Disc Count: 2 (BD-50)
Picture: 1080p (2.35:1 aspect ratio) (both films)
Sound: Mandarin LPCM 2.0, English LPCM 2.0 (The Swordsman of All Swordsmen) / Mandarin LPCM 2.0 Mono, Cantonese LPCM 2.0 Mono, English LPCM 2.0 Mono ) (The Mystery of Chess Boxing)
Subtitles: English (both films)
Slipcover: Yes
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Tian Peng, Chiang Nan, Cho Kin, Miao Tian, Hsieh Han, Ko Yu-Min, Lu Shih, Meng Hua Yang (The Swordman of All Swordsmen) / Li Yi-Min, Jack Long Shi-Chia, Mark Lung, Yuen Siu-Tien, Wong Chi-Sang, Ricky Cheng Tien-Chi (The Mystery of Chess Boxing)
Written by Joseph Kuo, Tyrone Hsu, Shui-Han Chiang (The Swordman of All Swordsmen) / Joseph Kuo (The Mystery of Chess Boxing)
Directed by Joseph Kuo (both films)
Rating: BBFC: 12 (moderate violence, bloody images, brief sexual threat) (
The Swordsman of All Swordsmen) / BBFC: 18 (kung fu violence) (
The Mystery of Chess Boxing)
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Poster
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What's It About?
Tsai Ying-Chieh (Tien Ping) is on a 20 year long mission of revenge against the man who killed his parents. Anyone who gets in his way must be punished by his swordplay skills. Another important character in the movie is the mysterious Black Dragon (Nan Chang) the only other character around who swordplay is one a par with Tien Ping's character. Polly Kuan's character, Swallow, befriends... (The Swordsman of All Swordsmen)
Supposedly dead, embittered former official, The Ghost Face Killer has returned and seeking revenge on those martial arts masters than once opposed him - his name is infamous and his Five Elements fighting style is deadly. Meanwhile, young Ah Pao joins a martial arts school in order to become a great fighter in order to take revenge on the man who killed his father. He gets very good quickly but timing is everything and his arrival at the school in relation to the return of the Ghost Face Killer sees him suspected of being connected and thus put out of the school. He falls under the tutelage of an elderly chess master in the town while all the time the focus of his vengeance kills his way closer and closer. (The Mystery of Chess Boxing)
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Video/Audio
Disc 1: The Swordsman of All Swordsmen
Taken from a 2K restoration, and presented in the film's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, (it's actually wider with it being more like a 2.55:1), THE SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN is incredible. The film has a nice layer of film grain that doesn't lead to much finer detail but this is what happens when the film grain is heavier. Colors are strong and skin tones look healthy. I am very pleased with this transfer.
Although this film did not receive an official English Language release, an English dub was produced and appeared on some VHS releases of the film.
These VHS tapes are still the only known source of the English dub, and unfortunately the quality of the audio is noticeably poorer than what we would normally accept. Due to the rarity this audio, we felt it should still be included.
However we would strongly recommend choosing the Mandarin audio option if this is your first time viewing the film. (taken from the menu)
The English audio isn't that bad. I think that one thing Eureka doesn't realize is that we martial arts fans grew up with shitty mono audio on poorly recorded VHS tapes at LP speeds. I actually loved this track because it brought me back to sitting in my bedroom, watching an old kung fu flick on my 19-inch TV, while trying not to wake your parents. I like that Eureka gave this warning but I think the warning blows things out of proportion. Sure, the audio is taken from VHS tapes, but they have done a great job capturing it and turning it into the audio we have on this release.
There are also a few scenes or shots that are not dubbed into English. They revert to Mandarin with English subtitles. There is a scene at the beginning where a character asks another character something and the person answers in Mandarin. Everything else in this scene is in English except for two of the main character's responses in one scene. Very weird.
There is also a late game worbble in the soundtrack that sounds like an old record. Loved it.
Disc 2: The Mystery of Chess Boxing
THE MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING is presented from a scan of a 35mm release print supplied by Dan Halsted (Head Programemer of The Hollwood Theater, Oregon). The film's original negatives are lost and most likely destroyed. This print is currently believed to be the best existing material.
As this transfer is taken from a release print, subtitles are burned into the film image. We have not attempted to cover or digitally remove these subtitles as doing so would further damage the integrity of the image.
Although the available materials limit the amount of restoration work that could have been done on this title, we have performed some very basic digital cleaning and grading to make this landmark film as presentable as possible on blu-ray. (taken from the menu)
Given what is said above, you would expect this thing to look like shit but it doesn't. I film's original negative would have looked miles better but I thought they gave us something a lot better than the note above leads us to believe. Film grain here is much thinner than that found of THE SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN but that is to be expected. We do get some nice detail and colors look good. The subtitles are burned into the picture but that just reminds us of what it was like to watch a kung fu film before the 90s.
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Extras/Packaging
Disc 1: The Swordsman of All Swordsmen
Commentary by Frank Djeng and John Charles
Return of the Master - Interview with director Joseph Kuo (12m 15s, SD, 1.78:1) in Mandarin with English subtitles. This interview was conducted in 2008 and features Kuo talking about his life and career. This SD interview is intercut with HD footage from the film. This is a nice, meaty interview that doesn't overstay its welcome.
Disc 2: The Mystery of Chess Boxing
Commentary by Frank Djeng and Michael Worth
Commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
Packaging-wise,
THE SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN is a winner. The slipcover features new commissioned art (by
Gregory Sacre (Gokaiju)) for the main feature. The 14mm, clear double disc blu-ray case comes with reversible artwork: one side featuring the same poster art as the slipcover while the other side features brand new
Darren Wheeling artwork for
THE MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING. As much as I love Mr. Wheeling's artwork. He's a wonderful artist who has given us some great blu-ray covers. I love the piece that he made for this release but I do wish we had gotten both films' original theatrical poster arts for both film. We do get the original artwork for
THE MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING as a double-sided poster (which does not feature the original poster for
SWORDSMAN.) but Mr. Wheeling's artwork again. I love that these are double sided, something I hope other companies start doing. It can't cost that much to produce and it would be nice to have a little reproduction of a film's original theatrical art. Can you imagine if we got these posters with every release?
Inaide, you will find a 24-page booklet with essays on each film by James Oliver, three double-sided postcard sized lobby cards, and the aforementioned double-sided poster.
Both discs are REGION B (locked)
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Overall
I didn't like THE SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN all that much. I have never been a fan of pre-70s marital arts flick because they have a tendency to focus more of the characters than the fight scenes. I don't mind this here and there but I didn't like it here. The melodrama was too heavy-handed and I didn't care about anything that was happening. It was mostly a test pattern to me. I did perk up during the fight scenes but even those are lackluster. I will give the film another chance in a year or two and see if my feelings have changed.
Now,
THE MYSTERY OF CHESS BOXING is more like it. This is what I thought the first film would be like but clearly I was wrong. This film is a lot of fun. It has all of the cliches we have come to know and love unconditionally. We get the young star being picked on by bullies who are entirely too old to be bullies. We get the old teacher who teaches his students something new from something old. We get the unusual workouts the master makes the star do. We get a nice revenge storyline. This is to just name a few. I wonder if this is the first film where the star was a
Jackie Chan clone. The guy has the exact same haircut Chan sported in many of his older martial arts films. This film is fantastic and is a must watch.
I like this double feature blu-ray from Eureka. I do wish there had been more in the way of special features but I can overlook that when we high marks in every other category. We do get three commentary tracks between the two films and a decent sized interview with
Joseph Kuo. We don't get any trailers which always makes me sad. Overall, this is a strong release that I hope more people take a look at.
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Extras/Menus
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Film
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Packaging
 (Eureka) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots){kind=link}
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