Member GOLDEN DRAGON YIN-YANG Posted May 6, 2014 Member Share Posted May 6, 2014 The only print of this I have seen the color fads in and out in and out. Very irritating so I did not watch one of my favorite Jimmy Wang Yu flixs. GD Y-Y Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member WaverBoy Posted September 3, 2021 Member Share Posted September 3, 2021 (edited) So, what’s the current story on this film again? I have the original 2002 Pathfinder DVD which I purchased when it first came out. It contains (what I assume to be) the uncut version under the English title of One Armed Boxer Vs. The Flying Guillotine. It’s non-anamorphic but the print is still quite watchable when zoomed and upscaled on my 4K TV. There are two audio tracks, the original Mandarin and the original English dub, with the Mandarin track and English subs popping up during the dub for those sections that were (presumably) never dubbed because the export version was (presumably) cut. I have heard that the 2004 Pathfinder reissue DVD is anamorphic but looks markedly worse because the available elements became damaged in the interim — how much worse does it really look? From reading the DVDTalk review of the reissue DVD it appears that the uncut Mandarin version (93 minutes) and the cut English dubbed version (90 minutes) are presented on separate discs, so if you want the dub you have to watch the cut version, which would kinda suck. I hadn’t previously heard about the Madman DVD, which apparently uses the same degraded-but-anamorphic transfer for the uncut Mandarin version and…a completely different and better transfer for the cut English version, except this version runs even shorter than the cut version on the Pathfinder reissue, only 81 minutes…??? And the original soundtrack has been jettisoned due to copyright reasons? If I have all this correct, why are there two different shortened English versions? And would it be theoretically possible to do an HD remaster using this new better quality shortened element as the base and fill in the missing bits from the inferior print? That would be fantastic, because then we could do a fanedit and fuse the original Mandarin and English/Mandarin hybrid soundtracks from the 2002 Pathfinder DVD onto my fantasy HD remaster… At any rate, it appears that I should probably just stick with my current DVD as it’s uncut with the hybrid dub and it’s less damaged than the uncut version in the later DVDs…? And, another question — was there ever a print that’s actually titled Master Of The Flying Guillotine, or was that title only used for the posters? The Wikipedia entry for this could definitely use some more details! Edited September 5, 2021 by WaverBoy 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted September 15, 2021 Member Share Posted September 15, 2021 (edited) I suspect there originally was an English dub that corresponded to the 90+min version as if you watch the old UK DVD/VHS, you can hear some jumps on the audio where those scenes were removed. Also, it was fairly standard at the time for the HK company to have a full English dub. The original British theatrical versions ran 82min, and was classed under both of its English titles - https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/one-armed-boxer-vs-the-flying-guillotine-film-qxnzzxq6vlgtnjqxotyw The UK VHS and DVD slowed down the MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE title shot so they could put on their new title ONE ARMED BOXER 2 and slowed down the ONE ARMED BOXER VS THE FLYING GUILLOTINE title shot so it remained blank. This is the same practice the UK company Atlas did for TATTOO CONNECTION and BRUCE & THE SHAOLIN BRONZEMEN, which they renamed BLACK BELT JONES 2 and KING BOXER 2! From memory, the longer English version on Pathfinder's second release was a hybrid of English and Mandarin, rendering it somewhat pointless! . I am not aware of any home video version having a longer English dub than 82 min, unless someone can check the old Eastern Heroes VHS? If someone were to do a homemade version, the best thing would be to convert the shorter English version on the R4 release from PAL to NTSC, then fill in the gaps with a 16:9 blow-up of Pathfinder's 2002 version! This review details the problems with the 2004 transfer - http://www.dighkmovies.com/v5/252/252a.html Quote In honor of the movie’s anniversary (actually a bit pre-mature, as it will not be 30 years until 2006), the company has issued a new double disc set featuring the 93 minute Mandarin edition and 90 minute English dub on separate platters. Both share the same anamorphic transfer, which is very much inferior to the old 4:3 letterbox edition. The restored negative picked a great deal of additional wear in the interim, thanks to First Films’ use of it to create new 35mm prints. Ideally, the company should have made a back-up negative beforehand, but they evidently wanted to do it as cheaply as possible, so we are now back to square one with no decent elements left for this movie. In order to try and mask the extra damage, a great deal of digital video noise reduction has been employed to clean the image up, resulting in a very soft, hazy picture. There are also sequences where the colors are quite noticeably out-of-whack. The climactic fight is also marred by numerous instances where frames have been repeated to mask damage, badly effecting the fluidity of the combatants’ movements. While the 4:3 transfer certainly displayed problems, it was crisp and satisfying, considering the condition of the elements. The 16:9 transfer, alas, looks more like a budget video of only slightly higher quality than the junk regularly issued by Xenon, Ground Zero, and Video Asia. The new release reveals slightly more image on the left side of the screen, but it rarely makes any noticeable difference, and the audio is also somewhat inferior to the initial disc. Edited September 15, 2021 by Killer Meteor 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member WaverBoy Posted September 16, 2021 Member Share Posted September 16, 2021 What would be ideal is to locate the print element used for the Madman release and also locate one of the first new 35mm prints made from the poor abused negative by the idiots at First Films, and do a fresh scan, digital cleanup, color correction, audio restoration, etc. Could it happen? 88 Films, are you listening? 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted September 16, 2021 Member Share Posted September 16, 2021 The music rights are complicated, too! 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted September 17, 2021 Member Share Posted September 17, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Killer Meteor said: The music rights are complicated, too! yeah, this movie is just not the same without the krautrock and prog songs. That's the reason I never picked up the Madman R4 release. Edited September 17, 2021 by Yihetuan 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member paimeifist Posted September 17, 2021 Member Share Posted September 17, 2021 A shame… one of my all time favorite films, and the one that introduced me to the genre… yet I feel like there isn’t a release worth owning. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member WaverBoy Posted September 18, 2021 Member Share Posted September 18, 2021 23 hours ago, paimeifist said: A shame… one of my all time favorite films, and the one that introduced me to the genre… yet I feel like there isn’t a release worth owning. The original Pathfinder DVD is definitely worth owning IMO. Really glad to have it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted September 18, 2021 Moderator Share Posted September 18, 2021 On 9/17/2021 at 10:56 AM, Yihetuan said: yeah, this movie is just not the same without the krautrock and prog songs. That's the reason I never picked up the Madman R4 release. I'll have to check my copy to confirm, but I remember it having them? Agreed though that the soundtrack helps make the film. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted September 18, 2021 Member Share Posted September 18, 2021 7 minutes ago, Asmo said: I'll have to check my copy to confirm, but I remember it having them? Agreed though that the soundtrack helps make the film. It's definitely missing the Neu! soundtrack & replaced with a generic synth track. That's the major downside to that version even if the print quality is the best of 'em. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Asmo Posted September 18, 2021 Moderator Share Posted September 18, 2021 19 minutes ago, Yihetuan said: It's definitely missing the Neu! soundtrack & replaced with a generic synth track. That's the major downside to that version even if the print quality is the best of 'em. I'll have to go back and confirm that, as it seems my memory is playing tricks on me. That or I've seen the film so many times that the soundtrack automatically plays in my head. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member WaverBoy Posted November 28, 2021 Member Share Posted November 28, 2021 I didn’t realize before that the original 2002 Pathfinder DVD does indeed say Master Of The Flying Guillotine BEFORE the other title One-Armed Boxer Vs. The Flying Guillotine comes up. The commentators say that they think the reason is that two different title sequences from two different prints were fused together. Man this poor film is a mess. And, there’s this new version that recently popped up for a live online viewing, apparently from a privately held print — I really hope a nice custom job can ultimately result from this… 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted November 29, 2021 Member Share Posted November 29, 2021 I think the English prints always had two titles, The old 4:3 master for the UK VHS and DVD used slow motion to hide them so they could call it ONE ARMED BOXER II...which to be fair, it is. The same company re-named THE TATTOO CONNECTION as BLACK BELT JONES 2 and BRUCE AND THE SHAOLIN BRONZEMEN as KING BOXER 2! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Yihetuan Posted January 4, 2023 Member Share Posted January 4, 2023 (edited) FYI, there is a supposedly 2K HD remaster of MotFG coming out in May from German label, Cargo/Imperial. Sounds too good to be true. Edited January 4, 2023 by Yihetuan 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.