RETURN OF THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN
Color, 1969, 109 mins. 34 secs.
Directed by Chang Cheh
Starring Jimmy Wang Yu, Lisa Chiao Chiao, Essie Lin Chia, Chung Wa
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Dragon Dynasty (DVD) (US R1 NTSC), Intercontinental (Blu-ray & DVD) (Hong Kong R0 HD/NTSC), TVP (Blu-ray & DVD) (Germany RB/R2 HD) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

THE NEW ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN
Color, 1971, 102 mins. 33 secs.
Directed by Chang Cheh
Starring David Chiang, Ti Lung, Lee Ching, Ku Feng
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (Blu-ray & DVD) (Hong Kong R0 HD/NTSC), TVP (Blu-ray & DVD) (Germany RB/R2 HD) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

THE LADY HERMIT
Color, 1971, 102 mins. 38 secs.
Directed by Ho Meng-Hua
Starring Cheng Pei-pei, Lo Lieh, Shih Szu, Mien Fang
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Funimation (DVD) (US R1 NTSC), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC), Funimation (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN
Color, 1972, 90 mins. 35 secs.
Directed by Chor Yuen
Starring Lily Ho, Betty Pei Ti, Yueh Hua
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (Blu-ray & DVD) (Hong Kong RA/R3 HD/NTSC), Image Entertainment (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

THE 14 AMAZONS
Color, 1972, 129 mins. 51 secs.
Directed by Cheng Kang
Starring Ivy Ling Po, Lily Ho, Lisa Lu, Yueh Hua, Chen Yen-yen, Lin Ching
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC), Funimation (DVD) (US R1 NTSC), Koch Media / Black Hill (Blu-ray & DVD) (Germany RB/R2 HD/PAL), Funimation (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

THE MAGIC BLADE
Color, 1976, 101 mins. 11 secs.
Directed by Chor Yuen
Starring Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Ching Li, Tang Ching, Lily Li
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Image Entertainment (DVD) (US R1 NTSC), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

CLANS OF INTRIGUE
Color, 1977, 98 mins. 18 secs.
Directed by Chor Yuen
Starring Ti Lung, Elliot Ngok, Lee Ching, Ling Yun, Nora Miao, Betty Pei, Nancy Yen
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

JADE TIGER
Color, 1977, 104 mins. 55 secs.
Directed by Chor Yuen
Starring Ti Lung, Elliot Ngok, Ku Feng, Lily Li, Fan Mei-Sheng, Lo Lieh, Shih Szu, Derek Yee
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC), Wild Side (DVD) (France R2 PAL) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

THE SENTIMENTAL SWORDSMAN
Color, 1977, 103 mins. 17 secs.
Directed by Chor Yuen
Starring Ti Lung, Ching Li, Derek Yee, Elliot Ngok, Yueh Hua, Ku Feng
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC), Koch Media (DVD) (Germany R2 PAL) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

THE AVENGING EAGLE
Color, 1978, 93 mins. 9 secs.
Directed by Sun Chung
Starring Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Ku Feng, Wang Lung-wei, Eddy Ko
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC), Dragon Dynasty (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

KILLER CONSTABLE
Color, 1980, 98 mins. 21 secs.
Directed by Chih-Hung Kwei
Starring Chen Kuan-tai, Ku Feng, Jason Piao Pai, Yu Tsui-Ling
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), 88 Films (Blu-ray) (UK RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC), FilmArt (Blu-ray & DVD) (Germany R2 PAL) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

BUDDHA'S PALM
Color, 1982, 96 mins. 52 secs.
Directed by Taylor Wong
Starring Derek Yee Tung-Sing, Alex Man Chi-Leung, Candice Yu, Kara Wai Ying-Hung, Lo Lieh
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

BASTARD SWORDSMAN
Color, 1983, 97 mins. 6 secs.
Directed by Lu Chin-ku
Starring Norman Chui, Tony Liu, Wong Yung, Leanne Liu, Alex Man
Arrow Video (Blu-ray) (US/UK RA/RB HD), Intercontinental (DVD) (Hong Kong R3 NTSC), Funimation (DVD) (US R1 NTSC) / WS (2.35:1) (16:9)

Following its face-pummeling sets of Shawscope and Shawscope Vol. 2, Arrow Video returned in 2024 with a ten-disc behemoth, Shawscope Vol. 3, saluting the legendary Hong Kong studio and its martial arts output in particular. As usual, anyone left underwhelmed by some of the past presentations of these films (most taken from now-dated PAL masters) will be delighted to see them looking rejuvenated here with thirteen titles featuring fresh exclusive restorations. In keeping with tradition by now, the deluxe box comes with an illustrated 60-page booklet with essays by David West, Jonathan Clements and Dylan Cheung, plus cast and crew credits and notes on each film by Ian Jane. Also included is another of the essential CDs of beloved music from the De Wolfe Music Library featured in many of the films, this time with 35 tracks including titles like "Madame Guillotine" and "Shark."

First up is one of the most popular of all the Shaw sagas (and the basis for two official sequels and several imitators), 1967's The One-Armed Swordsman (or to go by the title card, One Armed-Swordsman), which was a large contributor to making director Chang Cheh a legendary name at the studio for years. In his breakthrough role, Jimmy Wang Yu stars as Fang Kang, a young man taken in and raised by master Qi Ru Feng (Feng) after his father is killed. Bullied by his fellow students, he earns the ire of spoiled Pei Er (Pan) who lops off one of his arms in a particularly impetuous moment. He's saved and given a new purpose by the lowly Hsiao Man (Chiao Chaio), whose love inspires him to take action when some of his master's old enemies congregate and start wiping out members of his school.

If you're looking for a great kung fu movie to play around Christmas, this one definitely fits the bill as it's loaded with snowy studio-bound atmosphere during the first act. As usual there's a lot of vibrant color and intrigue packed into every frame, and the skillful combat scene with our star performing with one hand tied discreetly behind his back are very impressive (including a great whip-lashing finale). In addition to being a record-breaking box office success, the film established its director's desire to move away from the balletic combat seen to that point in favor of a bloodier, more intense form of fighting that would come to be familiar throughout the '70s and onward.

Thanks to its popularity, this film has had a robust home video history including a Hong Kong English-subtitled DVD and a 2007 Dragon Dynasty DVD in the U.S., the latter featuring Mandarin and English audio options with English subtitles, an audio commentary by David Chute and Andy Klein, "The Master: Chang Cheh" featurette (17m30s), an interview with Wang Yu (10m56s), an interview with the two commentators (8m9s), and the original and home video trailers. A 2018 U.K. Blu-ray from 88 Films featured the Mandarin and English DTS-HD MA 2.0 tracks with typo-heavy subtitles, though for some reason the English dub is only in the left channel and sounds awful. Extras include an audio commentary by the notorious Bey Logan and a 17m25s appraisal of the film by David West. The Arrow Blu-ray feature a new 4K restoration by Celestial Pictures and L'Immagine Ritrovata that improves significantly over prior releases, with more impressive and accurate color (real reds here instead of glowing orange) and a lot more image info in the frame. The LPCM 1.0 Mandarin and English tracks both sound excellent here (the best so far) with English-translated or English SDH subtitles available. This time David West does the commentary honors, expanding nicely on his prior interview piece with a thorough breakdown of the film's production and its importance in the Shaw Brothers story. On the video side things kick off with a new Tony Rayns appreciation (38m9s) exploring its impact on both the box office and cinematic culture, while the cast is represented by three great interviews from the Frédéric Ambroisine archive with Wang Yu in "One-Armed Superstar" (41m15s) from 2001, Chiao Chiao in "A Shaw Career" (16m32s) from 2005, and Ku Fent (18m47s) on the film and its sequel. Film historian Sam Ho offers his own take on the film and its director in a 2003 appraisal (22m21s) covering the literary influence on the central conceit and possible debts to Zatoichi, the romanticism flowing through Chang Cheh's films, the use of mutilation in swordplay films, and the film's critique of how gender was handled in local cinematic output. Then you get a take from Daniel Lee (10m46s), who directed the remake What Price Survival, recorded in 2004, and the Brandon Bentley video essay "One Armed Side Hustles" (10m6s) breaks down the recurring concept of disability running through Wang Yu's films including his break with Shaw Brothers to make Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman. Finally you get the Mandarin and English Hong Kong trailers and bonus Chang Cheh trailers for Golden Swallow, The Invincible Fist, Vengeance, The Deadly Duo, Heroes Two, and Five Element Ninjas.

Things ramp up considerably on disc two with the film's two official sequels, and 1969's The Return of the One-Armed Swordsman brings back the old gang including the same director and leads. This time the bloodshed quotient goes through the roof, and with the origin story now out of the way, the stage is set for our hero to face off against a group of skilled, gimmicky warlords. Fang Gang is now happily settled down but gets dragged back in by students threatened by the weapon-wielding eight, who demand the youths lop off their fighting arms to save their teachers. As you'd expect, it soon escalates into one fight scene after another.

Though the first film was notable for its shift to a more visceral fighting style, this one runs wild with a high volume of stage blood spattering the screen mirroring what was happening around the same time in Japan. By dispensing with the origin story this time, the film is free to shove in far more action with a roster of villains whose quirky personas feel like a dry run for what was to come with classic fighters like the Five Deadly Venoms. This one hasn't had as rich a home video history as its predecessor but did get the usual Hong Kong and Dragon Dynasty DVDs, plus a German Blu-ray release from a dated, flawed master as with its companion features. The Arrow features a new 2K restoration from the original negative and looks superb, with the usual LPCM 1.0 Mandarin and English tracks with improved English subtitles. Samm Deighan provides the commentary for this one and does an entertaining, informative job of exploring how this film evolved from the first one and paved its own way in terms of character development and depictions of mayhem on screen; the Mandarin and English trailers are also included.

On the same disc is The New One-Armed Swordsman which, as you might guess from the title, switches leading men to David Chiang for what would be called a reboot today. This time the arm loss is self-inflicted as a way of penance and swearing off combat for Lei Li after he's defeated in combat. While wallowing in his sorrows at local watering holes, he's recognized by Feng Junjie (the always great Ti Lung) who goads him into getting back in the game and helping wipe out an army of bad guys led by Hero Long (who isn't very heroic). At this point it turns into even more of a bloodbath than the prior film with a slew of violent showdowns including a bridge finale you have to see to believe. Though the usual requisite romance is thrown in here, this is primarily a fun buddy movie with an astronomical body count.

Also shown as Triple Irons when it hit American theater from National General Pictures, The New One-Armed Swordsman has had a similiar path on home video and looks much better than ever before here on the Arrow Blu-ray. Nothing to complain about here as the PAL-converted speed issues and noise reduction we've had on the past disc releases are all gone here, leaving a nice, natural presentation with the usual eye-popping Shaw Brothers color scheme intact. Again you get the Mandarin and English 1.0 LPCM tracks with improved English subtitles, while Brian Bankston does commentary duties this time around explaining how the previous star jumped ship to make rival productions in Taiwan, covering the evolution of the studio by this point and its newly inaugurated stars, and going into the ideas of honor and combat protocol at play here. The Mandarin and English trailers are also included.

Women take the spotlight next on disc three starting with the much-loved 1971 genre hybrid The Lady Hermit, which starts off like a spooky horror film and keeps you on your toes throughout. The title character is a warrior in hiding as a servant, played by Cheng Pei-Pei (Come Drink with Me, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), who's approached by the extremely dogged fighter in training Chin (The Deadly Breaking Sword's Shih Szu) to get back at the Black Demon clan who wronged them both. The Black Demon itself is a wild creation who sports claws and fatally hurls people in the air, but it's really the training bond between the two women that forms the heart of the film with a fairly nuanced love triangle introduced thanks to the presence of Lo Lieh.

Not one of the easier major Shaw films to see in decent quality on home video, this one turned up in a few dodgy gray market editions over the years but got a pretty good Hong Kong DVD edition apart from being taken from the usual PAL-sourced master. The new 2K restoration here is a real godsend, featuring no more conversion issues and sporting excellent detail and film grain with a nice, natural look. Again you get the LPCM 1.0 Mandarin and English tracks with optional English subs (as with everything else in this set unless otherwise noted), while James Mudge contributes an extremely packed and entertaining commentary with lots of background on the actors while noting likely influences on Crouching Tiger, the evolution of the wuxia leading up to this film and after it, and examining the film's place within the heroic women stories of its golden age. The Mandarin and English trailers are also included.

Though it made the rounds outside of Hong Kong in various dubbed and usually censored editions, the stunning Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan didn't really earn its full cult reputation until Celestial started unleashing the long-unavailable Shaw catalog on VCD and DVD. This one seemed incredibly ahead of its time with its meshing of eroticism, wild gory action, pulpy melodrama, and murder mystery, and the chance to see it in its full-strength version certainly helped, too. Abducted and forced into prostitution at the Four Seasons Brothel run by the lesbian Madame Chun Yi (Betty Pei Ti, who became a studio fixture after this breakthrough role), young Ainu (Lily Ho) is temporarily sold off and brutally assaulted before ending up back in servitude with her only possible ally killed in the process. Soon the men responsible for her abuse are being murdered one by one, with intermittent martial arts fights building to a spectacularly violent climax.

Beautifully mounted by Cantonese filmmaker Chor Yuen (Killer Clans), this one also laces in bits of wuxia action along with some splashy swordplay gore. It also has a lot more depth than your average action film with Ainu going through several fascinating, complex transitions over the course of the film right down to the last scene. The fact that this was a groundbreaking film at the time for centering a love story between two women at its center is also significant, avoiding any outright heroes or villains in its structure which pays off dramatically in the doomed romanticism of its resolution. This one has understandably had numerous home video editions since that first DVD including a U.S. one from Image Entertainment as part of its run of Shaw Brothers titles and a later Hong Kong Blu-ray. The Arrow one again has a new 2K restoration, improving in the usual areas over the prior scans with better film grain and deeper blacks. The usual Mandarin and English tracks are here with improved subtitles, and this time there are two equally worthy audio commentaries, both solo ones from Tony Rayns and Samm Deighan. The first track is full of historical detail and notes various literary antecedents including an intriguing connection to Jean Genet's The Balcony, while the second has great insights about the director's work, the complexities of the main female characters, and comparisons to more straightforward predecessors like Come Drink with Me. An alternate English main title sequence is also included along with the usual Mandarin and English trailers.

Disc four is entirely devoted to the epic The 14 Amazons, a very complex and lavish showcase for virtually every significant actress available to Shaw Brothers in 1972. A straightforward synopsis of this is pretty much impossible in a paragraph, but basically it involves the intrigues, conflicts, and loves among the storied Yang family, whose saga gets name checked in the opening credits. The family's strong-willed grandmother, Dowager Yang, loses her husband in battle when he "sacrifices himself for the nation," which proves little comfort to the entire grieving family who have been loyal parts of the military for generations. Suddenly finding herself unable to muster up any government support to avenge her husband's killers, she bands together the family's women (including Lily Ho as a young "boy") to serve as the center of an unofficial army for whom "no revenge is enough." Cue the massive combat scenes that fill the screen with as many extras and landscapes as your eyes can handle, ultimately turning into a grassroots defense of the country itself.

The huge roster of characters and historical detail here might be intimidating, but the investment is worth it when the film pays off in some splashy combat scenes and a crazy human bridge finale guaranteed to have your jaw on the floor. The story itself goes back centuries as The Generals of the Yang Family including a popular Chinese opera adaptation, and this extravagant interpretation makes for a good introduction to the material as long as you're paying attention. Various home video versions of this have been around with unusually bad English subtitles that make the story quite hard to follow in spots, including a Hong Kong DVD, a U.S. DVD, and German English-friendly Blu-ray and DVD releases. That scan also featured some particularly ugly digitally recreated titles and was edited, clocking in at 117 minutes with major cuts in the first 45 minutes. The Arrow is the uncut version with the original superior titles, with the new 2K restoration improved dramatically across the board. In addition to the Mandarin and English tracks, Jonathan Clements delivers a very welcome audio commentary that lays out the tangled history of the story, its presentation here compared to other iterations, the significant cast members, and lots of historical details including translations of quick snippets of writing and some accents in the production design and costumes that would fly past most Western viewers. He isn't much of a fan of the human bridge scene, alas! Also included (along with the Mandarin and English trailers) are Ambroisine's interviews with stunt woman Sharon Yeung from 2004 (12m40s) about her time at the studio and memories of other figures like Tsui Hark, film historian Bede Chang from 2005 (10m34s), and film critic Law Kar from 2005 (16m4s), including more material about the source story and other Shaw productions that paved the way for this one.

Disc five gets us back to double feature territory featuring two long-standing popular titles starting with The Magic Blade, a kind of noir-flavored swordplay film with some of the biggest stars at that point and an unexpected costuming nod to Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name in the poncho worn by Fu Hung-Hsueh (Ti Lung). Matching him here is Yen (Lo Lieh), his rival who's preparing for a duel they've committed to carrying out -- but they're sidetracked by a criminal enterprise searching for the valuable Peacock Dart led by the villainous Master Yu. The adversary's true identity is kept secret at first to make way for a number of other foes including the scene-stealing Devil Grandma (My Lucky Stars' Teresa Ha Ping), who runs a food stand that serves up human flesh delicacies and takes part in setting up gigantic board games with real people.

Primarily set at night with lots of shadows and beautiful moody compositions, The Magic Blade is a real action treat that borders on horror at numerous points. The two leads are great as always with Ti Lung in particular getting some very showy moments, but the huge roster of familiar character actors will keep you grinning if you've watch even a few of these by now. This was another film released on DVD by Image back in 2008 on the heels of its Hong Kong release, but the Arrow Blu-ray is more legible with clearer, sharper dark scenes and, of course, no more conversion issues since that was another PAL-mastered source. Both the Mandarin and English tracks sound excellent, and the new English subtitles are a big improvement as well. Deighan returns for another enjoyable commentary, here extolling the wonders of Devil Grandma and continuing her dissection of the wuxia and its presence in Shaw Brothers production. Mandarin and English trailers are also included.

On the same disc you'll find the equally feisty Clans of Intrigue, a complex but brisk mystery of sorts that brings back Ti Lung and director Chor Yuen again. Here our star plays the surprised Chi Liu-Hsiang, a charismatic and wily thief who's minding his own business at a clan gathering only to be accused of murdering multiple leaders in the area. He's also accused by an official from the Holy Water Palace, Gong (Fist of Fury's Miao), of robbing them and sets a deadline to prove his innocence before they execute him. His investigation quickly pits him against a number of shadowy foes in leaping, sometimes somersaulting sword duels, with some of the same nocturnal atmosphere seen in the previous film.

The plot twists here pile up quickly with a few kinky revelations bound to take you by surprise, and the visual approach here is a tad different with some outlandish, almost Felliniesque sets and props plus an unusually mobile camera that sometimes sinks to the floor or goes into wide angle shots. Heck, you even get some ninjas thrown in a little bit. For some reason this hasn't had a very robust home video history, but the Arrow release is definitely the way to go as it not only features a beautiful new 2K restoration but also offers the extended version of the film (three minutes longer) with four bits of footage missing from all prior releases, mainly lesbian content. This time you get Mandarin and Cantonese mono audio options with improved subs, and Mudge returns for another informative commentary with loads of context for all the clan interactions, the original source material, the forward-thinking treatment of gender identity and sexuality, and more about the cast and director. The Mandarin and English trailers are also included.

The kicking of butts continues on disc six with 1977's Jade Tiger, another Chor Yuen / Ti Lung mixture of wuxia and whodunit that starts with our hero, Zhao, has his wedding day destroyed when his father turns up decapitated. All signs point to the ruthless Tang Clan, whom he starts to hunt down on a quest for vengeance that definitely won't lead to any happy places -- but there will be a lot of fighting among the tears. Again there's a large tapestry of characters and plot points to sift through here, and this definitely isn't the place to start if you're new to the director or star. However, it's a great showcase for lots of faces you've seen plenty of by this point, and the payoff at the end is definitely unforgettable.

By this point you'll be extremely well-versed in both Yuen and Lung, which is a good thing as this one escalates the plot complications to a new level in between the usual lavish fight scenes. This one continues the darker strain of the past few films, literally and tonally, including some more experimentation in camera framing and focus to give some more dynamic punch when needed. This also hasn't had an extensive home video history outside of Hong Kong (and France), but the new 2K scan here is excellent and, as with the other titles, has the original film-sourced title sequence instead of the video-generated one. The Mandarian audio sounds fine and, as usual, comes with newly translated and improved English subtitles, while Ian Jane delivers a very thoroughly research commentary about Yuen, the related history of the studio (including Sir Run Run Shaw's connections to Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Jackson, if you ever need to play six degrees there), and the traits of Gu Long's novels which served as the basis for many of the director's films including the cycle found in this set. The Hong Kong trailer is also included.

On the same disc is our final Yuen-Lung epic, the same year's The Sentimental Swordsman, the first of a string of films and TV productions (some more connected than others) based on, yep, a novel by Gu Long that comprised a whole series unto itself. Extremely popular, the film charts the adventures of Little Flying Dagger Li (Lung) whose immense sword skills are compromised by his stringent code of honor that costs him the personal relationships he holds dearest. In his current modest, wine-guzzling existence, he finds that the only person he can trust when he's framed for murder is another sword master, Fei (Yee), while he tries to unravel the mystery of an arch-villain known only as the Plum Blossom Bandit. Along the way he has to contend with the demons from his past including a lost love, as well as lots of secondary villains with some gimmicky weapons.

The usual elements are in place here including those inky night scenes and an intriguing murder mystery, here cooked up in what turned out to be the right mixture of ingredients to take the box office by storm. Lung and Yee had been in the same films before, but teaming them up here turned out to be magic with the latter cemented as a young star in the making. Weirdly, this one hasn't had a lot of home video releases despite its influence and success apart from a handful of editions in Hong Kong and Germany. The Arrow Blu-ray looks as great as their other new scans, freed from the PAL problems that plagued its SD predecessors and featuring crisp Mandarin and Cantonese tracks with far more coherent English subtitles here. In addition to two Mandarian trailers and one Cantonese one, David West provides a very useful commentary that adds on quite a bit to what we've heard by this point including a handy history of the familiar story and its other adaptations, the careers and pop culture significance of the many actors, and the gradations of Lung's character here versus the ones he'd played up to this point.

Disc seven is quite the heavy hitter featuring two of the studio's most popular titles among English-speaking fans, starting off with the action-packed The Avenging Eagle (or simply Avenging Eagle, depending on the source). Lung is back again, this time for Taiwanese director Chung Sun (Human Lanterns, To Kill a Mastermind), going into the genuine outdoors more than before as Chik Ming-sing, a black-clad nomad raised by a cruel master to become one of the notorious killer clan, Thirteen Eagles. Now he's realized the evil nature of his upbringing and declared war on his master, Yoh (Ku Feng), which becomes possible when his near-fatal desert journey leads him into the path of Cheuk (Alexander Fu Sheng), or Chik depending which version you watch, a weapon-hiding master with a vendetta of his own. Together they find out that their missions might just overlap, though their destinies may not as they unleash fury and bloodshed against their foes.

A crowd-pleasing fixture in the U.S. when it was released dubbed by World Northal, this has had several editions over the years with the widescreen Hong Kong DVD serving as something of a revelation at the time. The action scenes make excellent and interesting use of the Shawscope framing, and if you like your martial arts with lots of blades poking through people, this is definitely the movie for you. The story is quite unpredictable at times as well and has some welcome depth, with our two leads making a fine, fun duo as they slash their way through the rest of the cast. The U.S. DVD from Dragon Dynasty (paired up with Blood Brothers) looked fine for the time, but it's easily outdone by the Arrow Blu-ray whose new 2K restoration is a real feast for the eyes showing off the lavish sets, costumes, and weaponry to fine effect. The Mandarin, Cantonese, and English tracks here are all pristine, with significantly better English subtitles (and the usual English SDH ones, as with the other dubbed titles here. You also get two English and one Cantonese trailer, while the expertise of Frank Djeng is a big plus for the new commentary here as he lays out the reasons for this film's enduring fandom, the essentials about its stars, the background of its director, and the state of Shaw Brothers at the time as it was about to head in a different, darker direction.

That strengthening veer into grittier territory can also be found on the companion film on this disc, the one and only Killer Constable, which swerves the studio's martial arts template into more surreal and splattery territory with a feel that almost anticipates Excalibur at times. The titular "killer constable," Leng (Chen Kuan-tai), is enlisted to take care of a sensitive treasury robbery and apprehend the culprits, under the orders of Lord Liu Jing Tian (Cho Tat-wah). Leng selects a number of subordinate constables to accompany his mission, but his hard-nosed approach alienates his brother from joining him. The trail leads through numerous accomplices with parties on both sides brutally killed along the way, which plays out like a cynical crime film about the corruption of power with a few stylish combat scenes to remind you which studio made this.

Legendary for his brain-melting The Boxer's Omen and Corpse Mania, director Kuei Chih-Hung keeps the suspense and intrigue high here while indulging in some dreamlike visual conceits involving the interplay of light, steel, rain, and glittering blood. This is also the muddiest Shaw Brothers film to date with the director's horror background giving all of it a creepy, fatalistic feeling that reaches a crescendo in the absolutely merciless finale. Frequently bootlegged on home video in the long interim when the studio's films were off the market (including multiple ones under the very misleading Lightning Kung Fu), this hit Hong Kong DVD and moved on to Blu-ray in both Germany and the U.K., the latter from 88 Films in 2017 featuring English and Mandarin tracks, a Bey Logan commentary, a trailer, and liner notes by Calum Waddell. Here you get another new 2K restoration that improves on prior releases and really shines during the night scenes, which don't have that flat, gray look anymore. The Mandarin and English tracks are also here with better English subtitles, and cementing this film's status as one of the most important in the set, you get three-- three!-- audio commentaries this time, all solo ones by Tony Rayns, Frank Djeng, and Brian Bankston. They obviously all know the material very well and cover all the bases here including the director's background, the shift in wuxia films by this point, the dynamic visual shift here including cross-genre influences, the moral code of our protagonist versus the prior films, trivia about the cast, and the fact that this was a South Korean co-production (including significant location shooting there and multiple cast members). Speaking of which, the disc also includes all of the additional and alternate footage used for the film's radically different South Korean release (34m15s) from the best source, a cropped SD tape master. It's quite different including a very contrasting angle on the main character, but more on that in a moment. Also here are alternate English-language title sequences and two Mandarin and one English trailer.

Our final double feature on disc eight is devoted to two more niche films, albeit ones with a deserved cult following. The insane Buddha's Palm from 1982 has been on a lot of Blu-ray wish lists, and it doesn't disappoint here with the new 2K presentation blazing as spectacularly as you might hope. An obvious stepping stone in the development of frenetic, effects-driven action fantasies that flourished under the guidance of names like Tsui Hark, this one is loaded with fantastic imagery and lasers and monsters and... well, you name it. Trying to write a linear synopsis for this is pointless, but a frenetic prologue establishes the mystical secret of the title method passed on after the death of a powerful mystic and its ramifications across the supernatural practitioners of the land. After that a young man named Lung (Derek Yee) gets into a furious fight with his ex-girlfriend's current beau, a ruthless ruffian who ends up chucking him off a cliff. Lung is saved by a flying golden dog dragon who takes him to a massive cave inhabited by Flaming Cloud Devil (Alex Man), who schools him in becoming his accomplice in unleashing flaming, flowing, exploding payback.

Completely aware of its own absurdity, Buddha's Palm is heavily slathered in very meta narration (regardless which language you choose to watch it) that gives everything a cheerful, outrageous tone even when people are getting pulled apart or glowing swastikas are getting blasted all over the screen. It's all insanely beautiful and highly caffeinated, so don't pop this on if you're feeling tired. This one caused a lot of chatter when it hit DVD and VCD in Hong Kong as part of the Shaw Brothers wave (along with the not dissimilar Boxer's Omen), and it's still a crazy ride that should pick up a new legion of fans with this release. The 2K restoration here was absolutely worth the wait as it looks glorious, and now you can enjoy the Cantonese, Mandarian, and adorably goofy English tracks all in one place here with optional English subtitles. This is definitely one case where the English dub is perfectly fine for newcomers or seasoned veterans alike as it allows your eyes to focus more on the visuals anyway. Also included are an alternate English title sequence as Raiders of the Magic Palm(!), the Hong Kong trailer, and a commentary by Dylan Cheung who does a laudable job of keeping up with the madness on display as he covers the wuxia films this more or less draws from, the Buddhist info you need to know to appreciate some of the references here, the careers of the major participants, and lots of cultural elements here that will make you want to go back and watch this all over again. And again.

Paired up here is 1983's Bastard Swordsman, who only seems tame by comparison as it's still chock full of cinematic madness including a climax that ranks as the best silkworm-themed showdown in martial arts history. Shaw Brothers were in its twilight period by this point, but that also meant it was pulling out all the stops to keep up with the effects-heavy '80s spectacles that were its prime competition at the time. Norman Chu stars here as Yun Fei Yang, who's at the bottom of the pecking order at his martial arts training school and receives nothing but scorn from his fellow students. However, his lineage has a powerful secret that becomes handy when his master, the only one who empathizes with him, seems to have his days numbered by an impending duel he's obligated to participate in every ten years.

Mostly all of this is an excuse for fight scenes and an ascent into full-on mystical territory, all handled well by Holy Flame of the Martial World director Lu Chin-Ku. It all moves so quickly you won't expend too much energy trying to follow the minute details of the plot on a first watch, with lots of the usual clan shenanigans and code of honor melodrama balanced with... well, let's not spoil things, but hang on during the last 40 minutes. This one had a decent subtitled run in some specialty markets in the U.S. and has been on video a few times, including a cringeworthy 2010 DVD from Funimation that slapped on a newly recorded English dub that's been thankfully extinct ever since. The new 2K restoration here is of the same caliber as the other ones in the set and should make any fans very happy. The only language option here is the original Mandarin mono, the ideal choice, with improved English subtitles; as the new commentary by Frank Djeng notes, this also had a Cantonese dub prepared but that's MIA and presumably isn't missed. He also goes into the TV series that served as the basis of this film as well as its sequel and ties to many other Shaw titles, resulting in another rewarding listen. The Hong Kong trailer is also included.

But that's not all! In addition to that CD mentioned up at the beginning, there's a ninth Blu-ray here devoted entirely to special features with the centerpiece being a reconstruction of the full South Korean cut of Killer Constable (104m53s), compositing the VHS source and HD scan together to give you an idea of how it would play including a very different treatment of our main character, edits and recuts to some of the more graphic bits, and a far more upbeat ending. Also here are a Tony Rayns look at the life and career of Chor Yuen (39m11s), 2002 interviews with Chor Yuen (13m22s), Yuen Wah (17m34s), and Li Ching (14m56s), and a 2003 featurette on Intimate Confessions (18m1s) with academic Sze Man-hung, musician Kwan King-chung, and filmmaker Clarence Fok, whose Naked Killer is sort of a modern-day take on the same story. Also included are a slew of additional Ambroisine interviews including stunt woman Sharon Yeung on Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan from 2005 (4m51s), Ti Lung on his films including The Magic Blade from 2004 (21m2s), screenwriter Sze-to On on The Magic Blade from 2003 (15m59s), critic Sam Ho on Chor Yuen from 2003 (14m11s), and Avenging Eagle-themed ones from 2004 with actors Ku Feng, "The Eagle Chief" (9m12s), and Eddy Ko, "The Blue Eagle" (6m31s).

THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (Arrow Blu-ray)

THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN (88 Films)

THE 14 AMAZONS (Arrow Blu-ray)

THE 14 AMAZONS (Koch Media Blu-ray)

Reviewed on December 12, 2024