Arrow Video’s celebration of the Shaw Brothers is a knockout
Arrow Heads — UK-based Arrow Films has quickly become one of the most exciting and dependable names in home video curation and distribution, creating gorgeous Blu-ray releases with high quality artwork and packaging, and bursting with supplemental content, often of their own creation. From cult and genre fare to artful cinema, this column is devoted to their weird and wonderful output.
Arrow Video continue their sterling work in championing home video releases with a celebration of venerated Hong Kong filmmakers, Run Run and Runme, aka the Shaw Brothers. Through their studio, they collaborated with notable talent in front of, and behind the camera, to release hundred of action films, famed for their kung fu kickassery, high production values, and distinct theatrical flair.
Volume One of Arrow’s Shawscope series highlights 12 features from the 70s, generally regarded as a Golden age for their studio. King Boxer (aka Five Fingers of Death), The Boxer from Shantung , Five Shaolin Masters and its prequel 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. The Shaw Bros. made over 900 movies, so this release is obviously just a taster of their output, but a carefully curated one at that, with each film getting an all new 2K remaster.
The whole package is rather resplendent, from the shimmery iridescence of the exterior to the bold and playful illustrations accompanying each movie, courtesy of artists Sam Gilbey, Matthew Griffin, Chris Malbon, Jacob Phillips, Ilan Sheady, Tony Stella, Darren Wheeling and Jolyon Yates.
After a slew of oversized releases from various home video distributors, what many will appreciate is it’s rather compact form factor, standing just under 7 inches tall and 11 inches long. We’ll have more in depth coverage of the films and extra features over the coming weeks, for now, enjoy the unboxing of this fine collection.
Inside the coverslip is a sturdily made card folder, and a booklet (more on that below). The folder opens up to present each page with custom artwork on the left, and on the right a breakdown of the disc contents and the sleeve space for the respective disc. The discs are pretty well held in place, and not difficult to extract. As you can see below, each disc contains a huge amount of extra features to enhance appreciation for the respective feature.
Also included are two CDs of music from the De Wolfe Music library as heard in six of the films, an exclusive to this collection.
Accompanying the disc folder, is an illustrated 60-page collectors book, featuring new articles by David Desser, Terrence J. Brady and James Flower. There’s pieces giving background on the genre and studio in particular, the key players in front of the camera, and info on the restorations. Each film has a dedicated section, covering cast, crew, synopsis, and extra tidbits about the production.
SHAWSCOPE Volume 1 — Disc Contents
DISC ONE — KING BOXER
• Brand new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative
• Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Mandarin audio, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
• Brand new commentary by David Desser, co-editor of The Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema and The Cinema of Hong Kong
• Newly filmed appreciation by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
• Interview with director Chung Chang-wha, filmed in 2003 and 2004 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Interview with star Wang Ping, filmed in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Interview with Korean cinema expert Cho Young-jung, author of Chung Chang-wha: Man of Action, filmed in 2005 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Cinema Hong Kong: Kung Fu, the first in a three-part documentary on Shaw Brothers’ place within the martial arts genre produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003, featuring interviews with Jackie Chan, Jet Li, John Woo, Sammo Hung, Gordon Liu, Lau Kar-leung, Cheng Pei-pei, David Chiang and many others
• Alternate opening credits from the American version titled Five Fingers of Death
• Hong Kong, US and German theatrical trailers, plus US TV and radio spots
• Image gallery
DISC TWO — THE BOXER FROM SHANTUNG
• Brand new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative
• Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Mandarin audio, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
• Interview with star Chen Kuan-tai, filmed in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Interview with assistant director John Woo, filmed in 2004 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Interview with star David Chiang, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Conversation between stars Chen Kuan-tai and Ku Feng, filmed at a Shaw Brothers reunion in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Hong Kong and German theatrical trailers, plus US TV spot
• Image gallery
DISC THREE — FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS / SHAOLIN TEMPLE
• Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
• Newly filmed appreciation of Chang Cheh by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
• Interview with star Kong Do, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Elegant Trails: David Chiang and Elegant Trails: Ti Lung, two featurettes on the actors produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003
• Alternate standard-definition version of Shaolin Temple
• Alternate opening credits from Five Masters of Death, the US version of Five Shaolin Masters
• Alternate opening credits sequences for Shaolin Temple
• US and German trailers for Five Shaolin Masters
• Hong Kong and German trailers for Shaolin Temple
• Image galleries for both films
DISC FOUR — MIGHTY PEKING MAN
• Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Mandarin audio, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
• Brand new commentary by Travis Crawford
• Brand new interview with suit designer Keizo Murase, filmed in 2021 by Daisuke Sato and Yoshikazu Ishii
• Interview with director Ho Meng-hua, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Interview with star Ku Feng, filmed in 2004 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Behind-the-scenes Super 8 footage from the archives of Keizo Murase
• ‘Unrestored’ standard-definition version
• Alternate opening credits from Goliathon, the US version of Mighty Peking Man
• Hong Kong, US, German and Dutch theatrical trailers, plus US TV spot
• Image gallery
DISC FIVE — CHALLENGE OF THE MASTERS / EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN
• Brand new 2K restoration of Challenge of the Masters from the original negative by Arrow Films
• Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films, plus Cantonese mono for Challenge of the Masters
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
• Newly filmed appreciation of Lau Kar-leung by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
• Interview with star Gordon Liu, filmed in 2002 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Interview with star Chen Kuan-tai, filmed in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Textless opening credits for Challenge of the Masters
• Alternate English credits for Executioners from Shaolin
• Hong Kong theatrical trailers for Challenge of the Masters
• Hong Kong and US theatrical trailers for Executioners from Shaolin
• Image galleries for both films
DISC SIX — CHINATOWN KID
• Brand new 2K restoration of the 115-minute International Version from original film elements
• 90-minute Alternate Version
• Uncompressed original Cantonese audio for the International Version, with newly translated English subtitles
• Uncompressed original English audio for the International Version, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles
• Uncompressed original Mandarin audio for the Alternate Version, with newly translated English subtitles
• Select scene video commentary by co-star Susan Shaw from 2021
• Elegant Trails: Fu Sheng, a featurette on the actor produced by Celestial Pictures in 2005
• Hong Kong, US and German theatrical trailers, plus US TV spot
• Image gallery
DISC SEVEN — THE FIVE VENOMS / CRIPPLED AVENGERS
• Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
• Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films plus Cantonese mono for The Five Venoms
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
• Brand new commentary on The Five Venoms by critic Simon Abrams
• Interview with star Lo Meng, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Chang Cheh: The Master, a featurette about the director produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003
• Hong Kong and US theatrical trailers for The Five Venoms
• Hong Kong theatrical trailer for Crippled Avengers
• Image galleries for both films
DISC EIGHT — HEROES OF THE EAST / DIRTY HO
• Brand new 2K restoration of Dirty Ho from the original negative by Arrow Films
• Uncompressed Cantonese, Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films
• Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
• Brand new commentary on Heroes of the East by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
• Newly filmed appreciation of both films by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
• Interview with Heroes of the East star Yasuaki Kurata, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
• Alternate opening credits for Shaolin Challenges Ninja, the international version of Heroes of the East
• Alternate English credits for Dirty Ho
• Hong Kong theatrical trailer for Heroes of the East, plus US TV spot
• Hong Kong theatrical trailer for Dirty Ho
• Image galleries for both films
DISC NINE — MUSIC FROM SHAOLIN TEMPLE, MIGHTY PEKING MAN AND CHINATOWN KID (CD)
DISC TEN — MUSIC FROM THE FIVE VENOMS, CRIPPLED AVENGERS AND DIRTY HO (CD)
Shawscope Vol. One, is available now via Arrow Video in a Limited Edition release.
