Brothers Five

Good news! This disc is very close to perfect. I and other reviewers experienced some technical issues with the Delightful Forest blu-ray disc, but the Brothers Five blu-ray disc that I received today has no flaws that I can see on my initial viewing.

The colors are vibrant, the swordplay is flashy, and the detail is excellent as viewed on my Sony BDP-S370 and Hitachi 42HDS69 HDTV. Anything that was not perfect (lighting, darkness, no steadicam on long sweeping shots or zooms) was obviously there in the original film because it is all so crisp and clear. The picture is really beautiful. There were no artifacts or skips or stutters. Having watched these films in various incarnations over the years (theater, TV, videotape, dvd, and now blu-ray) I can honestly say they have never looked or sounded better.

I have seen a few comments about the subs and if that bothers you then you will probably not be pleased when a character's dialogue is rendered as "I want make a stab." Frankly, it's part of the whole experience for me so I have no problem with it. I should have continued studying Mandarin when I had the chance if I wanted to truly appreciate these films. And unlike the Delightful Forest blu-ray disc, there is no English dub for you to fall back on.

The prices on these recent releases from Well Go USA are great in my opinion. YMMV!

Next up this weekend the Heroic Ones blu-ray disc. What a great time to be a fan of classic Shaw Brothers martial arts films!

The Delightful Forest (Shaw Brothers) (Blu-ray)

The Heroic Ones [Blu-ray]

I bought this Blu-ray as part of a Shaw Bros. three-pack, where it was bundled with THE HEROIC ONES and THE DELIGHTFUL FOREST. I'd seen BROTHERS FIVE (1970) on Celestial Pictures' Region 3 DVD and liked it a great deal, but it looks just magnificent on Blu-ray. It helps that the frequent action scenes tend to be shot outdoors in broad daylight amid picturesque Taiwanese settings or on large well-lit interior sets, such as the one where the climactic showdown between the Brothers Five and the lead villain is played out. The action directors stage the fights so that they play out in long takes with the camera placed at medium long shot, capturing all the combatants in frame from head to toe and moving with them as they fight. This means the performers have to show some actual skill as they are called on to execute a series of intricate maneuvers in real time and shift their attention from one opponent to another, since most of the fight scenes involve multiple combatants. It's all quite spectacular and looks great on a widescreen TV. This is the way such action scenes should be shot.

The film features a large cast of top Shaw Bros. performers on both the hero and villain sides, led by female star Cheng Pei Pei (COME DRINK WITH ME, GOLDEN SWALLOW), who plays a swordswoman who seeks to reunite the five brothers (separated since childhood) and teach them "Five Tigers with One Heart" kung fu so they can successfully defeat Master Long Zhen Feng (Tien Feng) who'd killed the brothers' father and taken over his estate, known as Flying Dragon Villa. The brothers are played by Yueh Hua (COME DRINK WITH ME), Chang Yi (BELLS OF DEATH), Lo Lieh (FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH), Chin Han (LADY GENERAL HUA MULAN), and Kao Yuan (THE JADE FACED ASSASSIN). Each uses a different weapon in battle, with Yueh Hua favoring a metal ring with sharp edges that doubles as a hat, Lo Lieh wielding a black whip, and Chin Han swinging a blacksmith's hammer, to name three. (The villains also have unusual weapons.)

The simple plot has no room for the moral complexity, emotional interactions and conflicts of loyalty you'd get in a Chang Cheh epic from that period (e.g. THE DUEL, BLOOD BROTHERS). Here the good guys and bad guys are all clearly marked and the script sets them in motion against each other with unabashed regularity. The film was directed by Lo Wei, who worked regularly at both Shaw Bros. and Golden Harvest and made Bruce Lee's first two starring films. The action directors are listed as Hsu Erh Niu and Chu Yuan Lung, better known, respectively, as Simon Hsu and Sammo Hung. Mr. Hsu is one of the unsung geniuses behind Shaw Bros. swordplay movies of the late 1960s and early 1970s and his work can be seen in quite a few above-average entries in the genre, including THE SHADOW WHIP, DUEL FOR GOLD, BLACK TAVERN and FLYING GUILLOTINE. Mr. Hung, of course, went on to become a major director and star of Hong Kong action movies in his own right, co-starring frequently with Jackie Chan, and he continues to direct action scenes in Hong Kong movies (including IP MAN and IP MAN 2). He plays a small, but noticeable fighting role in this film as a guard working for one of the brothers when their caravan is attacked by the bad guys.

The only problem I have with the Blu-ray is the blurriness of the image whenever there's a long panning shot by the camera, a move favored in many old Shaw Bros. movies. I suspect that this would not be such a problem in an analog format, although I don't have a 35mm film print or VHS copy of BROTHERS FIVE with which to compare.

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Very cheesy fight scenes, and an even more simplified plot. The "big" special technique used at the end looked like a cheerleader pyramid. Would def. not suggest this movie to anyone unless you are into really old kung fu flicks.

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wazup homy, yo dis movie be all dat and a bag of chips with jalapenos...This is just straight gangsta beat down one right after the next.. The highlight of this movie has to go to the beautiful, and sexy legendary actress, Pei Pei... She is so freaking hot!!!! I'd buy the bluray alone just for her!!!! Definitely a worthy Shaw brothers film, and I advise you to go seek this mutha out!!!

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