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Shawscope Blu-ray box |
Release: Jan 10, 2022 - Author: Muck47 - Translator: Mike Lowrey
- external link: IMDB
Comparison between the US DVD/Blu-ray by Dragon Dynasty (frame-wise identical to the German DVD by MIB / Blu-ray by X-Rated and VZM) 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. The Five Venoms is included in the set along with Crippled Avengers on Disc 7. While the latter had an additional 2.5 minutes to discover, the difference in runtime is slightly less for The Five Venoms:
Minus Celestial/Dragon Dynasty cues in the old version, the new Arrow version is 01:26 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. As with The Boxer of Shantung and King Boxer (5 Fingers of Death), there are longer missing moments at the beginning/end of shots with up to 4 seconds at a time. At least no shot is missing completely, so the present comparison is not too spectacular. Still, it's nice to see the film in complete form for the first time since VHS times. Runtimes are ordered as follows: Dragon Dynasty Blu-ray / Arrow Video Blu-ray By way of introduction, let's take a look back. The German DVD basically features the same framecuts as the master used on the US DVD and Blu-ray. However, the picture is blatantly darkened and clearly inferior in terms of sharpness and contrast, for example. In dark scenes, everything in the German version thus sinks into black uniformity.
The Arrow restoration is different again, but much closer to the US releases.
The introductory logo of Celestial's framecuts culprits is consequently missing from Arrow Video's new Blu-ray (though it comes separately before the movie file here as well). The US DVD/Blu-ray had an additional reference to Dragon Dynasty before that. + 21,7 sec
25:02 / 24:51-24:52 The first more exciting and slightly longer framecut: the woman's body at the end of the shot a bit longer. 1 sec
25:03-25:04 / 24:54 Celestial has covered this up, however, by showing another (motionless) shot of the women a bit longer here shortly after. + 1 sec
43:52 / 43:59-44:00 At the end of a shot, there are a few more steps forward here, and the camera moves further to the right with them. 1,2 sec
72:46 / 73:18-73:20 The guard is nodding at the beginning of the shot. The old Celestial master doesn't kick in until the man is being driven down. 2,3 sec
80:17 / 80:59-81:03 Ho is setting down the wine pot at the end of the shot and asks onscreen, "Who paid you?" 3,7 sec
The final end fade-in is a little different. Unlike the other Arrow restorations, however, it's basically identical, just placed a bit differently.
This final shot is also a bit longer on the Arrow restoration. The two go completely out the back of the door. 2,5 sec
For this, the other references to Celestial are missing. + 15 sec
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