Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

The Shaolin Plot Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 12, 2024

It's kind of hilarious in a way how many great old martial arts movies are based at least tangentially on some super secret training manual that has either disappeared or fallen into the "wrong" hands, suggesting that if the Wu Tang and/or Shaolin "clans" needed anything at all, it might have been a more efficient librarian. In this particular case, it's a quartet of instructional tomes that evil Prince Daglen (Chan Sing) is on the hunt for, and as a rabid collector myself, I can only concur that when you need a "complete collection", you need a complete collection, no matter what the cost. While this film therefore may admittedly not have the most innovative plot conceit, it's a rather strangely less than remembered effort considering the fact that this was Sammo Hung's last film as a performer before he got his first gig as a feature film director with The Iron-Fisted Monk. That film was kind of interestingly done the same year as The Shaolin Plot, with both having been produced by Huang Feng, mentioned repeatedly by Hung himself and in the commentaries included on this disc as having been Hung's "mentor". Perhaps because of films like The Iron-Fisted Monk and at least some of Hung's own on screen performances, the actor is sometimes associated with comedies and lighter personifications, but here he's a ruthless killer who is armed with a so-called "flying guillotine". Hung also contributed the visceral fight choreography to the film.

Hung's character doesn't even have a real name, and is instead immediately introduced as a (maybe just a bit unintentionally funny looking) bald pated and muttonchopped villain who is able to fling cymbals he kind of weirdly carries around like veritable Frisbees, depriving various victims of what used to be their heads. This monk has been tasked by Daglen to get the Wu Tang manual, but that's just one of the tasks awaiting Daglen, who has to go undercover himself to abscond with the Shaolin text. Playing into all of this is a revenge scenario involving Little Tiger (James Tien), who teams with a horribly blinded monk Pu Hui (Chin Kang).

The Shaolin Plot is big, colorful and at times rather gory in its graphic depiction of various blood letting and/or wound inflicting. But even Peter Glagowski in his essay in the insert booklet contained with this release doesn't shy away from mentioning how familiar many of the plot machinations will be. That undeniable "been there, seen that" feeling may not offer anything new and/or improved, but what's offered in The Shaolin Monk is some well crafted entertainment with rather luxe production values (including a lot of great looking South Korea location shooting) and some effective action sequences.

The Shaolin Plot Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Shaolin Plot is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

The Shaolin Plot is presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio [sic] with its original Mandarin and English monoaural soundtracks. It was restored in 2K resolution from original film elements by Fortune Star, who supplied this mater to Arrow Video for this Blu-ray release. Additional color correction was undertaken on behalf of Arrow Films by Brandon Bentley. Further materials were kindly supplied for this release by EUreka Entertainment, originally produced for their UK edition.

A generally consistently vivid palette is one of this presentation's chief assets, and a production design that favors a huge gamut of interesting tones, including many in the yellow to orange spectrum, but also offering pops securely toward the red end of things, looks nicely suffused with a couple of passing moments where a slightly faded, brown quality can intrude. There are some very slight variations in overall color temperature that occur, typically for very short durations. The widescreen framings are used quite inventively throughout, though there is some of the most severe "warping" I've seen recently in things like pans. Typical anamorphic squeezing at the corners of frames in particular can also be spotted with fair regularity. Detail levels are generally very commendable, especially in some of the close-ups, where occasionally you can see things like the seam between Hung's bald cap and his actual skin.

The Shaolin Plot Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Shaolin Monk features LPCM Mono tracks in Mandarin and English. Kind of surprisingly considering the differences in amplitude that are often heard when toggling between tracks, things like score levels and sound effects are remarkably similar (I'd argue pretty identical) between the two languages. That said, there's arguably just a bit more of a high end (including a bit of hiss) on the Mandarin track that becomes more evident when either dialogue kicks in or in one of the film's kind of interesting sequences without any dialogue. All spoken material is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Shaolin Plot Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by Frank Djeng & Michael Worth


• Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema


• Alternate English Credits (HD; 2:10)


• Theatrical Trailers

  HK Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:57)

  
  

  English Export Trailer (HD; 2:56)

• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally this features another nicely appointed insert booklet as well as a double sided fold out poster featuring the same original and newly commissioned art as is featured on the keepcase's reversible sleeve. Packaging features a slipcover.

The Shaolin Plot Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Both the back cover and the insert booklet essay overtly call The Shaolin Plot "overlooked", and this Blu-ray release (which follows a release from Eureka for the UK market a couple of years ago) should help to remedy that situation. The film definitely has some "recycled" elements, but Hung is kind of goofily menacing as a "head hunting" monk, and the film is notable for some unusually graphic violence at key moments, including some pretty nasty bodily immolations (not to mention decapitations). Technical merits are generally solid and both of the commentary tracks are very enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.