Tai Seng Video, purveyors of quality import DVD titles, has launched a new, low price/no frills line of martial arts films dubbed The Shaolin Classic Series. Among the first batch of releases is 1994’s SHAOLIN AVENGERS. This film is actually more of a comedy than a martial arts period drama which it pretends to be. Tai Seng is on the right track, but they fall short of their goal. I have for a long time been campaigning them to release their DVD titles with an English dubbed soundtrack, and they finally deliver one with this film. But they drop the ball when they did not include subtitles or a widescreen presentation (this DVD also features the strangest sound mix to ever play on my home theater; see Audio below). When it comes to international films, our motto here at DVD CULT is give us subtitles for purists (which we are) and a dub for the kids. Thats what makes DVD great, it can easily do both. I know there is a cost associated with an English dub (a voice cast has to be hired) and that explains why Tai Seng mostly goes the subtitle route. But here they present an English dub only and a full frame film. Don’t they know that this is not VHS?

The movie is very schizophrenic in the aspect that one minute it is a serious message movie about the Chinese system of government, the next minute its slapstick comedy, the next minute it’s got a dark tone, then it goes to sex comedy. Oh yeah, about that comedy; it is very forced. This is not a Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung film with subtle comedy that comes naturally. I’m not sure who the actor is who plays the young lead Fong Sai Yuk (or Shi Yu as he is mysteriously called later in the film; a dubbing error perhaps?) and despite his obvious martial arts talent, the guy has zero charisma. Fortunately, he is surrounded with a capable supporting cast including Shirley Ng and Raymond Sun.

In the 38^th year of the Ching Emperor Kim Lung, the villainous Kow Ching Chung has nearly vanquished all Shaolin temples in the name of the Emperor. Only one order of the Shaolin remains led by Brother Hung See-Kwan. Brother Hung was taught the martial arts along with Kow when they were young men, and now they are mortal enemies. Kow leads the Emperor’s archers into an attack on Brother Hung’s temple, which results in the death of the Shaolin followers, but Brother Hung manages to escape and he goes into hiding.

Meanwhile, Fong Sai Yuk’s parents hire the local matchmaker to find a young woman for their arrogant son to marry. Fong’s mother is a middle-aged martial artist herself, who has trained him since he was a boy. She also used to have a relationship with Brother Hung, whom she encounters and joins the Shaolin cause. Fong is not happy with the women the matchmaker is trying to set up with him, when suddenly a young lady being chased by the Emperor’s guards comes running though his property. Fong manages to hide the young girl. Next Brother Hung has amassed some Shaolin followers for a surprise attack on one of the Emperor’s weapons transports. However, this turns out to be a trap, and Brother hung is nearly captured. This means there is a traitor in their midst.

Soon Fong has found his wife in the young lady he saved (named Moon). But shortly after their marriage, Kow’s guards besiege Fong’s home and after an intense battle with the kung-fu mother, they kill her and her husband. Kow locates Brother Hung and induces him with a poison that drives him crazy, and makes him want to attack people. Pretty soon the peace loving Brother Hung is running around jumping on friends and foes alike! Soon it is revealed that newlywed Moon is the traitor, though she claims to have changed her ways. She goes to Kow’s building to tell him she is done with the spying and she is sexually assaulted by Kow. Rather than submit to his advances, she kills herself. Now the stage is set for this revenge scenario; Fong Sai Yuk must atone for the death’s of his parents and his bride. Fong and Brother Hung join forces to challenge Kow Ching Chung’s and his renegade troops.

There are a few decent fights here, some of them enhanced by speed photography and usage of cables. There is a lot of stunt work and a high body count. Here is a brief description of some of the mayhem:

An archer shoots at point blank range an old Shaolin in the stomach.

Kow Ching Chung strangles his middle-aged female assistant.

The poisoned Brother Hung goes crazy and attacks his compatriots, and while they try to restrain him, a little boy comes by and pees into Brother Hung’s mouth. Then Hung miraculously becomes himself again!

Kow uses a death blow and puts his fist through the bloody body of a soldier.

Fong’s mother is killed by multiple arrows.

Moon commits suicide by impaling herself on a sword rather then submitting to Kow’s advances.

Shaolin temple patrons are slashed to death at the hands of Kow’s guards.

Kow performs another deathblow to an official who hemorrhages to death.

SIGHT

When the movie starts, the brief credits sequence is letterboxed at 1.85.1. After that the movie goes to full frame. I hate that. Considering that SHAOLIN AVENGERS is only five years old, the transfer is not good. I suspect that letterboxing it would have resolved most of the problems evident here. But, the transfer is far from bad, it’s just not what it should be. First the good news: There are no nics, scars, or imperfections in the film elements. There is however, a haze that gives the film a soft look. Colors are affected by this haze and appear muted. Detail in the cinematography (something that HK films are known for) and interiors/exteriors is non-existent. Grain rears it ugly head on more than one occasion. Blacks and shadow detail do not seem to be properly balanced. Generally, the video quality is slightly better than VHS but not up to DVD standards. To be fair, the transfer is better than the kung-fu films being put out by Xenon (both companies are aiming for the same audience and price range).

SOUND

This is one strange sounding stereo mix. The front soundstage is well done and the clanging swords, martial arts blows, etc. all sound good. One problem is that the dubbed voices come from the center speaker, but are buried in the mix. You can turn up the volume to hear the dialog, but this causes the stereo effects volume to go up as well. So you have to listen closely. Basically, what it sounds like is whoever mastered the soundtrack was working from several sources, one being the sound effects and music track and the other being the dub track. When they mastered it all together they neglected to synchronize the volume of all the sound elements and the vocals got buried. The other problem with the mix is lack of bass. So as I said the movie sounds great when we view a swordfight or a battle scene, but the dialog is muffled and the bass is flat during non-battle scenes. But it still sounds better than a mono mix. The next complaints are not the fault of the DVD mastering, but I have to comment on the dubbing. It is well synchronized, however nearly all the voices sound the same. The noncredited soundtrack is a mish mash of film scores, some I’ve heard before. The filmmakers must have been strapped for cash and when it came time to add the score decided to lift cues from various sources. One part of the score I recognized from a Japanese animated film. The result is that none of the music is repeated and none of it matches the action and drama unfolding before us. It’s a very distracting score (I don’t say that too often).

FEATURES

This is a no frills DVD per Tai Seng’s marketing strategy. However there is a trailer-medley (as I like to call it), consisting of scenes of their Shaolin Classic Series. Besides SHAOLIN AVENGERS, scenes are lifted from Tai Seng’s other films in the series, DESCENDENT OF WING CHUN and LEGEND OF THE DRUNKEN TIGER. This trailer medley is accompanied by an appropriate rock soundtrack.

CONCLUSION

Well, I think Tai Seng fumbled the ball somewhat with this one. They ponied up a much requested English dub, and could have had something special if they released it in the original ratio. But this is their first crack at the budget line so there is room and time for improvement. Shaolin fans can do a lot worse than to check this one out, although I was not too fond of some of the casting. If Tai Seng can find a middle ground with their budget series by tweaking up the video quality and optioning for subtitles, we could have a winner with this new series. But as it is, buyer beware.

SHAOLIN AVENGERS is available from DVDEmpire.com

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