Shawscope Vol. 3 Box Set from Arrow Video was Announced today, and is up for Pre-Order! Release date is Nov 26th. The lineup of movies is stellar!! New one Armed Swordsman is a personal all time fave, and of course Avenging Eagle! Lots of Wuxia this round, and so glad to see so many Chor Yeun films! Here's the full list of films:
One-Armed Swordsman Trilogy
Lady Hermit
Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan
The 14 Amazons
The Magic Blade
Clans of Intrigue
Jade Tiger
The Sentimental Swordsman
Killer Constable
The Avenging Eagle
Buddha’s Palm
Bastard Swordsman
Overview, and some of the Bonus Features revealed:
SHAWSCOPE VOL. 3 LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY
MSRP: $199.99
$150.00
Save: $49.99
Release Date: 26 November 2024
GET 50% OFF SHAWSCOPE VOL. 2!
To celebrate the launch of Shawscope Vol. 3, get Shawscope Vol. 2 50% off!
Offer valid until June 14 or whilst stocks last.
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 channelled 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 instalment 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.
The iconic One-Armed Swordsman trilogy, directed between 1967 and 1971 by wuxia cinema godfather Chang Cheh, made household names of stars ""Jimmy"" Wang Yu and David Chiang and set the gory template for many of the films to come. Contrary to Chang's tales of loyal brotherhood, many wuxia films focused on female protagonists, three very different examples of which we see next: Ho Meng-hua's Lady Hermit, with the great Cheng Pei-pei (Come Drink with Me) as a virtuous swordswoman called upon to stop a vicious warlord; Chor Yuen's scandalous Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan in which the titular lady of the night masters every deadly skill she can to get revenge on those who enslaved her; and Cheng Kang's all-star epic The 14 Amazons, in which Shaws' finest starlets play the real-life women of the Yang dynasty, avenging their fallen menfolk in battle. Next, Chor Yuen adapted several beloved novels by consummate wuxia storyteller Gu Long to the big screen, four of which are collected here: The Magic Blade, Clans of Intrigue, Jade Tiger and The Sentimental Swordsman, all starring the redoubtable Ti Lung. As kung fu overtook wuxia at the box office, the genre evolved into unexpected new directions, with its chivalrous knights-errant replaced by conflicted antiheroes, as seen in Sun Chung's breathlessly exciting The Avenging Eagle and Boxer's Omen goremeister Kuei Chih-hung' fatalistic masterpiece Killer Constable. Finally, just when it seemed the wuxia film had nowhere left to turn, Eighties excess reigned supreme in the special-effects-soaked, fourth-wall-breaking fantastical delights of Taylor Wong's Buddha's Palm and Lu Chun-ku's Bastard Swordsman.
Back with all-new exclusive restorations and hours of insightful bonus material, if you thought the previous two Shawscope sets showed the Shaw Brothers studio at its strongest, you ain't seen nothing yet!
Product Features
LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY COLLECTION CONTENTS
High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of all fourteen films, including thirteen new 2K restorations by Arrow Films from the original negatives, and a new 4K restoration of One-Armed Swordsman by Celestial Pictures
Original uncompressed Mandarin mono, plus Cantonese and/or English (where applicable) lossless mono options
Newly translated English subtitles for each film
Illustrated 60-page collectors' booklet featuring new writing by David West, Jonathan Clements and Dylan Cheung, plus cast and crew listings and notes on each film by Ian Jane
New artwork by Tony Stella, Ilan Sheady, Tom Ralston, Jolyon Yates, Kung Fu Bob and Chris Malbon
Hours of illuminating bonus features, including feature commentaries on each film, several cast-and-crew interviews from the Frédéric Ambroisine Video Archive, and the rare alternate Korean cut of Killer Constable
Exclusive CD of music from the De Wolfe Music Library, as heard in The Avenging Eagle and other Shaw Brothers classics
PRE-ORDER: NOW
RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 26 2024
Forgot to mention in my Bootleg Series: I am Anti-Bootleg when there is an Official Product Available. In the late 80s there was no Copyright for Shaw Brothers in America... and the VHS Shaw bootlegs kept the interest and love for them alive until Celestial started restoring and releasing them. I definitely don't support Red Sun who ruined the American Region 1 release for Shaws circa 2010!
The Enter the Clones of Bruce screening was one for the Ages, I remember being a 10 year old boy playing so many of Bruce Le's VHS over and over back in the day. And to be able to meet him in person was amazing. He said to me first thing, while smiling, "Do you like Kung Fu?! 🤣 I was like Hell yeah! He couldn't have been nicer. (Also really enjoyed his Q&A directly after the movie) Was great meeting Frank Djeng (Master of Remaster) and Michael Worth finally as well. Great guys, and so appreciative of all your work on all of this for so Long. And thanks to David Gregory from Severin too. I hope this is the start of a long relationship between Severin and the Kung Fu Genre :-)
The Enter the Clones of Bruce Documentary exceeded all my expectations. Not only was it a great insight into Bruceploitation itself, I'd say it was 40% on the Kung Fu Genre in general. And it went really deep into the inner workings of Shaw Brothers! (I was really blown away hearing about the tense meeting between Bruce Lee and Chang Cheh where Bruce stormed out.) All the interviews were great, and Bruce Li couldn't be more of a Stand Up guy.
Can't tell you how happy this makes me. Michael and them went above and beyond for over a decade to put this together. And this is Severin's first dip ever into Kung Fu. This guarantees a Vol 2! Sold out in days. Bravo
I LOVE the lineup for the Bruceploitation box Vol. 1, here is my wishlist for Vol. 2 :-)
1. Soul Brothers of Kung Fu
2. Bruce Le's Greatest Revenge
3. The Real Bruce lee (Last Fist of Fury)
4. Fist of Fury pt 2
5. Fist of Fury pt 3
6. Dragon Lee vs the 5 brothers
7. Deadly Strike
8. Return of Bruce
9. The Chinese Stuntman
10. Bruce the Super Hero
11. Exit the Dragon, Enter the Tiger
12. Golden Dragon, Silver Snake
13. Blind fist of Bruce
14. The Image of Bruce Lee
15. Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth
Don't miss your Chance to have an in person Q&A with Bruce Le! + See Enter the Clones of Bruce Documentary on the big screen! Tickets are going fast. I grabbed mine with a quickness. (Was only $20) Head over to Alamo Draft House website (just Google Alamo Draft House plus the city you want to attend, and it comes up) Cities will be: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Austin, and NYC. Thanks to Michael Worth, Frank Djeng, Severin Films, and everyone who put this together. Will be an amazing event!
Was great to Collab with @kalebskungfucinema on his video on Bruceploitation. Check it out! https://youtu.be/p0Yeflg1-hY?si=AkUIG...
How's it going everyone, it's been brought to my attention that a Producer of the Bruceploitation Box Set (Frank Djeng) has stated the Box Set is in fact not called "Game of Clones". It had been reported in an article on City of Fire, and I guess Ricky Baker made the name for an Ad about the Box Set. I will re-Edit the Video addressing this and upload over the next couple of days. (The other Info is correct to the best of my knowledge and will remain in the updated vid) Sorry for any Confusion- Jason
Be still my beating heart...
Just finished and uploaded the completed, and fully compiled Venom Mob Countdown! Thanks to everyone that has supported this project along the way, it has been so much fun, and hope you guys enjoy the vid.
I will also be posting the single video versions of the top 3 some time later, as those versions contain the "ways to watch" sections, and will complete the single video playlist as well. Here's the vid! :
https://youtu.be/JCDrEyqMpV4
From Bruceploitation to the Venoms Classics. An ode to the Samurai Sunday/Black Belt Theater days of Vintage Kung Fu Cinema.
Follow me on IG as well:
@martial_arts_theater_3000