6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The heroic Ma Teng has developed a counter to the Flying Guillotines attack, and when word reaches The Emperor, who is more bloodthirsty than ever, he creates a new deadlier version and trains a squad of female assassins to use it. Now Ma must help the gang of rebels trying to overthrow the evil tyrant and create a new counter-weapon to defeat the improved Guillotine.
Starring: Feng Ku, Chung Wang (I), Hung Wei, Locke Hua Liu, Nancy YenForeign | 100% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
If a Wikipedia page devoted to a list of Shaw Brothers productions is any indication, despite a glut of releases from both Arrow and 88 Films, we
may
only be seeing the tip of a very large iceberg. Arrow has ShawScope Volume Two coming up in a couple of months, but in the meantime, 88 Films continues apace with two
recent
releases, the film currently under discussion and Martial Club
.
Flying Guillotine Part II is arguably a little less rote in some ways than Martial Club, but it's also decidedly goofier for
probably the very same reasons. If Martial Club offered a "twice (at least) told tale" but managed to gussy it up pretty well, Flying
Guillotine exists in one of the frankly weirder nooks and/or crannies of the martial arts genre, as commentators Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
kind of laughingly address in their enjoyable conversation. Flying Guillotine Part II was originally released as Palace Carnage,
and is
ostensibly a sequel to The Flying Guillotine (note
that the link points to a UK release from 88 Films, which probably augurs a future one for "this side of the pond"), though again kind of comically
given the often loosey-goosey world of martial arts production, neither has a real connection to Master of the Flying Guillotine, other than the titular decapitating weapon. Saliently, considering not just
that aforementioned loosey-goosey quality of martial arts productions, but also the kind of fun recent ping ponging of Shaw Brothers releases on
Blu-ray from Arrow and 88 Films, One-Armed Boxer,
the film that supposedly presaged Master of the Flying Guillotine, was recently released on Blu-ray by Arrow.
Flying Guillotine Part II is presented on Blu-ray by 88 Asia Collection, an imprint of 88 Films, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.36:1. The back cover of this release has the only "technical" information, stating "HD transfer from the original negative", while slightly misstating the aspect ratio as 2.35:1. I'm scoring this just slightly less favorably than Martial Club, though some of what I'm seeing is probably baked in and once again at least partly due to some of the oft commented on anomalies of Shawscope. There's a lot of this presentation that doesn't just look soft, but actually verging on out of focus, and there are other oddities that seem related to lens utilization, including typical bugaboos like anamorphic squeezing and/or stretching, but also some almost "ghosting" like moments where you can see visual "echoes" of the edges of whatever's in the frame (including faces and the like). The palette is probably once again the strong point here, though even that is somewhat variable in this presentation. A lot of the transfer fairly bursts with color, as can be seen for example in screenshot 5, but other moments are skewed more toward brown and have a kind of dowdy appearance. This is another 88 Films Blu-ray presentation where there's definitely grain visible, though things still look a little on the filtered side at times. My score is 3.75.
Flying Guillotine Part II features DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono options in either Mandarin or English. Toggling between the two as a I watched reveal very little if any major differences in overall mix and amplitude, though to my ears the Mandarin definitely sounded better balanced, and had a more appealing midrange in particular. There's some slight hiss that especially evident in the English track, perhaps because highs are more prevalent in that track anyway. Dialogue is rendered without any major problems. Optional English subtitles are available.
As Mike Leeder and Arne Venema get into in their appealing commentary, this production was beset with problems virtually from the get go and which continued to kind of haunt things as actual filming got underway. That may account for some of the haphazard qualities that seem to be on display here, though the film at least offers a lot of action and some deliriously out there special effects. Technical merits are generally solid, and 88 Films provides some appealing on disc supplements and extra swag, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.
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