Game of Death II Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		2.5

Game of Death II 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 and Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest 4K sets.

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.

Game of Death II was not part of the Shout! release, and in some ways this is even less of a "Bruce Lee film" than Game of Death was. Arrow kind of comically calls this "an unpredictable cut and paste gonzo thrill ride", as the obviously cobbled together plot tries to make use of existing footage of Lee, intercut with lots of scenes of body doubles shot from the back, to craft a story about a kind of rogue Korean temple "run by martial arts madmen", to again quote Arrow's verbiage. There's a certain Shaw Brothers feel to some of this story, which ultimately involves an underground fortress known as the Tower of Death.

Game of Death II Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Game of Death II is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p 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 cut of Game of Death II is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 with English mono audio. A 35mm internegative was scanned in 2K resolution by Fortune Star and grading and restoration was completed in 2K at R3Store Studios, London. The Hong Kong cut of the film, titled Tower of Death, was reconstructed in high definition by Arrow Films using a mixture of HD and SD sources. The shorter Korean cut of the film was restored in 2K from a 35mm internegative by Nineplanners, with additional optimisation work for this release by Arrow Films. The altnerate US opening for the international cut, removing most of the outtakes from Enter the Dragon, was reconstructed in high definition on behalf of Arrow Films by Brandon Bentley.

Game of Death II is the story of two presentational qualities, one the newly shot material, which tends to look rather good, all things considered, and then the older "stock" footage of Bruce Lee, much of which looks considerably shoddier when thrust up against the newer material. The newly shot sequences feature generally quite nicely saturated hues and some good detail levels, with a tightly resolving grain structure. The "archival" footage featuring Lee is actually kind of variant within itself, with some moments looking at least relatively decent, but others pretty seriously degraded, with a chunky, yellow grain field and other age related wear and tear on display.

Game of Death II Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The International Cut features DTS-HD Master Audio Mono English options, one labeled "Japanese mix", with the Hong Kong Cut offering English, Mandarin and Cantonese options in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. The Japanese mix is a bit brighter sounding (with different music), but both deliver dialogue and effects without any problems. I'd rate the Cantonese and Mandarin tracks as basically interchangeable in terms of overall mix, though the Cantonese track can offer slightly thinner sounding effects at times. Optional English subtitles are available.

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

• Game of Death II (International Version) (HD; 1:35:59) and Tower of Death (Hong Kong Version) (HD: 1:26:38) are accessible under the Choose Version Menu.


• Interview with Roy Haran (HD; 23:59)


• Korean Version (HD; 1:12:15) kind of hilariously removes most of the footage of Bruce Lee.


• Alternate US Video Version (HD; 1:34:47) has been reconstructed for this release and features a number of alternate shots of Lee.


• Alternate End Credits (HD; 6:07)


• Trailer Gallery

  Early Promo Trailer (Telecine) (HD; 5:16)

  
  

  Early Promo Trailer (Reconstruction) (HD; 5:17)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Cantonese) (HD; 4:10)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (English) (HD; 2:04)

  
  

  Brucesploitation Trailer Reel (HD; 25:41)

• Image Gallery (HD)

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

Game of Death II has about the same value as a putative "Bruce Lee film" as the original Game of Death did, but as with that pretty lamentable enterprise, Arrow has helped to make the entire package a bit more attractive with some fun supplements. Technical merits are generally solid for those considering making a purchase.