Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Heroes of the East Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 28, 2021

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Shawscope Volume One.

If the Shaw Brothers' logo is intentionally reminiscent of the Warner Brothers' logo, there are a number of other connective tethers between the two sets of siblings. The Warners founded what would become one of the "Big Five" studios in the American filmmaking industry in 1923, after having had some success as exhibitors. They went on to create one of the crown jewels of the "studio system" in the United States, eventually matriculating pretty forcefully into the television side of things, even when some of their American competitors were not in such a huge rush to "help the enemy". Somewhat similarly, the Shaw Brothers formed the first version of their moviemaking empire just two years after the Warners, in 1925, though admittedly it took until 1958 for the organization to be called Shaw Brothers. Like the Warners, the Shaws had begun as venue owners, though in their case they dealt in both film exhibitions (courtesy of their father) and live theater. Kind of interestingly, given one of the Warner's technological triumphs, the introduction of sound with 1929's The Jazz Singer, the Shaws are credited with having brought the "talkie" era to Chinese cinema in 1932 and 1933. The Shaws took a while to develop what many think of as their stock in trade, the kung fu films that started appearing in the seventies, but there's little disagreement that their involvement in that genre massively helped to popularize it, much as the Warners had helped to make the so-called "gangster film" must see cinema in the 1930s. Again, understandably somewhat later than the Warners ventured into television in the 1950s, the Shaws ultimately actually forsook the bulk of their movie output to concentrate on productions for the small screen. But Arrow is concentrating on some of the studio's feature films from its perceived heyday, with the Volume One of this set's title hinting that fans may be just at the beginning of an exciting viewing adventure. As is often the case with these deluxe Arrow releases, the packaging is impressive and the supplemental features are bountiful and outstanding.

The history between China and Japan is fraught with controversy and conflict, and what better way to demonstrate that than by having a film which purports to offer a so-called "mixed marriage" between a Chinese man named Ho Tao (Gordon Liu) and a Japanese woman named Yumiko (Yuka Mizuno). Add in the fact that each of the spouses is skilled in their own form of martial arts, and you have the makings of a seventies Chinese version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, at least insofar as this film offers two married people with a penchant for bantering and bashing in about equal measure.

This film has just a hint of some of the same "gender role" content that is probably a bit more overt in Executioners from Shaolin, when Tao decides that Yumiko's facility with kicking and punching isn't his idea of what a woman should be doing. Yumiko of course has other ideas, and when she hightails it back to Japan, a martial arts expert named Takeno (Yasuaki Kurata) enters the fray and things start assuming aspects of a ménage à trois. The fractious history between China and Japan is alluded to when Tao challenges Yumiko to prove her techniques are as worthy as Tao's own.

Interestingly in that regard, then, Heroes of the East never disparages the Japanese styles of fighting, and in fact kind of celebrates them, even if there's a hint that the "Chinese way" may be somehow superior. There's a somewhat comedic aspect to some of the plot machinations in the story, but as is the case with most Shaw Brothers films, the action set pieces are a highlight, especially since this film attempts to offer a crash course in different techniques.

Heroes of the East Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Heroes of the East is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.37:1. Arrow's nicely appointed insert pamphlet sized booklet contains quite a bit of information, though all of the films have been lumped together on one page, as follows:

All twelve films in this boxset are presented in their original 2.35:1 aspect ratios [sic] with their original Mandarin, English and Cantonese (where applicable) monoaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.

Five Shaolin Masters, Shaolin Temple, Mighty Peking Man, Executioners from Shaolin, Heroes of the East and the shorter Alternate Version of Chinatown Kid were remastered by Celestial Pictures in 2003-2007, as part of an initiative to digitally restore the entire Shaw Brothers library. The High Definition masters of these restorations, which included the original Mandarin and English mono soundtracks, were supplied to Arrow Films by Celestial Pictures.

King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Challenge of the Masters, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Dirty Ho and the longer international cut of Chinatown Kid have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2021, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures.

The original 35mm negatives for King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Challenge of the Masters, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers and Dirty Ho were scanned at L'Immagine Rittrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The Films were graded at R3Store Studios, London. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "frame cutting" resulting in the loss of film frames at each negative splice point.

The mono mixes were remastered from the original sound negatives at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Matthew Jarman/Bad Princess Productions. The audio synch will often appear loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely in post production, as per the production standards of the period.

A 35mm internegative of the International Version of Chinatown Kid was scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The film was graded at R3Store Studios, London.

The mono mix was remastered from the original sound negative at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Matthew Jarman/Bad Princess Productions.

An additional scene from Chinatown Kid missing from the original elements was scanned from a vintage 35mm print and graded in 2K resolution at American Genre Film Archive (AGFA).

All original materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kon Film Archive via Celestial Pictures.

As with some of the other transfers provided to Arrow by Celestial Pictures, Heroes of the East can look slightly filtered at times, though once again the palette is a really strong asset, offering beautifully suffused hues that elevate the entire viewing experience. Despite a presentation that can look a bit like video at times, detail levels are often quite pleasing, especially on things like the beautiful costumes, where textures on fabrics are easily discernable. This is another presentation where there's some noticeable anamorphic squeezing along the edges of the frame, as well as some inconsistent clarity even in the middle of the frame at times, which I'm assuming was due to the lenses utilized.

Heroes of the East Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Heroes of the East features DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mixes in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. As is my standard operating procedure, I toggled between the three tracks as I watched the film, and I found all three to offer a somewhat similar overall sound, though the English track is noticeably softer and more shallow sounding than either of the Chinese tracks. I'd rate the Cantonese track as offering the most forceful presentation, though it's a matter of degrees as to how preferable it may be to the Mandarin track. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Heroes of the East Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged this release with Heroes of the East and Dirty Ho on the same disc. Arrow has rather nicely authored the disc so that when choosing either film, a specific set of supplements is accessible, albeit with some shared content (as with regard to the Rayns piece, below, which is available under both films' Special Features submenus).

• Commentary by Jonathan Clements


• Tony Rayns on Heroes of the East and Dirty Ho (HD; 30:20) is another really informative and enjoyable piece featuring the knowledgeable Rayns.


• Interview with Yasuaki Kurata (HD; 25:24) is a 2003 interview filmed by Frédéric Ambroisine. Subtitled in English.


• Alternate Opening Credits (SD; 2:29) is sourced from what appears to be an anamorphically squeezed video.


• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 4:16)

  
  

  US TV Spot (HD; 1:09)

  
  

  US VHS Promo (HD; 00:35)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD; 1:18)

• Image Gallery (HD)

Note: All of the discs in this set feature some supplemental material that is in 720 rather than 1080, notably some of the trailers.

Heroes of the East Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Heroes of the East is one of the more enjoyable films in this first volume of Shaw Brothers outings from Arrow. It manages to combine an ingratiating personal story between two characters with a rather ecumenical approach toward different fighting styles. Technical merits are generally solid, and as usual with Arrow's releases, the supplements are outstanding. Recommended.