7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
An aging martial arts expert is gifted a plaque from the Emperor declaring him the Kung Fu World Champion. Unsure of whether or not be is deserving of this title, he embarks on a journey to defeat the 7 Grandmasters.
Starring: Yi-Min Li, Jack Long (II), Kuan-Wu Lung, Nancy YenForeign | 100% |
Drama | 15% |
Action | 12% |
Comedy | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Mandarin: LPCM Mono
Cantonese: LPCM Mono
English: LPCM Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region B (A, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Cinematic Vengeance: 8 Kung Fu Classics from Director Joseph Kuo.
The hits (and/or kicks, smacks and whacks) keep on comin', with this set from Eureka! Entertainment following releases like Shawscope Volume One from Arrow and a number
of offerings from 88 Films like The Chinese Boxer and
Disciples of Shaolin in my review queue. The big
difference between those films and the ones featured in this huge collection is that these were the handiwork of one Joseph Kuo, a name
which may frankly not be all that familiar even to lovers of the "kung fu" genre. Kuo was, as they say, a "multi-hyphenate" who frequently wrote,
produced and directed his films, which tended to be independently financed far, far away from the riches and "studio system" of facilities like the Shaw
Brothers. As commentator Frank Djenge mentions on more than one disc, that meant Kuo often tried to film outside, where he didn't have to pay for
things like sets, which can give these films a kind of distinctive ambience at times. According to the press sheet Eureka! sent with the (check) discs,
seven of the eight films in this set are making their worldwide debuts on
Blu-ray.
The 7 Grandmasters is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This presentation features many of the pluses and minuses that fans will see in all of the transfers in this set, with the major pluses being a really splendidly suffused palette and generally really commendable detail levels, and the minuses being some of the same anamorphic oddities that seem to hobble many martial arts films that used some variation of the vaunted "Shawscope" lenses. You can see a couple of examples of some of these anomalies in screenshot 5 in particular, where not only do things look squeezed, there's a lack of clarity in the center of the frame. These are typically passing issues, though, and the bulk of this transfer has good clarity and a really beautiful palette. Damage is limited to relatively minor issues like occasional nicks. Grain resolves naturally throughout.
The 7 Grandmasters features LPCM Mono audio in either Mandarin, Cantonese or English. I toggled between all three as I watched the film, and to my ears, the Mandarin track is the best balanced, with the Cantonese coming in second and the English a probably distant third. Both the Cantonese and English tracks have pretty strident high ends (the treble side of things on all the tracks in this set struck me as being way too hot and brash at times), and the English track in particular sounds close to distorting at times. All three tracks have the boxy, overly reverberant sound that fans of this genre have almost come to expect. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
The 7 Grandmasters gets this set off to a promising start not because it's any great innovation in martial arts filmmaking, but simply because it's so breathless, barely pausing between fights to give a tad more narrative information. Technical merits are generally solid, and The 7 Grandmasters comes Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
酒仙十八跌 / Jiu xian shi ba die
1979
Shi fu chu ma / 師父出馬
1979
迷拳三十六招 / Mi quan san shi liu zhao
1979
少林小子 / Shao Lin xiao zi
1975
少林寺十八銅人 / Shao Lin Si shi ba tong ren
1975
少林功夫 / Shao Lin gong fu
1974
Hong quan xiao zi / 洪拳小子 / 88 Asia Collection #28
1975
Wǔ guǎn / 武館 / 88 Asia Collection #34
1981
四大門派 / Sì dà mén pài | Eureka Classics
1977
18 Bronzemen II / Yong zheng da po shi ba tong ren / 雍正大破十八銅人
1976
Mai ming xiao zi / 賣命小子
1979
Ma Yong Zhen / Ma Wing Jing / 馬永貞 / 88 Asia Collection #35
1997
搏命單刀奪命搶 / Bo ming dan dao duo ming qiang / Eureka Classics
1979
Tang ren jie xiao zi / 唐人街小子
1977
Lie mo zhe / 獵魔者
1982
獨臂拳王 / Du bei chuan wang | Eureka Classics
1972
Guang Dong shi hu yu hou wu hu / 廣東十虎與後五虎
1980
Jin bi tong / 金臂童
1979
Dou san / Dǔ shén / 賭神
1989
中華戰士 / Zhōng huá zhàn shì / Dynamite Fighters / Eureka Classics
1987