Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Flying Guillotine Part II Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 2, 2022

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.

The lunatic quality of seeing flying discs soar through the air and then envelope people's heads, slicing and dicing said heads until they've been removed from their erstwhile bodies, of course gives Flying Guillotine some manic energy, along with some kind of alternately comical and horrifying imagery. That said, as Leeder and Venema explore in their commentary, this was a film absolutely fraught with production issues, and there may be clear results of that situation on screen, since the narrative is muddled and even occasional sequences seem to not have been thought out beforehand, or perhaps were being rejiggered on the fly.

The basic plot here is about as hoary as they come, with lots of palace intrigue, though its emphasis on a heroine named Ma Teng (Lung Ti) rather than perhaps more typical male counterparts at least gives this some freshness. An evil emperor must be dealt with, but his attempts to utilize flying guillotines encounter an obstacle in the techniques of Ma Teng and her army of female warriors. If the actual story is alternately baffling and frankly maybe even a bit boring, the film benefits from a breakneck pace and some wonderfully over the top action sequences.

Flying Guillotine Part II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Flying Guillotine Part II Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Asian cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema offers listeners a chance to get sloshed on a drinking game by choosing which pronunciation of "guillotine" they prefer (the l's like a y or the l's like an l) and then taking a swig when that one occurs, since Leeder and Venema pronounce it differently. Joking aside, this is another fun chat that has good information and production anecdotes.


• Original Trailer (HD; 3:33)


• Stills Gallery (HD)

Additionally, this is another nicely packaged release from 88 Films, featuring a nicely appointed insert booklet, a folded mini poster with original art, a reversible sleeve featuring original Hong Kong poster artwork, and a slipcover.

Flying Guillotine Part II Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.