7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
While in Thailand to avenge his brother who was crippled in a fight with a corrupt Thai boxer, a man gets caught up in a web of fate, Buddhism and black magic.
Starring: Philip Ko Hei, Bolo Yeung, Lung-Wei Wang, Wai Lam, Elvis TsuiHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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.
The Boxer's Omen is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. 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.This is a rather interesting looking presentation both from its inherent stylistic quirks, which are legion, but also due to the fact that some of the special effects and lighting and/or grading choices can make this a somewhat unusual viewing experience within the general Shaw Brothers canon. Things aren't especially mind blowing in the early going of this presentation, though the palette is still nicely suffused if somewhat more tamped down than it later becomes once things go full gonzo psychedelic. The film relies on a number of really interesting hues, including a number of tones in the saffron yellow to orange territory, but also more lurid colors like some bright, almost sickly, greens, purples and pinks. Perhaps surprisingly, then, detail levels tend to remain generally very good even with some extremely hallucinogenic framings and effects. What look like old school stop motion effects can show slightly variant levels of detail and especially grain resolution, but otherwise grain resolves nicely throughout.
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.
Boxer's Omen is the rare film in this set that does not offer a English language option, with only Mandarin and Cantonese tracks delivered in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono. There's a bit of a tradeoff no matter which dialect is chosen, since to my ears the Mandarin track sounded brighter and clearer, but it also had much brasher highs. The Cantonese track delivers much of the same energy but the harshness of the higher frequencies, especially in both scoring and sound effects, may make this the "easier" listening experience. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Arrow has packaged Mercenaries from Hong Kong and The Boxer's Omen 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:
- HK Theatrical Trailer 1 (HD; 2:47)
- HK Theatrical Trailer 2 (HD*; 3:06)
It will be fun to see if either 88 Films' new(ish) US branch or perhaps even Arrow itself will release Bewitched for the domestic market, but Boxer's Omen doesn't really depend on knowledge of that first film to deliver its own often hallucinogenic "message". This is a completely peculiar film from any number of angles (fans of Phantasm are going to have a "WTF" reaction to the soundtrack, which also borrows from the likes of Jerry Goldsmith), and while it may not offer the same sort of constant in your face action as some of the other films in this set, it has its own distinctive energy. Technical merits are generally solid and both the commentary and Rayns featurette in particular are very interesting. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Tang shan wu hu / 唐山五虎
1979
Jin bi tong / 金臂童
1979
Lie mo zhe / 獵魔者
1982
Mai ming xiao zi / 賣命小子
1979
Guang Dong shi hu yu hou wu hu / 廣東十虎與後五虎
1980
Nan bei Shao Lin / 南北少林
1986
Feng hou / 瘋猴
1979
Chi jiao xiao zi / Chik geuk siu ji / 赤腳小子
1993
Nan Shao Lin yu bei Shao Lin / 南少林與北少林
1978
Zhang bei / 長輩
1981
Pi li shi jie / 霹靂十傑
1985
少林搭棚大師 / Shao Lin da peng da shi
1980
Five Fingers of Death / Tian xia di yi quan
1972
Shǎo lín sì / 少林寺
1976
The Executioners of Death / Hong Xi Guan
1977
The Five Venoms / 五毒 / Wu du
1978
Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms
1978
Goliathon / Xing xing wang
1977
1977
1978