-1960s titles are of the wuxia / some fantasy and emphasis on martial weapons, such as darts in Killer Darts (1968), daggers in The Flying Dagger (1969), or swords in The Golden Sword (1969).

The majority of these films were never officially released in America, so it’s awesome to watch them for the first time (and in HD!), but unfortunately, many of these titles did not have the English dub… which is disappointing, but understandable, since these films were never marketed to America or the UK.

I do appreciate that we got audio commentary on many of these older films, and I think Shout Factory did a great job on the boxset… but, again, I did not really love many of these early Shaw Brothers titles. I’m sorry, the Shaw Brothers haven’t perfected their Kung Fu formula yet.

To me, the golden age of Kung Fu films didn’t happen until Five Fingers of Death in 1972, so I prefer films released after that time period.

The only film that I really enjoyed in Volume 1 is the revenge flick called The Bells of Death (1968). The film made the boxset worth it, as for the first time, we’re seeing this in Bluray format (at least in America).

I first saw the film on DVD when I visited the China town in Canada about 20 years ago. The plot is simple, it’s a story of a wood cutter who searches town to town for the killers of his family… wearing the bells bracelet of his family around his neck. I really like this one, mostly because, for the first time, to my ears, I’m hearing the English dub of the film.

Thankfully, Volume 2 collects early 1970s films, with The Dragon Missiles being the latest at 1976. This film is pretty delightful, with the Dragon Missiles clearly being inspired or ripped off from The Flying Guillotines (1975)… which is also included in this boxset.

I’m almost certain that the early Shaw films, collected in Vol 2, such as Lady of Steel (1970), The Crimson Charm (1971), The Devil’s Mirror (1972), The Bride From Hell (1971), were never released in America.

I haven’t watched those early films (in both Vol 1 and 2), so I can’t really say they’re good or not.

I’ve already own Brothers Five (1970), The Shadow Whip (1971), The Delightful Forest (1972), Man of Iron (1972), The Water Margin (1972), and Heroes Two (1974), but I would like to re-visit and check out the special features in this new release. Most of these titles have audio commentaries, so it should be interesting to see what critics have to say about these films.

As for Volume 3, it’s coming out in October… so I do have a little time to enjoy Vol 1 and 2 before Volume 3 comes out… based on the titles, such as The Shaolin Avengers, The Deadly Breaking Sword, Clan of the White Lotus, it’s going to be a mid-1970 to 1980 collection. This is my favorite era: 1972 to 1984, so I’m actually way more excited about Volume 3.

If you’re collecting Shaw Brothers films, as I am, I should also point out that there are two Shout Factory-exclusive releases: The Brave Archer Collection (2023-04-18), an Alexander Fu Sheng four-film set for $70, and The Ti Lung / David Chiang Collection (2023-09-26), a massive collection for $170.

If you didn’t know Ti Lung, David Chiang, and director Chang Cheh, became known as “The Iron Triangle”, due to their successful films, such as Have Sword, Will Travel (1969), Vengeance (1970), The Deadly Duo (1971)… and many others.

Read more Shaw Brothers, Bluray, Asian Invasion.

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Coming soon: Shaw Brothers Classics, Vol. 1 (Shout Factory)

Product Description This spectacular box set comprises 11 classic martial arts films from the famous Shaw Brothers' library, featuring some of their greatest stars – Jimmy Wang Yu (One-Armed Swordsman), Cheng Pei-pei (Come Drink With Me), Lo Lieh (King Boxer), Ku Feng (The Five Venoms), and David Chiang (The Boxer From Shantung). Many of these films are debuting for the first time on Blu-ray. Get ready for some exciting thrills and chills as heroes meet villains in a duel to the death! Read More Shaw Brothers As you know, I’m a big Shaw Brothers fan, and have personally own over 75 DVDs and Blurays. As I previously mentioned, unfortunately these movies don’t sell well in America, so many of these Shaw Brothers titles never made …

I know I’ve previously said that there just wasn’t enough fans in America to warrant more Shaw Brothers Bluray releases. This is just based on speculating on some companies were losing money on Shaw Brothers releases or no marketing or releases in America.

Then, exciting news, during the pandemic people were buying films again to watch at home. So in 2020 we got UK releases from 88 Films. It proved so popular with American audiences, that they started releasing domestic releases in 2022.

For the US market, Arrow Video announced they were releasing two boxsets (based on the company getting the rights to 26 films). So the company released the first boxset in Dec 2021 and the second boxset in Dec 2022.

Since I also own about 30 Shaw Brothers titles from 88 Films, I thought that truly that was the end of the Shaw Brother releases.

Now enter Shout Factory, who also has a Shaw Brothers boxset in the works, set for release on June 13, 2023. They are releasing 11 titles, with special features yet to be announced.

Titles:

THE ASSASSIN (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 112 min.)

THE THUNDERING SWORD (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 90 min.)

THE GOLDEN SWALLOW (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 104 min.)

THE JADE RAKSHA (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 91 min.)

THE BELLS OF DEATH (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 85 min.)

THE SWORD OF SWORDS (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 106 min.)

KILLER DART (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 84 min.)

THE INVINCIBLE FIST (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 94 min.)

DRAGON SWAMP (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 105 min.)

THE FLYING DAGGER (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 93 min.)

THE GOLDEN SWORD (1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 101 min.)

Being a massive fan, I will, of course buy this. I just wish all the titles were licensed to one company, as now I know that among these various Shaw Brothers boxsets - they won’t fit together in uniform. We’ll have these super long Shaw Scopes, we’ll have all these single releases, and now a giant block. I know I shouldn’t complain, I should just be happy at least we’re getting these titles in HD. There’s never been a better time to be a fan of martial arts films.

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7 Grandmasters (film) at Trylon Cinema, Minneapolis (05 Feb 2023)

Jue quan (1977) An aging martial arts expert is gifted a plaque from the Emperor declaring him the Kung Fu World Champion. Unsure of whether or not be is deserving of this title, he embarks on a journey to defeat the 7 Grandmasters. Director: Joseph Kuo Writers: Da-Wei Kuo (story), Joseph Kuo, Ching-Kang Yao Stars: Yi-Min Li, Jack Long, Kuan-Wu Lung Read More Shaw Brothers As you know, I’m a big Shaw Brothers fan, and have personally own over 75 DVDs and Blurays. As I previously mentioned, unfortunately these movies don’t sell well in America, so many of these Shaw Brothers titles never made …

We caught the last showing for 7 Grandmasters, as part of the An Exploitation Extravaganza showcase, at the tiny 90-person non-profit Trylon Cinema in Minneapolis.

Turn out was terrific, although I heard Friday night’s showing was entirely sold out and there were talks that it might sell out based on pre-sales. Fans who showed up have never seen this independent 1977 production from Taiwan.

7 Grand Masters (DVD)

Of course, as an avid film collector, especially in the Kung Fu genre, I own the DVD release from Tokyo Shock (Media Blasters). The disc came out in 1999, and the video was taken directly from the source at Mei Ah Film Production Co., Ltd., which did a great job restoring the film for licensing. In many ways, the DVD copy is a better representation of the film, because it has the English dub (as well as original Mandarin with English subtitles).

According to film collector and programmer, Dan Halsted, he spoke to director Joseph Kuo, and said that what we’re about to see is the only 35mm print of the film. It’s a rare treat to see these films on 35… but unfortunately, due to time passage, the print has not aged well. Colors were washed out, in some area of the film, looks like it could be a black and white film.

Despite poor subtitle translations (and sometime impossible to read when there’s a white shirt in the shot…), you do get the general idea of the story. Speaking of which, the story is about a retiring Kung Fu master named Sang Kuan Chun who was challenged before his retirement. He takes his three students and his daughter to defeat the 7 Grandmasters to become the ultimate Grandmaster.

Along the way, an unknown young man begs the Grandmaster to take him as a student. It’s a fairly simple story, but they try and add in more plot, such as how the Grandmaster only knew 9 of the deadly Pai Mei strokes as a masked man stole the other 3 deadly strikes. It seems sometime that the filmmakers were making up the story as they started filming (since so many of these elements weren’t established early in the story).

Look, you don’t watch these films for the amazing stories, you watch them for the action… and this film delivers. The teacher has to fight 7 fighters, resulting in what seems like a super long fight after fight. In fact, during his fight with the Mantis Fist style, I was left wondering, “Is this number 5 or 6?” There were so many masters to keep track of!

With these films, it’s always better to watch it with an audience. The audience would laugh at some scenes… which you wouldn’t know it was funny if you watched it alone. Also, when the film ended, everyone was clapping in approval. I love that kind of experience; it tells me that there are many fans who appreciate these films.

Dan Halsted at Trylon Cinema, Minneapolis (05 Feb 2023)

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Shawscope: Volume Two Review

Product Description Picking up where Volume One left off, this sophomore collection of Hong Kong cinema classics draws together many of the best films from the final years of the Shaw Brothers studio, proving that while the end was nigh, these merchants of martial arts mayhem weren’t going to go out without a fight! Armed with stunning special features and ravishing new restorations, this boxset is even bigger and bolder than the last one. We begin with kung fu master Lau Kar-leung’s instant classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, in which his adoptive brother Gordon Liu achieved overnight stardom as the young man who unexpectedly finds spiritual enlightenment on the path to vengeance; Lau and Liu followed the original with two comically inventive sequels, Return to the 36th Chamber and Disciples of the 36th Chamber, both included here. Already established as a genius at blending dazzling action with physical comedy, Lau himself plays the lead role in the hilarious Mad Monkey Kung Fu, coupled here with Lo Mar’s underrated Five Superfighters. Next, we once again meet Chang Cheh’s basher boy band the Venom Mob in no less than four of their best-loved team-ups: Invincible Shaolin, The Kid with the Golden Arm, Magnificent Ruffians and culminating in the all-star Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, co-starring Ti Lung and Fu Sheng. After Lau brings us perhaps his best high-kicking comedy with My Young Auntie, a playful star vehicle for his real-life muse Kara Hui, we see Shaw Brothers fully embracing Eighties excess in our strangest double feature yet: Wong Jing’s breathtakingly wild shoot-‘em-up Mercenaries from Hong Kong, and Kuei Chih-hung’s spectacularly unhinged black magic meltdown The Boxer’s Omen. Last but certainly not least, Lau Kar-leung directs the last major Shaw production, Martial Arts of Shaolin, filmed in mainland China with a hot new talent named Jet Li in the lead role; it is paired in this set with The Bare-Footed Kid, a reverent remake of a Chang Cheh classic with Johnnie To (Running Out of Time) in the director’s chair and Lau back on fight choreography duties, in arguably the ultimate filmed tribute to Shaws’ everlasting cinematic legacy. Read More Shaw Brothers As you know, I’m a big Shaw Brothers fan, and have personally own over 75 DVDs and Blurays. As I previously mentioned, unfortunately these movies don’t sell well in America, so many of these Shaw Brothers titles never made …

I’m so happy that Arrow Video finally released Shawscope: Volume 2 boxset. It’s been a long road… I pre-ordered the boxset in August 2022, so I can make sure it arrived for my birthday… unfortunately, the release was delayed. While I’m happy to finally get my hands on it, this is probably the last time I do pre-orders. It was such a long time, and, in addition, I paid full price. When the boxset was released, Arrow Videos did a sale on the item, punishing me for pre-ordering. Sure, Amazon refunded the difference, but next time, I think I’ll just wait for the product to come out.

This Volume 2 may actually be the last Shaw Brothers release from Arrow. I read the rumor that they only secure 26 titles from Celestial Pictures (the current license holder), and Arrow has released all 26 title through these two boxsets and two single releases (for Come Drink With Me and The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter).

The highlight of Volume 2 is clearly the The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin trilogy: The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin (aka Master Killer), Return To The 36th Chamber, and Disciples Of The 36th Chamber. Every film is unrelated to the previous film, they are only tied together by the title and also its star Gordon Liu and directed by Lau Kar-leung… sort of like how the Dollars Trilogy was tied together by its titles (even though none of the films were related but all were directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastman). With that said, you can enjoy and treat each of the 36th Chamber film as a stand-alone film.

For the price, I did have a little disappointment in Volume 2. Mainly I was really disappointed in the commentary for My Young Auntie, which only comes up on some selective scene, and not throughout the movie. If you are to do this, have other commentaries filling in the gaps, or maybe just hire someone who can talk throughout the whole film.

The worst special feature is the single-disc for My Young Auntie which features a full length “VHS copy”. What the heck? Why would you want or care for an inferior version of the film? The VHS copy of My Young Auntie is absolute garbage. You guys couldn’t put on a 1080p version of the film (from the original Celestial DVD release) or a 2k scan?

There were a few special features, mostly some made-for-television documentaries from 2003 called Cinema Hong Kong. If you’ve seen them in 2003, it’s somewhat disappointing.

Not really a terrible thing, but disc 5 and 7 has the same name when you put it in your disc in your bluray drive. Disc 7 does have the correct content (Mercenaries From Hong Kong and The Boxer's Omen), but it was very confusing when your computer pops up with the wrong titles.

Otherwise, I’ve been enjoying the Venoms-films, Invincible Shaolin, The Kid With The Golden Arm, Magnificent Ruffians, and Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung. The latter is not one of my favorite, as the film is told through flashbacks.

It’s also been a long time since I saw Magnificent Ruffians, and I thought I hated the film, but re-watching it on Bluray, it’s like seeing it for the first time. This is not a bad Venoms film. The film is about some homeless kungfu experts who befriended a fellow fighter. It’s like a series of misunderstanding, like Invincible Shaolin.

The most enjoyable film so far has to go to Five Superfighters. This plot is absolutely terrible, but it’s so entertaining. The story is a Kung Fu expert walks into town and beats up everyone for “their bad kung fu”. He runs into a teacher and his three students and kicks the snot out of them. So the students decides to seek out new masters and agreed to meet back in six months so they can take their revenge.

The last movie disc of this set has two films, which I don’t really consider as part of the heyday of the Shaw Brothers. They are Martial Arts Of Shaolin, starring a young Jet Li, and The Bare-Footed Kid, a 90s film, directed by Johnny To. You see, in the mid-80s, Shaw Brothers shifted to television production through their TVB production. Some films, such as Martial Arts Of Shaolin already began as a series, with Shaolin Temple in 1982, and Kids From Shaolin in 1984 (this film is awful)… so I can see that it could signal the end of the Shaw Brothers era.

The Bare-Footed Kid (aka Professional Fighter), to me, wasn’t even a Shaw Brothers film. It was produced by Mona Fong for Cosmopolitan Film (which is tied to Shaw Brothers somewhat). You can argue that it is a sequel or remake of Chang Cheh’s Disciples of Shaolin… but I still don’t even consider Bare-Foot as part of the Shaw Brothers. It’s a shame, because I would have prefered that they included a real Shaw Brothers film, like Bewitched, which was the prequel to The Boxer's Omen.

Speaking of which, The Boxer's Omen, is pretty gruesome. I’ve seen it before, on DVD, and I praised director Kuei Chih-Hung previously for his amazing Killer Constable. I love his Hex films, but perhaps did not love The Teahouse.

Rounding out the rest of the boxset are two soundtrack CD. If you love these films, you’ll really appreciate and recognize many of these background music. Hearing these songs will conjure up images of these Shaw Brothers films.

While this Volume 2 of the Shaw Scope boxset is worth it to me… I find it hard to recommend these boxsets to casual Shaw Brothers fans. It’s very expensive… owning both sets will set you back about $300, which is not cheap (especially if you might not enjoy half the films). For a diehard fan and collector, I don’t mind the price, because, let’s face it, some of these films won’t get a single release. I can see Arrow Videos re-visiting and re-releasing some of these titles in a standalone. For example, they could easily rake up some money if they release the 36th Chamber of Shaolin trilogy set or a Venoms set. I would re-buy it again!

I am hopeful that Arrow Videos will get more license and release a Volume 3 in this Shaw Scope series… but my heart tells me that there are not enough Kung Fu fans out there to justify a third set. For those interested, I suggest buying the Volume 2 to send a message to Arrow Video that we want a third volume!

Shaw Brothers Boxset (Arrow Video)

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Shawscope: Volume Two

Read More Shaw Brothers I got my beautiful Shawscope: Volume One boxset by Arrow Video on New Year Eve, via Amazon. The boxset officially came out on December 28, 2021, but I know, for a fact, that many fans got their orders in the mail early. …

I’m so happy to see that Arrow Films has finally announced their Shawscope: Volume Two boxset. The extra long boxset will be officially released on November 22, 2022… but as we all know, they sometime will ship out early.

As I have already mentioned in my review of Shawscope: Volume One, I thought it was missing some key films and would hope they address it with the 36th Chamber of Shaolin trilogy - and, of course, the three films (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Return to the 36th Chamber, and Disciples of the 36th Chamber) will be the centerpiece of Volume 2.

With that said, it looks like Volume 2 has a few ‘comedy kung fu’, that I dislike so much. So I’m not looking forward to seeing the comedy stuff (even if it’s on Bluray): Mad Monkey Kung Fu (in fact, I just bought this from 88 Films in March 2022 and hated it) and My Young Auntie. I own both of these films already, and don’t really care for them. It’s just too goofy for my taste.

They did offset the comedy with some classic “Venom” films, including Invincible Shaolin (love this one! aka “Shaolin vs Wu-Tang”), The Kid with the Golden Arm, Magnificent Ruffians, and Ten Tigers of Kwangtung. I own all of Chang Cheh’s films (that’s officially released), and I always enjoy a good Cheh throw-down.

It looks like the odd/weird film in the bunch is the Shaw Brothers horror film The Boxer’s Omen. This is a gruesome film. In fact, I love most Shaw Brothers horror, so it’s a welcome addition to my collection.

The rest of the collection, I have not seen, so I won’t comment on them for now.

So this might be the last Shawscope set we will get… even though Shaw Brothers have produced over 700 films. The reason for this is due to licensing. From the 2021 rumor in a Criterion forum, someone said Arrow only has the rights to 26 Shaw Brothers films. 88 Films also has its hands in some of these licensing, so far 88 has released about 40 Shaw Brothers titles.

The Arrow’s 26 number is probably true, based on the fact that between the two boxsets, Arrow would release 24 titles. The missing two? Well, that’s The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter and Come Drink With Me, which they released as a single release. The The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter release really puzzled me, as 88 Films also released their version of the film, only months prior. Yes, I own both version, and yes, I have collector’s remorse.

I hope these Shaw Brothers boxsets does well… so we can get more releases in the future. I hate to say it, but there’s not a huge kung fu market in the United States, so I doubt Arrow Films will likely negotiate to release more (obscure) films.

Anyway, here is a list of films including in Shawscope: Volume Two:

Disc One – The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin

Disc Two – Return To The 36th Chamber / Disciples Of The 36th Chamber

Disc Three – Mad Monkey Kung Fu / Five Superfighters

Disc Four – Invincible Shaolin / The Kid With The Golden Arm

Disc Five – Magnificent Ruffians / Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung

Disc Six – My Young Auntie

Disc Seven – Mercenaries From Hong Kong / The Boxer's Omen

Disc Eight – Martial Arts Of Shaolin / The Bare-Footed Kid

Disc Nine – Music From The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, Five Superfighters, Invincible Shaolin And The Kid With The Golden Arm (CD)

Disc Ten – Music From Return To The 36th Chamber, Magnificent Ruffians, Ten Tigers Of Kwangtung, My Young Auntie, Mercenaries From Hong Kong And Disciples Of The 36th Chamber (CD)

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Shaw Brothers in 2022, part 3

Read more Movies and Shaw Brothers.

Description When former Shaw Brothers executive Raymond Chow founded rival studio Golden Harvest in 1970, he quickly teamed up with “Jimmy” Wang Yu – Hong Kong’s first kung fu superstar and formerly Shaw’s biggest box office draw. Bringing over his peerless talent for taking on all foes with one hand tied behind his back, Wang wrote, directed and played the title role in one of his most unmissable kickass classics. From the legendary star of One-Armed Swordsman and The Chinese Boxer comes… One-Armed Boxer! Yu Tian Long (Wang) is the best fighter to come out of his local martial arts school, but when he crosses the ruthless leader of a local crime syndicate, the big boss’ brutal bevy of deadly killers make mincemeat out of the school and everyone inside. Now the only survivor of the massacre, and short of one appendage, Yu is gifted a powerful elixir that promises to give him the strength to take swift revenge on the army of assassins, each representing the most lethal forms of fighting from across the Eastern hemisphere. Proving once and for all that you only need five fingers of death to get the job done, Wang would later reprise his role in the infamous sequel Master of the Flying Guillotine, but it’s the dementedly inventive original where he’s arguably at the height of his powers. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS 2K restoration from the original elements by Fortune Star High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation Original lossless Mandarin mono audio, alternate Mandarin soundtrack and original English dubbed audio Optional English subtitles, plus hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub Commentary by Frank Djeng from the NY Asian Film Festival Career retrospective interview with Wang Yu, filmed in Nantes in 2001 and never released before, courtesy of the Frédéric Ambroisine Video Archive Trailer gallery, featuring the original Hong Kong theatrical trailer, a US TV spot (as The Chinese Professionals) and over half an hour of trailers for other Wang Yu classics including One-Armed Swordsman and Master of the Flying Guillotine Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Ilan Sheady Read More Shaw Brothers Thankfully, their latest release for Jimmy Wang Yu’s The Chinese Boxer, is available domestically in the USA (their first simultaneous UK and US release). …

ONE-ARMED BOXER (1972)
arrowvideo.com

For those not familiar with what’s going on with Shaw Brothers and their competitor, Golden Harvest, we are currently getting their movie back catalog released in Bluray to the English market (America or UK)… which is exciting, because for many of us, this will be the first time we are seeing these films in glorious HD.

Currently, the rights holder for Golden Harvest is Fortune Star, who licensed old Golden Harvest films to Eureka Entertainment in the UK. Eureka is releasing the classic Kung Fu films under their Eureka Classic line, which is on a budget pricing model with no special features… and no interests in bringing their titles to America.

Thankfully, Arrow Films will be releasing selected Golden Harvest films to the U.S. market, starting with One-Armed Boxer. So far, they’ve only released Shaw Brothers films: Shaw Scope Boxset, 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, and Come Drink With Me… so seeing Golden Harvest on their release list is making me very happy.

One-Armed Boxer is one of the best film that Jimmy Yu ever made. I previous mentioned this title when I heard that Yu had died in April 2022.

Anyway, I finally bought the film earlier this week. I didn’t pre-order the title, so when it was released on May 24, 2022, it was out of stock. I wasn’t exactly sure it was completely sold out - given the limited run of these films due to lack of interests (I’m sorry but Americans don’t like to buy foreign films)… but thankfully, the Bluray was back in stock in July 2022.

So, I’m very happy to now own One-Armed Boxer. This film is amazing, given that it came out in 1972 (it was released in America in 1973). It had all the great elements that you see in later Kung Fu films, including really wacky villains… and it laid the groundwork for my favorite Jimmy Yu film, Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976).

The story of One-Armed Boxer can be broken into two parts. The first part is about the two rival martial arts school - the Hook gang and the good Ching Te school. When the two masters of the school meet and the Hook gang was defeated, they decide to hire professional fighters to take out their rivals. So enter “The Chinese Professionals” (which was the alternate title): a Karate champion and his two students, two Tibetian lamas/monks, two Muay Thai fighters, a Judo master, a Taekwondo master, and a Yoga expert.

The Karate champion looks like he is a vampire, based on his two fangs and his unusual fighting style (which does not look Karate-esque at all). But ultimately he was the person who chopped off Jimmy Yu’s arm, and destroying the entire Ching Te school.

The second part of the film is about Yu’s recovery and learning how to make his remaining arm a deadly weapon. Yes, there is a montage, but it’s done through still photographs. Once Yu finished his training, he sets out to kill each of the hired fighters to take his revenge. The fight sequences were very entertaining, and overall a very enjoyable movie.

The sequel, Master of the Flying Guillotine, is, in my opinion, the superior film. After Yu killed the two lamas from Tibet, their master, a blind monk with a pocket version of the flying guillotine seeks revenge for his students. Master of the Flying Guillotine has everything that One-Armed Boxer had, but throwing in even more “Street Fighter” characters and the guillotine.

THE FLYING GUILLOTINE PART II (1977)
88-films.com

Speaking of guillotine, The Flying Guillotine Part II is coming out on August 8, 2022, via 88 Films. This Bluray is made available to the US and UK market and limited to 3,000 pieces. Naturally, I will be pre-ordering the title closer to the date, if I don’t forget.

I already own all the Flying Guillotine movies on DVD via Celestial Pictures (Hong Kong), but also some titles via Dragon Dynasty (USA). It’s weird that 88 films will release part 2 before they release the original, first film. I can speculate that they don’t have all the special features ready for the first film - maybe it needs a new artwork, maybe it needs a commentary … or perhaps they just don’t have the rights to it, seeing as, perhaps Arrow Films could have outbid them. Who knows? I just know that the first film is so important, that it needs to be released on Bluray.

Since I have already seen Flying Guillotine Part II, I can tell you that the main character developed an anti-guillotine defensive weapon… which is basically an umbrella! It’s a fun film, and I love the engineering to all the weapons.

MARTIAL CLUB (1981)
88-films.com

For some reason Martial Club was delayed to the US market… Amazon told me it was going to be mailed to me on July 30th, but somehow, they sent it to me today (July 24th). So I have not had a chance to watch it.

I did open the Bluray and admiring the nice slip case (matted, not glossy anymore), with a booklet and fold-out poster. I love all the extras, keep it coming.

Note: The spine number is #34, which is late, considering #35 already came out months ago.

I know there are a lot of Lau Kar-leung fans out there, I’m just not one of them. I think his film are more on the comedy-side, and I take my Kung Fu films seriously. That’s just my preference. As a martial arts film enthusiast, I don’t mind owning any Lau Kar-leung, but I just don’t go to his films when I recommend or want to watch an old film.

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Shaw Brothers in 2022, part 2

Description Though featuring the Shaw Brothers custom brand of martial arts mayhem, HUMAN LANTERNS also taps into the early 80s craze for the American slasher film and the earlier Hammer horrors by providing a grisly take on the serial killer feature in an inimitable Hong Kong style. When an unbalanced craftsman decides to get revenge on two Kung Fu masters by creating special lanterns constructed from the human skin of their dead relatives, all hell breaks loose in this gruesome tale of bloody retribution. Taking its inspiration from movies like Psycho and real cases like Ed Gein, HUMAN LANTERNS is clearly not for the faint-hearted with its over the top gore and sadistic qualities but this slice of darker than dark fantasy still manages to be both wonderfully horrible and impressively entertaining. Read More Shaw Brothers Thankfully, their latest release for Jimmy Wang Yu’s The Chinese Boxer, is available domestically in the USA (their first simultaneous UK and US release). …

It seems that 88 Films is the only company releasing old classic Shaw Brothers martial arts film on a monthly/regular basis. I know that Arrow Video also has the license, but so far they’ve only release three items: Shaw Scope Vol 1, Come Drink With Me, and The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter. That was in December 2021, and April 2022… meanwhile, 88 Films has released about one Shaw Brothers title per month. So far, they’ve released five titles since 2022… with three more listed below.

I own or am planning on buying all of them, of course, and will be reporting when more Shaw Brothers titles are announced. Please, more Venoms and Chang Cheh titles.

Continued from Shaw Brothers in 2022.

Human Lanterns (1982)
Release date: ‎ June 7, 2022

I got the Bluray of Human Lanterns from Amazon in mid-June, so I haven’t had a lot of time to really get into it. I never liked the horror (with Martial Arts) film, but it’s one of the first Shaw Brothers DVD I purchased from Celestial Pictures (I would later buy the US version).

There are very few Shaw Brothers horror that I like. I like the Black Magic films, Boxer’s Omen and Bewitched is just the best. The more gruesome, the better, in my opinion.

The problem with Human Lanterns is that it’s a little tame compared to some of the other Shaw offerings. The human skinning looks bad, I think it’s cheesy… but everyone seems to think it’s gruesome. Boy, wait until you see Bewitched, it will blow away anything in Human Lanterns.

The audio commentary by Podcast On Fire (an obvious nod to City on Fire) wasn’t amazing either. I just thought it was a boring commentary. The worst is the interview with director Lau Wing. The audio is terrible. It is almost unwatchable with the sound. I suggest just putting on the subtitles and turning the audio off.

For casual Shaw Brothers fan, I wouldn’t recommend Human Lanterns. Personally speaking, I wouldn’t recommend this, even if you love horror film. It’s not a great horror film or a good martial arts film.

For those collecting the Shaw Brothers series, like myself, you’ll need to buy this. For the first run, it has all the standard 88 Film stuff: a nice slip case, new artwork, reversible poster, and booklet. You may not get the slip case and poster in later re-issues, so be sure to grab the Bluray now.

Also, this is just my opinion, but I really don’t care for the artist creating all these new 88 Films covers. I wish they would hire a different artist… maybe look at who Arrow Films hires for their art.

Hero (1997)
Release date: ‎ July 5, 2022

This is a title that I didn’t care for… first of all, it’s a late-90s Shaw Brothers film, which meant that most of their star directors and actors from the 70s and 80s have already gone on to doing other things. Also, this film is this is basically a rip off of Chang Cheh’s Boxer from Shantung (1972), but re-done for the modern (90s) audience. It doesn’t outshine the original, so, I suggest just buying the original film and call it a day.

Even the reviews, from Sandra Chang on Amazon said, “This is one, awful movie...the editing ruins the movie! The flow of the movie is interrupted with abrupt scene cuts. Certain scenes are sped up and look ridiculous. This is one of the worst edited movies I've ever seen...it's almost unwatchable.”

Still, because I’m such a loyal Shaw Brothers fan, I will buy this title when it comes out, July 5, 2022.

Martial Club (1981)
Release date: July 19, 2022.

So Martial Club is coming. It’s a Lau Kar-leung, so it tends to be on the comedy-side. It’s not one of my favorite film. I was always more of a Chang Cheh fan, anyway.

I previously own Martial Club on the US DVD and Hong Kong DVD, so I’m looking forward to the high definition treatment.

Description

A gloriously typical entry from Shaw Brothers, Martial Club starring Kara Wei (THE BRAVE ARCHER 2 and MAD MONKEY KUNG FU) and Gordon Liu (THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN) and directed by Lau Kar-Leung (LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF CHINA), affords us a fast-paced, cleverly choreographed piece of martial arts fun combining many elements that lovers of this kind of cinema will be more than appreciative of. Rival fight schools, an old master and beautifully designed set pieces tumble together in a colourfully kinaesthetic unceasing parade of flying fists and action set pieces. Bonus features include: Limited Edition Collectors Booklet with Behind the Scene Photos and writing by Critic and AuthorBarry Forshaw, Limited Edition Slipcase with new Artwork by Kung Fu Bob O'Brien, Reversible Artwork, Interviews with Hung San Nam and Tony Tam, Interview with Johnny Wang, ‘Kung Fu and Dancing’ - An Interview with Robert Mak, Audio commentary with Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng, ‘Instructors of Death’ Trailer, Instructors of Death - Grindhouse Presentation, High Definition (1080p) Presentation in 2.35:1 Aspect Ratio, 2.0 DTS-HD MA Mandarin Soundtrack with newly translated English Subtitles, 2.0 DTS-HD MA English Soundtrack

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One-Armed Boxer

Read More Shaw Brothers Thankfully, their latest release for Jimmy Wang Yu’s The Chinese Boxer, is available domestically in the USA (their first simultaneous UK and US release). …

Earlier this week, I read the sad news that Jimmy Wang Yu had passed away at the age of 79.

As a massive Shaw Brothers fan, I do own and love many of his movie… although surprisingly, watching the semi-recently Bluray release of Chinese Boxer, I discovered that the 1970 film was Jimmy Wang Yu’s last film for Shaw Brothers (after fighting very hard to get Shaw Brothers to get the film made in the first place).

Of course, Wang Yu first became famous with The One Armed Swordsman, and since then, have been unfairly typecast to play one-armed martial artist. Wang Yu made a ton of “One Armed Swordsman” unofficial sequels, including Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman and, my personal favorite, Master of the Flying Guillotine (aka One Armed Swordsman vs the Flying Guillotine). In many ways, Master of the Flying Guillotine is a masterpiece, and the film would go on to inspire Street Fighter II arcade video game.

Outside of the Shaw Brothers films and bootlegs I’ve collected over the years, many of Wang Yu’s films were never officially released in America… which is a shame.

I will likely pick up the forthcoming One-Armed Boxer (1971) by Arrow Videos. The film is coming out May 24, 2022. This was the film that he made right after leaving Shaw Brothers. He went over to Raymond Chow’s Golden Harvest. Golden Harvest produced all of Bruce Lee’s films (with the exception of Warner Brothers’ Enter the Dragon)… so I also have a lot of love for Golden Harvest.

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Shawscope: Volume One Review

Special Features and Technical Specs • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Five Shaolin Masters, Shaolin Temple, Mighty Peking Man, Challenge of the Masters, Executioners from Shaolin, Chinatown Kid, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Heroes of the East and Dirty Ho • Brand new 2K restorations by Arrow Films from the original camera negatives of King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Challenge of the Masters, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers and Dirty Ho • Brand new 2K master of the longer international cut of Chinatown Kid from original film elements • Original lossless mono Mandarin, Cantonese (where applicable) and English audio • Newly translated English subtitles for each film • Hours of bonus features including brand new commentaries and critic appreciations on selected films, new and archive interviews with cast and crew, alternate credit sequences, trailer and image galleries for each film and more to be announced! • 60-page book featuring new writing by David Desser, Simon Abrams and Terrence J. Brady, with cast and crew info for each film plus trivia and soundtrack info • New artwork for each film by artists including Matthew Griffin, Chris Malbon, Jacob Phillips, Ilan Sheady, Tony Stella, Darren Wheeling and Jolyon Yates Read More Shaw Brothers As you know, I’m a big Shaw Brothers fan, and have personally own over 75 DVDs and Blurays. As I previously mentioned, unfortunately these movies don’t sell well in America, so many of these Shaw Brothers titles never made …

I got my beautiful Shawscope: Volume One boxset by Arrow Video on New Year Eve, via Amazon. The boxset officially came out on December 28, 2021, but I know, for a fact, that many fans got their orders in the mail early.

For those new to Shaw Brothers, Shawscope: Volume One is a good start. Arrow compiled 12 mostly-Kung Fu films, showcasing a variety of style and flavors.

According to the liner notes online, they lists six (see side bar) of the twelve films had a brand new 2K restorations from the original camera negatives, exclusive to Arrow. The rest of the titles were from a 1080p Bluray source, probably from Celestial Pictures (who originally restored about 700 films for DVDs).

It's also worth noting, that the other new item is a 2k transfer of a longer International cut of Chinatown Kid from the original source. This is the film that made Alexander Fu Sheng an International icon. Like James Dean, the rising star died very young in a car accident.

Personally speaking, since I’m only viewing the discs on a 1080p screen, all the titles looked great on screen. Certainly, much better than old VHS or DVDs that I previously own. Plus, since the audio is taken from a pure source, including the hard-to-come-by “English Dub”, it looks and sounds good to me.

If you didn’t know, the Shaw Brothers (Run Run and Runme Shaw) started producing films so they can show them in all the theaters they own throughout Asia. For about three, or so, decades, they had produced over a thousand films. Everything was done at the Shaw Brothers Studio, in Clearwater Bay, in Hong Kong. Everything was also own by the Shaws: writers, directors, film production, housing, distribution, and, most importantly, the actors were all contracted exclusively to Shaw Brothers. Despite become stars, these actors could not make movies for other companies, due to the restrictive Shaw Brothers contracts. This is how this mega company cranked out so many films within such a short amount of time.

While the Shaws made many different film genre, such as drama and horror, their biggest money-maker was Kung Fu pictures. When they saw those Martial Arts films were well-received, they certainly gave what the audience wanted.

The two key directors that helped shaped Kung Fu cinema were Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-leung , who are well represented here in this Shawscope set. Six titles are Cheh and four titles are Kar-leung. You can immediately tell who was in the director’s chair when you see the films. Most of Kar-leung’s films features Gordon Liu (with a little humor), while Cheh’s films had his so-called “Venom Mob” (and is starkly serious).

Speaking of which, the two key Venom films are collected here: Five Venoms and Crippled Avengers. Although the two films are unrelated, in America, they re-named the films Five Deadly Venoms and Return of the Five Deadly Venoms to suggest that they are sequels.

Overall, I’m very happy with this release of Shawscope: Volume One by Arrow Video, I do have two small complaints. First, I think it’s expensive, retailing for $179. If you divide it is about $14 per title… even less if you get it on sale. While I like many of the titles, I know many people aren’t interested in half the titles – and for those fans, the value just isn’t there for them.

For those who only want certain titles, based on Arrow’s previous releases, they have gone back and broken up boxsets and released single titles. This is just speculation on my part… however, seeing as Arrow is going to be releasing Come Drink With Me (which is not part of this Shawscope collection), you can bet that it would make sense to release important titles as a single release.

Second, I’m not too thrilled about the packaging. I guess I’m just a sucker for putting things in uniform on my Bluray shelf. That is to say that I want all my Shaw Brothers collection in one area. With this oversized, extra long box, it just won’t sit correctly with the rest of my Shaw Brothers discs. The only way to display this is looking at the front cover.

I hope the boxset does well, and for Volume Two, I’m hoping to see more Venoms, and, perhaps some wacky horror pictures. Since Arrow and 88 Films have the Shaw Brothers license, I would just love to get a trilogy boxset for the 36th Chambers of Shaolin, Return to the 36th Chambers of Shaolin, and Disciples of the 36th Chambers of Shaolin.

There is also a two-disc bonus soundtrack of some selected films. This is great for Kung Fu music fan. Now you can play your favorite Five Venoms funky tracks.

P.S. I’m so happy with my Shawscope boxset that I will probably be ordering a few other boxsets from Arrow, after seeing what they’ve released on their website. They are pricey, but there’s a lot of love and effort put in that I appreciate.

UPDATE: Having had a chance to look at both the original Celestial Pictures Remaster from 2004 vs the new International 2k Version of Chinatown Kid, you can see a difference in clarity. In the two side by side comparison, you can see facial blemish on Alexander Fu Sheng... however the new 2k transfer had a lot of spots and specks (they appear to be random). I have seen special features about remastering and the film editors would see these specks and manually remove them digitally (which apparently, they didn't do with this new transfer). You also see more film grain, compared to the brighter and smoothness of the 2004 version. This is a matter of taste, personally I don't mind film grain, but sometime it's too noisy for my taste. Finally, it appears that the 2k version is slightly zoomed in, so I feel like you're losing about 5% of the frame.

There is another matter, in the 2k version, it feels like the film is "jumpier" at random frames. To be fair, Arrow Video said that they got the 2k scan from the "original film elements" - meaning that they didn't handle the transfer themselves. While I welcome the longer cut and better details of the 2k picture (downsized to 1080p for Bluray presentation), I think the new 2k transfer isn't as good as the original Celestial Picture version (at least to my eyes). Maybe later on, if I have time, I will look at the new 2k transfer for Five Venoms vs the Bluray version from Dragon Dynasty/Celestial Picture (which is basically the DVD transfer on Bluray).

Shaw Brothers Boxset (Arrow Video)

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