Rivers and Lakes, a brand new video essay on Shaw Brothers’ depiction of Chinese myth and history, written and narrated by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of China

So if you are a Shaw Brothers fan and especially if you enjoyed the first Box set, I would get this one immediately without hesitation. We begin with kung fu master Lau Kar-leung’s instant classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, in which his adoptive brother Gordon Liu achieved overnight stardom as the young man who unexpectedly finds spiritual enlightenment on the path to vengeance; Lau and Liu followed the original with two comically inventive sequels, Return to the 36th Chamber and Disciples of the 36th Chamber, both included here. Already established as a genius at blending dazzling action with physical comedy, Lau himself plays the lead role in the hilarious Mad Monkey Kung Fu, coupled here with Lo Mar’s underrated Five Superfighters. Next, we once again meet Chang Cheh’s basher boy band the Venom Mob in no less than four of their best-loved team-ups: Invincible Shaolin, The Kid with the Golden Arm, Magnificent Ruffians and culminating in the all-star Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, co-starring Ti Lung and Fu Sheng. The slipcover, disc book, and booklet for Volume Two are identical in form and size to Volume One, except deep red rather than blue. Look, I’ve gone on about how much I love this format. I use Billy bookcases to display my DVDs, which are pretty deep — in fact, just the right depth to slide these into my Arrow collection without breaking up the row of collector’s editions they sit beside. For fans who use custom shelves or shallower units, though, these look incredible sitting atop a shelf with other extra-sized sets. Alternate opening credits – Return to the 36th Chamber HK theatrical credits (1:32, HD), Return to the 36th Chamber English title sequence (1:45, HD), and Disciples of the 36th Chamber alternate credits (4:15, HD)Ska Martes on Hard Target | 4K UHD + Blu-ray (Kino Lorber) Love this movie. As lomg as its the longer international cut, this is the onl… The rest of the box set rounds out with decent Shaw Brothers films; however, I thought the Product Overview comment of "...coupled here with Lo Mar’s underrated Five Superfighters..." was laughable as I really think it is the "Mighty Peking Man" of this box set. I'll probably watch this as a friend hasn't seen it yet, but I don't think I would rewatch it again otherwise. And we get three great Venoms films. The Kid with the Golden Arm is right up there with Five Deadly Venoms for the best of the Venom film. It was great to see Invincible Shaolin in the box set as well. I hadn't seen Magnificent Ruffins before, but that is a really good Venoms movie as well. I put it more in league of Crippled Avengers and well above House of Traps. Though the two films don’t appear to be as highly regarded as the original film it’s still a little disappointing that new content wasn’t produced for them specificaly. At the very least the material proves entertaining. Closing Tony Rayns on Martial Arts of Shaolin (29:40, HD) – The author, critic, and screenwriter discusses the politics of combining mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong companies/studios/markets, how all of those politics shaped Martial Arts of Shaolin, and more on the history of the locations. He also reads from an interview that he conducted with Lau Kar-leung, in which the director doesn’t seem thrilled about shooting on the mainland, working with Jet Li, or really anything at all.

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 Tony Rayns on The Bare-Footed Kid (16:28, HD) – A shorter primer from Rayns about To’s work, beginning with his one-off movie, The Enigmatic Case (1980), and TV work, then moving through his theatrical output. He pauses to discuss the history of late Shaw competitor Cinema City Enterprises, Ltd, and the differences between Bare-Footed Kid and Disciples of Shaolin. DISC NINE – MUSIC FROM THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, FIVE SUPERFIGHTERS, INVINCIBLE SHAOLIN AND THE KID WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (CD) Shaolin: Birthplace of a Hero and Elegant Trails, two archive featurettes with Gordon Liu produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003 Newly translated English subtitles for both films, plus optional hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs

The Video

Source issues end up being a bit more obvious compared to the previous film in the set ( The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), with some chemical stains and stippling effects popping up. It also looks like multiple sources were used as there are times where a scene will cut to a dupier looking shot with fading and/or pulsing popping in here and there. Otherwise, the restoration appears to have removed most of the bigger issues one may expect.