Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Five Venoms Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 28, 2021

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.

Kind of amazingly given the glut of martial arts films in general and Shaw Brothers outings in particular that I've reviewed over the course of the last several years, The Five Venoms is the only film in this set that I've reviewed previously. Those wanting a plot summary and my thoughts on the film are encouraged to read my The Five Deadly Venoms Blu-ray review of the Vivendi Visual Entertainment (remember them?) release of over a decade ago.

The Five Venoms Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

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 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.

The Five Venoms Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

The Five Venoms Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

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).

• Commentary by Simon Abrams


• Interview with Lo Meng (HD; )19:12 is a 2003 interview filmed by F A. Subtitled in English.


• Chang Cheh: The Master (HD; 17:32) is a biographical piece produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003. Subtitled in English.


• Trailer Gallery

  HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:34)

  
  

  US Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:00)

  
  

  US TV Spot (HD; 00:34)

  
  

  Digital Reissue Trailer (HD; 1:14)

• 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 Five Venoms Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.