Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Bastard Swordsman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 22, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's Shawscope Volume Three set.

It's maybe not even that much of a joke to state that lately it has felt like there's a new Blu-ray release of a venerable Shaw Brothers film coming out every week, and in fact there have been some weeks where my own review queue has had more than one Blu-ray release of a Shaw Brothers film in any given seven day period. That said, and even granting a two title per week release schedule, it would take literally years, and arguably maybe even a decade or more, for labels to get around to releasing the entire Shaw Brothers output. In that regard, then, this massive newest volume in Arrow's evidently ongoing Shawscope series may be thought of as something of a "shortcut", at least in terms of offering a veritable gaggle of films, even if wending your way through this gargantuan enterprise will hardly seem short in any way, shape or form, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Once again, as with the first two volumes in this series, Arrow has aggregated both better known and lesser known films, delivered with typically solid technical merits and some very appealing supplements. This set has been packaged to be a shelf mate with its two "siblings" (for more information on the packaging, see the supplements section in the main Shawscope Volume Three Blu-ray review).

For "rabid completists" interested in what's already been released by Arrow in the Shawscope department, the following review links may be of some assistance:

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume Two Blu-ray review

As with many, maybe all, of the films in this set, Bastard Swordsman is a relic of its production era, which in this case may frankly not redound to the film's benefit. At this point in the Shaw Brothers' venerable history, the studio probably already saw the handwriting on the wall in terms of big screen fare, already moving into television work via Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB), which the studio had launched in 1967 and which would not too long after this film came out become its sole production focus. In that regard, it's perhaps not all that surprising that in this "interim" period, Bastard Swordsman was itself based on an ATV/RTV television series called Reincarnated. As with that series, the focal character is one Yun Feiyang (Norman Tsui Siu-Keung, reprising his television role), a man whose questionable parentage (hence that "bastard" in the title) has made him a badly abused outcast in his kung fu school.

It's in fact the perils of Yun Feiyang, which kind of offer a "flip side" of the orphan experience when compared to somewhat similar underlying plot dynamics in The Avenging Eagle, that inform this story, though Yun Feiyang may not be quite the hapless schlub several other characters mistake him for. There's the typical intrigue involving marital arts schools/clans and what might be termed both internecine and intramural skirmishes, as the previously bullied Yun Feiyang gets to prove his mettle and establish honor for both himself and his cohort. The film is undeniably predictable a lot of the time, but it does offer some very well staged battles, including both fist and foot related as well as some passing swordplay.

Bastard Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Bastard Swordsman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's almost overwhelming insert booklet lumps all the films together on its informational page about the transfers, as follows:

All fourteen films in this boxset are presented in their original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with their original Mandarin plus Cantonese and/or English (where applicable) monaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.

One-Armed Swordsman was restored in 4K resolution by Celestial Pictures and L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2020. Additional grading was completed at R3store Studios, London in 2024.

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, The New One-Armed Swordsman, The Lady Hermit, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, The 14 Amazons, The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, The Sentimental Swordsman, The Avenging Eagle, Killer Constable, Buddha's Palm and Bastard Swordsman have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2024, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures. The original 35mm negatives for these films were scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, The New One-Armed Swordsman, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, The 14 Amazons, The Avenging Eagle, Killer Constable and Buddha's Palm were graded at R3store Studios, Lady Hermit, The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, The Sentimental Swordsman and Bastard Swordsman were graded at Dragon DI, Wales. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "framecutting" resulting in the loss of film frames at each negative splice point.

The mono mixes were remastered from the original sound negatives at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Matthew Jarman/Bad Princess Productions. The audio synch will often seem loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely during post-production, as per the production standards of the period.

All original materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kong Film Archive via Celestial Pictures. The additional sequences in the uncensored version of Clans of Intrigue were sourced from a 35mm print held by Celestial Pictures. For the presentation of the alternate South Korean cut of Killer Constable, efforts were made to access original film materials for this version held at the Korean Film Archive, but this was not possible. A Korean VHS copy was used as a guide to reconstruct this cut in high definition, using the new 2K restoration of the original Hong Kong version for the bulk of the film and standard-definition inserts for the audio and unique footage. The original trailers were restored by Arrow Films from the original 35mm materials held at the Hong Kong Film Archive.

Palette reproduction is once again probably the most eye catching part of this transfer, and the use of both occasional outdoor location work and some nicely appointed sets give the film a really appealingly wide array of colors. Detail and espeically fine detail probably do better in the more controlled studio bound material, though there are even some variances here, not necessarily related to some of the optical effects. There's some pretty severe anamorphic oddness at times, including a pretty pronounced example circa 14:45 and thereafter of what I've termed "parallelogram syndrome", where the entire rectangle of the frame looks like it's been twisted into that other geometrical shape, making everything in the frame weirdly tilted. Grain occasionally spikes and ebbs, but on the whole resolves without any issues whatsoever.

Bastard Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kind of interestingly, the quasi-liner notes in Arrow's insert booklet mention that this film evidently was originally released with a Cantonese soundtrack, but that has perhaps inexplicably been lost, leaving only the Mandarin LPCM Mono track included on this disc. That of course leads to the ever popular "loose sync", but otherwise this track is reasonably full bodied, especially in the midrange. There is nonetheless a somewhat "silvery" bright high end that can introduce a bit of sibilance and an overall hollow sound to some of the sound effects in particular. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Bastard Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Frank Djeng


• HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:53)

Bastard Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bastard Swordsman may not exactly help this third volume of Shawscope material go out with a veritable "bang", but if taken on its own perhaps slightly smaller scale terms, it's engaging enough and does feature some well choreographed fight scenes. Technical merits are generally solid, and Frank Djeng contributes another of his information packed commentaries, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.