Arrow Video
Blu-ray Release: November 26, 2024
Video: 2.35:1/1080p/Color (all films)
Audio: Mandarin, Cantonese, and English LPCM 2.0 Mono (not every film includes all three options)
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Run Time: Various
Director: Chang Cheh, Ho Meng-hua, Chor Yuen, Cheng Kang, Sun Chung, Kuei Chih-hung, Taylor Wong, and Lu Chun-ku
Before Hong Kong's mightiest film studio mastered the art of the kung fu film, Shaw Brothers hit box office gold with a very different kind of martial arts cinema, one that channeled the blood-soaked widescreen violence of Japanese samurai epics and Italian spaghetti westerns into a uniquely Chinese form: the wuxia pian. With their enthralling tales drawn from historical myth and legend of sword-wielding (and often gravity-defying) noble heroes, the wuxia films housed in this next installment of Arrow Video's best-selling Shawscope series demonstrate the sweeping stylistic evolution of the genre, from the righteous stoicism of the late-’60s Mandarin period, right through to the wild-and-weird anarchism of the early-’80s Cantonese explosion. (From Arrow’s box set synopsis)
Disc 1:
The One-Armed Swordsman (1967)
Disc 2:
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)
One-armed hero Fang Gang (Jimmy Wang Yu) just wants to lead a quiet life, but the Eight Demon Swordsmen want him to fight and won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Their mistake. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
The One-Armed Swordsman was an astronomical hit, becoming the first Hong Kong film to make a million dollars at the local box office, so, naturally, Shaw Bros. brass needed to make a sequel. Chang Cheh, Jimmy Wang Yu, and Lisa Chiao Chiao returned as director and stars, and Lau Kar-leung and Tang Chia returned as choreographers, this time with a screen credit (Lau also plays the hook-wielding fighter who is strung up on a tree and gutted). Chang’s script boils the plot down to a framing device for increasingly wild, blockbuster fight scenes and while it’s not his most efficient script – the first act really crawls as characters reiterate exposition in an effort to motivate Fang – every step leads him closer to the super-streamlined formula that would serve him over the next decade-plus.
I believe that this is the first case of Chang theming his fighters around specific techniques and weapon gimmicks, which was something he’d do again and again in his late-’70s/early-’80s films, like Five Venoms (1978), Crippled Avengers (1978), and Five Element Ninjas (1982). This sort of video game miniboss structure was also adopted by Bruce Lee for Game of Death (1978) and, arguably, Enter the Dragon (1973). Stylistically, Return of the One-Armed Swordsman sort of split the difference between the lush, faux-outdoor look of One-Armed Swordsman and the more abstract, comic booky look of the post-Five Venom movies. It is also really violent as swords, daggers, hooks, arrows, bamboo stalks, caltrops, bullets, throwing stars, and whirring circular blades make quick, bloody work of the supporting cast.
The New One-Armed Swordsman (1971)
An all-new one-armed hero (David Chiang) springs into action when the love of his life is kidnapped and his best friend is murdered at a gang’s stronghold on Tiger Mountain. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
Following the continued success of One-Armed Swordsman and its first sequel, Jimmy Wang Yu and Shaw Bros. had a major falling out in 1970. The star struck out on his own and found a new home at upstart rival studio Golden Harvest. This led to a high-profile lawsuit that eventually banned Wang from making movies in Hong Kong for a period of time. Now based in Taiwan, he continued milking his own success with unofficial One-Armed Swordsman-type films, including Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman (directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda, 1971), The One-Armed Boxer (directed by Wang, 1972), Master of the Flying Guillotine (also directed by Wang, 1976), and One-Armed Swordsman vs. Nine Killers (directed by Hsu Teng-Hung, 1976), among others, often to the chagrin of his former studio.
Not one to abandon a promising franchise, Shaw replaced Wang with up-and-comer David Chiang (who had a cameo in Return of the One-Armed Swordsman) for The New One-Armed Swordsman (aka: Triple Irons, 1971). Chang directed, screenwriting duties fell to Ni Kuang, who co-wrote the original film with Chang, and Lau Kar-leung was once again paired with Tony Kai for the fight choreography. Owing to the film’s more dramatic approach, Lau and Kai’s talents are underutilized, at least compared to the wall-to-wall chaos of Return of the One-Armed Swordsman. Despite this comparative lack of action and a slower overall pace, The New One-Armed Swordsman has more scope than its predecessor and features plenty of evocative imagery.
Chiang’s character, Lei Li, is a sort of reflection of Fang Gang, having fallen from grace into depression and servitude, rather than being born into humble beginnings. He has to learn humility and regain self-respect before he can become the crippled hero. This keeps the formula fresh, even though Ni recycles almost every aspect of the script from either the first film or his own similar screenplays. Chang Cheh’s famed brand of homoeroticism is also a central plot point, as Lei isn’t brought out of his funk by his demure female love interest, Li Ching, doing her best in a thankless role, but by his bright-eyed male comrade in arms (pun intended), portrayed by Ti Lung, just as his brutal murder – not her kidnapping – convinces him to come out of retirement.
Video/Audio
I believe every film in this collection has been available on Hong Kong DVD and HD digital streaming, so I won’t bother explaining that for every entry, but I will try to mention the few that had stateside DVD or VHS releases. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman, for example, was released on US DVD via Dragon Dynasty, and both One-Armed Swordsman sequels had Blu-ray releases in Europe and Asia. These transfers, like every transfer in the set, are taken from new, Arrow-exclusive 2K restorations of the original negatives. Having recently watched a bunch of Shaw Blu-rays that utilized Celestial Films’ original HD transfers, I really appreciate Arrow’s effort here. Even the weaker transfers show minor improvements, like better grain, dynamic range, and brighter colors.
Both films are presented with uncompressed LPCM mono English and Mandarin audio options. Return of the One-Armed Swordsman has a particularly bad, low energy, awkwardly mixed English dub and the track is noticeably quieter than its somewhat scratchier Mandarin counterpart. I’m not typically a stickler for original language tracks, but I’m definitely recommending steering clear of this one. The New One-Armed Swordsman’s English dub is much better and makes interesting (though not always good) changes up the musical soundtrack, including cues swiped from Lo Wei’s The Big Boss (aka: Fists of Fury) and John Barry’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service score.
Extras
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman commentary with Samm Deighan – The co-editor of the recently published Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960 - 1990 (PM Press, 2024) compares the first two One-Armed Swordsman films and delves into the wider careers of the cast & crew, Chang’s use of Shaw’s Movie Town sets, story themes, and non-canonical One-Armed Swordsman movies.
New One-Armed Swordsman commentary with Brian Bankston – The Cool Ass Cinema critic explores the making of all three One-Armed Swordsman movies, the careers of the cast & crew, the continuing development of Shaw going into the ‘70s, and the legal battles between Shaw, Golden Harvest, and Jimmy Wang Yu.
Theatrical trailers for both films
Disc 3:
The Lady Hermit (1971)
After being injured in her chivalrous attempts to reform the villainous Black Demon, a master swordswoman (Cheng Pei-pei) teams with a pretty young student and virtuous swordsman to take revenge. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
In 1966, King Hu’s Come Drink with Me set the quality precedent for Shaw Bros. wuxia movies and the popularity precedent for a wave of movies starring female knight-errants through the early 1970s. It also made a star of actress Cheng Pei-pei, who continued headlining hits for the next three years, a run that ended in 1971 with Ho Meng-hua’s handsomely-shot The Lady Hermit, where she was paired with Shih Szu in her feature lead debut as a young, headstrong, whip-wielding knight. With its Zorro-esque main protagonist, cowboy western sensibilities (including a Sergio Leone-inspired title sequence), Gothic overtones, and frothy melodramas, not to mention its villain’s Scooby-Doo-like money-making scheme, The Lady Hermit brings a unique flair to a subgenre that was already growing stale by the early ‘70s (noting that the basic plot is almost identical to New One-Armed Swordsman).
Ho draws on Hu’s rich aesthetic, which included hiring Come Drink with Me art director Tsao Johnson (just don’t look too closely at some of those model shots). He had been writing and directing since the early ‘50s and, previous to Lady Hermit, had directed two other Cheng vehicles, The Jade Raksha (1968) and Lady of Steel (1970), and at least one other female-led wuxia in Killer Darts (1968), starring Chin Ping. He also directed three of four Shaw-produced epic adaptations of Wu Cheng'en’s 16th century fantasy classic Journey to the West – The Monkey Goes West (1966), The Cave of the Silken Web (1967), and The Land of Many Perfumes (1968) – but, arguably, his biggest contributions to the Shaw canon were his trendsetting horror films, including Black Magic (1975), Black Magic 2 (1976), and The Oily Maniac (1976), all of which I hope find their way onto a fourth Arrow Shawscope collection.
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972)
Video/Audio
Lady Hermit’s stateside debut came in the form of a 2010 DVD from Funimation and another Celestial Films HD streaming transfer. This is a pretty moody-looking film and the new 2K restoration helps bring out fine texture during dark and smokey shots, while not undermining the important black levels too much. The footage is gritty and there are some slightly pulsy moments, but it all looks pleasantly filmic. The English dub is top of the line in terms of performance, in part because it maintains all of the sound effects and reactionary dialogue (grunts, shouts, pained moans, et cetera) from the Mandarin dub. Directly compared, the two mixes are nearly identical with the Mandarin option having a slight crispness advantage.
Extras
Commentary with James Mudge – The critic, industry expert, and filmmaker talks about the ways Lady Hermit sets itself apart from other wuxia of the period, its subversion of gender roles, cast & crew filmographies, and the idea that Cheng was meant to be ‘passing the torch’ to Shih Szu. He also gives a charming little chuckle at every instance of gore.
Hong Kong Mandarin and English trailers
Disc 4:
The 14 Amazons (1972)
Disc 5:
The Magic Blade (1976)
Clans of Intrigue (1977)
Legendary swordsman Chu Liuxiang (Ti Lung) goes about clearing his name after being framed for the death of three clan leaders, encountering treacherous palace maids and deceitful warriors along the way. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
Released about six months after The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue was the third time that director Chor Yuen, screenwriter Ni Kuang, and star Ti Lung teamed to adapt one of prolific wuxia author Gu Long’s (aka: Ku Lung) novels. It feels as though the audience is expected to already be familiar with the material this time. Yuen introduces characters at a dizzying clip, while also shovelling a soap opera season’s worth of exposition between sword fights and revelations. It makes for an exhausting experience, especially since Clans of Intrigue is already a sort of espionage-driven murder mystery. Though it eventually settles into a groove, the narrative pace never lets up and there’s a veritable labyrinth of subterfuge and chicanery to navigate, as the title implies.
That said, it’s an entertaining and usually appealing film that appears to take place in a sort of fantasy realm of mists, perpetual dusk, and Mario Bava color timing, fitting the busy plot’s borderline dream logic and matching the Gothic western sensibilities of The Magic Blade, giving first time viewers, like myself, an idea of what to expect from Yuen’s other Gu adaptations. Chia Tang and Pei-Chi Huang’s elegant wuxia choreography isn’t a centerpiece, but still a standout and quite brutal where necessary.
Ti played Chu Liuxiang again in Yuen’s two sequels Legend of the Bat (aka: Clans of Intrigue 2, 1978) and Perils of the Sentimental Swordsman (1982), also based on Gu’s work (confusing, since Ti played the Sentimental Swordsman in a different series), and the beloved character continued being adapted to film and TV outside of the Shaw-produced movies, most recently as the 40-episode series The Legend of Chu Liuxiang in 2012.
Yuen builds upon his queer character cred in the form of another easily manipulated lesbian villainess, played once again by Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan actress Betty Pei Ti, and the (apparently) transmasc assassin at the center of the conspiracy, played by Yueh Hua. Again, these aren’t the most progressive queer representations, but they opened the door to more nuanced depictions during the Hong Kong New Wave.
Video/Audio
This appears to be Clans of Intrigue’s Blu-ray debut and is definitely the film’s first official physical release stateside. Arrow has given the option to view the original cut, made up entirely of the new 2K restoration, or a composite ‘uncensored’ cut that includes four extended sequences discovered in the Celestial Pictures archives. There is no notable dip in quality for the extended scenes, b. This is one of the few films in the collection to include a Cantonese soundtrack, but not an English dub. The Mandarin track has a slightly rounder overall sound and closer matches the lip sync, leading me to assume that Mandarin was being spoken on set.
Extras
Commentary with James Mudge – Among his usual contextualizations and behind-the-scenes factoids, Mudge does his best to make sense of the plot and characters for those of us that find ourselves lost while viewing Clans of Intrigue for the first time.
Theatrical trailers for both films
Disc 6:
Jade Tiger (1977)
After he is beheaded for treachery, the son of the Chao Clan patriarch (Ti Lung) sets out to clear his father’s name. Meanwhile, the Jade Tiger – a mysterious heirloom that contains the key to the bloodshed and betrayals that befall the powerful clans – goes missing.
According to IMDb’s numbers, Chor Yuen and Ti Lung’s next Gu Long adaptation, Jade Tiger, was released one week after Clans of Intrigue, though it was based on a standalone novel and not part of the Chu Liuxiang series. Gu’s plot is another espionage murder mystery that plays out against the familiar backdrop of warring clan melodrama and, once again, expectations are quickly subverted by quirky characters (Lieh Lo is a standout scenery-chewer), a seemingly endless line of doublecrosses, and a sense of magical realism that places the whole film in a borderline fantasy realm.
The basic plot is easier to follow than Clans of Intrigue, thanks in part to a Maltese Falcon-esque MacGuffin (the titular Jade Tiger) and clearer motivations, though I still think that we are meant to be already familiar with the story. At the very least, Jade Tiger has the same aura of a sprawling novel crammed into a modest feature runtime – something magnified by Yuen’s peculiar disinterest in establishing continuity. Like Clans of Intrigue, the lack of clarity often magnifies the entertainment value, because it starts to feel like anything could happen. There simply isn’t any time to grow bored between shocking twists and swordfights.
The Sentimental Swordsman (1977)
Swordsman Li Xunhuan (Ti Lung) is also a hero with weaknesses – he drinks too much and believes deeply in love and emotion. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
A little over five months after Clans of Intrigue and Jade Tiger hit theaters, Yuen and Ti were back with another Gu Long adaptation, this time farming his Xiaoli Feidao/Little Li Flying Dagger novel series. Like its predecessors, The Sentimental Swordsman is a heavily stylized film, but tempers that style with more naturalistic imagery, heading outdoors for dramatic shots of snow-covered Korean landscapes to contrast the moodily-lit sets. The combined effect is less rambunctious fantasy adventure and more romantic folktale, similar to King Hu’s wuxia epics (just not as good). The script still has its issues compressing an entire book into a workable 104 minutes, but Yuen gives the story and characters a bit more space to breathe, at least compared to Clans of Intrigue and Jade Tiger.
Yuen and Ti collaborated on one direct sequel, Return of the Sentimental Swordsman, released via Shaw Bros. in 1981 and Ti appears to have portrayed the character one again for Frankie Chan’s A Warrior’s Tragedy in 1993. More recently, the books were adapted as the 2017 Legend of Flying Daggers TV series in mainland China.
Video/Audio
Jade Tiger was released on barebones US DVD via Well Go in 2011, while The Sentimental Swordsman never saw an official stateside release, but did previously debut on Blu-ray from Koch in Germany. Jade Tiger has some issues with vertical streaks during its first scene, which is something that appears on some of the other discs, but rarely as obvious as it is here. Following that, things even out into one of the collection’s most vibrant transfers.
The Sentimental Swordsman has quite a bit of grit during its outdoor shots, but it maintains a naturally filmic look throughout. Neither film includes an English dub, though Sentimental Swordsman does have a Cantonese option. Jade Tiger’s Mandarin track is crisp, though notably quieter than its Cantonese counterpart, despite both tracks being presented in uncompressed LPCM. Fans of George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) should keep an ear open during The Sentimental Swordsman for a number of shared cues from the De Wolfe Music Library (it also pops up during The Avenging Eagle.
Extras
Jade Tiger commentary with Ian Jane – The Rock Shock Pop critic and webmaster’s track is chock full of behind-the-scenes stories and quotes, many taken from vintage articles, interviews, and periodicals (some promotional, some critical). Subject matter includes thorough explorations of Chor Yuen’s filmography and the work of his collaborators.
The Sentimental Swordsman commentary with David West – The author of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film (I.B. Tauris, 2006) takes a mellow approach to his look at the film’s themes, Chor Yuen’s work and techniques, and the life & times of the cast & crew.
Theatrical trailers for both films
Disc 7:
The Avenging Eagle (1978)
Once a disciple of the Thirteen Eagles Assassination Sect of the infamous Iron Boat Clan, Black Eagle (Ti Lung) teams-up with a vengeful victim of the sect nicknamed Double Sword Sleeve (Alexander Fu Sheng). (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
The Avenging Eagle is one of the collections most easily seen titles, thanks to an iffy home video copyright history. It sees director Sun Chung doing his best impression of Chang Cheh’s classic heroic bloodshed wuxia. Ni Kuang’s script (from a story by Chin Hung) deals in familiar themes of male companionship and redemption, and its characters employ gimmicky themed weapons. Fortunately, the plot moves very quickly and Ni is capable of stringing along the central mystery of the mismatched protagonists’ true identities and motivations, so the plot doesn’t grow too stale, in spite of its lack of novelty and a messy flashback structure. Ti Lung also does a lot of dramatic heavy-lifting in one of his better performances (which is saying a lot, because he’s always pretty good).
Avenging Eagle is handsomely shot and choreographers Chia Tang and Huang Pei-Chi utilize the locations quite well for some of the standout fights. For his part, Sun makes some really interesting, though not always successful choices in terms of slow motion and using still frames to maximize impact. His other work for Shaw Bros. has recently been well-represented on standalone discs from 88 Films, including To Kill a Mastermind (1979), The Kung Fu Instructor (1979), and Human Lanterns (1982), the latter of which sees him nearly perfecting the slo-mo inserts that he’s still experimenting with here.
Video/Audio
As mentioned, The Avenging Eagle is one of a number of Shaw Bros. films to be featured on various grey market VHS tapes at the end of the format’s lifetime. An anamorphic US DVD was released by Dragon Dynasty, but Celestial Pictures’ transfer was missing footage, due to damaged materials. This means all DVDs and HD streaming versions were cut. Arrow’s new 2K restoration reinstates all of the missing footage, making this the best home video release so far, despite a few overly dark and gritty moments. The uncompressed LPCM Mandarin and Cantonese tracks are similar in quality, while the English dub is a bit on the tinny side, comparatively speaking.
Extras
Commentary with Frank Djeng – Another top notch track from the expert and programmer, who discusses the film’s production, release, and cast & crew filmographies.
Alternate English-language title sequences for both films
Theatrical trailers for both films
Killer Constable (1980)
Disc 8:
Buddha’s Palm (1982)
In the arsenal of classic martial arts secret weapons, there is none more lethal than the Buddha’s Palm, a technique by which an ordinary hand is transformed into a formidable force. Koo, a blind recluse living in a cave, knows its secret, which proves to be as much a blessing as a curse, as it attracts all manner of mayhem, from giant birds to magic pearls, miraculous orchids, and a wide array of good and evil knights. (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
From the borderline fairytales of Chor Yuen, we move on to Taylor Wong Tai-loi’s goofball fantasy adventure Buddha’s Palm, which was made during the onset of the New Wave’s fantasy-horror boom – one year before Tsui Hark’s landmark blockbuster Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) and in the midst of Kuei Chih-Hung’s incredible run of weirdo Taoist action horror classics. It was written by frequent Kuei collaborator On Setzo and feels a lot like the PG-rated warm-up for the team’s sensory assault shocker Boxer’s Omen (1983).
I’m genuinely surprised by this film’s lack of reputation, given how much it resembles beloved cult classics, like Sammo Hung’s Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980), Yuen Woo-ping’s Miracle Fighters (1982), Ching Siu-tung’s Chinese Ghost Story (1987), or the aforementioned Zu Warriors. It’s not as substantial as those, but it’s still a very creative and absurd little romp with a surprisingly funny sense of humor. Highlights include the waggling comic panels on sticks used to set up the plot during the opening titles, a couple of Dragon Ball-style energy beam fights, a kid who attacks by shooting acidic green pus out of a giant pimple, an evil master named ‘Heavenly Foot,’ who attacks by increasing the size of his foot, and a Muppety golden lion that acts like a puppy.
Bastard Swordsman (1983)
Yun Fei-yang (Norman Tsui), the put-upon illegitimate son of a martial arts master, battles misconceptions, and sacrifices it all to learn the mythological ‘Silkworm Style.’ (From Arrow’s official synopsis)
Based on a 1979 TV show and novel series entitled Reincarnated (sometimes also known as The Metamorphosis of the Heavenly Silkworm), originally written by Gu Long collaborator Wong Ying, The Bastard Swordsman closes out the third Shawscope collection with a more restrained New Wave wuxia fantasy. The plot is another unremarkable variation on the warring clans theme and the title protagonist’s origin story is basically the same as every other underdog swordsman, so the supernatural elements, colorful special effects, and wire/trampoline-assisted sword battles really make the difference. Supporting actresses Ching-Ching Yeung, Leanne Lau, and Chen Szu-chia add valuable gender contrast as young women assisting Yun, while navigating the male-centric politics of the martial arts scene.
Screenwriter/director Lu Chun-ku, who is also credited as the choreographer of fast-paced fight sequences, began his career as an actor in the early 1970s and made some well-received films for Shaw, but is probably best remembered for making the Donnie Yen kitchen sink, Cat III martial arts horror movie The Holy Virgin vs. The Evil Dead (1991). Fans shouldn’t expect that level of insanity out of Bastard Swordsman, but there’s definitely a dash of stylistic madness hinting at greater things to come. My favorite bits include characters shredding weaponized paper and leaves into Chinese script that reads “Wu Dang” and “patience,” and our hero being literally cocooned in mystical silk in order to master the silkworm technique.
Fans of Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle – keep your eyes peeled for a cameo from the Landlady herself, Yuen Qiu, as a henchwoman named Rain.
Video/Audio
Until now, Buddha’s Palm has only been available on Hong Kong DVD and HD streaming, so this is another decent 2K upgrade. Haung Chieh’s colorful, smoke-smothered photography is neatly reproduced with decent dynamic range and only minor noise issues. Most artifacts, like grain upticks and starry hotspots, are part of the original footage. Bastard Swordsman is otherwise available on a double-feature Blu-ray with Return of the Bastard Swordsman from French company Spectrum, but, again, that transfer was based on an older Celestial HD scan, so the remaster is an upgrade in terms of detail and grain texture.
Buddha’s Palm has Mandarin, Cantonese, and English audio options, while Bastard Swordsman is only available in Mandarin. I tried to find the source of Bastard Swordsman’s synth score cues, but came up empty handed.Note that Buddha’s Palm has loads of uncanny narration explaining the plot and making metatextual jokes. It is not an invention of the English dub team.
Extras
Buddha's Palm commentary with Dylan Cheung – The critic and translator helps fill in the behind-the-scenes story, which is quite useful, because I couldn’t find any substantial English language information on the film. He discusses the original Ling Yun five-part Buddha’s Palm series (1964), connections between those movies, this one, and similar productions, the related comic books, the careers of the cast & crew, the dying days of Shaw Bros., and the history of Cantonese language films in Hong Kong.
Bastard Swordsman commentary with Frank Djeng – The final track from everyone’s favorite Hong Kong cinema expert and festival programmer sees us out with another fantastic, fact-filled commentary. His descriptions of the TV series are particularly welcome.
Alternate Raiders of the Magic Palm English title sequences for Buddha's Palm (1:22, HD)
Theatrical trailers for both films
Disc 9:
Additional bonus features
The complete extended South Korean cut of Killer Constable (104:53, HD with SD inserts) – The Korean-specific footage was mastered from a pan & scan VHS.
Tony Rayns on Chor Yuen (39:11, HD) – The critic, author, and genre historian offers up a nearly complete look at the life and career of the director who is so well-represented in this collection with focus on his Shaw Bros. films.
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan extras from the Frédéric Ambrosine archive:
Confessions of a Stunt Woman (4:51, HD, 2004) – A brief interview with the stuntwoman and actress Sharon Yeung.
Theories on Intimate Confessions (18:01, HD, 2003) – A roundtable appreciation of the film featuring academic Stephen Sze Man-hung, musician Kwan King-chung, and The Iceman Cometh (1989) and Naked Killer (1992) director Clarence Fok (who was filmed separately)
The Magic Blade extras from the Frédéric Ambrosine archive (I forgot to include these with my standalone Magic Blade review)
Interview with Ti Lung (21:02, HD, 2004) – The actor discusses (in English) his love of film, his training, collaborations, Chang Cheh’s use of violence, Gu Long’s writing, controversy/censorship, and real Shaolin history as represented on film.
The Scriptwriter (15:59, HD, 2003) – On Sze-to talks about the temporary outcasting of Cantonese filmmaking at Shaw, financial struggles, Shaw brass splitting for Golden Harvest, industry friendships and rivalries, and working with Chor Yuen.
Interview with Chor Yuen (13:23, HD, 2002) – The director speaks on his training, his work, his style, collaborating with action directors, Hong Kong filmmaking in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, and working with Ti Lung.
Sam Ho on Chor Yuen (14:11, HD, 2003) – An appreciation of the director from film historian and critic Sam Ho, who explores the roots of Yuen’s favorite themes.
Interview with Yuen Wah (17:34, HD, 2002) – The actor and stunt performer breaks down his Peking Opera training alongside Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, and Jackie Chan, his entry into filmmaking, working with Chor Yuen and Ti Lung, and the difference between Hong Kong and Hollywood movies.
Interview with Li Ching (14:56, HD, 2002) – The actress discusses growing into her role at Shaw, her acting process, working with Yuen and Ti, and retirement.
The Avenging Eagle extras from the Frédéric Ambrosine archive
The Eagle Chief (9:12, HD, 2004) – Actor Ku Feng chats about being typecast as the villain, learning his craft by watching movies from other countries, and the pressures of appearing in a movie alongside superstars of Ti and Alexander Fu Sheng’s stature.
The Blue Eagle (6:31, HD, 2004) – Actor Eddy Ko briefly looks back at his career from stuntman and choreographer to actor.
Disc 10:
Music from the De Wolfe Music Library
CD soundtrack (79:14, 35 tracks)
Bibliography:
Hong Kong Action Cinema by Bey Logan (Titan Books, 1995)
Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition by Stephen Teo (Edinburgh University Press, 2009)
Mondo Macabro: Weird & Wonderful Cinema Around the World by Pete Tombs (St. Martin's Griffin, 1998)
The Autarkic World of Liu Chia-Liang, found in A Study of the Hong Kong Martial Arts Film, by Roger Garcia (presented by the HK Urban Council, 1980)
King Hu: Shall We Dance? by Tony Ryans, from A Study of the Hong Kong Martial Arts Film (printed and released at the 4th Hong Kong International Film Festival in April of 1980)
The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies by Bill Palmer, Karen Palmer, and Ric Meyers (Scarecrow Press, 1995)
The images on this page are taken from the BDs and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images. Note that there will be some JPG compression.