Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman 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

Poor Fang Gang (Jimmy Wang Yu). All he wants to do is make a peaceful life with his beautiful wife Xiao-man (Lisa Chiao Chiao) and hoe his fields with his one remaining arm, but wouldn't you know it, villainous types keep interloping, ostensibly to get him to agree to one of those martial arts contests that is a staple of Shaw Brothers outings, but which of course has a more nefarious motive filled with subterfuge. If the basic setup of this first sequel to The One-Armed Swordsman is therefore none too surprising, it is perhaps a bit unexpected, at least given the Shaw Brothers' ability to churn out material at the veritable drop of a mianguan, that it took the studio over a year and a half to get around to this follow up.

There's probably an unavoidable lack of logic to a central underpinning of this enterprise, in that "good guys" like Fang Gang are ultimately being threatened with death no matter what they supposedly "choose" in terms of participating in what some might called a "rigged" contest, but even given that passing silliness, the film actually delivers on its "riff" of another Shaw Brothers staple, a series of combatants, each of whom has their own "signature moves", here known as the Eight Kings. While some elements of the story are well worn, as some fascinating notes in Arrow's insert book get into, the film obviously offers a more sumptuous physical production than the first film, with a more epic feel. As the notes also detail, this film offered a "sneak peek" at not just increased violence, but nascent bit players like David Chiang and Ti Lung who, with director Chang Cheh, would experience major success as a so-called "Iron Triangle" for Shaw Brothers.

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Return of the One-Armed Swordsman 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.

This is a really gorgeous looking transfer for the most part, and I was especially struck with the tight, natural resolution of grain throughout the presentation. There may be more variable reactions to the palette, which can pop quite agreeably a lot of the time, especially in some of the outdoor material, but which can nonetheless seem a bit skewed toward brown, especially in terms of things like flesh tones. A lot of the "home" material between Fang Gang and Xiao-man struck me as noticeably warmer than even some of the outdoor scenes. Detail levels are typically excellent when more "placid" moments are in the frame, and things like fabrics on costumes can actually be examined clearly. There are a number of anamorphic oddities scattered throughout for those who pay attention to such things, typically though not always toward the edges of the frame.

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with many of the releases in this set, Return of the One-Armed Swordsman features LPCM Mono tracks in either Mandarin or English. The Mandarin track is just slightly louder and more full bodied than the English track, and arguably provides a less bright account of the high end, as in some of the almost jangly sleigh bell sounds during the film's opening. Some effects in fight scenes can be a bit on the boxy side. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Samm Deighan


• Theatrical Trailer

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Mandarin) (HD; 3:58)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (English) (HD; 3:58)

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Return of the One-Armed Swordsman benefits from being able to rely on the setup of the first film and pretty much just catapult Fang Gang into a series of conflicts. There are certainly more than familiar plot tropes running rampant throughout the film, but it's a cartwheeling adventure once things get underway. Technical merits are solid, and the commentary track worthwhile. Recommended.