While Bob and Harvey Weinstein have yet to capture that same box office magic they experienced during their impressive stint at Miramax, the brotherly duo can relish in the fact that their upstart DVD label, Dragon Dynasty, is doing just fine. Released with the idea of presenting classic and contemporary Asian cinema to a wider audience, the latest additions to the Dragon Dynasty family feature some of the greatest (and most recognizable) Shaw Brothers movies ever produced. Of course, any true fan of the genre probably owns multiple copies of all four films on DVD, but with their glorious re-release, each film has been remastered and restored, as well as accompanied by brand new special features including interviews with the cast/crew, and audio commentaries by The RZA, director Quentin Tarantino, and film critics Elvis Mitchell, David Chute and Andy Klein.
The first title in the group is certainly the most obvious, as “The 36th Chamber of Shaolin” is widely considered the greatest kung fu movie ever made. Starring Gordon Liu as a student whose village is ravaged by a neighboring clan, the film follows his character as he embarks on a grueling martial arts program through the 35 chambers of the Shaolin Temple. So why the mention of a 36th chamber, you ask? Well, you’ll have to watch the film to find out, but one thing’s for sure: what the movie lacks in plot, it more than makes up for with some of the coolest action sequences of its time.
The other three titles scheduled for release include “King Boxer: Five Fingers of Death” (credited as the movie that started the kung fu avalanche in America), “The One-Armed Swordsman” (best known for introducing one of the most popular characters in Chinese cinema) and “My Young Antie” (a movie that not only featured a kung fu heroine for the first time, but also integrated comedy into the story). While I had never seen any of these three films before they arrived on my doorstep, I was pleasantly surprised to discover just how well they held up to today’s standards of filmmaking. The Shaw Brothers can be likened to Robert Rodriguez in many ways, as they most certainly know how to stretch a budget and produce an entertaining film.
It’s unfortunate that the Weinsteins don’t have current plans to release all four films in a box set, because I can’t imagine anyone that would pass up the chance to purchase them together for a discounted price. Still, for the remastered transfers of the movies alone, there’s not a single self-respecting fan of the genre that won’t at least consider picking these up. The inclusion of audio commentaries by self-proclaimed kung fu fanatics like The RZA, Quentin Tarantino and David Chute certainly helps the case, but it shouldn’t be the main selling point. Then again, if you were never a fan of the late-night kung fu movies that aired on your local cable access channel, but you really enjoyed Tarantino’s two-part homage to the Shaw Brothers catalog of films, this may just be the perfect place to start.
