Return to the 36th Chamber Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Return to the 36th Chamber Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 22, 2022

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

The good news is if you have a martial arts fan you've been worried about finding an appropriate holiday present for, your prayers have been answered (for the second year in a row in fact), by the thoughtful folks at Arrow Video, who are returning to the evidently bottomless well that gave lovers of a certain Hong Kong studio one of 2021's most impressive releases, Shawscope Volume One. The bad news is, if you're a martial arts fan intrigued by this new release, you're going to have to put the rest of your life on hold to make it through not just a glut of Shaw Brothers films, but an immense assortment of supplemental material. As with the first volume of Shawscope, there's probably no doubt that some films will appeal to some viewers more than others, but the sheer variety of films in this set, along with an authoritative set of bonus features, will almost certainly make this a marquee item for genre aficionados.

In a way, this second Shawscope volume from Arrow Video gets started with a quasi-trilogy comprised of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, this film and Disciples of the 36th Chamber. While there are tethers obviously linking the three productions (including but not limited to their very titles), there are also some interesting differences. This film is probably more overtly comic than The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, but perhaps even more to the point of variances, this is the sole film of the three where Gordon Liu does not play San Te, though truth be told, Liu's character Chu Jen-chieh in this film may simply be San Te masquerading under another name.

And in fact Chu Jen-chieh does masquerade as a rather "San Te-esque" monk early in this story, which kind of amazingly hints at what might have been a "unionizing" subtext a la On the Waterfront or even Norma Rae, as Chu Jen-chieh attempts to help downtrodden workers toiling away (again, like Norma Rae) in the garments trade. When Chu Jen-chieh's efforts to fake being a martial artist fail pretty spectacularly, he heads off on a quest to attain a real "particular set of skills", which is when the hand to hand (and feet to feet) combat starts really kicking (and punching) in.

The comedy here can be a bit on the slapstick, shtick laden side, but the film still has some adrenaline pumping action scenes to its benefit. Liu is always a magnetic screen presence, and he's actually quite charming in a lighter role.

Return to the 36th Chamber Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Return to the 36th Chamber is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Arrow's insert booklet lumps all the films together on its page devoted to the restorations, as follows:

All fourteen films in this boxset are presented in their original aspect ratios (2.35:1 for all films except 1.85:1 for The Boxer's Omen and The Bare-Footed Kid) 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.

Return to the 36th Chamber, Disciples of the 36th Chamber, My Young Auntie, Martial Arts of Shaolin and The Bare-Footed 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, Cantonese and English mono soundtracks, were supplied to Arrow Films by Celestial Pictures.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was restored by Celestial Pictures and L'Immagine Ritrovata in 2020. Additional grading was completed at R3Store Studios, London in 2021.

Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Five Superfighters, Invincible Shaolin, The Kid with the Golden Arm, Magnificent Ruffians, Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, Mercenaries from Hong Kong and The Boxer's Omen have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2021 and 2022, 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. 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.

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

Excerpts from vintage 35mm feature print elements for Return to the 36th Chamber, Disciples of the 36th Chamber and My Young Auntie and vintage 35mm trailer prints for Disciples of the 36th Chamber, Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Mercenaries from Hong Kong and The Boxer's Omen were scanned and graded in 2K resolution at American Genre Film Archive (AGFA) and R3Store Studios.

Additional print materials were made available from American Genre Film Archive (AGFA), Harry Guerro, Scott Napier, King-Wei Chu and Howard Zinman.

The press sheet Arrow sent with this release also mentions a 2K scan off the original negative. This is a somewhat variable looking presentation that is more than serviceable but which does show a few issues with the color timing, especially in the early going, where things can have a somewhat purplish cast and even blacks have a bit of blue oozing through them. Things improve as the presentation goes on, and even some of the more brightly lit outdoor scenes in the early moments pop rather warmly, managing to evade the cooler blue cast. Detail levels are generally very good to excellent throughout. This follows the longstanding Shaw Brothers tradition of offering pretty noticeable anamorphic oddities, including some pretty dramatic squeezing at the edges of the frame. Grain resolves naturally throughout.

Return to the 36th Chamber Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with many of the films in the second Shawscope set, Return to the 36th Chamber features Cantonese, Mandarin and English tracks all delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. As is my standard operating procedure, I toggled between the three as I watched, and to my ears, the Cantonese is the loudest and brightest (especially in the high end), with Mandarin a close second, but the English track sounding relatively soft and flat and comparison. These track also display a kind of strident high end in all three tracks that is heard in virtually all of the tracks in this set. There's also a bit of a quasi-phased sound to the dialogue, especially in the Chinese tracks. Optional English subtitles are available.

Return to the 36th Chamber Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged Return to the 36th Chamber and Disciples of the 36th Chamber together on one disc. However, after selecting Choose Film on the Main Menu, the Special Features then also change to reflect that choice. This film features the following supplements:

• Interview with Gordon Liu (HD; 14:50) is a 2003 interview conducted by Frederic Ambroisine and is offered as a special feature under both films' submenus. Subtitled in English.


• Citizen Shaw (HD; 57:42) is a French TV documentary from 1980 with some great stuff with Sir Run Run Shaw as a tour guide of the studio backlot. Subtitled in English.


• A Hero on the Scaffolding (HD*; 14:40) is an archival piece produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003 focusing on the film's use of martial arts. Subtitled in English.


• Alternate Opening Credits

  HK Theatrical Credits (HD; 1:32)

  
  

  Alternate English Title Sequence (HD*; 1:45)

• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (HD*; 3:21)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD*; 1:12)

• Image Gallery (HD)

*720

Return to the 36th Chamber Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Shaw Brothers were obviously marketing mavens with considerable expertise, and if the branding of this as an ostensible "36th Chamber film" is frankly more in name than in substance, this is still often an enjoyable enterprise with a brisk, lightweight approach. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.