Shaw Bothers Classic: Volume 2 | Blu-ray (Shout!)
RELEASE DATE: August 15, 2023
On August 15, 2023, Shout! Factory will be releasing Shaw Bothers Classic: Volume 2, an 12-film Blu-ray (Region A) collection that will include: Lady of Steel (1970), Brothers Five (1970), The Crimson Charm (1971), The Shadow Whip (1971), The Delightful Forest (1972), The Devil’s Mirror (1972), Man of Iron (1972), The Water Margin (1972), The Bride from Hell (1971), Heroes Two (1974), The Flying Guillotine (1975) and The Dragon Missile (1976).
Official details:
This spectacular box set comprises 12 classic martial arts films from the famous Shaw Brothers’ library, featuring some of their greatest stars – Cheng Pei-pei (Come Drink With Me), Lo Lieh (King Boxer), Sammo Hung (Wheels On Meals), Ti Lung (A Better Tomorrow), and David Chiang (The Boxer From Shantung). Many of these films are debuting for the first time on Blu-ray. Get ready for some exciting thrills and chills as heroes meet villains in a duel to the death!
LADY OF STEEL
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 88 min.)
Cheng Pei-pei was Hong Kong’s first and most celebrated queen of kung fu because her performances set all the standards for future female martial arts stars like Michelle Yeoh. Lady of Steel is a high-plains-drifter adventure where Cheng Pei-pei plays a swordswoman on a mission: to find the bandits that killed her parents and save the country from foreign invaders.
BROTHERS FIVE
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 106 min.)
Years before he was to become famous for directing Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury and Jackie Chan in New Fist of Fury, Lo Wei teamed with superstar swordswoman Cheng Pei-pei (Come Drink With Me) for this action thriller of brotherly love … and death. She stars as Yen Lai, the one woman who can reunite the Kao brothers to rid the Teng Lung Manor of killers – as well as take revenge for their father’s murder.
THE CRIMSON CHARM
1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 100 min.)
Huang Feng both writes and directs this “Martial Arts World” thriller of a noble swordsman and a one-armed swordswoman up against the vicious Crimson Charm gang of thieves and cutthroats. The lovely and lethal Ivy Ling Po teams with the amazing Chang I for a classic tale of good versus evil in which the best man – and one-armed woman – wins.
THE SHADOW WHIP
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 79 min.)
This top-ten box office hit reunites the star duo from Come Drink With Me in another classic action adventure. Cheng Pei-pei (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) radiates her trademark charm while wielding the deadly title weapon, which is implicated in multiple murders and a major heist. Whether single-handedly fighting sixteen bandits or avenging her father’s brutal death, she demonstrates why she was Hong Kong’s number one swordswoman – and no slouch with the whip either!
THE DELIGHTFUL FOREST
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 96 min.)
Co-directed by Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-li, and written by Ni Kuang, Chang Cheh and Chin Shu-Mei, The Delightful Forest revolves around the legendary hero Wu Sung (Ti Lung), who was sent to the prison in the Meng province after murdering his sister-in-law and a local ruffian. There he was acquainted with the prison officer “Golden Eye” Shih En (Tien Ching), who saved Wu from the baton punishment required for new prisoners. Wu found out that Shih’s restaurant, “Delightful Forest,” was taken by the local thug “Door God” Chiang Chung (Chu Mu).
THE DEVIL’S MIRROR
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 90 min.)
This is Sun Chung’s very first film for the Shaw Brothers, making it especially interesting and important. He hit the ground running with this action-filled tale of a “Devil Girl” who is setting one clan against another to get her hands on two amazing mirrors with supernatural powers. Only a noble swordsman (played by Lau Dan) and beautiful swordswoman (played by The Thundering Sword star Shu Pei-pei) can stop her.
MAN OF IRON
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 99 min.)
Chen Kuan-tai exuded incredible power on screen, which his directors used to great advantage in this fight-filled follow-up to the smash hit The Boxer From Shantung. The only thing Chou Lien Huan does wrong is win some money gambling with a Shanghai gang leader’s playboy son … but that’s enough for the father and child to want obsessive revenge. It all culminates in an incredible climatic fight, choreographed by the legendary Lau Kar-leung and Chan Chuen, co-star of Bruce Lee’s Fist of Fury.
THE WATER MARGIN
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 125 min.)
The Chang Cheh-directed The Water Margin is the martial arts epic of epics … of epics. Based on the true legend of how 108 rebel heroes living in the mountains were able to repeatedly defeat invading Sung armies, the film starred just about anyone who was a name at Shaw Brothers at the time, like David Chiang, Chen Kuan-tai and Ti Lung. The primitive battles ultimately end in sharp, visually effective images of death and defeat. This is a must-see for any movie fan.
THE BRIDE FROM HELL
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 79 min.)
Never marry a possessed woman … especially one possessed by the spirit of a girl murdered by the uncle of the groom! That is the moral of this fascinating production, released a full two years before the international success of The Exorcist. Justice must be done and an exorcism, Hong Kong-style, must be performed before anyone can rest in peace. Talented Margaret Hsing Hui makes a fetching spirit in this mystery thriller that also incorporates a laugh or two amidst the chills.
HEROES TWO
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 92 min.)
Of the dozens of great martial arts movies made by this prolific and respected director, this tale of legendary Shaolin avengers Fang Shih-yu and Hung Hsi-kuan is often considered one of his best. His collaboration with equally renowned kung fu choreographer Lar Kar-leung was apparent in all the performances, but especially with that of charismatic, capable, then 19-year-old Alexander Fu Sheng. This powerful production is a true landmark in kung fu film history.
THE FLYING GUILLOTINE
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 105 min.)
Director Ho Meng-hua attained cult status among Western kung fu film fans with The Flying Guillotine. One of the Shaw Brothers’ biggest martial arts stars, Chen Kuan-tai, plays the leader of a group of killers, commissioned by the Ching Emperor to use a deadly, beheading weapon to assassinate dissidents. Although based on a true story, the film’s weapon was a complete fabrication because in real life, no one ever survived to tell what the actual weapon really looked like.
THE DRAGON MISSLE
(1080p High-Definition Widescreen (2.35:1) / Mandarin & English Dub DTS-HD Master Audio Mono / 86 min.)
The many fans of the internationally popular Flying Guillotine films and international star Lo Lieh (King Boxer) will love this movie, featuring some of the most exciting martial arts machinery ever conceived. Everybody’s fighting for a special elixir and the title tool – an ultra-cool flying boomerang with blades. There are double crosses and ambushes galore before the culminating clash of sizzling steel that must be seen to be believed.
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