Force: Five Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		2.5

Force: Five Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 26, 2026

Anyone who has either purchased or otherwise made their way through the (thus far) four volumes of Shawscope offerings from Arrow Video will probably be aware that the Shaw Brothers loved to offer fans so-called "all star" casts throwing together coteries of the studio's well stocked supply of marquee attractions. Something at least a little similar is at hand (and/or foot, as various martial arts techniques may require) in Force: Five, though the "star power" of the aggregated heroes in this film may frankly be debatable. And in fact it may be the film's director, Robert Clouse, who may spark the initial interest of avid credits perusers since Clouse was responsible for Enter the Dragon.

Force: Five was offered on Blu-ray several years ago by Scorpion Releasing, and Brian Orndorf's Force: Five Blu-ray review of that edition provides a bit of plot information along with Brian's reaction to the technical presentation. That disc offered only a trailer in standard definition as its sole supplement, and maybe just a little hilariously this disc offers the trailer in high definition with the rest of the supplements in standard definition. As I so often state, "different reviewers means different opinions", and Brian is evidently fonder of this film than I am, and so our scores for the film itself differ.

Force: Five Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Force: Five is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual's MVD Rewind Collection imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. As tends to be the case with MVD Rewind Collection releases, there's no real technical information on the transfer imparted on the packaging. This corrects the slightly misframed 1.78:1 aspect ratio of the old Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray, but in doing a cursory comparison of screenshots between this review and Brian's, I frankly don't find huge differences in color timing or detail levels. This release is arguably a bit darker and more warmly suffused, but it really doesn't look like by much. This presentation shows the same softness that Brian mentions in his review, and I'd add that some of the "processed" look he mentions may have come from some noise reduction, as grain isn't especially prominent. There are minor but still observable signs of age related wear and tear on display. I've tried to come close to duplicating some of the frames Brian captured for his review so that those interested in this release and how it stacks up against the Scorpion Releasing disc can do their own side by side comparisons.

Force: Five Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Force: Five features an LPCM 2.0 Mono track that delivers the film's goofy sound effects and equally goofy dialogue without any issues. Brian wasn't especially impressed with the Scorpion Releasing disc's audio, but while this isn't a standout track by contemporary standards, it certainly struck my ears as more consistent than, say, some of the tracks in the many Shaw Brothers films in those aforementioned Shawscope films, especially with regard to those goofy sound effects. William Goldstein's score is dated (it probably was even when the film came out), but is still enjoyable, combining some Shaft-adjacent wah wah work with what might be jokingly called a Quinn Martin television series theme ambience with synths, and that also sounds nicely full bodied. Optional English subtitles are available.

Force: Five Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Joe Lewis (SD; 50:08) is frankly a bit on the strange side, as if it is raw footage of something that was intended to be edited later.


• Benny Urquidez Interview (SD; 8:59) is more of a demonstration of hand wrapping by the actor and martial artist.


• Benny Urquidez Fight Featurette (SD; 6:41) is another peculiar supplement, as it's in German without subtitles. More hand wrapping is offered, after which an actual fight takes place.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:19)

The keepcase has a reversible sleeve, and encloses a folded mini poster. Packaging also features a slipcover.

Force: Five Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Vis a vis my mention above of a Quinn Martin television theme ambience to some of the scoring choices, a lot of this production plays like a long lost pilot for a proposed show that never quite made it to series. This release from the MVD Rewind Collection offers generally solid technical merits and some fun if frankly patently weird supplements, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.