Dragon Dynasty Releases! Mad Monkey, Executioner from Shaolin, Five Shaolin Masters!

[Killer Meteor]

I'm very pleased!!!

5 Shaolin Masters is one of my all time faves!

[bratty]

I'm bummed no Avenging Eagle yet. Only one of those I'll buy is Executioners, and I'm in no rush. The other ones I'd rather hang on to my IVL releases.

[waywardsage]

Really, why?

Some of them were great.

Not sure, a lot of people on the forums really complained about the covers.

[Sheng]

Frankly, I don’t give hoot about sterile Dragon Dynasty DVD covers and I’d be actually grateful if they’d scrap the dodgy English dubs…

I think what counts the most is a pristine PAL / NTSC transfer, first & foremost. And by and large DD’s transfers have beem pretty impressive so far. Still before snapping up these its worth to remember that the IVL DVD’s of MARTIAL ARTS OF SHAOLIN and MAD MONKEY KUNG FU were both excellent. EXECUTIONERS OF SHAOLIN wasn’t quite as sparkling but still halfway decent. Only FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS, being a bit soft and fuzzy, would make me double dip solely for the expected upgrade in PQ, even without any extras and/or a Bey Logan commentary.

BTW, there are HD prints of all these four films available. So why isn’t DD announcing BD release dates simultaneously? Trying to milk true fans of these flicks twice, I suppose…

[Shaolin Chamber 36]

No job, no movies. Sad about the 5 Shaolin Masters cover too.

[John]

All this just makes me wish we still had BCI. Reversable cover with contemporary art, mono, real HD...DD can call me back when they can match a release that's 3 years old.

[Takuma]

mono

Surely DD will have real mono, too, no? The crap audio is the main reason why I sold my IVL's like 4 years ago. Was supposed to get the French discs instead, but only got round to getting a few of them. Will be picking up DD's Executioners (one of my favorites) and 5 Shaolin Masters (never saw before) for sure... unless someone comes out with BD (with mono) before that...

And yes, the cover arts suck hard.

[Shawoholic]

[quote=Takuma;164827 5 Shaolin Masters (never saw before) for sure...

[The Dragon]

I'm bummed no Avenging Eagle yet. Only one of those I'll buy is Executioners, and I'm in no rush. The other ones I'd rather hang on to my IVL releases.

And no King Boxer aka 5 Fingers of Death.

[gonzotheking]

And no King Boxer aka 5 Fingers of Death.

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or something but this has been out for a long time. It was one of the first Shaw Brothers releases by dragon dynasty. Unless you mean blu-ray. anyways here's the link to the DVD just in case:

Amazon Link

[BigDruDogg]

MAN that is so awesome!! I'm grabbing all 4. Thank you DD and keep it up

[The Dragon]

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or something but this has been out for a long time. It was one of the first Shaw Brothers releases by dragon dynasty. Unless you mean blu-ray. anyways here's the link to the DVD just in case:

Amazon Link

I have the DVD. I want this and The Water Margin on Blu-Ray.

Badly.

[kurtz]

Any word on "Classic" english dubs inclusive on these? I hope so.. my finger is poised over the pre-order button with this in mind..

(DD shaws of recent vintage have seemed to include on most counts)...

[vengeanceofhumanlanterns]

Avenging Eagle is soooo over due. I'll get Mad Monkey Kung Fu.

[bobo]

from what i always understood was that all of the DD shaw bros releases would include english dubs. that's why i'm anxious for ANONYMOUS HEROES, FLYING DAGGER and INVINCIBLE FIST to come out. as all of the announced upcoming release are available on bootlegs with the dubs i don't see any reason why DD would not include them.

[John]

Surely DD will have real mono, too, no? The crap audio is the main reason why I sold my IVL's like 4 years ago. Was supposed to get the French discs instead, but only got round to getting a few of them. Will be picking up DD's Executioners (one of my favorites) and 5 Shaolin Masters (never saw before) for sure... unless someone comes out with BD (with mono) before that...

And yes, the cover arts suck hard.

Oh, I have no doubt they'll include mono. Whether or not it's the original mono however...thus far DD has often defaulted to Mandarin on Shaw Bros. titles, even when there should be Cantonese (e.g. Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, Disciples of the 36th Chamber). This time 'round only Mad Monkey poses an issue, so I guess 2/3 is something.

In any event, it would be really unfortunate if Harvey Weinstein and company were found in a ditch with several of these swell new Dee-Vee-Dees jammed into their orifices! You know, just saying. That would be a real calamity. I emphatically hope they meet better fortunes. Fingers crossed.

[Guest Markgway]

Ironic that we used to get Mandairn films with Cantonese dubtracks (ie. Bruce Lee) and now we get Cantonese films with mandarin dubtracks (ie. My Young Auntie). Christ, if you're not sure just include BOTH!

[David Rees]

If BOTH dubs are done at the time of release, how do you say which is correct?

[OldPangYau]

I'm also on the "include all" bandwagon. However, it can get confusing as to what you're supposed to listen to.

When I first watched 36th Chamber of Shaolin, I had to flip back and forth between Cantonese and Mandarin to find what synched up better. Finally went with Mandarin, but I could've sworn I read that it was a Cantonese film. Seems to be the Lau kar-leung films where head scratching becomes the norm in regards to figuring out which dialect is the "right" one.

Maybe my memory is wrong, but wasn't one Lau Kar-leung Wong Fei-hong film shot in Mandarin (Challenge of the Masters) and the other in Cantonese (Martial Club)? Need to watch those again...

[Guest Markgway]

If BOTH dubs are done at the time of release, how do you say which is correct?

Let's not go over this again...

When I first watched 36th Chamber of Shaolin, I had to flip back and forth between Cantonese and Mandarin to find what synched up better. Finally went with Mandarin, but I could've sworn I read that it was a Cantonese film. Seems to be the Lau kar-leung films where head scratching becomes the norm in regards to figuring out which dialect is the "right" one.Maybe my memory is wrong, but wasn't one Lau Kar-leung Wong Fei-hong film shot in Mandarin (Challenge of the Masters) and the other in Cantonese (Martial Club)? Need to watch those again...

Heroes of the East << Mandarin

The Spiritual Boxer, Part II >> Cantonese

[masterofoneinchpunch]

...When I first watched 36th Chamber of Shaolin, I had to flip back and forth between Cantonese and Mandarin to find what synched up better. Finally went with Mandarin, but I could've sworn I read that it was a Cantonese film. Seems to be the Lau kar-leung films where head scratching becomes the norm in regards to figuring out which dialect is the "right" one.

...

"Many directors, including the kung-fu master Lau Kar-leung, simply asked their players to recite numbers during takes and dubbed in lines later." (from Interview with Gordon Chan) from Planet Hong Kong (2000) by David Bordwell

[John]

Let's not go over this again...

What, it's not like you can just find previous instances of this topic with minimal effort.

...

But maybe we're due a sticky.

[Guest Markgway]

What, it's not like you can just find previous instances of this topic with minimal effort.

I know, it's just that this question seems to come up every couple of months, and David Rees has been on this board long enough to have seen the issue covered numerous times.

I understand NEW members may not be informed, so here's a recap.

It was Shaw's policy to make all martial arts movies in Mandarin, that included the early works of Lau Kar-Leung (from The Spiritual Boxer to Heroes of the East).

As Cantonese Kung Fu movies from other studios (ie. Golden Harvest, Seasonal) proved very successful, Lau was allowed by Shaws to make his own Cantonese pictures (from The Spiritual Boxer, Part II forward).

[John]

With apologies to Markgway, I will clarify that the search function is seriously undervalued and my sarcasm weaker than a sober Sam Seed.

[OldPangYau]

I know, it's just that this question seems to come up every couple of months, and David Rees has been on this board long enough to have seen the issue covered numerous times.

I understand NEW members may not be informed, so here's a recap.

It was Shaw's policy to make all martial arts movies in Mandarin, that included the early works of Lau Kar-Leung (from The Spiritual Boxer to Heroes of the East).

As Cantonese Kung Fu movies from other studios (ie. Golden Harvest, Seasonal) proved very successful, Lau was allowed by Shaws to make his own Cantonese pictures (from The Spiritual Boxer, Part II forward).

That sounds about right... it was around the "Sammo Hung era" at Golden Harvest ('77? '78?) when Cantonese was picking up, as well as Jackie Chan's back to back Seasonal hits. Guess it only made sense for SB to go "hmm... might need to shift linguistic gears here..."