Ten Tigers of Kwangtung Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung 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.

There's some fascinating historical information imparted in any number of the supplements included in this expansive set, including the excellent Rivers and Lakes visual essay that is accessible under the Special Features menu(s) of both films on this particular disc. One of the basic contextual "issues" in terms of understanding any number of Shaw Brothers martial arts epics, including but not necessarily limited to the so-called Shaolin films, is the inherent dialectic, some might say "close to civil war" conflict, between the Ming and Qing Dynasties. That perhaps "required" knowledge can make some aspects of some of these films initially complicated to understand for we bone headed Westerners, and that's perhaps even more of an issue with Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, a film which had its veritable narrative rug pulled from beneath its feet during production when Alexander Fu Sheng suffered a debilitating neck injury (on another film), resulting in this film being pretty significantly tweaked as a result.

As commentator Brandon Bentley gets into while also recounting this history, even the title of the film is slightly misleading, since it could be argued there are up to fifteen titular tigers in the tale, but the underlying premise here might generally be referred to as intergenerational karma resulting from long ago alliances with either Ming or Qing power brokers. A fairly traditional revenge scenario ultimately enters the fray after some interstitial flashbacks (by the time director Chang Cheh was able to regroup after Fu Sheng's injury, several of the principal cast were no longer available, necessitating a bit of rejiggering). This is a film awash in moral shades of gray, and as Simon Abrams points out in his film notes included in Arrow's insert booklet, there's a change of perspective from "heroes" to "villains", though some might argue that that's a difference without a distinction, so to speak.

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung 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.

While this is another great historically set film that benefits from some really beautiful production design, the palette here is just a trifle worn looking when compared to some others in this set. At times slightly brown and at others slightly blue, these minor variances in color temperature don't seriously distract from an overall pleasingly natural look that tends to warm up as things progress. Detail levels are supported by coverage that frequently includes close-ups, and fine detail in these moments can be excellent (look at screenshot 3 for one example). There's some minor age related wear and tear that can be glimpsed. Grain typically resolves well, but can be a bit grimy looking in some of the more dimly lit interior moments.

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung features Cantonese, Mandarin and English language options, all delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. All three of these tracks sounded pretty bright to the point that the high end at extreme amplitudes can distort (something that's especially noticeable in some of the more aggressive scoring choices). Both the Cantonese and Mandarin tracks are generally louder than the English. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Arrow has packaged Magnificent Ruffians and Ten Tigers of Kwangtung 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:

• Commentary by Brandon Bentley


• Rivers and Lakes (HD; 22:34) is an interesting new video essay by author Jonathan Clements dealing with how the Shaw Brothers depicted Chinese myth and history. This is accessible under the Special Features menus for both films on this disc.


• Interview with Chin Siu-ho (HD; 21:17) is another good piece by Frederic Ambroisine, this one from 2003. Subtitled in English.


• Textless Title Sequence (HD; 1:16)


• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Cantonese) (HD; 2:58) i

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Mandarin) (HD*; 2:57) i

  
  

  US TV Spot (HD*; 00:28)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD*; 1:14)

• Image Gallery (HD)

*720

Ten Tigers of Kwangtung Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

On the plus side, Ten Tigers of Kwangtung has one of the starriest casts from this era of the Shaw Brothers. On the minus side, the exigencies of the production probably inevitably led to some narrative restructuring which can take some considerable effort to unravel. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very enjoyable for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.