7 | / 10 |
Users | 3.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The 5 Kao brothers, separated since childhood, are unaware that the master Teng Lung Manor, Lung Chen-feng has killed their father. All five, however, seek to defeat the vicious gangsters at the Manor.
Starring: Pei-Pei Cheng, Han Chin, Yi Chang (I), Yuen Kao, Hua YuehForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 52% |
Action | 34% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Mandarin: LPCM 2.0
English, Cantonese
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 2.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Over the course of the past month, I’ve had the opportunity to review two other Shaw Studio classics arriving on the Blu-ray format (The Heroic Ones and The Deadly Duo). Given my longstanding appreciation for classic kung-fu cinema, the recent flood of these films onto a still-maturing format came as a bit of a shock, especially given the long wait we endured during the DVD era. I’m not entirely sure what accounts for the respect bestowed on these films at this stage in the game, but fans of the genre should consider themselves lucky to amass such an impressive collection after years of neglect.
For any martial art historians out there, Brothers Five was a 1970 Shaw Studio film, directed by a 52-year-old Wei Lo (who also directed Fists of Fury with Bruce Lee the following year). Mixing extended sequences of single-take fight choreography with a basic revenge plot, the end result is a highly entertaining stroll down memory lane.
If looks could kill...
Presented in 1080i utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 26Mbps), Brothers Five sports an admirable visual presentation for a film of this vintage. I wouldn't rank fine object detail quite as high as the concurrent release of The Heroic Ones (also courtesy of Well Go), but it clearly surpasses all prior editions, offering sufficient texturing on the fabric of clothing and the surface of background set-pieces. In fact, detail occasionally becomes a bit too revealing, demonstrating the budgetary limitations of several artificial environments (foam rocks and fake vegetation). From a coloring standpoint, the film incorporates a variety of rich hues in the lush foliage of the backgrounds and the vibrant ornamental clothing worn by various characters. This is likely the element that demonstrates the most significant upgrade over prior editions of the film, since it incorporates a much stronger visual presence that simply wasn't possible on inferior home video formats. Unfortunately, there's one area of the visual presentation that becomes a bit problematic from time to time. What I'm referring to is weak contrast differentiation in several shadow-heavy fight sequences, making it difficult to track figures that disappear in the darker sections of the screen. This only becomes a problem during two scenes around the mid-point of the film, but the battles drag on long enough to eventually become distracting. On the positive side, I never noticed any combing related to the interlaced transfer, and aliasing is kept to an absolute minimum.
Unlike the concurrent release of The Heroic Ones and The Delightful Forest (also from Well Go), Brothers Five contains only the native mix in lossless 2.0, forcing English-speaking viewers into a situation where subtitles are mandatory. I typically choose the native language option as it is, so I wasn't overly concerned by the lack of options (though I acknowledge others may feel differently). Given the limitations in sound design at the time of the film's production, it's not terribly surprising to find high-volume crackle, modest clipping, and strike effects that remind me of my five-year-old nephew pushing pre-defined buttons on his Casio keyboard. All of these problems would seemingly relegate Brothers Five to the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Blu-ray audio tracks, so you might be surprised to discover I still awarded the film a 2.5/5 on the audio portion of the disc. My reasoning behind this decision isn't an implication that this is an average quality release, but rather an indication of the limitations Well Go worked with in delivery the final audio presentation. As we all know, you can't turn apples into oranges, so the fact that we aren't given a jaw-dropping mix should be tempered by a realization that the source material doesn't allow for extensive improvement.
Unfortunately, my forgiving assessment of the audio track doesn't extend into the awful grammar and spelling demonstrated throughout the English subtitles. I'd never suggest Well Go complete an entirely new translation for the subtitle track (especially given the low retail price of this release), but merely hiring someone to spend an afternoon cleaning up the basics would've been appreciated.
The only included supplement is a collection of three trailers for other Shaw Studio classics.
Brothers Five is an easy recommendation for anyone who considers themselves part of the kung-fu fanclub. Combining epic fight choreography, decent acting, and an entertaining revenge plot, the film's a perfect example of a relentless action experience, earning a deserving spot in the upper echelon of its genre.
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