Alienoid
(2022/Well Go Blu-ray)/Honk
For Jesus. Save Your Soul.
(2022/Universal Blu-ray)/Incredible
But True
(2022)/Shawscope
Volume Two
(1978 - 1993/Limited Edition Box Set with CDs/both MVD/Arrow Blu-ray
releases)
Picture:
B/B-/B-/B- Sound: B/B/B-/B- Extras: C-/C-/C+/A- Films:
C+/C-/C+/B-
The
following are all mostly comedies, sometimes where maybe they should
not be, but we get a few classics here just the same....
Choi
Dong-Hoon's Alienoid
(2022) has a cover that makes you think it will be an outright sci-fi
action thriller and the idea of a time door opening between now and
the Goryeo Dynasty in the 1300s with parallel chases going on has
potential. Unfortunately, it not only uses comedy, but too much of
it, trying to be some kind of family film. This does not work.
In
the moments it starts to work, it is constantly interrupted by too
much comedy, bad pacing or other odd choices that throw the whole
thing off. Maybe they should have watched some early Shaw brothers
films to see how to do this with proper balance, but the comedy
choices are a purely commercial move that really backfires. It was
like trying to make more than one film at once, when they really
needed to choose one type. Now you can see for yourself, but be
warned that this one runs almost 2.5 hours!
Trailers
are the only extra.
Adamma
Ebo's Honk
For Jesus. Save Your Soul.
(2022) is a comedy about a Pastor (Sterling K. Brown) whose
megachruch (they have 10,000+ people there) has to close because of a
scandal. Can his wife (Regina Hall) find a way to get him to be
forgiven and get their church back? Well, this is supposed to be a
comedy and I did not laugh once. If anything, I was bored, felt it
was predictable and never bought any of it after the first few
minutes.
Of
course, I may not be the audience for it and surprisingly, Jordan
Peele produced it, apparently trying to branch out beyond the horror
genre. It felt way too long at 103 minutes, but if you are very,
very, very, very, very, very curious, you can try it. Just don't say
I did not warn you.
Digital
Code. Gag Reel, Deleted Scenes and an Alternate Opening are the only
extras.
Quentin
Dupieux's Incredible
But True
(2022) is the latest release form a director that has been talked up,
but without explanation. In this
one, a middle-aged couple (Alain Chabat, Valerian
and the City of a Thousand Planets)
and Marie (Lea Drucker, War
of the Worlds)
buy a house they expect to make a happy home, but things take a
strange turn when they find a hidden tunnel and their lives get
twisted up a bit.
I
will not be a spoiler, but it only did so much for me and the
supporting cast was not bad, yet it is consistent in what it is
trying to do. Whether it succeeds or not, the most curious should
still give it a look. It is at least intelligent, but forgettable
for me.
Extras
include (per the press release) Cast and Director Interviews with
Alain Chabat, Benoit Magimel and Quentin Dupieux
• Upside
Down, Inside Out,
an appreciation of the films of Quentin Dupieux by critic Elena
Lazic
• Trailer gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring two
choices of artwork
and
FIRST
PRESSING ONLY:
Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by
Anton Bitel and interviews with the cast, and reversible poster
featuring two choices of artwork
Finally,
Arrow
follows their massive Shawscope
box from last year with Shawscope
Volume Two
(1978 - 1993) in
this also-massive Limited Edition box set release and films in the
set this time are:
The
36th Chamber of Shaolin
(1978)
Return
To The 36th Chamber
(1980)
Disciples
Of The 36th Chamber
(1985)
Mad
Monkey Kung Fu
(1979)
Five
Superfighters
(1979)
Kid
With The Golden Arm
(1979)
Invincible
Shaolin
(1978 aka Unbeatable
Dragon)
Magnificent
Ruffians
(1979)
Ten
Tigers Of Kwangtung
(1980)
My
Young Auntie
(1978)
Mercenaries
From Hong Kong
(1982)
The
Boxer's Omen
(1983)
Martial
Arts Of Shaolin
(1986 with Jet Li!)
The
Bare-Footed Kid
(1993)
We
previously reviewed three of the films on these long out of print DVD
years ago at these links:
The
36th Chamber Of Shaolin
+ My
Young Auntie
(both 1978)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5579/The+36th+Chamber+Of+Shaolin+++My+Young+Au
Disciples
Of The 36th Chamber
(1985)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11413/The+Disciples+Of+The+36th+Chamber+(1985/Dra
The
two Chamber
sequels, later as they were, are not bad, while most of the films
follow the same set-up of being set a couple centuries or so in the
past to stick to all older weapons. Mercenaries
is set in modern times and definitely has its moments, while Boxer's
Omen
tries to mix supernatural horror with martial arts with its ups and
downs. At least they try to go into directions that are different,
especially as the newer the film, the more comedy it usually tires to
add, though some of the titles might sound sillier than some of them
actually turn out to be. To save the genre, it had more comedy
slipping into later films in the genre and not always for the best.
Needless
to say The
36th Chamber Of Shaolin
may be the most action-packed of them all and the others sometimes
come close. When it comes to the martial arts genre of the time,
either you like the films or you do not and I tend to enjoy them more
than less. I do not know how they are choosing what films to include
in these sets (some are being issued separately by the likes of 88
Films) or why some have not been issued yet (especially Super
Inframan)
but there are apparently plenty more, so we'll see more singles and
sets soon. However, this is another remarkably loaded set that
hardcore fans will want, especially before they go out of print with
the extra goodies here. It is also a tribute to some very talented
actors and martial artists who deserve to be discovered and
rediscovered, especially since these films play much better than the
many wanna bes we see today that wish they were as good.
Extras
include (per the press release, et al):
● Illustrated
Hardcover 60-Page Collectors' Book featuring new writing by David
Desser, Jonathan Clements, Lovely Jon and David West, plus cast and
crew listings and notes on each film by Simon Abrams
● New
artwork by Mike Lee-Graham, Chris Malbon, Kagan McLeod, Colin
Murdoch, ''Kung Fu'' Bob O'Brien, Lucas Peverill, Ilan Sheady, Tony
Stella, Darren Wheeling and Jolyon Yates
● Hours of
never-before-seen bonus features including several cast and crew
interviews from the Frederic Ambroisine Video Archive
● Several
exceptional feature length audio commentary tracks on select films
(highly recommended after seeing the film it goes to on Kid,
Omen,
Tigers,
Monkey,
36th
Chamber),
teasers and trailers from several countries of release, reissue
trailers, Still Galleries including promo stills, lobby cards, video
covers and posters.
● and Two CDs of music from the De Wolfe
Music library as heard in several of the films, exclusive to this
collection.
You
can also read all about the original Volume
One
box at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16055/Shawscope:+Volume+One+(1972+-+1979/MVD/Ar
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Alienoid
is the best here by default, despite some bad CGI digital visual work
and that some of the Shawscope
films are better looking and were shot better. Likewise, the
Korean DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix easily has the best
sound and soundfield here, well recorded and mixed if nothing special
beyond that. Competent, but not memorable either, though the english
dub soundtrack is definitely to be skipped.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Honk
is an HD shoot that is surprisingly on the soft side throughout,
though a few shots stand out, while the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix only goes so far in a
dialogue/joke-based production, but it has a consistent soundfield
and it a little better sounding than it looks.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on True
was apparently a scope film (2.35 X 1) originally, but it is an HD
shoot here that looks color weak throughout with detail issues and
that choice of aspect ratio changing may have been a big mistake. It
does not look good. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) French 5.1 lossless mix also lacks a
consistent soundfield, has plenty of talking and is barely better
than the PCM 2.0 Stereo lossless mix also included. The combination
is trying.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 (save one at 1.85 X 1 towards the end of the list)
digital High Definition image transfers on all the Shawscope
films can show the age of the materials used and be a little softer
than I would like overall, but these are far superior a transfer to
all previous releases of the film, including those DVDs we covered a
while ago. Return
To The 36th Chamber
slightly outperforms the rest and gets one letter grade (B) higher
than the rest, but color is pretty good on all of them and they are
all apparently 2K scans this time around (9 by Arrow!), save 36th
Chamber,
which is a 4K scan. Disciples
Of The 36th Chamber
needed the upgrade more than most.
Save
the Mandarin track on Return
to the 36th Chamber
with its compression issues, all of the theatrical analog monophonic
tracks (which include their share of dubbing, no matter if they are
Chinese/Cantonese, Mandarin or most obviously, English) in DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 1.0 Mono lossless sound that can vary slightly in
background noise, hiss, slight harmonic distortion or plain old age.
I don't know if much can be done to make these sound better than they
are here, but they are as good as the last Shawscope
box and any older edition we covered on DVD, so (especially if you
are familiar with them) will be surprised enough they sound as good
as they do.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
