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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
- 10 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. Disc 6 contains The Jade Tiger, starring Ti Lung and Lo Lieh. Once again, there is a particularly large difference in running time.
Minus the Celestial references and at the same running speed, the new Arrow version is 5:49 minutes longer. Basically, every single shot at the beginning and end is shortened, and only in a few places you can see more or anything worth reporting from our point of view at all. In any case, there were no gory bits this time, and all in all, it is more of a "for the sake of completeness" report.
Runtime information is given according to the scheme The DVD still has the Celestial logo at the beginning.
+ 12 sec A few comparison images from the first shots. The credits are sometimes delayed (probably due to the framecuts). Some of the actor credits are missing in the new HD master.
03:56 / 04:11-04:13 A shot starts much earlier. 2.3 sec
04:27 / 04:46-04:49 Celestial's shot of this scene starts very hectically with the rotation and zoom from outside the frame. 2.9 sec
30:30 / 33:30-33:32 An additional shot of fighters hurrying towards the scene. 1.7 sec
51:39 / 56:49-56:52 Ti Lung can be seen much earlier at the beginning of a shot. 2.6 sec
82:07 / 90:16-90:17 The prisoners can be seen a little longer at the end of the shot. Basically just one of the countless framecuts, but worth a brief mention here because you can guess why Celestial applied the scissors exactly here: the camera is shaking in these last frames, which probably did not meet the “Remastered expectations”. 0.7 sec
83:35 / 91:58-92:01 At the end of the shot, the two hurry out of the picture on the left and the next shot begins much earlier. 3.5 sec
89:51 / 99:01-99:02 A short shot is missing with a somersault backwards. 0.7 sec
90:50 / 100:07 A super-short shot of Ku Feng dodging a thrown object during a fight. 0.3 sec
92:03 / 101:25-101:27 The shot starts a little earlier, before everyone bows. 1.5 sec
92:05 / 101:29-103:02 Another shot from a different perspective is missing completely. 3.5 sec
The end credits differ slightly. On Arrow, they also appear from above or the sides of the screen, while on Celestial they are simply faded in/out.
After that, as usual, another Celestial note follows on the old version. |
