The Shaw Brothers Collection: Volume 1 coming from Arrow

[reason108]

Originally Posted by thesmark88

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas...8366?at=11laSw

James White was on a podcast talking about his restoration work for Arrow and the Shaw Brothers box set came up (starts at 34:05). Some quick notes:

-There will be two volumes, they're roughly in chronological order. Basically confirms 36th Chamber will be in volume 2.
-L'Immagine Ritrovata is involved with the transfers, but R3store Studios in London are doing the color grading with supervision from Arrow
-About 30 total films from Celestial are involved (presumably 24 in the sets, about 6 outside of it? Presumably films for the US that 88 Films or Eureka owns in the UK)
-Chinatown Kid has 2nd generation elements for the missing 30 minutes+ of footage, it will be the original full length cut

At least it wont be that old "insert full frame VHS upscale into missing scenes" BS that has gone on before.

[playa787]

Down to $130 on Amazon

[yoloswegmaster420]

Full specs for the set:

[Show spoiler]

High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all twelve films, including seven new 2K restorations by Arrow Films
Illustrated 60-page collectors’ book featuring new writing by David Desser, Terrence J. Brady and James Flower, plus cast and crew listings and notes on each film by Simon Abrams
New artwork by Sam Gilbey, Matthew Griffin, Chris Malbon, Jacob Phillips, Ilan Sheady, Tony Stella, Darren Wheeling and Jolyon Yates
Hours of never-before-seen bonus features, including several cast and crew interviews from the Frédéric Ambroisine Video Archive
Two CDs of music from the De Wolfe Music library as heard in six of the films, exclusive to this collection

Disc One – King Boxer

Brand new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio
Newly translated English subtitles for the Mandarin audio, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
Brand new commentary by David Desser, co-editor of The Journal of Japanese and Korean Cinema and The Cinema of Hong Kong
Newly filmed appreciation by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interview with director Chung Chang-wha, filmed in 2003 and 2004 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Interview with star Wang Ping, filmed in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Interview with Korean cinema expert Cho Young-jung, author of Chung Chang-wha: Man of Action, filmed in 2005 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Cinema Hong Kong: Kung Fu, the first in a three-part documentary on Shaw Brothers’ place within the martial arts genre produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003, featuring interviews with Jackie Chan, Jet Li, John Woo, Sammo Hung, Gordon Liu, Lau Kar-leung, Cheng Pei-pei, David Chiang and many others
Alternate opening credits from the American version titled Five Fingers of Death
Hong Kong, US and German theatrical trailers, plus US TV and radio spots
Image gallery

Disc Two – The Boxer From Shantung

Brand new 2K restoration by Arrow Films from a 4K scan of the original negative
Newly restored uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio
Newly translated English subtitles for the Mandarin audio, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
Interview with star Chen Kuan-tai, filmed in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Interview with assistant director John Woo, filmed in 2004 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Interview with star David Chiang, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Conversation between stars Chen Kuan-tai and Ku Feng, filmed at a Shaw Brothers reunion in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Hong Kong and German theatrical trailers, plus US TV spot
Image gallery

Disc Three – Five Shaolin Masters / Shaolin Temple

Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
Newly filmed appreciation of Chang Cheh by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interview with star Kong Do, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Elegant Trails: David Chiang and Elegant Trails: Ti Lung, two featurettes on the actors produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003
Alternate standard-definition version of Shaolin Temple
Alternate opening credits from Five Masters of Death, the US version of Five Shaolin Masters
Alternate opening credits sequences for Shaolin Temple
US and German trailers for Five Shaolin Masters
Hong Kong and German trailers for Shaolin Temple
Image galleries for both films

Disc Four – Mighty Peking Man

Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio
Newly translated English subtitles for the Mandarin audio, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub
Brand new commentary by Travis Crawford
Brand new interview with suit designer Keizo Murase, filmed in 2021 by Daisuke Sato and Yoshikazu Ishii
Interview with director Ho Meng-hua, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Interview with star Ku Feng, filmed in 2004 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Behind-the-scenes Super 8 footage from the archives of Keizo Murase
‘Unrestored’ standard-definition version
Alternate opening credits from Goliathon, the US version of Mighty Peking Man
Hong Kong, US, German and Dutch theatrical trailers, plus US TV spot
Image gallery

Disc Five – Challenge Of The Masters / Executioners From Shaolin

Brand new 2K restoration of Challenge of the Masters from the original negative by Arrow Films
Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films, plus Cantonese mono for Challenge of the Masters
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
Newly filmed appreciation of Lau Kar-leung by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interview with star Gordon Liu, filmed in 2002 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Interview with star Chen Kuan-tai, filmed in 2007 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Textless opening credits for Challenge of the Masters
Alternate English credits for Executioners from Shaolin
Hong Kong theatrical trailers for Challenge of the Masters
Hong Kong and US theatrical trailers for Executioners from Shaolin
Image galleries for both films

Disc Six - Chinatown Kid:

Brand new 2K restoration of the 115-minute International Version from original film elements
90-minute Alternate Version
Uncompressed original Cantonese audio for the International Version, with newly translated English subtitles
Uncompressed original English audio for the International Version, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles
Uncompressed original Mandarin audio for the Alternate Version, with newly translated English subtitles
Select scene video commentary by co-star Susan Shaw from 2021
Elegant Trails: Fu Sheng, a featurette on the actor produced by Celestial Pictures in 2005
Hong Kong, US and German theatrical trailers, plus US TV spot
Image gallery

Disc Seven – The Five Venoms/Crippled Avengers

Brand new 2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films
Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films plus Cantonese mono for The Five Venoms
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
Brand new commentary on The Five Venoms by critic Simon Abrams
Interview with star Lo Meng, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Chang Cheh: The Master, a featurette about the director produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003
Hong Kong and US theatrical trailers for The Five Venoms
Hong Kong theatrical trailer for Crippled Avengers
Image galleries for both films

Disc Eight:

Brand new 2K restoration of Dirty Ho from the original negative by Arrow Films
Uncompressed Cantonese, Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films
Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
Brand new commentary on Heroes of the East by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
Newly filmed appreciation of both films by film critic and historian Tony Rayns
Interview with Heroes of the East star Yasuaki Kurata, filmed in 2003 by Frédéric Ambroisine
Alternate opening credits for Shaolin Challenges Ninja, the international version of Heroes of the East
Alternate English credits for Dirty Ho
Hong Kong theatrical trailer for Heroes of the East, plus US TV spot
Hong Kong theatrical trailer for Dirty Ho
Image galleries for both films
Disc Nine – MUSIC FROM SHAOLIN TEMPLE, MIGHTY PEKING MAN AND CHINATOWN KID (CD)

– MUSIC FROM THE FIVE VENOMS, CRIPPLED AVENGERS AND DIRTY HO (CD)

[StarDestroyer52]

Really looking forward to this set with those extras.

[BurningAstronaut]

Two discs of music! Didn't expect that!

On the flip side, I wish that each movie could have been put on their own disc instead of some being doubled up, but that's just a nitpick.

[Kaiju23]

There have been some amazing movie collection boxsets released in the past couple of years. This is the one I am the most excited about, probably because I never expected to see these films get this treatment, and it's only Volume One of Two!

[omgitsgodzilla]

I don't have a big problem with movies being doubled up, since Arrow's encoding is often pretty good. What's a bit weird to me is which movies are doubled up. The Mighty Peking Man is presumably using the old Celestial transfer, which isn't very demanding in terms of grain or fine detail, but it's got its own entire disc; meanwhile, four out of the six films that are sharing discs have new restorations.

It might be a matter of which films have the most extras tied to them -- MPM's disc looks pretty stacked, even if it is perhaps more breathing room than that transfer really needs.

The CDs are an excellent addition. I guess that's the cool thing about movies that are scored with library music: You don't have to depend on whether the studio or whoever held on to the tapes for an original score; you can just hit up the same library the studio did.

[Markgway]

I can't imagine my life ever being that empty that I would find the time to listen to two CDs worth of library cues. LOL

[Killer Meteor]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I can't imagine my life ever being that empty that I would find the time to listen to two CDs worth of library cues. LOL

Oh, the 2 De Wolfe CDs for DAWN OF THE DEAD are terrific!

[Monterey Jack]

Originally Posted by Killer Meteor

Oh, the 2 De Wolfe CDs for DAWN OF THE DEAD are terrific!

Half the reason I laid down $95 for the deluxe DOTD set was to have the three soundtrack CDs.

Only disappointment was the lack of track titles anywhere in the booklet.

[Doomhunter]

Originally Posted by Monterey Jack

Half the reason I laid down $95 for the deluxe DOTD set was to have the three soundtrack CDs.

Only disappointment was the lack of track titles anywhere in the booklet.

You’re supposed to make up your own track titles,

Track 1 Screams
Track 2 Chewing sounds
Track 3 More Screams
Track 4 Loud Boing!

Etc

[Harlock415]

Down to $104.95 at DeepDiscount.

[TheBluRayBandito]

Originally Posted by Kaiju23

There have been some amazing movie collection boxsets released in the past couple of years. This is the one I am the most excited about, probably because I never expected to see these films get this treatment, and it's only Volume One of Two!

Wait, They're only releasing 2 volumes?

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by TheBluRayBandito

Wait, They're only releasing 2 volumes?

At least in the UK. They have the rights to more movies but some of them are only for North America (i'm guessing stuff like Come drink with me and The one armed swordsman, films that 88 films own in the UK).

I caved in and re-ordered the Shawscope set. With coupon, it comes to 125$ CAD on wowh.ca, which is a great deal and the perfect Christmas gift from my wife haha. I still hate it's a giant set but at this point I want to read the booklet and watch the movies while i'm still on parental leave. Plus, volume 2 will match at least with this and if I really love the smaller sets, i'm sure I can sell the bigger one down the road.

Hopefully we get some unboxing video soon, i'm mostly intrigued by the book!

[mmarczi]

Back in August on the They Live by Film podcast, James White said that there will be at least one more volume. Didn't rule out more than two.

[cicada88]

Originally Posted by Harlock415

Down to $104.95 at DeepDiscount.

Thanks, $103.71 when I checked out

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

At least in the UK. They have the rights to more movies but some of them are only for North America (i'm guessing stuff like Come drink with me and The one armed swordsman, films that 88 films own in the UK).

I caved in and re-ordered the Shawscope set. With coupon, it comes to 125$ CAD on wowh.ca, which is a great deal and the perfect Christmas gift from my wife haha. I still hate it's a giant set but at this point I want to read the booklet and watch the movies while i'm still on parental leave. Plus, volume 2 will match at least with this and if I really love the smaller sets, i'm sure I can sell the bigger one down the road.

Hopefully we get some unboxing video soon, i'm mostly intrigued by the book!

I don’t think 88 has One Armed Swordsman in the UK anymore as their BD went OOP.

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

I don’t think 88 has One Armed Swordsman in the UK anymore as their BD went OOP.

Oh that's good news! Hopefully Arrow or someone releases the whole trilogy in one box set eventually.

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Oh that's good news! Hopefully Arrow or someone releases the whole trilogy in one box set eventually.

That would be great & I know I’d buy it. Currently I just have the 88 BD release of the first film & the Dragon Dynasty DVD of the second.

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by darkness2918

That would be great & I know I’d buy it. Currently I just have the 88 BD release of the first film & the Dragon Dynasty DVD of the second.

I used to have the whole trilogy in a hong kong dvd box set, it was great. Gave it away a few years ago and bought the first two films on dvd from dragon dynasty but i've been dying to see again the third one. We really need more David Chiang, Ti Lung and Chang Cheh team ups on blu ray!