7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Lo Lieh is the ringleader of the Snake Sect, intent on reviving a deadly faction known as the Five Poison Web.
Starring: Hua Yueh, Li Ching, Feng Ku, Shen Chan, Lieh LoAction | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 2.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Mandarin: Dolby Digital 2.0
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
There’s a strange delirious quality to a lot of Shaw Brothers films, but I daresay none, or at least very few, come close to the sheer delirium of The Web of Death. This 1976 opus plays at times like a Hong Kong version of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 film, albeit without narrative brickbats being thrown at it. It also is lurid in the same way as the 1970’s Hammer Films often were, and it has the same surreal ambience that all of those old Universal “Far Eastern” melodramas featuring Maria Montez and Jon Hall did in the 1940’s. With a patently Shakespearean plotline of warring clans and shifting alliances, there’s enough plot in The Web of Death for at least another film (and maybe another film and a half), with characters popping in and out with such dizzying array that after a while it becomes not just hard to keep track of them, it almost ceases to matter after a while. What elevates The Web of Death into a perhaps legendary realm of camp is the insanely ridiculous special effects, especially with regard to its iconic Five Venom Spider, a Rube Goldberg like contraption that appears to have been cobbled together from leftover cardboard boxes and the occasional unusued Christmas light. The Web of Death may not win any awards for acting, screenwriting or even for martial arts finesse, something that often is front and center in Shaw Brothers films, but for sheer lunacy and crazy-bad-wonderful special effects, this film simply cannot be topped.
Be afraid. . .be very afraid.
The Web of Death weaves its way onto Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 2.37:1. Shaw Brothers films are not models of pristine imagery to begin with, and this film's mid-1970's genesis means the image is frequently quite soft, especially in midrange and far range shots. Colors are often on the lurid side of things, especially reds and purples, which are so deeply saturated here that they're about an inch away from blooming territory. The interlaced presentation doesn't actually seem to harm the image in any way, and there are few if any interlacing artifacts to be found in the presentation. Grain is intact and looks completely natural, and the overall image is decent, if not mind blowing. The Blu-ray's superior resolution does point out some of the less than state of the art special effects this film employs, so be forewarned you may burst out laughing a time or two.
Two very good lossless tracks are offered here, a Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, both languages are also presented in standard Dolby 2.0 tracks. The English dub, while advertised as a sort of bonus, is typically hyperbolic and probably should be avoided despite its excellent fidelity. The original Mandarin soundtrack, while not incredibly immersive a lot of the time, is nonetheless very enjoyable, with a variety of crazy-wonderful sound effects dotting the sporadic action sequences, and with all the original dialogue very well reproduced. Despite the film's age, there's no appreciable damage to this track, and all frequency ranges are delivered with quite a bit of gusto. Surrounds do kick in intermittently, typically in some of the action sequences, and there are a variety of very fun sound effects utilized throughout The Web of Death that make it a blast to listen to.
Only the Trailer is included.
As with any enjoyable surreal dream, it's best not to question The Web of Death too much, and to simply go along with its lunatic antics. Filled to the brim with eye popping sets and costumes, and with a host of goofy performances by some Shaw Brothers regulars, The Web of Death may well easily entangle you in its fever-dream of rival clans and their shifting allegiances and top secret weapons. This Shaw Brothers epic may not in fact come anywhere close to the best film the vaunted studio released, but it's undeniably fun and, if you're in the right mood, insanely funny at times. One way or the other, you'll never look at an arachnid the same way again. Recommended.
Mo / 魔
1983
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1972
Ma Yong Zhen / Ma Wing Jing / 馬永貞
1997
逆戰
2012
Tang shan wu hu / 唐山五虎
1979
女必殺拳
1974
豪俠 / Háo xiá
1979
The Five Venoms / 五毒 / Wu du
1978
2008
Shi san tai bao
1970
2015
도둑들 / Dodookdeul
2012
狄仁杰之通天帝国
2010
Special Edition | 玻璃樽 | Boh lei chun
1999
Collectors Edition | Rang Zi Dan Fei
2010
Wong Fei Hung 92 ji Lung hang tin ha / Huang Fei hung 92 zhi Long xing tian xia / 黃飛鴻92之龍行天下
1992
Da Zhui Bu
2012
Zui quan
1978
武俠 / Wu xia
2011
2014