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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/American Blu-ray from Arrow Video
- 9 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). Besides The Battle Wizard, Disc 2 also includes the bizarre trash horror film Oily Maniac, starring Danny Lee in the title role. It is the first film from the box set that was already available on Blu-ray in the UK by 88 Films with the first HD master created by Celestial. So is it worth upgrading between the two HD versions?
Minus Celestial notes, there is effectively a 03:09 min difference. And yes: this includes several completely missing shots or gaps that are noticeable for longer than 5 seconds. Effectively, no one will buy the box set just because of Oily Maniac, but there is definitely clear added value here compared to the previous Blu-ray.
Running times are listed according to the following scheme The Celestial logo can be seen separately beforehand on Arrow, while on 88 Films it was part of the film stream.
+ 11 sec
First, a few comparison images. The new Arrow restoration has slightly more natural colors and shows a little more on all sides.
29:38 / 30:36-30:38 Ms. Lan looks left and right again before the camera pulls back. 1.6 sec
41:56 / 43:22-43:23 A short additional shot is missing here, in which Hu approaches from the side. 1.1 sec
42:46 / 44:14-44:21 Hu sits down and takes a puff on his cigar. 6.8 sec
47:25 / 49:01-49:02 A shot of the surgery begins noticeably earlier. 1.1 sec
48:55 / 50:36-50:38 Before the guy runs to the bike, you see him looking to the side from close up and a brief shot of the bike. 1.4 sec
51:44 / 53:33-53:41 The Celestial version uses a soft scene transition much earlier here. Actually, the camera pans toward Shen (Danny Lee) for longer and then fades in much earlier at the harbor. The camera pans to the left here. Arrow Video 8.1 sec longer
54:42 / 56:42-56:43 The Oily Maniac lifts the bike in an additional close-up. 0.9 sec
Alternatively 58:56-58:57 / 61:08-61:09 Another classic at Celestial: Here, a shot is briefly interrupted for a recycled reaction shot from the surroundings, probably because a damaged part in the middle was covered up. In Arrow's version, you can see the shot correctly in one long take. No time difference
71:34 / 74:10-74:12 Shen approaches Lin (Chen Ping) a little earlier. 1.4 sec
The old version ends with a Celestial note. 88 Films Blu-ray 14 sec longer
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