ShawScope, Volume Four (1975 - 1983/with Super Inframan/Arrow Blu-ray Box Set)

Picture: B- (*Super Inframan: B, both versions) Sound: C+ (*B-, U.S. English 5.1 B) Extras: B Films: C+ (B-, both versions*)

With dozens of Shaw Brothers titles being issued by several labels as so many of them have been getting restored ('finally!' say some fans) and they have been pretty much as much as possible. All the sets have been top rate and this time, the focus is on films in the horror genre, general genre films, human sized monsters and superhero genre.

The standout is Super Inframan, but I will save my coverage of that until after the rest of the titles. I add general summaries of each as follows:

• DISC TWO: OILY MANIAC (1976/Man becomes monster made of petroleum (versus swamp pieces?) and goes out for revenge.) / BATTLE WIZARD (1977/Samurai type has unexpectedly supernatural magic powers, takes on three villains with swordswoman sister.)

• DISC THREE: BLACK MAGIC (1975/evil magician casts evil spells on people, for two films.) / BLACK MAGIC PART 2 (1976)

• DISC FOUR: HEX (1980/first of four more films dealing with magic with expected results.) / BEWITCHED (1981/1.85 X 1)

• DISC FIVE: HEX VS. WITCHCRAFT (1980) / HEX AFTER HEX (1982)

• DISC SIX: BAT WITHOUT WINGS (1980/Rapist-murderer can turn into predatory creature!) / BLOODY PARROT (1981/Title creature is on the loose!)

• DISC SEVEN: THE FAKE GHOST CATCHERS (1982/Will fraudsters turn up the real thing?) / DEMON OF THE LUTE (1983/Semi-comic demon shows up to be obnoxious tale.)

• DISC EIGHT: SEEDING OF A GHOST (1983 aka Black Magic 5/Cabbie accidentally drives into sorcerer, who he helps out after sorcerer survives./1.85 X 1) / PORTRAIT IN CRYSTAL (1983/Several odd underground killing lead to fighter independently trying to find the killer(s).)

• DISC NINE: TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR (1983/The Shaws go for broke knocking off every Hollywood fantasy hit since at least Star Wars (1977))

They can be fun and amusing for what they are and can be fun, but they are not too memorable overall and a for-fans-only affair. I give them credit for being ambitious, even shameless and at least having a like or love for the genre(s) attempted. Now you can see for yourself.

Now for my Super Inframan review!!!!...

An important transitional Superhero genre film, though a box office disappointment in Hong Kong and moderate hit in its U.S. redo release, Hua Shan's Super Inframan (1975) is one of the biggest, best and most ambitious films the Shaw Brothers ever made and it is now included in the ShawScope Volume Four Blu-ray box set. You can read more about the film in our coverage of a long out-of-print DVD import version at this link:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1799/Super+Inframan+(Region+3/NTSC

With the Adam West Batman and George Reeves Superman doing incredibly well in syndication after their hit years, plus having feature film versions released (the West film as brand new, while at least a dozen Reeves films were issued theatrically, but all they did was edit TV episodes together, which you could get away with until the mid-1970s when there was no home video and no TV could match 35mm projection,) everyone was looking to see where to go with superheroes next.

Warner already had an interesting Wonder Woman telefilm with Cathy Lee Crosby, then quickly did another telefilm with Lynda Carter that led to a hit TV series, while Marvel & Universal hit it big with the Lou Ferrigno/Bill Bixby Hulk series. Not only did this lead to Warner going all out for Richard Donner's Superman The Movie by 1978, but the Shaw Brothers got what was going on and that led to this film.

I get into other details and genre connections in the previous review, but along with Russell Mulcahy's The Shadow (1994,) this is one of the major transitional films in Superhero filmmaking (even including the TV shows) with more impressive moments that both films get credit for, even with some minor issues and after Super Inframan, the Superhero genre would be fully formed with the release of Superman The Movie and The Shaw Brothers could congratulate themselves that they were ahead of the ball more than they got credit for at the time. For a genre and story type that was not respected much then and has been retro-bashed all over the place lately after making the studios billions, both cuts of Super Inframan holds up very well against more recent disasters like The Marvels and especially the hideous Black Adam.

That this film with much less advanced technology holds up better than those films and so many more duds of late, even outside of the genre, is a testament to all the hard work that went into the film. The original, darker Hong Kong film is more remarkable than ever and the lightened U.S. version is still a riot with it alternate music, new editing choices and early multi-channel sound is just as special.

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on both cuts look great, with superior color, some of the best scope filming in Shaw Brothers history since they put out the money to rent real Panavision anamorphic lenses versus the lesser, no-name lenses they usually used. The new scan is impressive and except for slight softness in some shots from the lenses (its worse with the lesser anamorphic lenses) this is the best I have seen this since I saw it eons ago on 35mm film. The results in both versions are impressive and will surprise viewers unfamiliar with their film, fans of this film and those used to the other widescreen films the studio made for decades.

The original film offers newly restored lossless Mandarin and Cantonese PCM Mono for the original film and and an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix for the U.S. reworking from the original 4-track magnetic InfraSound presentation that has luckily survived. The film will never sound better and great care has been taken to restore the tracks with the results very pleasing.

This is the first superhero film of any kind in a widescreen scope format and a few years before Donner's Superman: The Movie (1978,) is the first one in the genre to be in Panavision or any scope format, and with the U.S. edition, the first superhero film with multi-channel stereo surround a few years before the 70mm blow-up prints of the Donner superhit.

Extras are many and listed below with the rest of the films in the set.

As for playback performance on the rest of the films, most of the films live up to the title of the box as presented in 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image (save the 1.85 X 1 films, as listed above) and look about as good as they can, but most of the scope films (save Twinkle, shot with real Panavision lenses like Super Inframan) show the flaws of using older, less developed anamorphic lenses, no matter what they used. Twinkle is still somehow softer than usual or Super Inframan, but just has more flaws and softness than expected outside of its often dated visual effects.

All the sound on all the films (save the U.S. Super Inframan) is in PCM 1.0 Mono, usually Cantonese, sometimes Mandarin, sometimes both and sometimes even in an English Dub version which is usually the poorest of the three. Some of the later film in the set can sound a little better at times, but for the most part, fidelity is dated and flat, more than I was expecting at times. It is probably the best they will ever sound considering the limited budgets and practices of the time, but be careful in most cases of volume switching and high playback just in case.

Extras within this LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY COLLECTION includes:

• An illustrated 60-page collectors' booklet featuring new writing by David West, Jonathan Clements and Grady Hendrix, plus cast and crew listings and notes on each film by Ian Jane

• New artwork by Matt Frank & Jolyon Yates, Mike Lee-Graham, Chris Malbon and Ilan Sheady

• DISC ONE: SUPER INFRAMAN

Extras are many and include the option to view the film in its US theatrical version, Infra-man, with lossless 'Stereo-Infra-Sound' surround audio, different edit and new music score from the time of its original release.

• Brand new commentary by martial arts cinema experts Frank Djeng & Erik Ko

• Shaws' Little Dragon, a newly filmed interview with co-star Bruce Le

• Super Ultra Infra Action!, a brand new video essay on Shaws' tokusatsu films written and narrated by Steven Sloss

• Theatrical trailers, TV spots and radio spots. The newly filmed appreciations of Super Inframan by Leon Hunt, Luke White and Kim Newman are ONLY on the Bonus Disc!

• DISC TWO: OILY MANIAC / BATTLE WIZARD

• Newly restored lossless Mandarin PCM 1.0 Mono for both films, plus English Mono for Battle Wizard

• Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub on Battle Wizard

• Brand new commentary on Oily Maniac by critic Ian Jane

• Brand new commentary on Battle Wizard by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts

• DISC THREE: BLACK MAGIC / BLACK MAGIC PART 2

• Brand new commentary for Black Magic by critic James Mudge

• Brand new commentary for Black Magic Part 2 by critic Samm Deighan

• Alternate US opening for Black Magic Part 2

• DISC FOUR: HEX / BEWITCHED

• Brand new commentary for Bewitched by critic James Mudge

• DISC FIVE: HEX VS. WITCHCRAFT / HEX AFTER HEX

• Additional Mandarin voiceover clip for Hex Vs. Witchcraft

• DISC SIX: BAT WITHOUT WINGS / BLOODY PARROT

• Brand new commentaries for both films by critic Samm Deighan

• DISC SEVEN: THE FAKE GHOST CATCHERS / DEMON OF THE LUTE

• Brand new commentary for Demon of the Lute by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng

• DISC EIGHT: SEEDING OF A GHOST / PORTRAIT IN CRYSTAL

• Brand new commentary for Seeding of a Ghost by critic James Mudge

• DISC NINE: TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR

• Seamless branching option to watch Cantonese version with additional scene from Mandarin version

• Brand new commentary by martial arts cinema expert Frank Djeng

• Newly filmed interview with director/co-writer Alex Cheung

• Newly filmed appreciation by film scholar Victor Fan

• Theatrical trailer

• DISC TEN: BONUS DISC

• Hong Kong: The Show of Mister Shaw, a 1972 French TV profile of Shaw Brothers

• Brand new video essay on Ho Meng-hua written and narrated by Grady Hendrix

• Newly filmed appreciations of Super Inframan by Leon Hunt, Luke White and Kim Newman

• Newly filmed appreciation of Bat Without Wings by Wayne Wong

• Newly filmed appreciation of Demon of the Lute by Luke White

• Newly filmed appreciations of Battle Wizard and Demon of the Lute by Victor Fan

• and Original Theatrical Trailers for most of the films in the set, some never seen on video before.

For more on the series, try the links to our coverage of the previous Blu-ray sets:

Volume One

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16055/Shawscope:+Volume+One+(1972+-+1979/MVD/Arrow

Volume Two

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16211/Alienoid+(2022/Well+Go+Blu-ray)/Honk+For+Jesus.+S

Volume Three

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16527/Borderlands+4K+(2024/Lionsgate+4K+Ultra+HD+Blu-r

- Nicholas Sheffo