Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin | Blu-ray (88 Films)
RELEASE DATE: January 16, 2023
Goodie Emporium now has 88 Films’ newly updated Blu-ray (Region B) for the Lo Wei-produced Jackie Chan classic, Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin.
This 1978 Kung Fu film directed by Chan Chi Hwa (Shaolin Wooden Men) and also stars Nora Miao Ke Hsiu (The Skyhawk, Bruce Lee’s Deadly Fingers).
An international box office success, this all-time classic is one of Jackie Chan’s most beloved masterworks. The fights come thick and fast in this relentless tale of a wandering fighter who claims to possess a secret Shaolin technique instruction manual which everybody wants (and nobody gets). Numerous characters hunt him down and confront him for a chance to win the prized book. “A more appropriate title would be “Jackie Chan vs. The Peoples’ Republic of China.” This Lo Wei-produced flick has even more fight scenes than Elizabeth Taylor has had husbands.” – Numskull
Limited Edition Details:
- Double-Sided Foldout Poster featuring new artwork and original Hong Kong poster
- 6 Replica Hong Kong Lobby Cards
- 80-page perfect-bound book with new writing by Matthew Edwards and Andrew Heskins, plus rare archive stills and posters
Features:
- Stunning New 2K Transfer from the Original Film Negative
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
- Newly remastered English subtitles
- New 2K Transfer from the Original Film Negative
- Mandarin Mono (Hong Kong Version)
- Mandarin Mono (Japanese Version)
- Classic English dub
- Newly remastered English subtitles
- Audio commentary with action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
- Pick Your Poison – Ricky Baker Remembers Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin
- Jackie Chan – Looking Again at the Lo Wei Era – With Filmmaker Steve Lawson
- Stills Gallery
- Japanese Trailer
- Japanese TV Spot
- Reversible art featuring original Hong Kong poster
This title is now available at The Goodie Emporium, a U.S.-based online store that currently has many Import Shaw Brothers/Golden Harvest/martial arts DVD/Blu-ray movies in-stock – with New titles being added regularly!
Eh,
They will need a decent hook to get me to double-dip. There was nothing wrong with the previous release.
Both 5.1 sound tracks were awful, maybe that’s why they have Re-Mixed Audio in this release.
Error 4444 announced a new slate today- Fatal Termination, an official release of Thrilling Bloody Sword and two other Taiwan wuxia films I’m unfamiliar with. Likely 2023 releases but some “may” leak out by the end of the year, along with the already announced Run and Kill and Red to Kill
Love the new art but not going to buy another blu ray of this film unless its a 4k UHD release
The previous release had problems with a badly mixed Audio DTS-HD MA English/Mandarin, hopefully the Re-Mixed Audio will correct this issue & we will have a good 5.1 mix this film deserves, which I have mentioned this problem on Facebook groups in the past, it is not the only kung fu film from 88 Films that has this problem, will 88 Films reissue them all.
That’s cool and stuff but where is Magnificent Bodyguards?
We Posted on Facebook, thought you might enjoy:
Did they forget about ‘Magnificent Bodyguards’!?
With 88 Films’ announcement of their updated version of ‘Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin’, we couldn’t help but wonder when ‘Magnificent Bodyguards’ was hitting Blu-ray. After all, just about every Jackie Chan film during the Lo Wei cycle has seen a Blu-ray release, so why not this one?
Top 5 Reasons it should be released (in no order):
1. It was filmed in 3-D: It was one of the first Hong Kong films to use 3-D technology (the first was 1977’s ‘Dynasty’), not to mention the only 3-D film Jackie Chan has ever appeared in. A Blu-ray release probably wouldn’t feature the effects, that is, unless they Kino Lorber’d by restoring the 3-D (just as Kino did with ‘Dynasty’) and supplying a pair of Anaglyphic 3-D Glasses. Adding this treat would be perfect for a “Deluxe” release.
2. An awesome copyright violation: It features “borrowed” music from ‘Star Wars’. No biggie, right? In fact, just about every Kung Fu film has lifted popular music here and there, but name one Kung Fu film that has used John Williams’ iconic score? Also, with all the legalities regarding the score, it would be interesting to see how this would fly with the score in tact (some earlier versions of the film had the ‘Star Wars’ music edited out, such as the Eastern Heroes DVD release, which is saying something!). A company like 88 Films is no stranger to giving the audience what they want (their Blu-ray for ‘Swamp Thing’ is the only version that is uncut), and including this score would be a very gutsy move.
3. Bruce Leung Siu-lung is in it: It’s good to see this kung fu star share the screen with Jackie. Legend has it that Leung once took on 13 armed attackers and defeated them single-handedly (too bad Smartphones and YouTube didn’t exist back then), which eventually led to his film career. Trained in the Cantonese Opera, as well as various forms of karate and kung fu, Leung spent the most of the early 70s taking minor roles or action directing in a number of movies. It wasn’t until Ng See Yuen’s 1975 film, ‘Little Superman’, that Leung finally gained momentum as a kung fu star.
4. New Artwork by Kung Fu Bob O’Brien: If 88 Films does release this film, it will, without a doubt, feature New Kung Fu Bob O’Brien’s artwork. After all, the popular artist has practically illustrated every single Lo Wei release for 88 Films (except for ‘Dragon Fist’ and ‘To Kill with Intrigue’). Considering all the zany stuff that goes on in ‘Magnificent Bodyguards’, we can only wonder how creative Bob will get with this one.
5. Extras and Commentaries: The craziness of ‘Magnificent Bodyguards’ is the prefect canvas for interesting commentaries by possible names like Kenneth Brorsson, Phil Gillon, Mike Leeder, Arne Venema, Ricky Baker, Brandon Bentley, Kungfubob O’Brien, Bey Logan or Frank Djeng (Sorry if we missed anyone!). Of course, who knows what kind of archived extras would be revealed for this film.
The real Kung Fu extravaganza. This was my favourite one for a long time.
It has been AGES since I’ve seen it, but I’m looking forward to revisiting all of Jackie Chan’s Lo Wei-era films.