6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
After getting in trouble with local gangs, a young man (Fu Sheng) flees to San Francisco, where the same gangs are still causing problems. He becomes a part of one gang, and eventually decides to play them against each other in order to clean up the town.
Starring: Sheng Fu, Shirley Yu, Susan Yam-Yam Shaw, Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok, Jenny TsengForeign | 100% |
Drama | 22% |
Action | 8% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English on International Version only
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
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.
Chinatown Kid is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.37:1. 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.The fact that so much of the above verbiage is devoted to Chinatown Kid may allude to the fact that the two versions of this film included on this disc have pretty drastically different appearances. Kind of interestingly and perhaps counter-intuitively in that regard, the older Celestial Pictures transfer of the Alternate Version is a much cleaner, better detailed, looking presentation than the newer "restoration" of the International Cut that Arrow has done for this release. To see some of the differences, simply compare screenshots 1 through 15, which are from the shorter Alternate Cut, with screenshots 16 through 19, which come from the International Version, paying special attention to the screenshots where I attempted to capture similar frames. The International Version is much rougher looking, with an almost pixellated grain field and diminished detail levels. There's also quite a bit of damage on display, including some recurrent problems at the edges of the frame. The Alternate Cut may show some of the same high frequency filtering that some of the other Celestial Pictures transfers can display, but to my eyes, it's a much more pleasing viewing experience. The palette is better suffused, and detail levels are noticeably improved. Framing is also just a bit different at times. There's really no damage of any major import in the Alternate Version. International Version much rougher looking than the Alternate Version. Screenshots 16 through 19 are from the International Version.
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.
While the disc menu offers DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mixes in Cantonese and English for the International Version, the "liner notes" disclose that the International Version actually offers a "combo platter" of both Cantonese and Mandarin, while the Alternate Version is entirely in Mandarin. In terms of consistency, the Alternate Version's audio is probably the best, though the Cantonese/Mandarin track on the International Version doesn't exhibit any huge problems. The English language track probably fares the worst, with some noticeable distortion including some crackling. All things considered, though, dialogue in all three versions is supported generally well. Optional English subtitles are available.
- HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:27)
- US Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:04)
- US TV Spot (HD; 00:32)
- German Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:36)
- UK VHS Promo (HD; 2:37)
- Digital Reissue Trailer (HD; 1:12)
As some of the supporting documentation accompanying this release gets into, there may be better xiaozi (i.e., "brat") films than Chinatown Kid, but the (again, supposed) setting and Fu Sheng's charisma help to elevate this piece, despite some not especially subtle writing. This release may be of special interest to some for the two different versions of the film offered, with technical merits fairly variant between the two. As usual with Arrow's releases, the supplements are outstanding, for those who may be considering making a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Liu A-Cai yu Huang Fei-Hong
1976
1972
The Executioners of Death / Hong Xi Guan
1977
1978
Five Fingers of Death / Tian xia di yi quan
1972
Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms
1978
Lan tou He
1979
5 Masters of Death
1974
Goliathon / Xing xing wang
1977
Shǎo lín sě / 少林寺
1976
Lie mo zhe / 獵魔者
1982
Mai ming xiao zi / 賣命小子
1979
Guang Dong shi hu yu hou wu hu / 廣東十虎與後五虎
1980
Jin bi tong / 金臂童
1979
Chi jiao xiao zi / Chik geuk siu ji / 赤腳小子
1993
The Five Venoms / 五毒 / Wu du
1978
Tang shan wu hu / 唐山五虎
1979
Nan bei Shao Lin / 南北少林
1986
Nan Shao Lin yu bei Shao Lin / 南少林與北少林
1978
Feng hou / 瘋猴
1979