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Shawscope Blu-ray box |
Release: Jan 13, 2022 - Author: Muck47 - Translator: Mike Lowrey
- external link: IMDB
Comparison between the Hong Kong DVD by IVL and the British Blu-ray by Arrow Video
Several other master errors/"framecuts" with a duration of less than 1 sec each were not listed in the report. Available in the UK since 20th December 2021 and US since 28th December 2021 from aficionado label Arrow Video, the box set entitled "Shawscope Vol. 1" is a must-have for any fan of Asian action cinema. Included are 12 films from the legendary Shaw Brothers studio, plus lots of newly produced bonus material and a 60-page book. Version-wise, the original cut of Chinatown Kid, finally restored for the first time, is a special feature. This one's even a bit longer than previously available on VHS. There are also 6 other films (so including Chinatown Kid it's 7 titles) available for the first time in new restorations from Arrow Video. The other 5 films are the same as Celestial's versions, already released on other Blu-rays worldwide. Those who are somewhat familiar with the Shaw films should know that the versions on DVD and Blu-ray, which have been in common use worldwide since the mid-2000s, often have "framecuts". The Asian rights holder Celestial messed this up during the restoration: frames around the splices between individual shots or fractions damaged for whatever reasons were rigorously cut instead of carefully reconstructing the moments or simply leaving them as they were. Depending on the length of the film, this resulted in a loss of up to 5 minutes of running time, which is hardly noticeable during normal viewing. Fights in particular, however, often seem a bit jerky due to the quick shots being cut further for a few frames each. Annoyingly, some shots were also completely lost from time to time. That's why it was so exciting to see what the 7 new Arrow restorations might finally reveal in comparison to previous versions. Dirty Ho closes the set on disc 8. Again, there is a runtime difference from previous releases on, for example, the Hong Kong DVD:
No Celestial references on the old version, so the new Arrow version is 01:31 min longer. As expected, this is almost entirely distributed among irrelevant "framecuts" at the beginning and end of shots that are barely noticeable during normal viewing. Unlike The Boxer from Shantung, King Boxer (5 Fingers of Death) and Crippled Avengers, no shot is completely missing, so the present comparison is not too spectacular. However, as with The Five Venoms, there are longer missing moments at the beginning/end of shots with up to 4 seconds at a time. Thus, we've documented it anyway for the sake of completeness and it's nice that you can now see the film in complete form for the first time since VHS days. We also cover Challenge of the Masters as an appendix in this report. This film can be found on Disc 5 in the set as a new restoration from Arrow Video. The differences here are even more trivial, however, so we have deemed them insufficient for a separate report. See details below. Runtimes are ordered as follows: Hong Kong DVD in PAL speed / Arrow Video Blu-ray 03:11 / 03:20-03:23
The first shot after the opening credits sequence starts much earlier. 3,5 sec
09:08 / 09:42-09:44 When the casket is opened, the shot starts a bit earlier. 1,8 sec
25:20 / 26:49-26:50 A shot of Wang starts earlier. Here, he is putting his hand down at the beginning. 1,5 sec
57:22 / 60:35-60:36 Wang holds on to Mr. Chu's foot much longer. 1,2 sec
78:54 / 83:20-83:23 More exciting miss: the shot of the two starts much earlier, the camera moves back from a close-up. Several quick arm/leg attacks are thus seen in addition at the beginning. 3,4 sec
The final end fade-in differs once again.
Now as said, a recap of Challenge of the Masters on disc 5 in the Arrow set.
Apart from that, the following mini differences can be discovered: Runtimes are ordered as follows: Hong Kong DVD in PAL speed / Arrow Video Blu-ray In the old Celestial version, the credits were yellow. Arrow has the presumably original white inserts.
27:10 / 28:29-28:30 One shot from above starts a bit early. 1,1 sec
31:58 / 33:35-33:36 The "Oh my God!" at the end of the shot can be seen onscreen. Has been moved to the following shot in Celestial in the audio track. 0,9 sec
The final end fade-in differs once again. On Arrow, it's also a little earlier in the frame.
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