Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Jade Tiger Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 22, 2024

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Arrow's Shawscope Volume Three set.

It's maybe not even that much of a joke to state that lately it has felt like there's a new Blu-ray release of a venerable Shaw Brothers film coming out every week, and in fact there have been some weeks where my own review queue has had more than one Blu-ray release of a Shaw Brothers film in any given seven day period. That said, and even granting a two title per week release schedule, it would take literally years, and arguably maybe even a decade or more, for labels to get around to releasing the entire Shaw Brothers output. In that regard, then, this massive newest volume in Arrow's evidently ongoing Shawscope series may be thought of as something of a "shortcut", at least in terms of offering a veritable gaggle of films, even if wending your way through this gargantuan enterprise will hardly seem short in any way, shape or form, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Once again, as with the first two volumes in this series, Arrow has aggregated both better known and lesser known films, delivered with typically solid technical merits and some very appealing supplements. This set has been packaged to be a shelf mate with its two "siblings" (for more information on the packaging, see the supplements section in the main Shawscope Volume Three Blu-ray review).

For "rabid completists" interested in what's already been released by Arrow in the Shawscope department, the following review links may be of some assistance:

Shawscope Volume One Blu-ray review

Shawscope Volume Two Blu-ray review

Jade Tiger is another "vengeance epic" from the Shaw Brothers, but as the commentary and some additional notes on the film in Arrow's immense insert book get into, this is a noticeably darker and more foreboding version of what is basically an oft told tale of warring clans, shifting alliances, and, yes, revenge. The two battling factions here are the Zhao and Tang families, and the film's hero is Zhao Wuji (Ti Lung), who finds his impending marriage plans interrupted when his father is beheaded, assumedly by some kind of Tang attack force. That sets Wuji out on a quest to bring his father's murderers to justice, but that of course turns out to be a veritable "long and winding road" that has any number of virtual "switchbacks".

And it's in those sudden jarring turns that Jade Tiger arguably becomes simply too burdened by the weight of its own narrative. Co-writer and director Chor Yuen seems to want to stuff as many supporting characters and changing (or at least "newly revealed") motivations into the fray, with the result being a general level of consternation as things progress. Suffice it to say Wuji is in for any number of surprises, including several near Deus ex Machina rescues from peril, as well as an ultimate revelation that even his father's death is not as it may have seemed (in a kind of perhaps slightly comic presaging of some plot elements in Knives Out).

The film benefits from Yuen's typically luxe approach to production design, and performances are generally winning. The action, while visceral, may itself get buried a bit in the sheer labyrinth of the storyline.

Jade Tiger Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jade Tiger is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's almost overwhelming insert booklet lumps all the films together on its informational page about the transfers, as follows:

All fourteen films in this boxset are presented in their original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with their original Mandarin plus Cantonese and/or English (where applicable) monaural soundtracks. Every effort has been made to present these films in their original and complete versions using the best materials available.

One-Armed Swordsman was restored in 4K resolution by Celestial Pictures and L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2020. Additional grading was completed at R3store Studios, London in 2024.

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, The New One-Armed Swordsman, The Lady Hermit, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, The 14 Amazons, The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, The Sentimental Swordsman, The Avenging Eagle, Killer Constable, Buddha's Palm and Bastard Swordsman have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2024, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures. The original 35mm negatives for these films were scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, The New One-Armed Swordsman, Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan, The 14 Amazons, The Avenging Eagle, Killer Constable and Buddha's Palm were graded at R3store Studios, Lady Hermit, The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger, The Sentimental Swordsman and Bastard Swordsman were graded at Dragon DI, Wales. These restorations have used the entire film negative without resorting to the practice of "framecutting" 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 seem loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely during post-production, as per the production standards of the period.

All original materials supplied for these restorations were made available from the Hong Kong Film Archive via Celestial Pictures. The additional sequences in the uncensored version of Clans of Intrigue were sourced from a 35mm print held by Celestial Pictures. For the presentation of the alternate South Korean cut of Killer Constable, efforts were made to access original film materials for this version held at the Korean Film Archive, but this was not possible. A Korean VHS copy was used as a guide to reconstruct this cut in high definition, using the new 2K restoration of the original Hong Kong version for the bulk of the film and standard-definition inserts for the audio and unique footage. The original trailers were restored by Arrow Films from the original 35mm materials held at the Hong Kong Film Archive.

Once again, the palette is one of the strongest parts of this transfer, and everything from the recurrent blood reds to some of the more pastel like hues of the women's costumes in particular really pop with considerable energy. Unfortunately, there are a number of other admittedly passing issues to confront when watching the film. The first vignette is marred by some kind of element damage that may be print through, but which offers more than noticeable vertical lines or smudges running through the imagery. Several moments seem afflicted by either malfunctioning lenses or at least sloppy focus pulling (see screenshot 3). This is another transfer that also offers some odd anamorphic anomalies, including what I've termed the "parallelogram syndrome" where the entire rectangle of the frame looks like it's been tweaked slightly, bent toward the right (pay attention at slightly after the 6:30 mark, though there are several examples). There are a number of opticals, including on screen actor identifications (see screenshot 2) that can momentarily affect clarity and grain structure. My score is 3.25. more parallelogram

Jade Tiger Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Maybe a little surprisingly, at least given some of the passing oddities of the video transfer, Jade Tiger offers one of the more robust LPCM Mono Mandarin tracks in this set. Fidelity is excellent throughout, supporting dialogue, scoring and the often hyperbolic sound effects without any major issues, but admittedly with a slightly boxy sound and a somewhat bright high end. This is another audio presentation where sync is almost comically loose, but that said, dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Jade Tiger Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Ian Jane


• HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:24)

Jade Tiger Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jade Tiger has some ravishing visuals, which unfortunately here on occasion fall prey to some transfer oddities, but on the whole, the film is probably more hobbled by its needless narrative complexity. With above mentioned caveats noted, technical merits are generally solid (this time, probably audio more than video), and Ian Jane's commentary has some interesting information on things like various home video releases and press coverage through the years that will probably interest fans, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.