Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Challenge of the Masters Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 28, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Shawscope Volume One.

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.

With tongue only slightly in cheek, I might say I have spent considerable time in my reviewing life discussing films either about IP Man: 4-Movie Collection or Wong Fei-hung, and in terms of that latter character, I in fact just finished reviewing Criterion's release(s) of Once Upon a Time in China: The Complete Films. As I mentioned in our Rise of the Legend Blu-ray review, and as Tony Rayns also gets into in the supplement included on this disc, both the large and small screen depictions of Wong Fei-hung are legion, though perhaps a bit oddly, Challenge of the Masters may have some reason taken a bit of a back seat to other seventies' era versions of the Chinese master's life, including such well remembered fare as Drunken Master (note that the link points to a UK Blu-ray release).

Challenge of the Masters was at least a bit unusual in the annals of Wong Fei-hung projects in that it sought to offer some of the earlier moments in the hero's life, portrayed here by Gordon Liu in the part that helped to establish him as a global superstar. The story details Wong's attempts to learn martial arts, and as so often is the case in many martial arts films, "wars" between various schools are involved. As Rayns also at least alludes to, Challenge of the Masters may not have the auteur-ist ambitions of some of Lau Kar-leung's other works, and its narrative is admittedly basic and not very well fleshed out. But Gordon Liu is a charismatic and athletic presence, and the actual fight scenes are excitingly staged.

Challenge of the Masters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Challenge of the Masters is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's nicely appointed insert pamphlet sized booklet contains quite a bit of information, though all of the films have been lumped together on one page, as follows:

All twelve films in this boxset are presented in their original 2.35:1 aspect ratios [sic] with their original Mandarin, English and Cantonese (where applicable) monoaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.

Five Shaolin Masters, Shaolin Temple, Mighty Peking Man, Executioners from Shaolin, Heroes of the East and the shorter Alternate Version of Chinatown Kid were remastered by Celestial Pictures in 2003-2007, as part of an initiative to digitally restore the entire Shaw Brothers library. The High Definition masters of these restorations, which included the original Mandarin and English mono soundtracks, were supplied to Arrow Films by Celestial Pictures.

King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Challenge of the Masters, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Dirty Ho and the longer international cut of Chinatown Kid have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2021, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures.

The original 35mm negatives for King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Challenge of the Masters, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers and Dirty Ho were scanned at L'Immagine Rittrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The Films were graded at R3Store Studios, London. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "frame cutting" 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 appear loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely in post production, as per the production standards of the period.

A 35mm internegative of the International Version of Chinatown Kid was scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The film was graded at R3Store Studios, London.

The mono mix was remastered from the original sound negative at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Matthew Jarman/Bad Princess Productions.

An additional scene from Chinatown Kid missing from the original elements was scanned from a vintage 35mm print and graded in 2K resolution at American Genre Film Archive (AGFA).

All original materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kon Film Archive via Celestial Pictures.

The fact that the "widescreen" DigiBook holding the discs in this set does not mention a 4K scan of the original negative with regard to Challenge of the Masters, despite this being a newly done transfer by Arrow, may account for the slight but noticeable dropoff in fine detail levels between this presentation and those of the first two films in this set. That said, there is still abundant fine detail on display, especially in close- ups. General detail levels on the often opulent costumes and sets are also typically very pleasing, and the palette, which runs the gamut from bold primaries to some really appealing pastels, pops very well. As with the other transfers Arrow has done for this set, the restoration gauntlet has pretty much eliminated any major signs of age related wear and tear, and there's an organically resolved grain field. My score is 4.25.

Challenge of the Masters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Challenge of the Masters is the first film in this set to offer three audio options, Mandarin, Cantonese and English, all delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. I toggled through the three as I watched the film, and there are some noticeable differences. The Mandarin track struck me as being the "driest" in terms of reverb, with the Cantonese offering a bit more of an "echo laden" sound (which I actually preferred), as well as an overall brighter sound that is especially noticeable in some of the sound effects. Kind of interestingly in that regard, the effects on the English track can sound different, including things like crowd noises in a market scene. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Challenge of the Masters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged this release with Challenge of the Masters and Executioners from Shaolin on the same disc. Arrow has rather nicely authored the disc so that when choosing either film, a specific set of supplements is accessible, albeit with some shared content (as with regard to the Rayns piece, below, which is available under both films' Special Features submenus).

• Tony Rayns on Lau Kar-leung (HD; 28:36) actually sports the title Tony Rayns on Challenge of the Masters and Executioners from Shaolin, and offers good background, as well as biographical and filmography information on Kar-leung from the always reliable Rayns.


• Interview with Gordon Liu (HD; 20:24) was filmed by Frédéric Ambroisine in 2002. Subtitled in English.


• Textless Opening Credits (HD; 3:12)


• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer 1 (HD; 4:07)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer 2 (HD; 1:19)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer 3 (HD; 2:06)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer 4 (HD; 4:07)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD; 1:04)

• Image Gallery

Note: All of the discs in this set feature some supplemental material that is in 720 rather than 1080, notably some of the trailers.

Challenge of the Masters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Challenge of the Masters may not be "the" definitive Wong Fei-hung film, but it's exciting and it benefits from a star making performance by Gordon Liu. The narrative is a little rote, but the fight scenes are very exciting. Technical merits are generally solid, and as usual with Arrow's releases, the supplementary package is outstanding. Recommended.