Return of the Chinese Boxer DVD

RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER (1975) Crash Cinema
100 Minutes
Produced and Directed by Jimmy Wang Yu
Written by Ko Lung
Fight Choreography by Hsieh Hsing
Cast: Jimmy Wang Yu, Lung Fei, Cheung Yin Chen, Chin Kang, Ching Chih Min
Video: Widescreen (2.35.1)
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono 2.0
Subtitles: None
Packaging: Keepcase
Chapter Stops: 11

In 1975, The Shaw Brother’s production of RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER was released in Hong Kong during the height of the mid-seventies martial arts craze. Dozens of these movies were cranked out every year by the various Hong Kong film companies, and most of them were low budget retreads of the same story. However, the Shaw Brothers productions were typically the best in this genre as they often had higher budgets that contributed to an epic scale feel for their films. RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER is no exception. The film was dubbed and released in the US in the late seventies to capitalize on the glut of martial arts films that were popular then.

Since the introduction of DVD Video in 1997, there has been few old school martial arts films on the market, save for some early Simitar Jackie Chan efforts. While Hong Kong films have been popular on DVD because of the Tai Seng imports, the number of classic martial arts films from the sixties and seventies have been few. In 1999, some new classic titles appeared in the market from Xenon Entertainment and a new Tai Seng budget line. However, both these companies have released home video versions which have been highly cropped and from poor VHS quality source prints. And in the case of Xenon, they have taken liberties and added/removed footage from various titles, a definite no-no in my book. In mid 1999, Crash Cinema and Central Park Media teamed up to release a line of uncut, remastered, martial arts films that promised to return these classic genre films to their widescreen glory. RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER does not quite deliver all that it promises, but it is one of the first films in this new line of Crash Cinema DVDs, that shows a lot of promise for future releases.

Jimmy Wang Yu stars as the heroic lead fighter in this film, and he is the director too. Not only is he highly proficient with the martial arts, but he is a highly regarded filmmaker as well; kind of like the Sammo Hung of his time (only thinner). His resume as a director includes ONE ARMED BOXER (1971), MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE (1975), and POINT THE FINGER OF DEATH (1978) among many others from this era. He also starred as the hero in ROYAL FIST (1974), FURY OF KING BOXER (1975), and THE MAN FROM HONG KONG (1978). Other martial arts talent in the film include Lung Fei (EXIT THE DRAGON, ENTER THE TIGER), Ching Chin Min (BRUCE LEE’S DEADLY KUNG FU), Chin Kang, and Cheung Ying Chen.

The film tells of a time in the late 1800’s (there are trains and guns in the movie) when China and Japan were trying to establish fruitful relations with each other. A Japanese shogun leader set about finding their nation’s best warrior to send to China as a delegate. They find a seasoned fighter and team him with a cunning female ninja to send to China along with a band of Japanese soldiers.

In China, a leader’s beautiful niece is elected to travel to Japan as an ambassador of good will and as a sexual offering for the Japanese shogunate leader. Meanwhile the Japanese contingent have arrived in China and attempt to kidnap the Chinese leader’s niece, when a strange warrior, named Cunning Fist arrives in time to stave off the Japanese contingent. After witnessing Cunning Fist’s super human fighting prowess, the female ninja begins a search to find a fighter who is equal to the task.

Meanwhile, an elimination tournament is held to determine who is the best fighter. The survivors of the tournament are recruited by the Japanese contingent and are given the opportunity to face the Cunning Fist, but none prove worthy to defeat him. Finally, the female ninja locates a mythical Japanese warrior called Black Crane who incorporates guns into his martial arts routine. The Japanese contingent then kidnap the Chinese leader’s neice. Cunning Fist must use his wits to rescue her and defeat the deadly Black Crane or die trying.

If you’ve ever been a fan of this genre, you’ll notice numerous films that employ the Japanese vs. Chinese theme, but here it is realistically rendered. There is a lot of costumed, Shogun-style theatrics and ninja techniques that are countered by the Hong Kong traditional kung fu styles. In fact, this film goes out of it’s way to depict non-Chinese martial arts styles such as Thai boxing and Ninjitsu. Also included in the martial arts mayhem are dagger throwing, javelin throwing, lethal archery, use of guns, use of explosives, and death match tournament fighting. There is a huge amount of martial arts and stunt work for all involved and thanks to some rapid camera movements and fast paced editing, it blends neatly to keep the narrative from falling apart.

The death match tournament is one of the highlights of the movie (though there are many). In a Chinese style coliseum, larger than life warriors do battle using different martial arts techniques and different weapons. The loser always ends up a bloody mess, while the winner goes on to fight another winner resulting in another breathtaking tournament match. It’s tough to pick a winner.

Speaking of a winner, the film’s cinematography is a winner thanks to the 2.35.1 widescreen presentation (though the video is not without problems; see Video section below). There are excellently rendered Japanese dojos, castles, and temples and Chinese ones as well with incredible attention to detail. Here is where the Shaw Brothers bigger budget comes into play. You believe you are taken back in time to the late 1800's because the interior and exterior visuals are so perfectly rendered. The art direction crew has every bit of colorful detail down pat from the standout items such as wall hangings to the inanimate objects like tablecloths.

So despite the fact that the film looks great and has a lot to offer martial arts fans and historical drama nuts, the movie has many faults as well (typical of the films from this time period). Virtually no characterization, lack of a linear narrative structure, and a shortage of logic. But these problems have plagued martial arts films and even American action films for decades. But knowing the faults of a movie like this, at least you know the limitations going into it, so you can put aside your expectations to just enjoy the spectacle.

Crash Cinema advertises RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER as uncut, widescreen, and digitally remastered. Well, the movie is uncut, and the video presentation indeed is 2.35.1, but I would hardly advertise this as "remastered". The widescreen presentation is the most intermittent quality I’ve yet to behold on any DVD. Usually, if a DVD is poor, it is poor through out, or at least the problem is isolated to a certain area from the source elements or from the authoring. But here, the problem is that some scenes look crisp and error free, will others display nics, scratches, and boils in the image. Then the quality clears up for a few minutes only to come back again later. The good news is that these problems are the result of poor source prints, and not problems with the authoring. But when you advertise any title as digitally remastered, an image forms in the back of my head that the video company is attempting to fix the flaws on the negative for the DVD transfer. As I said the problem comes and goes, and even though it proves to be distracting, it did not ruin the viewing experience for this film. It is still far superior than a VHS tape, or the pan and scan efforts from Xenon and Tai Seng. I just wished Crash Cinema would have cleaned up the source elements a little more, especially if they continue to advertise their DVD line as digitally remastered. Anyway, when the transfer quality is clean, the cinematography is superb. The colors are bright without bleeding. The black level appears to be a hair off, but the shadow detail is fine. The castles and temples (both inside and out) have an excellent detail level and are pleasant to watch. The country sides and water falls where the action occurs are also appealing. The fight scenes are excellently photographed and rendered on this DVD.

The audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. There is little true surround activity in the mix, but the sound elements (sound effects, dialog, score) come through clear and crisp and without any dropouts or distortion. The main problem with the audio mix is the bass. It is way too powerful, and overpowers all the other sound elements, especially the dialogue. And when you raise the volume to bring the dialog to an audible level, the bass level goes up as well and still overpowers the dialog. During the authoring process, they need to better synchronize the bass with the sound effects, score, and dialog. Every time a martial arts strike is performed, you hear the air move around the blow and this is where the bass is overpowering. I would actually prefer a decent mono mix to this DD 2.0 one, because at least then the bass would not be a problem. Of course you could always turn off your bass cabinet. The dubbing is actuality not too badly done, although again, it is drowned out during many scenes. There is a decent, uncredited score that does not sound like background music in a Chinese restaurant. The score is used sparingly to heighten tension during the action and dramatic scenes. If not for the bass synchronization problem, this would be a decent 2.0 mix.

Despite the flaws to the source material and the unsynchronized audio elements, Crash Cinema’s RETURN OF THE CHINESE BOXER is an entertaining kung fu film that cries out for a widescreen transfer. Given the choice of this DVD with all it’s problems and the cropped, full frame transfers that other companies in this niche market are putting out, I’ll stick to Crash Cinema’s brand name. Keep in mind this is one of the first releases from them, and I truly believe that things will get better over time. Perhaps when they get comfortable with the DVD mastering/authoring process, they will digitally clean up the source material and truly live up to their "Remastered" labeling.

Movie:	4.0
Video:	4.0
Audio:	3.0
Extras:	0.0
Overall:	4.0