Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Boxer from Shantung Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 28, 2021

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

If the Shaw Brothers' logo is intentionally reminiscent of the Warner Brothers' logo, there are a number of other connective tethers between the two sets of siblings. The Warners founded what would become one of the "Big Five" studios in the American filmmaking industry in 1923, after having had some success as exhibitors. They went on to create one of the crown jewels of the "studio system" in the United States, eventually matriculating pretty forcefully into the television side of things, even when some of their American competitors were not in such a huge rush to "help the enemy". Somewhat similarly, the Shaw Brothers formed the first version of their moviemaking empire just two years after the Warners, in 1925, though admittedly it took until 1958 for the organization to be called Shaw Brothers. Like the Warners, the Shaws had begun as venue owners, though in their case they dealt in both film exhibitions (courtesy of their father) and live theater. Kind of interestingly, given one of the Warner's technological triumphs, the introduction of sound with 1929's The Jazz Singer, the Shaws are credited with having brought the "talkie" era to Chinese cinema in 1932 and 1933. The Shaws took a while to develop what many think of as their stock in trade, the kung fu films that started appearing in the seventies, but there's little disagreement that their involvement in that genre massively helped to popularize it, much as the Warners had helped to make the so-called "gangster film" must see cinema in the 1930s. Again, understandably somewhat later than the Warners ventured into television in the 1950s, the Shaws ultimately actually forsook the bulk of their movie output to concentrate on productions for the small screen. But Arrow is concentrating on some of the studio's feature films from its perceived heyday, with the Volume One of this set's title hinting that fans may be just at the beginning of an exciting viewing adventure. As is often the case with these deluxe Arrow releases, the packaging is impressive and the supplemental features are bountiful and outstanding.

In terms of the above mentioned corollary between how Warner Brothers helped to popularize the "gangster film" and the Shaw Brothers doing similar service for the "kung fu film", it's kind of interesting to note how at least some of the Shaw Brothers' martial arts entries also tend to feature some kind of criminal element, and in fact The Boxer from Shantung is in its own way the same kind of "morality tale" that Hollywood used to trot out in the darkest days of the Depression. In this story, Ma Yongzhen (Chen Kuan-tai) is a down on his luck fighter who has what might be termed the Hong Kong Dream (as opposed to the American Dream), though his fantasies of "making it big" involve organized crime.

The film also works in a love interest for Ma in the form of singer Jin Lingzi (Ching Li), and there's definitely a "star crossed" quality to what ends up playing out. This is a very interesting film in terms of the "arc" it offers for Ma, who is more of an anti-hero than is sometimes seen in the more cut and dried martial arts epics. The final showdown in this film is a real highlight, and while the denouement may have a bittersweet quality, the actual fighting is incredibly exciting.

The Boxer from Shantung Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Boxer from Shantung is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Arrow's nicely appointed insert pamphlet sized booklet contains quite a bit of information, though all of the films have been lumped together on one page, as follows:

All twelve films in this boxset are presented in their original 2.35:1 aspect ratios [sic] 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.

Five Shaolin Masters, Shaolin Temple, Mighty Peking Man, Executioners from Shaolin, Heroes of the East and the shorter Alternate Version of Chinatown 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 and English mono soundtracks, were supplied to Arrow Films by Celestial Pictures.

King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Challenge of the Masters, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers, Dirty Ho and the longer international cut of Chinatown Kid have all been newly restored by Arrow Films in 2021, in collaboration with L'Immagine Ritrovata, Hong Kong Film Archive and Celestial Pictures.

The original 35mm negatives for King Boxer, The Boxer from Shantung, Challenge of the Masters, The Five Venoms, Crippled Avengers and Dirty Ho were scanned at L'Immagine Rittrovata 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. The audio synch will often appear loose against the picture, due to the fact that the dialogue and sound effects were recorded entirely in post production, as per the production standards of the period.

A 35mm internegative of the International Version of Chinatown Kid was scanned at L'Immagine Ritrovata Asia and restored in 2K resolution at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The film was graded at R3Store Studios, London.

The mono mix was remastered from the original sound negative at L'Immagine Ritrovata. Additional sound remastering was completed by Matthew Jarman/Bad Princess Productions.

An additional scene from Chinatown Kid missing from the original elements was scanned from a vintage 35mm print and graded in 2K resolution at American Genre Film Archive (AGFA).

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

Additionally, the kind of "widescreen" DigiBook holding all the discs states that this was sourced from a "brand new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative". This is another generally stunning looking transfer, one that offers a sumptuously suffused palette and some really appealing detail levels. This has very little of slight skewing toward greenish flesh tones that can be noticed in some of the other transfers, and in fact this presentation is often beautifully warm, with an emphasis on reds and oranges that pops vividly. Blues are often very expressive as well. There are some very slight variances in sharpness (it appears like even some shots with Kuan-tai may have utilized a diffusion filter for some reason), but overall fine detail levels are really exceptional. Grain resolves naturally, and I noticed no distracting damage of any major import.

The Boxer from Shantung Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Boxer from Shantung features DTS-HD Master Audio Mono mixes in either Mandarin or English. As I tend to do, I toggled between the tracks as I watched, and I noticed very little difference in terms of overall mix and/or amplitude, though, as I mention with regard to some other films in this set, to my ears the Mandarin track has a bit more energy overall, especially in the midrange (compare, for example, the background noise of crowds in some of the action scenes). Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Boxer from Shantung Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interview with Chen Kuan-tai (HD; 22:43) is a conversation between Kuan-tai and Vincent Tze, filmed by Ambroisine in 2007. Subtitled in English.


• Interview with David Chiang (HD; 31:49) was conducted by Frédéric Ambroisine in 2003. Subtitled in English.


• Interview with John Woo (HD; 8:02) was condcuted by Frédéric Ambroisine in 2004. Woo served as assistant director on this film. In English.


• Double Masters with Ku Feng and Chen Kuan-tai (HD; 13:46) is another conversation filmed by Frédéric Ambroisine, this time in 2007, at a Shaw Brothers reunion. Subtitled in English.


• Alternate Opening Credits

  Partial Original HK Credits (HD; 2:24)

  
  

  Alternate English Credits (HD; 2:19)

• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:36)

  
  

  German Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:06)

  
  

  US TV Spot (HD; 00:52)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD; 1:13)

• Image Gallery (HD)

Note: All of the discs in this set feature some supplemental material that is in 720 rather than 1080, notably some of the trailers.

The Boxer from Shantung Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perhaps because this story offers a somewhat more nuanced character at the core of its story, I personally found The Boxer from Shantung to be a somewhat more involving film than the other 1972 effort in this set, King Boxer. Performances are well done, and the fight scenes are well staged and viscerally exciting, especially the "boss level" at the end of the film. Technical merits are generally solid (especially video), and as usual with Arrow's releases, the supplementary package is outstanding. Recommended.