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Arrow Video Shawscope Vol. 4 Box |
Comparison between the British Blu-ray from 88 Films (= Celestial HD master) with the uncut British Blu-ray from Arrow Video
- 5 relevant cuts Several other master errors/“framecuts” with a duration of less than 1 sec each were not listed in the report.
Here we are again: After there were were many reports on Shawscope Vol. 3 at the end of 2024, Vol. 4 of the box set will now be available from December 8, 2025 (UK, or December 9 in the US). Once again, the collector's label Arrow Video offers new restorations of 16 films from the legendary Hong Kong film studios, which were notorious for years for their “framecut” versions of Celestial: countless moments roughly shortened at splice points and any kind of damage on the film material. Two, or on closer inspection even three titles are included in several versions within the box set. For Super Inframan, you also get the different US version, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is also available with an additional scene exclusive to the Mandarin version. With Bloody Parrot, there was once again the typical British situation, without any prior announcement, that scenes involving animal cruelty are critical for the BBFC, which is why the uncut version is available on the same disc with code A (intended for America), but a slightly censored version is served up with code B (UK / Europe). Disc 3 features Black Magic and its follow-up Black Magic II, again starring Ti Lung an Lo Lieh. When it comes to gore and bizarre ideas (such as an autopsy performed directly in the cemetery, a breast milk ritual, and gouged-out eyeballs), they've really gone one step further here.
Minus Celestial references, there is effectively a 01:22 min difference. One shot is missing completely this time, and there are several gaps lasting a few seconds. Once again, the colors in the old version were rather pale and unnatural, while the new Arrow scan looks much better.
Running times are listed according to the following scheme The Celestial logo can be seen separately beforehand in the Arrow version, while in the 88 Films version it was part of the film stream.
+ 9 sec
The shot at 02:03 / 01:58 only has the film title in the Arrow version.
This is what the same section looks like in the alternative credits of an old English version, which are stored separately in the Arrow bonus features:
There are different credits starting at 04:04 / 04:03, and these are now slightly shifted because in the Celestial version, the title appears first. Towards the end, however, they also differ in content, and Celestial has an additional reference to “A Tropical City.”
Again, here's a look at the alternative English credits in the bonus material:
37:36 / 37:59-38:02 The shot starts earlier: The couple goes into the room and closes the door. There is then a small jump cut, which probably explains why Celestial removed the entire beginning of the shot. 3.7 sec
38:49 / 39:16-39:19 Here, a shot of the couple cuddling is significantly longer. 2.6 sec
42:44 / 43:18-43:19 Between the two shots of the rotting face, Qi (Ti Lung) can be seen again briefly. 1 sec
57:50 / 58:32-58:40 Qi enters and the camera pans over to the elevator - with the last second of the shot, the old Celestial version is briefly used after all. 7.3 sec
75:27 / 76:27-76:29 Kang (Lo Lieh) enters the frame from the left. 2.7 sec
The old version concludes with a Celestial reference. 88 Films Blu-ray 8 sec longer
Here, too, is the same scene from the English bonus featurette one last time:
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