Plot: What’s it about?
Although he is a master of the Shaolin style, Fa Tien (Gordon Liu) has resolved not to use his skills, as they’re so superior to those of other fighters. But of course, given the needed circumstances he would be compelled to use his skills, which is just what happens. He is called upon to transport an important map to some allies, which won’t be an easy task to say the least. But since he has incredible fighting skills, he seems to be the best man for the task and as such, he agrees to handle the mission. So now he must travel to Dragon Town and with such a valuable item in his possession, he is bound to run into trouble and of course, he does. But with such awesome skills at his disposal, he should be able to make the trek unharmed, but with a lot of road in front of him, it seems as though anything could happen. As he passes through the lands, will he be able to unleash his might onto his opponents, or will he revert to his ways of hiding his skills?
This movie is a good one for fans of martial arts cinema, as Gordon Liu (The Master Killer, Fist and Guts) offers a solid performance and there’s some terrific moments. I wouldn’t rank this with the best kung fu movies out there, but genre fans will find a lot to like here, even if it isn’t a masterful picture in the end. I found the scenes with the “hopping dead” to be hilarious and of course, there’s plenty of great action sequences to be seen in The Warrior from Shaolin. It takes a ways to get to the action, but the scenes that do surface are good, very stuff indeed. If you want an action packed movie, then this might not be the best choice, but I do think this should be seen, if you’re a serious fan of martial arts cinema. This has been released as part of Tai Seng’s lower priced line, in this case one of three discs in the Master Killer Collection. The video is nothing to shout about and the audio is only offered in an English dubbed edition, but given the low price here, I think this is a more than decent release. So if you’re looking to expand your martial arts collection at an affordable price, then I recommend The Warrior from Shaolin and if you do purchase this disc, make sure to listen to the very informative audio commentary track.
Video: How does it look?
The Warrior from Shaolin is presented in a full frame transfer. As I mentioned above, the transfer here is nothing to get excited about, but if you’re used to the VHS edition, this is a nice improvement. I liken this to a new VHS tape, as the image is not that impressive, but looks good enough to watch. This presentation is a mixed bag, as the image varies greatly between the dark and light sequences. The dark scenes look very poor, with overly light contrast and a very unnatural look at all times. But the lighter sequences look solid, with good colors and black levels present. The print also shows some scratches and debris, but this is to be expected, as even recent Hong Kong films show wear signs of some kind. This is not as good as I would like, but I’ve never seen the film look better, so I think fans will want to give this one a spin.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio is better in technical terms, but the English dub is not too impressive. I’d love to see an original language edition, but aside from the dub issue, this is a decent enough option. The audio comes through via a stereo track and sounds stable, with no serious errors to discuss. The music and sound effects have their usual chop-socky presence and come across well, as far as aged stereo tracks are concerned. The dialogue is clean and easy to understand, although hilarious in terms of voice acting. As I said, I wish an original language track was included, but for what this option is, I can’t complain too much.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes an audio commentary with Ric Myers, who has a lot to knowledge when it comes to Hong Kong cinema. Myers talks about the stars and their place in H.K. cinema, as well as production stories and even some personal anecdotes. He also interjects some humor and tries to explain why some scenes just don’t make sense, but of course, he admits he is unable to. I am pleased to find an audio commentary on a lower priced disc, very cool indeed.
