1080p Kung Fu Films

[vik2001]

which are some of the best kung fu films available in 1080p quality.

 

im loving watching kung fu in 1080 adds a whole different experience.  ive watched in 1080p:

bruce lee - all of them

drunken master

enter the 36th chamber

police story

clan of the white lotus

5 deadly venoms

crippled avengers

rise of the legend

true legend

 

 

just wanted to know what else is out there, as I want to build up a collection...

[chenzen]

I'm sort of in a love hate relationship with 1080P as far as classic kung fu movies go. I love modern day Kung fu Films obviously in HD and even full blown remasters but I believe 1080p has ruined the magic of a lot of older movies. When I was a kid Tai Chi Master and New Legend of shaolin were amazing on Vhs on an old tube Tv. I bought Tai Chi Master on Bluray  and I could see wires on nearly every fight seen.As for New legend of Saolin the netflix version had an Hd streaming option and once again more wires were visible. I don't know if I was just a naive kid who couldn't see them or If the hd elements literally revealed more in the films.

[DragonClaws]

I'm sort of in a love hate relationship with 1080P as far as classic kung fu movies go. I love modern day Kung fu Films obviously in HD and even full blown remasters but I believe 1080p has ruined the magic of a lot of older movies. When I was a kid Tai Chi Master and New Legend of shaolin were amazing on Vhs on an old tube Tv. I bought Tai Chi Master on Bluray  and I could see wires on nearly every fight seen.As for New legend of Saolin the netflix version had an Hd streaming option and once again more wires were visible. I don't know if I was just a naive kid who couldn't see them or If the hd elements literally revealed more in the films.

You can spot more faults in older films, and this does not just apply to the Kung Fu genre. I find HD is great for new movies but some older titles don't benefit from it at all. That's not to say all older films are bad in HD, but some of the SFX in older titles don't hold up well when presented in high definition.

[reason108]

I have so gotten use to blu-ray that the old dvd format looks horrible now. Not all releases of course, but a good majority of them. But, it is possible that films are not mastered properly for the HD format. There are a lot of films that do appear to be a little brighter than they looked previously and yes, it does tend to expose wires and stuff. I think that 90`s films are the worst offenders of over-use of wires. 

 

 

which are some of the best kung fu films available in 1080p quality.

 

im loving watching kung fu in 1080 adds a whole different experience.  ive watched in 1080p:

bruce lee - all of them

drunken master

enter the 36th chamber

police story

clan of the white lotus

5 deadly venoms

crippled avengers

rise of the legend

true legend

 

 

just wanted to know what else is out there, as I want to build up a collection...

 

 

There are a lot of Shaw Brothers movies on iTunes now that are 1080p. Also, there are some Jackie Chan Japanese Extreme Edition blu-ray that have true HD transfers of theatrical prints. There is also a recent Korean release of Swordsman II and III that should be true HD. 

 

 

[David Rees]

Seen lots of Shaws in HD, Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Heroes of the East, Heroes Two and many more and it makes a huge difference, especially on a large screen over 32". I very rarely buy any DVDs now as most just dont look as good  (as long as the transfer is done correctly as mentioned)

[DragonClaws]

What are people's thoughts on Ultra HD, the new foramt that's getting launched next year?. Many films sadly never made it to DVD let alone HD or Ultra HD. I'm not just talking about the major studio releases, but the lesser known titles released by independents companies such as PM Entertainment.

[reason108]

What are people's thoughts on Ultra HD, the new foramt that's getting launched next year?. Many films sadly never made it to DVD let alone HD or Ultra HD. I'm not just talking about the major studio releases, but the lesser known titles released by independents companies such as PM Entertainment.

I think that it is too early to tell. Has anyone seen native 4k? Some people say that there is a difference on some of the Sony 4k mastered blu-rays that have come out in the last couple of years. But, UHD would be a whole other thing. It would be interesting to see a native 4k movie on a 4k television. But, from what I have read, the new UHD players would be able to play blu-ray, and dvd, I think. I would imagine that an upscaled blu-ray might look pretty good. But, an upscaled dvd, not so much. 

 

It would be a while before I spent money on the format. Blu-ray looks very good to my eyes. Not sure how much better native 4k would look. I don't want to replace my television or PS3 until they die. I am not going out and replacing stuff every year like people do with phones. Baby steps. Let`s see how some of the 4k Fortune Star remasters will look before we go spending a crap load of money. 

[DragonClaws]

Ive read a few interviews with people behind the format & they say the bigger the screen the more you will notice the difference. Some argue that it pointless to have a 4K screen on a phone because the screen size effects quality of the image. It will be interesting to see how they promote this and what price they'll expect people to pay for a disc.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

I am getting mighty spoiled by Celestial's HD versions of the Shaw Brothers library. I do wish they'd post something new though, they teased Brave Archer back in May (not that I need those right away.)  I really love the costumes, sets, cinematography in the Shaws work so it helps to see all those great details. 

 

That said, I am just fine with okay prints on independent films providing the English subtitles or dub are clear - easy to read / hear (understand.)  I have no problems with the Fortune Star releases - (tho their English subtitles are freaking hilarious.)   As long as I can enjoy what I am watching, I'm good. 

 

 

[DragonClaws]

There's a lot of films crying out for restoration especially regarding independent Kung Fu films. It was great to see the Shaw's library get restored because those films really deserved it. I'd just like to see some titles from other studios get restored. I guess the big labels are only after the film they can re-issue over and over again. From what Ive read about film distribution on DVD/BR, its not as straight forward as it first appears to fans.

[venom10463]

If the content I'm looking to buy is available in HD and after doing my research to ensure the film was given the best possible treatment, I'll consider purchasing. HD contents has spoiled me over the years, so I prefer to watch everything I can find in HD. I still buy DVDs only if it's not available on Blu-ray. Moreover, watching classic kung fu movies in HD, you might be able to notice imperfections, but that goes to show the power of HD. The clarity and sound of HD allows me to experience the film from another perspective when I first watched it on VHS and then DVD.

[DragonClaws]

If the content I'm looking to buy is available in HD and after doing my research to ensure the film was given the best possible treatment, I'll consider purchasing. HD contents has spoiled me over the years, so I prefer to watch everything I can find in HD. I still buy DVDs only if it's not available on Blu-ray. Moreover, watching classic kung fu movies in HD, you might be able to notice imperfections, but that goes to show the power of HD. The clarity and sound of HD allows me to experience the film from another perspective when I first watched it on VHS and then DVD.

The jump from VHS to DVD was bigger and but I don't feel the change to HD has been as big. I'm not knocking it because its certainly made a lot of improvements. There has been some negative comments on the internet about the treatment of older titles. Such as the backlash on the restoration of The Good The Bad & The Ugly that came out with a yellowish tint to it. I have very fond memories of VHS but it was very primitive when you look at it now.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

There's a lot of films crying out for restoration especially regarding independent Kung Fu films. It was great to see the Shaw's library get restored because those films really deserved it. I'd just like to see some titles from other studios get restored. I guess the big labels are only after the film they can re-issue over and over again. From what Ive read about film distribution on DVD/BR, its not as straight forward as it first appears to fans.

 

I agree. 

 

From what I've read, distribution has to do with paying licensing rights and when a genre gets popular the rightful owners can get greedy. That's what happened with a lot of Italian genre material in the mid aughts. Everyone was releasing them and then some Italian owners got greedy and began asking for double or triple the original price. When the market declined, a lot of distributors went under and titles were cancelled. No Shame was a big loss for me, they produced some wonderful special editions. And staying in Fu ville here, it's too bad Media Blasters and Navarro / Funimation also threw in the towel.  I almost don't want to know what happened with Dragon Dynasty (the Weinsteins can be such )

 

I wish more studios would consider doing what Warner Brothers is with their Golden Harvest titles, making them available to buy on demand.

 

I don't have a favorite HD or blu ray release yet but I am happy to have some kung fu films in that format.

[vik2001]

I watched drunken master in 1080 and it was a totally different watch for me, made it even better to watch again, crips clear colours.

 

also got snake in the eagles shadow to watch in 1080, and the young master.

 

[DragonClaws]

I agree. 

 

From what I've read, distribution has to do with paying licensing rights and when a genre gets popular the rightful owners can get greedy. That's what happened with a lot of Italian genre material in the mid aughts. Everyone was releasing them and then some Italian owners got greedy and began asking for double or triple the original price. When the market declined, a lot of distributors went under and titles were cancelled. No Shame was a big loss for me, they produced some wonderful special editions. And staying in Fu ville here, it's too bad Media Blasters and Navarro / Funimation also threw in the towel.  I almost don't want to know what happened with Dragon Dynasty (the Weinsteins can be such )

 

I wish more studios would consider doing what Warner Brothers is with their Golden Harvest titles, making them available to buy on demand.

 

I don't have a favorite HD or blu ray release yet but I am happy to have some kung fu films in that format.

It must be hard to try and release films in a niche market if the rights owners decide to get greedy. After reading about the Italian right owners having a negative effect on that market. Makes you wonder just how many other film releases/labels have been effected by this over the years.

[Lady Jin Szu-Yi]

Indeed. Fingers crossed that Celestial weren't kidding about more possible blu ray releases.

I hope Synapse's eventual Argento remasters kindle enough sales for other distributions to take chances again I am still pleasantly surprised at seeing new Blue Underground releases a couple of times a year (and there is Arrow* and Kino films too); Warner Brothers have the right idea - blu ray / dvd / video on demand. I can't imagine how many films are just sitting in the vaults.  Maybe our own Kung Fu  Bob can convince Shout Factory to release some more KF films too.   *Arrow are putting out some interesting Japanese releases lately.

[Kwok Choi]

The IVL 36th Chamber Of Shaolin trilogy Blu-ray discs are awesome http://asianactioncinema.co.uk/36th-chamber-of-shaolin-blu-ray-box-set-review/ to such an extent that I have decided to do a private screening on a big cinema screen via a 4K digital cinema projector to motive my 14 year old son about discipline if he wants to fulfil his dream of becoming a Rugby professional player.

Tokyo Shock's Heroes Two Blu-ray is also of amazing quality.