Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Shanghai Joe Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 15, 2023

Any Baby Boomer who grew up on Kung Fu may feel that there may be nothing that special about a master of an Eastern martial art (or two) traveling through a historical western environment in the United States, but even those who find this kind of curious subgenre appealing may be surprised by the glut of similar material that essayist Eric Zaldivar discusses in a supplement included on this release. Shanghai Joe has a number of alternative titles, but if first saw the cinematic light of day during that brief, shining moment that was in fact Kung Fu's broadcast run, and if the two properties have at least some notable differences, they're often perhaps unavoidably kind of the same, with this film's titular focal character Shanghai Joe AKA Chin Hao (Myoshin Hayakawa) encountering both the same general types of bad guys as well as the same overarching feeling of "otherness" and outright discrimination that Kung Fu's "Grasshopper" often had to deal with.

There are some interesting and arguably more pointed elements in Shanghai Joe that were probably not as overtly addressed in Kung Fu, including actual slavery, or something pretty close to it, as well as some extremely colorful and hyperbolic villains on the hunt for Joe. The story has some great action but also a bit of passing gravitas given Joe's efforts to free Mexicans under the thumb of a main bad guy named Spencer (Piero Lulli). Klaus Kinski is on hand in a supporting role as one of the henchmen out to rein in Joe from his liberating tendencies.

Shanghai Joe Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shanghai Joe is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cauldron Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The back cover of this release states this features a "2K restoration from the negative", though I'm frankly uncertain as to whether this is culled from the same element and/or master utilized for the Wild East Blu-ray release from a few years ago (one which featured one of the many alternate titles for the film). One way or the other, this is an often quite impressive looking transfer from a palette standpoint, at least in the more brightly lit outdoor moments, where things are suitably warm and nicely suffused. There are a number of passing moments which can look either slightly cool and blue tinged or, alternatively, a bit warmer and yellowish, which may give the impression of slightly inconsistent or at least noticeably variant color timing. Detail levels are typically very good to excellent. There is some passing age related wear and tear, but it tends to be minimal (note the scratch in screenshot 2 for one example). While there is a grain field, as can be made out in some of the screenshots accompanying this review, it looked slightly filtered to me.

Shanghai Joe Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shanghai Joe features English and Italian language options presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono. The Italian track is just a bit thinner in sound, but arguably simultaneously a bit clearer in the midrange and higher frequencies. The English track can sound slightly muffled in comparison if you toggled back and forth between the two tracks, but delivers everything without any issues. Dialogue, effects and a rather fun score are all presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Shanghai Joe Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• East Meets West: Italian Style (HD; 19:45) is a really enjoyable visual essay by film historian Eric Zaldivar which covers this kind of odd subgenre.


• Samurai Spirit (HD; 9:11) is an interview with master Katsutoshi Mikuriya. Subtitled in English.


• Audio Commentary with Mike Hauss from The Spaghetti Western Digest


• Trailer (HD; 3:29)


• Image Gallery (HD; 1:49)

Additionally, a member had set the specs of this release to indicate it has a slipcover with an embossed title as well as a soundtrack CD included, but just for clarification's sake, the review copy sent by Cauldron did not, and I have reset the specs to reflect that.

Shanghai Joe Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shanghai Joe makes no pretensions about being Art, but it is Fun a lot of the time, with some good action and appealing (if slightly cartoonish) performances. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements enjoyable. Recommended.