7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The dying master of the powerful Poison Clan assigns his final martial arts student one last, epic quest find his 5 most mysterious and dangerous disciples, each trained in a different fighting style, and bring them together to root out a conspiracy that could divide and destroy the entire clan.
Starring: Sheng Chiang, Meng Lo, Phillip Chung-Fung Kwok, Chien Sun, Feng LuForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 43% |
Action | 3% |
Period | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This version of 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.
The Five Venoms 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.I was generally well pleased with the look of the now "ancient" Vivendi Visual Entertainment release from 2011, but this Arrow release perhaps unsurprisingly trumps it in every way, due no doubt to Arrow's own 2K scan off the original camera negative. The Vivendi Visual Entertainment release had an ever so slight skew toward yellow that is absent here, and the result is a substantially healthier looking palette, where reds are true reds instead of slightly orange. Clarity is also noticeably improved, and as a result overall detail levels enjoy an uptick. Grain resolves naturally throughout and there are no signs of the (admittedly minor) digital tweaks that accompany some of the masters supplied by Celestial Pictures.
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.
I was less pleased with the audio presentations on the Vivendi Visual Entertainment disc, which were lossy Dolby Digital outings. This disc offers DTS- HD Master Audio Mono mixes in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. I once again toggled between the three as I watched the film, and found the mixes to be substantially identical, though it's arguable the Cantonese track is just slightly hotter than the other two (but not by much, if at all). There are occasional strident passages when effects or score are at their loudest, but nothing overly problematic. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.
Arrow has packaged this release with The Five Venoms and Crippled Avengers on the same disc. Arrow has rather nicely authored the disc so that when choosing either film, a specific set of supplements is accessible, albeit with some shared content (as with regard to the Lo Meng and Chang Cheh pieces, below, which are available under both films' Special Features submenus).
- HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:34)
- US Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:00)
- US TV Spot (HD; 00:34)
- Digital Reissue Trailer (HD; 1:14)
The Five Venoms is understandably one of the better remembered films from this period of the Shaw Brothers, and Arrow has done the entry proud with outstanding video and good audio. As usual with Arrow's releases, the supplements are outstanding. Highly recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
Five Fingers of Death / Tian xia di yi quan
1972
Return of the 5 Deadly Venoms
1978
The Executioners of Death / Hong Xi Guan
1977
1978
少林三十六房 / Shao lin san shi liu fang
1978
Tang shan wu hu / 唐山五虎
1979
Shǎo lín sì / 少林寺
1976
5 Masters of Death
1974
Liu A-Cai yu Huang Fei-Hong
1976
Lan tou He
1979
1972
Feng hou / 瘋猴
1979
Goliathon / Xing xing wang
1977
1977
Jin bi tong / 金臂童
1979
少林搭棚大師 / Shao Lin da peng da shi
1980
Pi li shi jie / 霹靂十傑
1985
Nan bei Shao Lin / 南北少林
1986
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