Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 28, 2021

If the Shaw Brothers' logo is intentionally reminiscent of the Warner Brothers' logo, there are a number of other connective tethers between the two sets of siblings. The Warners founded what would become one of the "Big Five" studios in the American filmmaking industry in 1923, after having had some success as exhibitors. They went on to create one of the crown jewels of the "studio system" in the United States, eventually matriculating pretty forcefully into the television side of things, even when some of their American competitors were not in such a huge rush to "help the enemy". Somewhat similarly, the Shaw Brothers formed the first version of their moviemaking empire just two years after the Warners, in 1925, though admittedly it took until 1958 for the organization to be called Shaw Brothers. Like the Warners, the Shaws had begun as venue owners, though in their case they dealt in both film exhibitions (courtesy of their father) and live theater. Kind of interestingly, given one of the Warner's technological triumphs, the introduction of sound with 1929's The Jazz Singer, the Shaws are credited with having brought the "talkie" era to Chinese cinema in 1932 and 1933. The Shaws took a while to develop what many think of as their stock in trade, the kung fu films that started appearing in the seventies, but there's little disagreement that their involvement in that genre massively helped to popularize it, much as the Warners had helped to make the so-called "gangster film" must see cinema in the 1930s. Again, understandably somewhat later than the Warners ventured into television in the 1950s, the Shaws ultimately actually forsook the bulk of their movie output to concentrate on productions for the small screen. But Arrow is concentrating on some of the studio's feature films from its perceived heyday, with the Volume One of this set's title hinting that fans may be just at the beginning of an exciting viewing adventure. As is often the case with these deluxe Arrow releases, the packaging is impressive and the supplemental features are bountiful and outstanding.

For reviews of the films included in this set, please click on the following links:

King Boxer Blu-ray review

The Boxer from Shantung Blu-ray review

Five Shaolin Masters Blu-ray review

Shaolin Temple Blu-ray review

The Mighty Peking Man Blu-ray review

Challenge of the Masters Blu-ray review

Executioners from Shaolin Blu-ray review

Chinatown Kid Blu-ray review

The Five Venoms Blu-ray review

Crippled Avengers Blu-ray review

Heroes of the East Blu-ray review

Dirty Ho Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements included on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Additionally, this is another extravagantly packaged release from Arrow which includes 2 Bonus Soundtrack CDs which offer cues from Shaolin Temple, Might Peking Man, Chinatown Kid, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers and Dirty Ho. The release comes housed in a slipcase which is approximately 11" wide by 7" high by 2" deep, which includes a kind of quasi-DigiBook with cardboard "pages" holding the discs, with information about the transfers and supplements on each page. A beautiful booklet containing essays and thorough information on all of the films is also included.

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had assembled my Top 10 list for the year when this release showed up on my doorstep, and I pretty much knew instantly I needed to add a release to that list. This is certainly one of the most beautifully packaged box sets yet from Arrow (which is saying a lot), but even better, the films boast exceptional technical merits for the most part, and the supplements are bounteous and hugely enjoyable. Highly recommended.