Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 22, 2022

Note: This version of 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.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a bit of an outlier in the immense second Shawscope volume from Arrow in that it has had a previous release on Blu-ray, from the long ago and for some of us fondly remembered imprint Dragon Dynasty. Those interested in a plot recap are encouraged to head over to my The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Blu-ray review of that release. That review can also serve as a good source for screenshot comparisons (I've tried to come close to duplicating at least a couple in this review) as well as offering a chance to see how supplements between the two releases stack up. This can also have a somewhat more pink-purple cast at times, though some of the color choices for costumes and sets may play into that (compare screenshot 2 of this review with screenshot 2 of the Dragon Dynasty release).

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. 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.

There's little doubt this easily trumps the presentation of the Dragon Dynasty Blu-ray, and a even a cursory comparison of screenshots I uploaded to each review should reveal this transfer's strengths in both saturation and detail levels. This presentation is noticeably darker than the Dragon Dynasty offering (which frankly now looks artificially brightened by comparison), which actually may tend to mask grain a bit more. The palette is nicely suffused and detail levels are typically excellent, especially in close-ups in more brightly lit moments. This has some of the anamorphic oddities that are noticeable throughout this set, with some significant squeezing toward the edges of the frame. This was actually a 4K scan according to my sources at Arrow, the only 4K scan in this set, and that makes me wonder if this film is due for a future 4K UHD release from Arrow. My score is 4.25.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

One of the kind of fun things for those who pay attention to picayune things like how audio options are listed is seeing whether Mandarin or Cantonese gets the top spot in the films in this set which offer both dialects. This film offers Mandarin first, then Cantonese and finally English, all delivered via DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. While some of the films do show at least some discernable differences between the various languages, and in a couple of cases more than merely "some" differences, I really didn't notice any huge variations in either amplitude or general mixes as I toggled between the three tracks. All have the veritable "loose synch" at times, and all three can reveal somewhat boxy sounding dialogue and sound effects, as well as occasionally strident highs which are in fact a kind of recurring feature on many of the soundtracks of the films included in the second Shawscope volume. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Feature Commentary by Travis Crawford


• Select Scene Commentary by Tony Rayns


• Master Killer: An Interview with Gordon Liu (HD; 20:51) is the first of several interviews scattered throughout this set that were conducted by Frederic Amroisine, this one from 2003. Subtitled in English.


• Interview with Arthur Wong (HD; 28:34) is a 2006 interview with the film's cinematographer conducted by Ambroisine. Subtitled in English.


• Shaolin: A Hero's Birthplace (HD*; 16:02) is an archival featurette with Gordon Liu produced for Celestial Pictures in 2003. Subtitled in English.


• Elegant Trails: Gordon Liu (HD*; 6:23) is another Celestial Pictures piece, this one from 2006, profiling the actor. Subtitled in English.


• Tiger Style: The Musical Impact of Martial Arts Cinema (HD; 37:22) is a newly produced piece featuring Lovely Jon, who discusses the rather wide gamut of styles that have been influenced by Shaw Brothers scores.


• Cinema Hong Kong: Swordfighting (HD; 50:21) is the second part of a three part documentary on the Shaw Brothers' legacy in the martial arts genre. This was produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003 and features a glut of high profile participants like Gordon Liu. Subtitled in English.


• Alternate English Credits (HD*; 3:16)


• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (Mandarin) (HD*; 3:54)

  
  

  HK Theatrical Trailer (English) (HD; 3:54)

  
  

  US TV Spot ( HD; 00:32)

  
  

  German Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:36)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD*; 1:08)

• Image Gallery (HD)

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Shawscope Volume Two gets off to a fantastic start with The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. This Arrow release trumps the Dragon Dynasty release in technical merits, and the supplements included with this version are also very enjoyable. Recommended.