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Shawscope Vol. 3 Blu-ray box |
Comparison between the Celestial version, represented here by the Hong Kong DVD from IVL, and the 2024 restoration from Arrow Video, contained on the British/American Blu-ray from Arrow Video
- 9 relevant missing bits Several other master errors/framecuts with a duration of less than 1 sec each were not listed in the report.
At the end of 2021, Arrow Video in the UK/USA released the ‘Shawscope Vol. 1’ box set, which contained 12 films from the legendary Hong Kong film studio. In addition to 5 well-known HD masters from the licensor Celestial, there were 7 new HD restorations that did not have the infamous framecuts that run through much of the Celestial catalogue. We have documented this in more detail in several editing reports, for example the comparison to Five Venoms. At the end of 2022, ‘Shawscope Vol. 2’ followed with 9 out of a total of 14 films in new HD restorations without framecuts, for example the report on Ten Tigers of Kwantung. From 25 November 2024 (UK) and 6 December 2024 (USA) respectively, ‘Shawscope Vol. 3’ is available. Fortunately, this time even all 14 films included are new restorations, so that there is added value across the board compared to the previously known Celestial versions. Particularly exciting are Clans of Intrigue, which has only been available in a censored version worldwide so far, and The New One-Armed Swordsman, which was only released by T.V.P. in an incomplete reconstruction instead of fully uncut. The Avenging Eagle is a similar case which had a half-baked "uncut" reconstruction in Germany by filmArt. Arrow presents all these problem cases in the longest versions to date, along with much more. Besides The Jade Tiger Disc 6 contains Chor Yuen's The Sentimental Swordsman with Ti Lung.
Minus the Celestial references, the new Arrow version is 2:11 minutes longer. Right at the beginning, a longer piece of a shot is missing, which has been rather poorly concealed with a freeze frame – but without knowing it, it shouldn't be noticeable. More significant is a point in the second half of the film, where the shot of the dead poisoner is significantly longer. So, a violent scene that has finally been reconstructed in HD, and for that reason alone, the Arrow version is clearly recommended to anyone interested. Runtime information is given according to the scheme The German Blu-ray still has the Celestial logo at the beginning.
+ 11.5 sec A few comparison images. The credits are the same color and the credits for main characters throughout the film do not differ noticeably.
00:37-00:41 / 00:26-00:39 The Celestial master shows the long shot of the landscape for a much longer time – presumably just a freezeframe. This was used to cover up the fact that a longer part is completely missing at the beginning of the following shot: the horse comes into view from further to the right and the camera also moves slightly to the left. Arrow 8.6 sec longer
05:44 / 05:45-05:48 Li can be seen significantly earlier and he raises his hand. When he does this, the color scheme changes a little, especially noticeable on the horse's head at the bottom right. This may have been the reason why Celestial removed the beginning of the shot. 2.8 sec
10:15 / 10:23-10:24 At the end of the shot, the man walks out of the picture. 1.4 sec
36:18 / 36:45-36:48 A long shot is significantly longer, people bend down longer. 2.4 sec
38:00 / 38:33-38:35 Li can be seen much earlier. 2.1 sec
58:48 / 59:49-59:52 A distant shot begins much earlier. 3.2 sec
59:55 / 61:02-61:04 A short shot at the end of the scene is missing completely. 1.8 sec
70:45 / 72:02-72:09 There is a longer shot of the poisoner's face and then of the wounds on his hands. 6.4 sec
75:00 / 76:28-76:30 A landscape shot was lost during the scene change. 2.3 sec.
Finally, as usual, another Celestial reference in the old version. |
