Crippled Masters aka Tian can di que Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots

Studio: Film Masters
Release Date: 1979 (theatrical) / July 23rd, 2024 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 31 minutes 28 seconds (main feature) / 1 hour 31 minutes 33 seconds (raw scan version)
Region Code: FREE

Disc Count: 1 (BD-50)
Picture: 1080p (2.39:1 aspect ratio) (main feature), 1080p (2.39:1 aspect ratio) (raw scan version)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (main feature) / English Dolby Digital 2.0 (raw scan version)
Subtitles: English SDH (main feature), English (commentary)
Slipcover: No
Digital Copy: No
Starring: Jackie Conn, Frankie Shum, Chen Mu Chuan
Written by Lan Yung Cheng
Directed by Lo Chi
Rating: R (bloody marital arts violence)

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Poster

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What's It About?

The film tells the story of two martial artists (one without arms and the other without legs) who overcome physical disabilities to become skilled fighters. The two masters then seek revenge on their old master who disabled both of the men.

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Video/Audio

Whenever I talk about how a film's transfer looks, I always consider a few factors:

"What kind of source do we have?" Many times we will get the OCN or original camera negative. This is the best we can hope for with every release, but that doesn't always happen. Sometimes we have to deal with release prints if the OCN can't be found or is known to be lost. When it comes to public domain titles, like the ones Film Masters releases, you are not going to get an OCN. Film Masters usually works for release prints and that is the case with THE CRIPPLED MASTERS.

"What shape is the print in?" Sometimes you can find a pretty decent release print, but thats if you are lucky. Most of the times these things are beat to shit as these are the prints that run through the project every time the film is shown. This is the case with THE CRIPPLED MASTERS. In the special features, Film Masters included the raw scan they did for the film and it is really bad. The print is scratched to hell and back and it also has burnt in German subtitles. I don't know how Film Masters was able to get rid of the subtitles, but they did.

"Can the film look any better?" This is something that is up for debate especially with the tools we have today. Studios can employ AI to do a lot of the remastering and restoration but that's not what Film Masters has done here. They have done the restoration the old fashioned way. They have cleaned the print the best they can by removing as much of the scratches as they can. You will notice throughout the film that many of the imperfections are still present as they were not able to get rid of them. The film also has some harsh whites and crushed blacks. Not all the time but they do pop up. Colors are decent and skin tones can be good or pale. Film is present but not intrusive.

The last question I ask myself is "Do I like the transfer?" Yes, I do. I don't have a problem when smaller studios like Film Masters aren't able to give us the pristine transfers everyone else expects. I am happy they were able to do as much as they were with THE CRIPPLED MASTERS. The film looks great when taking everything I listed above into consideration. The fact that the film is in its original aspect ratio along with the classic English dub that is music to my ears makes this a winner of a transfer. It's not going to look perfect, but that's ok. If you come into this release expecting perfection, then you have failed. Sometimes, you have to temper your expectations.

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Extras/Packaging

Commentary - We join Justin Will Sloan and Justin Decloux of The Important Cinema Club podcast as they take us through the history of the Crippled Masters as well as their history with the film. They also cover the US release of the film in 1982 by New Line Cinema, along with the big Kung Fu boom of the 70s and its fall due to TV airings. I love listening to these guys. They pack this commentary with so much info, I think I might have to listen to it again.

Kings of Kung Fu: Releasing the Legends documentary from Ballyhoo Motion Pictures (30m 48s, HD, 1.90:1) Chris Poggiali gives us a history of martial arts films being released in the US. Most of the films released before 5 Fingers of Death were released subtitled and usually limited to theaters in Chinatowns in cities across the country. 5 Fingers of Death changed everything and now these films played in theaters across the country. Everyone wanted to release kung fu flicks and we got a lot of good ones. Poggiali also gives us stories about some of the more infamous distributors.

Kung Fu film trailer compilation from Something Weird (18m 31s, SD, 2.35:1, 4x3) Films featured:

2024 re-cut trailer for The Crippled Masters (3m 57s, HD, 2.35:1) This is the theatrical trailer recut to include the newly remastered footage.

Original raw scan of The Crippled Masters feature film (1h 31m, HD, 2.35:1) I wish more companies would include the original raw scans for the films they release on Blu-ray. Arrow Video has done a few times with the films in their Shawscope blu-ray line. I ran through the film and I am able to appreciate all the work Film Masters put into this restoration. You can see direct comparisons elsewhere on the disc but the inclusion of this raw scan is a wonderful surprise.

The Crippled Masters original theatrical trailer (4m 5s, SD, 2.35:1) This is the original trailer minus the remastered footage.

The Crippled Masters before/after restoration (2m 21s, HD, 1.78:1) I love that Film Masters has included this as it is always great to be able to see what they were working with and how much work they needed to put into getting this looking as good as it does.

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Overall

When I was diving deep into martial arts films in the mid-90s, I kept hearing about THE CRIPPLED MASTERS. The film was spoken about in hushed tones like it was some sort of dirty secret. Anyone I talked to about it would talk about how controversial it was. More than one person considered it to be the FREAKS of martial arts films. This made me want to see the film more but I could never find a release that was in widescreen. The film was shot in scope, and I knew the filmmakers would use the whole frame, so I skipped the fullscreen versions. It wasn't until this release that I was able to see the film as it was meant to be seen.

THE CRIPPLED MASTERS is an exploitation through and through. The film uses two disabled actors as its main characters and many will say the film exploits them. While it does, I think the film takes these disabilities pretty seriously. The film never laughs or pokes fun at these actors, and it helps the film not be the mean-spirited garbage I feared it would be. I purposefully avoided trailers or plot summaries because I wanted to go in as fresh as possible. What I found was a film that was well made and entertaining. These actors are game for anything, and they hold their own in the fight scenes. In fact, the fight scenes are surprisingly well done, and watching these guys move is a sight to behold. The story is the classic revenge story but the film is light, breezy, and always entertaining. I never thought the actors were being exploited more than a surface level exploration, and I liked that. This is definitely a recommendation.

Film Masters has another winner on their hands with this blu-ray release. The picture and the sound are the best they are ever going to be unless someone finds a better print but I doubt that is going to happen. The special features here are great. We get a awesome commentary track that is a must listen. There is also a history of the 70s kung fu boom. A raw scan of the film, trailers, and a restoration comparison round of this disc. This is a definite recommendation.

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Extras/Menus