Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Five Shaolin 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.

In a way, Five Shaolin Masters might be appreciated as a "ramp up" to what is probably one of the better remembered Shaw Brothers films from this same general era, and one which is also offered in this set, namely The Five Venoms, at least in terms of offering a focal quintet out to avenge wrong doing, and each with their own "particular set of skills". Unfortunately, the narrative in Five Shaolin Masters is often muddled, so much so that one assumes the prequel Shaolin Temple may have been produced at least as much to provide needed information as to keep raking in box office receipts.

The "destruction of the temple" (to borrow a phrase from another culture) is at the core of this story, as the five masters want to bring those who destroyed their place of worship to justice. Had more time been spent developing the backstory, and offering clearer character studies, the film may have had more dramatic impact. As it stands, that impact is generated from some typically elaborate fight scenes, including another barn burner of a "boss level" at the film's conclusions which sees the quintet taking down their rivals from a number of different locations and utilizing radically different techniques.

Five Shaolin Masters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Five Shaolin 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.

Five Shaolin Masters doesn't have the same luster that adorn the first two films in this set, but that said, having seen this film in at least a couple of other home video iterations, this Celestial Pictures restoration is decent, if not optimal. The palette is rather nicely suffused for the most part, and the glut of outdoor material tends to pop relatively well. There's a tendency for slightly green or green-yellow flesh tones at times, with the color temperature varying just slightly on occasion. Detail levels are certainly acceptable, especially on things like textures of fabrics on costumes, but this doesn't have the same impeccable fine detail that the first two films offer. This also has a slightly digital look at times, with what looked to my eyes like slight but still noticeable filtering, tending to give things a slightly smooth and soft appearance. This is not at "waxy, smeary" levels by any stretch, but after the first two films' largely excellent presentations, some fans may feel this is a bit of a letdown.

Five Shaolin Masters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Five Shaolin Masters features DTS-HD Master Audio Mono tracks in either Mandarin or English. There's a somewhat hollow sound to both of these tracks, which per my usual practice I toggled between as I watched the film. That said, this is another audio presentation where I felt like the Mandarin track was a bit hotter and brighter, especially on the high end of things, which can help support some of the hyperbolic sound effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, though there's not a lot of depth to the proceedings. Optional English subtitles are available.

Five Shaolin Masters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged this release with Five Shaolin Masters and Shaolin Temple 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 Chang Cheh (HD; 36:46) is another newly done piece featuring that always interesting Rayns, here discussing the legendary director.


• Interview with Kong Do (HD; 22:55) is an interview filmed in 2005 by Frédéric Ambroisine. Subtitled in English.


• Elegant Trails features two actor profiles produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003. Subtitled in English.

  Ti Lung (HD; 9:30)

  
  

  David Chiang (HD; 8:04)

• US Opening Credits (HD; 10;23)


• Trailer Gallery

  US Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:23)

  
  

  German Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:42)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD; 1:10)



• Image Gallery (HD)

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

Five Shaolin Masters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There are some appealing moments in Five Shaolin Masters, and the finale is another Shaw Brothers tour de force, but from a dramatic standpoint, this is a pretty lethargic exercise. Technical merits can't match the first two films, but are certainly acceptable, if not optimal, and as usual for an Arrow release, the supplements are excellent, for those who may be considering making a purchase.