Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.0

Game of Death 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 12, 2023

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest 4K set. The two 1080 discs detailed below are part of this set as well as Arrow's 1080 Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest set.

In the vein of Everything Everywhere All At Once, could it be that Arrow Video and Shout! Factory are actually "each other" in alternate universes? Of course that's said in jest, but considering the following facts. Arrow has given martial arts fans holiday presents of a kind for two years running with Shawscope Volume One and Shawscope Volume Two, and Shout! is now starting to trot out their own collections with Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume One, Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Two, and Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Three. There's also a corollary if reversed situation in that Shout! released Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection years ago and now Arrow is following suit with its own collection, all of which may give credence to my obviously whimsical proposition. (For purposes of this obviously joking comparison, we're just going to flat out ignore Bruce Lee: His Greatest Hits from Criterion, as well as any number of other releases in various regions that have come out through the years.) As Bruce Lee fans in particular will probably know, the Shout! release of Lee films was afflicted with so many problems that it was actually recalled (more than once, kind of humorously), resulting in me having to revisit some of the films several times as Shout! attempted to remedy various problems (I got a downright hilarious private message from our site administrator at one point with this hilarious photo of a train wreck when the second or third recall was announced). One can only hope that the Arrow release doesn't encounter that series of unfortunate events (I'm hoping against hope we would know by now if it had any major issues), but it's another really stunning collection from the label, with generally secure technical merits and some outstanding supplements, along with some handsome deluxe packaging.

For my thoughts on the film, please see my Game of Death Blu- ray review. That review also provides an opportunity to compare screenshots and see how supplements stack up between the releases. This is one of a couple of examples in the Arrow set where the packaging kind of collides with how our database works. There are three separate DigiPacks offering various versions of the film, as detailed below, but adding to the general confusion of the situation is this is one of the cases where Arrow is including 1080 discs in the package, for the second and third discs detailed below.

Game of Death 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from Arrow's 1080 presentation of the film.

Game of Death is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.35:1. I've excerpted both some general and specific comments about the transfer included in Arrow's beautiful hardback book included with this release:

The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, Game of Death and Game of Death II have been exclusively restored for this collection by Arrow Films. The original feature film elements have been used as the primary source materials for this work, but extensive searches and investigations were also undertaken to locate and identify additional film and audio material sin order to restore original logos, credits, cut scenes and reconstruct alternate release versions.

The international English language version of Game of Death is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with English mono audio. The best existing feature film element, an original 35mm CRI internegative, was scanned and restored in 4K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The film underwent additional picture restoration and was graded in SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision at Silver Salt Restoration, London. Material relating to the Japanese theatrical cut was upscaled from a high definition scan of a Japanese 35mm exhibition print supplied by Twin Co., Ltd., with further restoration and grading by Silver Salt. All audio mixes were remastered from the best quality materials available by Bad Princess Productions, London.

For the Blu-ray presentation of the Cantonese and Mandarin language version of Game of Death, a high definition master prepared by L'Immagine Ritrovata was supplied by Shout! Factory, with additional optimisation work (using the 4K restoration of the international cut, among other sources) undertaken on behalf of Arrow Films by Brandon Bentley. Alternate footage for other viewing options relating to this version of the film was reconstructed by Arrow Films using a mixture of high definition and standard definition (with upscaling by Leroy Moore of The Engine House Media Services) materials, as as a 4K scan of a 35mm interpositive of Lee's original raw dailies for the unfinished project of the same name from 1972, scanned by L'Imagine Ritrovata.

Some may see my score above and think this is a lackluster presentation in 4K UHD, and while it certainly is not at the same level as the transfers culled from original negatives, it's often surprisingly spry, and the 4K version does offer at least some marginal uptick in detail levels. As I mentioned in my review of Arrow's 1080 version, CRI sources can often offer somewhat skewed looking palettes, and that's the case here, though I actually think HDR and/or Dolby Vision may have helped things, as I found the warmth of this presentation more noticeable than Arrow's 1080 version. There's still a somewhat yellow-green aspect on tap, but overall things look surprisingly natural. As also mentioned in my 1080 review, grain can be relatively highly variant, but generally resolves without any major issues.

Game of Death 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Game of Death features DTS-HD Master Audio Mono in a track that unsurprisingly has the most energy during the fight scenes, when some of the goofy sound effects help to keep the sound design active. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Game of Death 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One (4K UHD)

• Commentary by Brandon Bentley & Mike Leeder


• Alternate Japanese Version (HD; 1:39:55)


• Alternate Ji Han-jae Fight (HD; 2:21) can be accessed under the Play Menu for the Japanese version.


• Interview with Colleen Camp (HD; 12:24)


• Deleted and Extended Scenes are from Cantonese and Mandarin versions, and include some upscaled material:

  Alternate Opening Credits (Cantonese) (HD; 2:16)

  
  

  Alternate Opening Credits (Mandarin) (HD; 2:16)

  
  

  Greenhouse Fight (HD; 4:46)

  
  

  Death Threat (HD; 00:22)

  
  

  Alternate Fight with Ji Han-jae (Cantonese) (HD; 3:15)

  
  

  Return to the Boat (HD; 00:32)

  
  

  Alternate Fights with Inosanto and Han-jae (Mandarin) (HD; 4:32)

  
  

  Alternate Cantonese Ending (HD; 1:38)

  
  

  Alternate Mandarin Ending (HD; 1:37)

• Archive Interviews are in English:

  First Among Equals with Dan Inosanto (HD; 36:47)

  
  

  Game of Death Revisited with Bob Wall (HD; 28:48)

• Behind the Scenes Footage (HD; 4:10)


• Pre-production Sales Featurette (HD; 6:52)


• Fight Scene Dailies (HD; 1:27)


• Locations Then and Now (HD; 7:28)


• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:31)

  
  

  International Trailer (HD; 2:22)

  
  

  US Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:18)

  
  

  US TV Spot (HD; 00:25)

  
  

  UK Radio Spot (HD; 00:30) plays to key art.

  
  

  Brucesploitation Trailers (HD; 14:44)

  
  

  Robert Clouse at Golden Harvest (HD; 10:17)

• Image Galleries

  Publicity Stills and Lobby Cards (HD)

  
  

  Behind the Scenes (HD)

  
  

  Posters and Video Art (HD)

Disc Two (Alternate Versions) offers the 1978 release for Cantonese and Mandarin speaking audiences in Asia, along with two alternate viewing options:

• Interview with Casanova Wong (HD; 17:04) is subtitled in English.


• Alternate Cantonese Version (HD; 1:32:23) includes some upscaled material.


• Alternate Mandarin Version (HD; 1:30:12) includes some upscaled material.


• The Hong Kong Connection (HD; 18:30) features Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen and others discussing Bruce Lee.


• Bruce Lee Remembered (HD; 7:34) also offers Sammo Hung and a number of others remembering Lee.


• Legacy of the Dragon (HD; 48:50) is another archival piece about Lee's influence, once again featuring Sammo Hung and several others.


• Dragon Rising (HD; 8:26) is a 1965 screen test featuring Bruce Lee.


• The Grandmaster and the Dragon (HD; 54:42) is an archival interview with William Cheung.


• Archive Interviews

  Robert Lee (HD; 19:25)

  
  

  Phoebe Lee (HD; 11:36)

  
  

  Pat Johnson (HD; 28:22)

  
  

  George Lee (HD; 16:16)

  
  

  Gene Lebell (HD; 13:53)

  
  

  Van Williams (HD; 33:55)

  
  

  Joe Torreneuva (HD; 7:47)

  
  

  Linda Palmer (HD; 10:35)

  
  

  Fred Weintraub (HD; 15:54)

  
  

  Tom Kuhn (HD; 11:19)

  
  

  Paul Heller (HD; 16:28)

  
  

  Jeff Imada (HD; 21:13)

  
  

  James Lew (HD; 17:25)

Disc Three (The Final Game of Death) features a new 223 minute video essay that incorporates a new 2K restoration of all two hours of Lee's original dailies from a recently discovered interpositive, along with these supplements:

• Game of Death Revisited (HD; 39:10) was produced in 2000 for Japanese television.


• Super 8 Nunchaku Demonstration (HD; 9:31)


• Interview with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (HD; 2:06)


• Frames of Fury (HD; 5:59) offer some brief snippets of slates and the like.


• Image Galleries

  The Hall of the Unknown (HD)

  
  

  The Hall of the Tiger (HD)

  
  

  The Hall of the Dragon (HD)

  
  

  The New Territories (HD)

Game of Death 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My original review of Shout!'s release of Game of Death probably made it more than abundantly clear how shoddy I think this enterprise is in general, but that said, Arrow's presentation is quite impressive given the source, and the supplementary material is kind of mind blowing. With caveats noted, Recommended.