Shawscope Volumes

[Orlac]

It always amuses me that Chang Cheh really bristled at the suggestion of homo-eroticism in his movies, but if anything, they got gayer as they went on! SHAOLIN AVENGERS really does enjoy perving on Fu Sheng's rear.

[feihong]

The two of them f*ck again and again with just their eyes (Chang Cheh has discovered something here, which he will never really own up to, but which will inform most of his movies going forward––the bond these two actors are able to create goes beyond the real, straight into the realm of fantasy desire, in a way Chang clearly wants in these pictures, regardless of whether or not he will admit it),

Even Return of the One-Armed Swordsman has maybe the gayest shot in any action movie, a moment where one guy is ostensibly killing himself and the guy behind him, that's shot to look like one is topping the other, complete with O-faces and a blood-spurt money shot coming from just below frame. It's crazy how blatant it is and how Chang never copped to any of it.

I haven't seen enough of the Lung/Chiang films to see the longing gazes, but I do remember one of the Venom Mob movies (Kid with the Golden Arm?) had Philip Kwok and someone else gaze heavily into each other's eyes while talking about touching each other's spears for the first time. It's wild.

The homoerotic tension does run through all of Chang's movies––to me it's his most engaging recurring stylistic flourish/subject matter. I wonder if the need to make movies with mainstream popularity didn't seem to preclude for Chang a more open stance towards the subtext in his movies. He apparently expressed some hurt that people found a queer reading of his films, but some of it is so straightforward, it's hard for me to believe he didn't intend for it to be there. Vengeance shows David Chiang's character's last thoughts of his girlfriend as he dies being supplanted by a rapturous slow-motion flashback of that cool time he did all those backflips and clowned around with Ti Lung's character. The flashback literally crowds the girl out. And in Blood Brothers, Chiang's character holds only mistrusts for the woman in the picture, and seems to find himself torn between the two other men who fight over her. In The Duel and The Deadly Duo there's a lot more homoerotic tension between the two of them, and in Have Sword, Will Travel, before this. I forgot about that death scene in Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, and the moment in Kid with the Golden Arm. Probably a lot of Chang's movies are worth revisiting with that context in mind.

[Orlac]

I watched the Venoms movie THE REBEL INTRUDERS the other night, and was rather shocked to see it has a female character in it at all!

[ryannichols7]

excited for the extras to be announced more than I am the titles, which are of course new to me and I'll be learning about them as I (eventually) work through the set. very nice to see all the films get new restorations, I must say. I'm in, even though I'm massively behind on working through vol 1 and haven't grabbed 2 yet (but will be doing so)

[Finch]

I wonder if Vol 4 might be some of the titles that are currently under license to Shout. That's why I continue to hold off on buying any of Shout's sets which given the old materials are really overpriced compared to Arrow's with the 2k sources.

[ryannichols7]

I will say I kinda wish some of the titles from the earlier sets could've gotten as much love in terms of restorations and new transfers, since amazingly everything in Volume 3 will get that level of care. I finally got to Mighty Peking Man (I'm way behind, clearly) and it could've really benefitted from a new restoration. and of course, Come Drink With Me would've been a dream. but alas. just glad moving forward we're gonna get some consistency in restoration, clearly this project does well enough for Arrow to where they're not only continuing it, but are putting in this level of work on it. the Bruce Lee set last year was just on another level of incredible and it's great to see that come to Shawscope, even before the extras are revealed

[Orlac]

The One-Armed Swordsman is a very awkward film, with an early drama that gets functionally dropped for the rest of the movie. The action is painfully slow and awkward––Wang Yu isn't good at this anyway, and he is obviously severely hamstrung by fighting with one arm stuffed into his sleeve. The films is clumsy all the way up to the final fight, where one of Shaws' patented "old guy" actors brandishes a bullwhip and tries to take on Wang Yu.

I never got why OAS hides the villian's face until the finale. He's not a character we see elsewhere in the movie, and his slight scar is practically invisible!

[Mr Sausage]

The One-Armed Swordsman is a very awkward film, with an early drama that gets functionally dropped for the rest of the movie. The action is painfully slow and awkward––Wang Yu isn't good at this anyway, and he is obviously severely hamstrung by fighting with one arm stuffed into his sleeve. The films is clumsy all the way up to the final fight, where one of Shaws' patented "old guy" actors brandishes a bullwhip and tries to take on Wang Yu.

I never got why OAS hides the villian's face until the finale. He's not a character we see elsewhere in the movie, and his slight scar is practically invisible!

I haven't seen the movie in a decade and remember really enjoying it, but, yeah, the way it brute forces a mystery for no reason is peculiar. He plays no other role in the movie, he's not a surprise star, he doesn't have a grotesque deformity, and his scar doesn't connect him to some back story if I remember.

I'm surprised that feihong finds the movie so awkward and turgid, but then I think it was the first Chang Cheh and Shaw production I ever saw. Ought to give it a revisit now that I have a lot more context.

[Finch]

Vol 2 has been sold out on Arrow's UK store since this morning so we should be seeing it broken up into 3 or 4 sets soon (unless it has to sell out in the US too, first). The 36th Chamber films are probably going to be bundled by themselves or they could do a 6 film Lau Kar-Leung set including Mad Monkey Kung Fu, My Young Auntie and Martial Arts of Shaolin. The Chang Cheh films are going to be their own set and they could do a third release of the remaining four if they're not going to omit any title this time.

[swo17]

I've updated the index in the first post of this thread with the Vol. 3 titles. I also thought it would be helpful to add the Shout sets and a few other titles that have received standalone boutique label releases. If I've missed any of the latter, feel free to suggest additions

[Peacock]

Thank you swo. I for one love watching movies in release order and haven’t cracked upon any of these sets yet so this is incredibly helpful, thanks again!

[Finch]

I added 88 Films for Martial Club, Legendary Weapons of China and The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter.

[Peacock]

Can you add the Arrow individual titles as well then?

[swo17]

What is there besides Come Drink with Me and 8 Diagram Pole Fighter in the US?

[Maltic]

I will say I kinda wish some of the titles from the earlier sets could've gotten as much love in terms of restorations and new transfers, since amazingly everything in Volume 3 will get that level of care. I finally got to Mighty Peking Man (I'm way behind, clearly) and it could've really benefitted from a new restoration. and of course, Come Drink With Me would've been a dream. but alas. just glad moving forward we're gonna get some consistency in restoration, clearly this project does well enough for Arrow to where they're not only continuing it, but are putting in this level of work on it. the Bruce Lee set last year was just on another level of incredible and it's great to see that come to Shawscope, even before the extras are revealed

It was disappointing not to see new transfers of some big titles like Heroes of the East and My Young Auntie. I'm not sure Arrow would have put these out in single releases without new masters. Different when they can be included in a large box.

That said, there seems a somewhat "low ceiling" as to how good these Shawscope titles can be made to look, even when you pull out all the stops. Or maybe it's just me.

[Orlac]

The big improvement for me with the new transfers is that they don't have the frame cuts. Some of the older masters were badly affected by this - Chinese Boxer and New One-Armed Swordsman come to mind.

[andyli]

What exactly is the frame cut?

[MichaelB]

What exactly is the frame cut?

When single frames were removed around cuts, presumably because it was a cheaper way of hiding visible splice marks than carrying out a digital clean-up. It makes negligible difference if the shots are lengthy, but if they're rapidly cut it can genuinely damage the intended rhythm.

It's also a royal pain in the arse for a conscientious label, especially when trying to sync up a commentary that was clearly recorded to a frame-cut version - and feel free to detect the voice of bitter experience here.

[pistolwink]

When I interned for a restoration company in the early 2000s I was asked to do that—digitally remove frames with visible tape splices—and did it, grudgingly. Even at the time it was possible to edit certain frames using Photoshop to remove/hide the splices instead of deleting the entire frame, but the former was more time-consuming. Granted, the films I was working on didn't have shots of several frames each as many HK action films do. (If you cut the beginning and ending frames of each shot in The Valiant Ones, which I watched recently, you'd really fuck up the film.)

[yoloswegmaster]

Full list of specs for Vol. 3:

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY COLLECTION CONTENTS

High Definition (1080p) presentations of all fourteen films, including thirteen new 2K restorations by Arrow Films
Illustrated 60-page collectors' booklet featuring new writing by David West, Jonathan Clements and Dylan Cheung, plus cast and crew listings and notes on each film by Ian Jane
New artwork by Chris Malbon, "Kung Fu Bob" O'Brien, Tom Ralston, Ilan Sheady, Tony Stella and Jolyon Yates
Hours of illuminating bonus features, including feature commentaries and several cast-and-crew interviews from the Frédéric Ambroisine Video Archive
Exclusive CD of music from the De Wolfe Music Library as heard in several Shaw Brothers classics

DISC ONE - ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN

Brand new 4K restoration by Celestial Pictures and L'Immagine Ritrovata
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English mono audio
Newly translated English subtitles, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
Brand new commentary by David West, author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film
Newly filmed appreciation of the One-Armed Swordsman series by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interview with actor Wang Yu, filmed in 2001
Interview with actor Chiao Chiao, filmed in 2005
Interview with actor Ku Feng, filmed in 2004
Appreciation of director Chang Cheh's work by film historian Sam Ho, filmed in 2003
Interview with Daniel Lee, director of the remake What Price Survival, filmed in 2004
One-Armed Side Hustles, a brand new video essay by Brandon Bentley on Wang Yu's career playing amputee protagonists
Theatrical trailers, and trailers for other films by Chang Cheh

DISC TWO - RETURN OF THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN / THE NEW ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN

Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English mono audio for both films
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
Brand new commentary on Return of the One-Armed Swordsman by critic Samm Deighan
Brand new commentary on The New One-Armed Swordsman by martial arts cinema expert Brian Bankston
Theatrical trailers for both films

DISC THREE - THE LADY HERMIT / INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN

Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English mono audio for both films
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
Brand new commentary on The Lady Hermit by critic James Mudge
Two brand new commentaries on Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, one by film critic and historian Tony Rayns, one by critic Samm Deighan
Alternate English export credits for Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan
Theatrical trailers for both films

DISC FOUR - THE 14 AMAZONS

Brand new 2K restoration from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English mono audio
Newly translated English subtitles, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
Brand new commentary by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of China
Interview with stuntwoman Sharon Yeung, filmed in 2004
Interview with film historian Bede Chang, filmed in 2005
Interview with film critic Law Kar, filmed in 2005
Theatrical trailers

DISC FIVE - THE MAGIC BLADE / CLANS OF INTRIGUE

Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English mono audio for The Magic Blade
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and Cantonese mono audio for Clans of Intrigue
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub on The Magic Blade
Brand new commentary on The Magic Blade by critic Samm Deighan
Brand new commentary on Clans of Intrigue by critic James Mudge
Alternate version of Clans of Intrigue via seamless branching, featuring four extended scenes previously censored for explicit material
Theatrical trailers for both films

DISC SIX - JADE TIGER / THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN

Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin mono audio for Jade Tiger
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and Cantonese mono audio for The Sentimental Swordsman
Newly translated English subtitles for both films
Brand new commentary on Jade Tiger by critic Ian Jane
Brand new commentary on The Sentimental Swordsman by David West, author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film
Theatrical trailers for both films

DISC SEVEN - THE AVENGING EAGLE / KILLER CONSTABLE

Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English mono audio for both films, plus Cantonese mono for The Avenging Eagle
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
Brand new commentary on The Avenging Eagle by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng
Three brand new commentaries on Killer Constable: one by film critic and historian Tony Rayns; one by Frank Djeng; one by martial arts cinema expert Brian Bankston
Additional and alternate scenes from the South Korean version of Killer Constable (in standard-definition)
Alternate English-language title sequences for both films
Theatrical trailers for both films

DISC EIGHT - BUDDHA'S PALM / BASTARD SWORDSMAN

Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Newly restored uncompressed Cantonese, Mandarin and English mono audio for Buddha's Palm
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin mono audio for Bastard Swordsman
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub on Buddha's Palm
Brand new commentary on Buddha's Palm by critic and translator Dylan Cheung
Brand new commentary on Bastard Swordsman by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng
Alternate English title sequence for Buddha's Palm, as Raiders of the Magic Palm
Theatrical trailers for both films

DISC NINE - BONUS FEATURES

High Definition (with standard-definition VHS inserts) presentation of the rare Korean version of Killer Constable with newly-translated English subtitles, featuring over half an hour of exclusive alternate footage never released outside South Korea before
Newly filmed appreciation of director Chor Yuen by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interview with stuntwoman Sharon Yeung on Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, filmed in 2005
Appreciation of Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan from 2003 by academic Sze Man-hung, musician Kwan King-chung, and filmmaker Clarence Fok (Naked Killer)
Interview with actor Ti Lung, recorded in 2004
Archive interviews with director Chor Yuen, actors Yuen Wah and Li Ching on The Magic Blade
Appreciation of Chor Yuen's career by film historian Sam Ho, filmed in 2003
Interview with screenwriter Sze-to On on The Magic Blade, filmed in 2003
Interview with actor Ku Feng on The Avenging Eagle, filmed in 2004
Interview with actor Eddy Ko on The Avenging Eagle, filmed in 2004
DISC TEN - MORE MUSIC FROM SHAW BROTHERS CLASSICS (CD)

[Matt]

My Volume 3 box just shipped from OrbitDVD.

[yoloswegmaster]

Supposedly Frank Djeng has confirmed that Shawscope Volume 4 will be non-martial arts themed and consist of 16 films. If true, then I'm glad since there are a lot of non-martial arts Shaw Bros films that I would love to see get released, like Love in a Fallen City, Hong Kong Godfather, Men from the Gutter, and especially The House of 72 Tenants.

[midnitedave]

Supposedly Frank Djeng has confirmed that Shawscope Volume 4 will be non-martial arts themed and consist of 16 films. If true, then I'm glad since there are a lot of non-martial arts Shaw Bros films that I would love to see get released, like Love in a Fallen City, Hong Kong Godfather, Men from the Gutter, and especially The House of 72 Tenants.

This is great news! I would also like to see some love given to their fantasy/horror output: Demon of the Lute, Seeding of a Ghost, Bewitched, Hex, Super Inframan.

[Glowingwabbit]

I hope they could find a way to include my favorite Shaw film, The Love Eterne

[Orlac]

I'm still waiting for someone, anyone, to release BRUCE LEE AND I!