{"id":28017,"date":"2024-02-17T01:00:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-17T09:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28017"},"modified":"2024-02-17T01:00:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-17T09:00:30","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-shaolin-plot-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28017","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: THE SHAOLIN PLOT (1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is currently available\nfrom Arrow Video.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you\u2019re reading this review, then you are likely already familiar with the likes of Sammo Hung and martial pictures of the 1970s onward. In recent years, Arrow Video have been acquiring early efforts from the likes of Hung and Jackie Chan that aren\u2019t as well known. This week marks the Blu-ray release of The Shaolin Plot<\/em>, aka Shaolin Plot<\/em>, an epic that marked one of Hung\u2019s last jobs of fight coordinator (and co-star) before directing. It also features the performer in a rare role as that of a heinous, villainous henchman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The movie is noted for being hard to find in North America. It barely got a release of any kind and, if you did see the film, it was probably on a badly-transferred VHS tape. So, it’s wonderful to see the title appear in any form in this part of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is another great-looking Blu-ray that really impresses with its widescreen photography. As a youth, I remember seeing some of these pictures on old formats. It wasn\u2019t unusual to see heavily edited versions of the movies presented in full screen image (which made it difficult to see what was occurring) with a dark and grainy picture. In fact, this unfortunate trio of issues was the case more often than not. The 2K restoration on this disc makes the movie look pretty spotless and many of the wide-angle exterior locations are quite gorgeous to behold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The tale involves a nasty ruler named Prince Daglen (Chan Sing). He is essentially Emperor of the nation and wants all of the powers of various martial arts all to himself. Daglen invites the leaders of many groups to him and then demands their manuals. Some resist, only to be beaten, and more often, killed by his \u201crenegade\u201d servant monk (Sammo Hung) who wields flying cymbals with blades. With only two books left to collect, he sends his men to the Wu-Tang school to retrieve the goods at any cost. Son of the school head Little Tiger (James Tien) escapes with the material and takes refuge at the home of a former Shaolin Monk Pu Hui (Chin Kang). The evil henchman and his crew end up blinding Pu Hui and getting what they want, leaving the Shaolin Temple as the last holdout. While Daglun works on obtaining the final manual, Little Tiger trains in order to warn and help the Shaolin of the imminent danger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie starts off with some incredible fight scenes that\nreally cement Daglen and his crew as formidable foes. Heads are sliced off and\nHung\u2019s distinctive and bizarre-looking character (who is bald but has mutton\nchops and is decked out in bright yellow garb) takes great pleasure in causing\ndeath with his instruments. This doesn\u2019t stop as the film progresses. The\ncymbal-throwing figure does increasingly horrific things to Pu Hui over the\ncourse of the film that are surprisingly nasty. Daglen is no different, having\nhis own unique weapon and becoming more and more powerful over the course of\nthe movie taking secret abilities from every martial arts community.\nEventually, the Shaolin Monks are forced to square off against the antagonists\nwhen their leader is taken hostage, leading to an elaborate showdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s easy to support Little Tiger over the course of the\nstory, although the filmmakers do something strange with the character as the\nfilm arrives at the final act. While the lead joins the Shaolin Monks in their\nbattle, he takes second stage to two fighters (Casanova Wong and Yeong-moon\nKwon) who try to save the day. There is plenty of incredible choreography\nduring the last twenty minutes and plenty of impressive moves. It\u2019s just a\nlittle strange that the character whom the audience has spent the most time\nwith runs out of gas and can\u2019t do battle during the final confrontation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the concept of an all-powerful, threatening ruler\neventually being taken down by the noble heroes is excellent, even if the movie\nends up overstuffed with protagonists. As mentioned, the villains make a\nmemorable impression. This is also a beautifully shot picture with some\nincredible fight scenes and a couple of wince-inducing bits of unexpected\nviolence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Besides the sharp picture, the Blu-ray boasts some great\nbonuses. There are two commentary tracks included that definitely give viewers\nmore understanding and perspective on the film. Martial arts film experts Frank\nDjeng and Michael Worth give an analysis of the picture and fight scenes. They\nexplain that this was a star-studded endeavor with many leading men appearing\nin the story. This detail helps one understand why the movie has trouble\nfocusing on its protagonist and gives others the star treatment during the big\nshowdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The pair also give some background on the production and\nnote that the lovely locations were all shot in Korea and not around Hong Kong.\nWhile most wouldn\u2019t notice, the trees featured simply do not exist there. It\nseems that the scenic vistas also helped give the picture a real sense of\nanother time and place. These and other tidbits are informative. They also note\nthat despite the fact that Hung\u2019s character uses a flying guillotine and the\nfilm came out the year after Master of the Flying Guillotine<\/em> (which\nactually starred cast member Chin Kang), this weapon has been a part of the\nculture for some time and may not have been a case of cashing in on the other\nfilm\u2019s success. Of course, it\u2019s hard to say for certain, but that\u2019s what they\nclaim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second track includes action cinema experts Mike Leeder\nand Arne Venema. Both have worked in the Hong Kong film industry and share\ntheir memories meeting with some of the cast and crew and their experiences.\nThey give biographical info about the cast and crew that will have viewers\nlooking up other titles. These stories about the cast are fun and entertaining\nto hear (particularly of how Hung can be, well, ornery and intimidating to deal\nwith).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Movie-wise, they also explain aspects of the characters that\nI was never certain of, like what the series of dots on the heads of certain\nmonks represent. Additionally, they are more critical of the climax, stating\nthat while elaborate, it isn\u2019t as satisfying as hoped for. I appreciate hearing\ndiffering opinions on the tracks and the alternate viewpoints are enlightening\nand interesting to take in. They also note the story similarities between these\ntypes of films and the work of Geroge Lucas, noting how the Shaolin Monks\nlikely inspired the Jedi in the Star Wars<\/em> series. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Additionally, the Blu-ray includes alternate English credits\nand original theatrical trailers. There\u2019s an impressive double-sided fold-out\nposter featuring original and newly commissioned artwork for the film and an\nillustrated collector\u2019s booklet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re a martial arts film enthusiast, The Shaolin\nPlot<\/em> is a notable title. It may not be the best title of its era and might\nnot even match the Flying Guillotine<\/em> movies, but it is a large-scale\nfeature with plenty of memorable action sequences that are bolstered by the\nmovie\u2019s extraordinarily talented cast. The image quality is incredible and the\nBlu-ray is definitely worth picking up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray is currently available from Arrow Video. If you\u2019re reading this review, then you are likely already familiar with the likes of Sammo Hung and martial pictures of the 1970s onward. In recent years, Arrow Video have been acquiring early efforts from the likes of Hung and Jackie Chan that aren\u2019t as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[108,697,1832,1836,2933,3075,9288,11882,11946,13303,17585,18158,18159,19796,22180],"class_list":["post-28017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-108","tag-action","tag-arrow","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blu-ray-reviews","tag-hong-kong","tag-korea","tag-kung-fu-2","tag-martial-arts","tag-sammo-hung","tag-shaolin-plot","tag-shaolin-plot-review","tag-th-shaolin-plot-blu-ray-review","tag-the-shaolin-plot"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}