Blu-ray release: ‘Shaw Brothers Presents: Four Films by Chang Cheh’

By   |  Oct 12, 2023

Arrow Video are bringing a collection of four Hong Kong films helmed by Chang Cheh to UK Blu-ray on October 23, 2023.

By the early-1970s, Chang Cheh was already Shaw Brothers’ most prolific and well-known director with a plethora of box office hits (including the ‘One-Armed Swordsman’ franchise) to his name and renowned for discovering the hottest young talents to star in his films.

Three of those stars – David Chiang, Ti Lung and Alexander Fu Sheng – all feature in ‘Five Shaolin Masters’ and ‘Shaolin Temple’, two selections from his instant-classic ‘Shaolin Temple Cycle’, based on the real-life tales of fighters training to face off against the ruthless Qing armies taking over China. A few years later, Chang outdid himself with the formation of the all-powerful posse of kung fu experts known to fans as the Venom Mob, whose talents would be showcased most famously in ‘The Five Venoms’ and ‘Crippled Avengers’.

Blood-soaked, brutal, and a marked influence on the ‘heroic bloodshed’ films by Chang’s sometime assistant director John Woo, these four films show one of Shaw’s greatest directors working at the height of his talents.

Features:
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio
• Cantonese mono for ‘The Five Venoms’
• English subtitles, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs
• Commentary on ‘The Five Venoms’ by Simon Abrams
• Appreciation of Chang Cheh by Tony Rayns
• Interview with star , filmed in 2003
• Interview with star Lo Meng, filmed in 2003
• Elegant Trails: two featurettes on David Chiang and Ti Lung by Celestial Pictures in 2003
• Chang Cheh: The Master, a featurette by Celestial Pictures in 2003
• Alternate standard-definition version of ‘Shaolin Temple’
• Alternate opening credits from the US version of ‘Five Shaolin Masters’
• Alternate opening credits sequences for ‘Shaolin Temple’
• Trailers
• Image galleries

‘Shaw Brothers Presents: Four Films by Chang Cheh’ is available to pre-order now from Amazon.co.uk or ArrowFilms.com.

Phil Mills
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