The Arrow Films Blu-ray Thread

[LiuYiLong]

47 minutes ago, Karlos said:

As for the packaging, I'm torn - from the pictures out there it looks massive, but dammit, I'll find room!!

It's really not that big mate, they used the Speilberg / Bond Boxsets as a template.

Shawscope Vol1 comes in at just 27.8 x 18.6 x 3.8 cm.

for comparison the Complete Gamera set was 30.99 x 21.84 x 5.59 cm

And Criterion's Godzilla is - 42.1 x 30.1 x 3.3 cm

 

A regular sized, standard bluray box Arrow boxset ( the vengeance trilogy ) is ‎ 17.6 x 14 x 4.7 cm

for an easier to check if it'll fit on your shelf reference..

If you have any scanavo case style releases ( any single criterion Blu-Ray disc, Eureka's One armed boxer, any 88 films Shaw's title)

Take the cover out the box and lay it flat. The Arrow boxset will be that wide and just about 2cm taller.

 

[wmcguire18]

The packaging is a tempest in a teapot, imo. I have the Spielberg set and it presents no storage difficulties.

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 7/12/2021 at 1:41 PM, wmcguire18 said:

It's really enlightening-- on Home Video Boutique Facebook groups you'll find people who are interested in the set because the form of it makes it clear that it's a big deal but they don't know much about the films themselves, but then on Shaw fan groups a lot of people were totally unaware of Arrow as a brand and there was a lot of consternation about the need to upgrade.

When I was asking people why there weren't SB films in print in Region 1 a lot of people told me you couldn't make money on them because of bootleggers. I would suggest that there's two separate audiences for Shaw in America and someone, hopefully Arrow needs to bridge the gap because if they do-- we're gonna get DOZENS of releases a year.

First, @wmcguire18 welcome to the site.

You've made some very interesting points about the different potential audiences for these releases. I have noticed a lot of younger people that haven't seen any of these films but are interested in checking them out, and that's exciting. New generations are open to experiencing these films and it seems most that do are having positive reactions to them. I've experienced it personally as my son was never too interested in my huge collection, but slowly started checking stuff out as he hit his late teens.  He's now in his late twenties and has been watching Asian cinema on a fairly regular basis. In fact, he called today to talk about YES, MADAM which he watched for the first time last night. Like most people, he could've done with less of the three wacky guys, but was blown away by all the action and impressed by Yeoh, Rothrock, and the brave (insane?) stuntmen..

 

On 7/12/2021 at 1:43 PM, wmcguire18 said:

I give them away to friends as I upgrade-- I have five or so close friends I've introduced Shaw to and I like to gift them my old stuff because I know they'll enjoy it.

I love that! I do the same, just haven't with the Shaw ones.

I did get rid of a some titles long ago when I upgraded to Hong Kong Legends releases of them, only to discover that some of the HKL's versions were missing things from the editions I'd given away! Thereafter I was much more careful about what I gave away.

 

On 7/13/2021 at 4:32 PM, WaverBoy said:

I have mixed feelings on the subject. For instance, I love my big awesome Gamera box, even though I can’t fit it on the shelf next to everything else. Excellent package for fans, and FAR superior to Criterion’s ridiculously unwieldy Godzilla book thingy. I’ll need to see better pictures of the Arrow box or an unboxing video before I cast my judgement on this one.

I bought the Gamera Limited Edition set, but haven't had a chance to open it up yet. However, the Godzilla one is huge. A small child could practically use it as a pup-tent!

As for me, I'm not judging that packaging, it's just not my preference. But will I still cherish it? Yeeeeesssss. If there's no room on a shelf... I'll throw away some furniture or shoes (not mine) to make a spot for it.

 

On 7/13/2021 at 4:35 PM, WaverBoy said:

I’m unloading all my old crappy Kung fu DVDs as they get upgraded. I mean, really…Crash Cinema and Ground Zero…and if I had previously bought any of the IVL’s, I’d have unloaded those too because of the rotten remixes.

That makes sense. The problem I have with that is: if I upgrade and there's a better version of something... I'm loathe to give my friends an inferior version.

 

23 hours ago, Karlos said:

That Arrow set is so damn awesome I very nearly wept when I saw the announcement.

11 stone cold classics right there (as well as Mighty Peking Man - a fun, kitsch flick that I dig but would not consider essential by any means.  But hey, it has it's charms as well as it's fans).

As for the packaging, I'm torn - from the pictures out there it looks massive, but dammit, I'll find room!!

Same here @Karlos! If it had only contained the Lau Kar-Leung films I would've been ecstatic. Every other title in there is just gravy.

 

22 hours ago, LiuYiLong said:

It's really not that big mate, they used the Speilberg / Bond Boxsets as a template.

Shawscope Vol1 comes in at just 27.8 x 18.6 x 3.8 cm.

for comparison the Complete Gamera set was 30.99 x 21.84 x 5.59 cm

And Criterion's Godzilla is - 42.1 x 30.1 x 3.3 cm

 

If I ever need a new place to live I may just open up my Gamera and Godzila sets and with some duct tape... I think I could make a cozy little shack.

[wmcguire18]

5 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

First, @wmcguire18 welcome to the site.

You've made some very interesting points about the different potential audiences for these releases. I have noticed a lot of younger people that haven't seen any of these films but are interested in checking them out, and that's exciting. New generations are open to experiencing these films and it seems most that do are having positive reactions to them. I've experienced it personally as my son was never too interested in my huge collection, but slowly started checking stuff out as he hit his late teens.  He's now in his late twenties and has been watching Asian cinema on a fairly regular basis. In fact, he called today to talk about YES, MADAM which he watched for the first time last night. Like most people, he could've done with less of the three wacky guys, but was blown away by all the action and impressed by Yeoh, Rothrock, and the brave (insane?) stuntmen..

 

I love that! I do the same, just haven't with the Shaw ones.

I did get rid of a some titles long ago when I upgraded to Hong Kong Legends releases of them, only to discover that some of the HKL's versions were missing things from the editions I'd given away! Thereafter I was much more careful about what I gave away.

Thanks for the warm welcome, @KUNG FU BOB.

I came into world cinema through Hong Kong action. My Blockbuster kept about half of its Jackie Chans in "FOREIGN" rather than action, and after devouring those I moved to John Woo, from John Woo to Takeshi Kitano, and from there to French crime stuff and then it was off to the races.

I bring this up because I had, until I was in high school been given the impression that HK action films before Bruce Lee were of circumspect quality and interest. The turning point for me was Dragon Dynasty, a label I loved collecting at the time, advertising a number of Shaw Brothers releases that had been remastered and seeing how beautiful they looked in previews I took a chance and fell in love with THE ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN.

I collect Asian cinema in general, but this past year has really been focused on filling out my Shaw collection and old school kung fu in general. In this time I've had a lot more contact with old school kung fu fans on Facebook on my group and in others and I'm really hoping that these Arrow and 88 releases connect boutique film buffs with the films in the way I was brought to them-- with the best presentation and production value available. AT THE SAME TIME, I hope these releases can reach the ENORMOUS audience of people who grew up with these films on Black Belt Theater and bought bootleg VHS's and DVD's of them from kiosks on street corners and who don't know a Criterion from a Eureka. Not only because selfishly, it will lead to more and better releases as the years go by, but because our community of appreciators can only gain from the diversity of viewpoints and experiences that such a melding would bring.

I can say that so far from the reactions I've seen, Arrow has come out of the gates swinging SO HARD that there's a lot of boutique blu ray people who are perked up and paying attention who wouldn't normally be. And the announcement of the "real" cut of CHINATOWN KID and the very hard to find titles DEATH CHAMBERS and DIRTY HO have gotten a lot of the die hards on board. I'm just hoping that success can be sustained and we can enjoy great releases from ARROW, 88, and anyone else for the foreseeable future.

[Super Ninja]

Preordered!

Most or all of my 88 preorders will probably have to wait next month...

[FightingFool]

2 cds will be included too. Time goes fast, when it was first announced felt it will be eternity and some more to wait but now it`s just bit over 2 months. And of course hoping arrow will ship it bit earlier than official street date if get it for x-mas holidays would be neat. Have not yet gotten so excited into package itself, prefer amaray cases. But sure that is going to look impressive in top of shelf above others. Like a King of collection

[ShawAngela]

1 hour ago, FightingFool said:

2 cds will be included too. Time goes fast, when it was first announced felt it will be eternity and some more to wait but now it`s just bit over 2 months. And of course hoping arrow will ship it bit earlier than official street date if get it for x-mas holidays would be neat. Have not yet gotten so excited into package itself, prefer amaray cases. But sure that is going to look impressive in top of shelf above others. Like a King of collection

2 cds of Shaw's songs, I guess ? That would be great !

This picture of Chinatown Kid is great too, I'm very impatient to get this, though I still wonder where I'll find a place to put it !!

And I'm impatient to know what will be in the volume two !!

This boxset looks great to me, though each disc won't be in a "real" case...

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 7/15/2021 at 2:44 AM, wmcguire18 said:

Thanks for the warm welcome, @KUNG FU BOB.

I came into world cinema through Hong Kong action. My Blockbuster kept about half of its Jackie Chans in "FOREIGN" rather than action, and after devouring those I moved to John Woo, from John Woo to Takeshi Kitano, and from there to French crime stuff and then it was off to the races.

I bring this up because I had, until I was in high school been given the impression that HK action films before Bruce Lee were of circumspect quality and interest. The turning point for me was Dragon Dynasty, a label I loved collecting at the time, advertising a number of Shaw Brothers releases that had been remastered and seeing how beautiful they looked in previews I took a chance and fell in love with THE ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN.

I collect Asian cinema in general, but this past year has really been focused on filling out my Shaw collection and old school kung fu in general. In this time I've had a lot more contact with old school kung fu fans on Facebook on my group and in others and I'm really hoping that these Arrow and 88 releases connect boutique film buffs with the films in the way I was brought to them-- with the best presentation and production value available. AT THE SAME TIME, I hope these releases can reach the ENORMOUS audience of people who grew up with these films on Black Belt Theater and bought bootleg VHS's and DVD's of them from kiosks on street corners and who don't know a Criterion from a Eureka. Not only because selfishly, it will lead to more and better releases as the years go by, but because our community of appreciators can only gain from the diversity of viewpoints and experiences that such a melding would bring.

I can say that so far from the reactions I've seen, Arrow has come out of the gates swinging SO HARD that there's a lot of boutique blu ray people who are perked up and paying attention who wouldn't normally be. And the announcement of the "real" cut of CHINATOWN KID and the very hard to find titles DEATH CHAMBERS and DIRTY HO have gotten a lot of the die hards on board. I'm just hoping that success can be sustained and we can enjoy great releases from ARROW, 88, and anyone else for the foreseeable future.

You're welcome. And thank you for the great posts.

Ah, you're bringing back memories... the treasures I found in Blockbusters, West Coast Video, Movies Unlimited, TLA Video, and all the little Mom & Pop video stores in the tri-state area! The surprises to be found in the "Foreign" sections (when a store had one) were often exhilarating. To get the Zatoichi films released on VHS from Chambara Entertainment/Video Action I had to go to over a dozen different stores. The first time I ever saw EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN (1977) it was found at a Blockbuster in Philly as a VHS called SHAOLIN EXECUTIONER and the cover depicted the finishing blow the hero delivers to the main villain! I'm attaching a photo (not mine) to amuse fans of the film. If you haven't seen it yet, don't look at the picture! And so began my humble collection, copying tapes I rented, and buying them when the stores would sell them. I bought all the crummy, bootleg (way better than nothing) Shaw Brothers DVDs as they came out. But when Celestial released the Shaw catalog to DVD I bought pretty much every kung fu / wuxia / action / and horror film from them. For the most part I was thrilled with them, but CHINATOWN KID was a huge disappointment. Other than the Lau Kar-Leung titles in this upcoming Arrow set, the 115 minute version of that film is the thing I'm the most psyched about.

 

On 9/25/2021 at 4:40 AM, FightingFool said:

2 cds will be included too. Time goes fast, when it was first announced felt it will be eternity and some more to wait but now it`s just bit over 2 months. And of course hoping arrow will ship it bit earlier than official street date if get it for x-mas holidays would be neat. Have not yet gotten so excited into package itself, prefer amaray cases. But sure that is going to look impressive in top of shelf above others. Like a King of collection

This set was pre-ordered for me as my birthday present from my wife. How can Christmas top that?!

 

On 9/25/2021 at 5:42 AM, ShawAngela said:

2 cds of Shaw's songs, I guess ? That would be great !

This picture of Chinatown Kid is great too, I'm very impatient to get this, though I still wonder where I'll find a place to put it !!

And I'm impatient to know what will be in the volume two !!

This boxset looks great to me, though each disc won't be in a "real" case...

 @ShawAngela the CDs feature the DeWolfe library tracks for films included on this set.

Volume 2 is going to be equally exciting!

[saltysam]

I ordered and paid for this when it went up on Arrow's site a while back. I have a few already on blu ray and a few on DVD but had to have the international version of Chinatown Kid along with HD versions of Dirty Ho and Heroes Of The East. Not a fan of the packaging,have to be honest and individual discs for all the films would've been nice but still looking forward to the set.

[KUNG FU BOB]

21 hours ago, saltysam said:

I ordered and paid for this when it went up on Arrow's site a while back. I have a few already on blu ray and a few on DVD but had to have the international version of Chinatown Kid along with HD versions of Dirty Ho and Heroes Of The East. Not a fan of the packaging,have to be honest and individual discs for all the films would've been nice but still looking forward to the set.

I'm embarrassed to say- I already own all of these, yet ordered the set anyway. Upgrades to Blu for classics I do re-watch frequently makes perfect sense. Plus, I suffer from "collectoritis" which is barely contagious, and not dangerous to others like situations that can arise from alcoholism or drug addiction.* And no... I'm not currently seeking treatment.

Aside from the various VHS copies I have of these I also bought them all on DVD when IVL released them. Then I also bought a lot of the US DVD releases because they included the English dubs (despite typically preferring subtitles, I do enjoy the SB dubs) and... well, to support the companies releasing these stateside.  I got rid of my Ground Zero, Crash, and other older DVDS, but still own multiple versions.

I really need to trim the fat from my Shaw collection. 

King Boxer (aka Five Fingers of Death) - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD

The Boxer from Shantung - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD

Five Shaolin Masters - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD, TVP- The Vengeance Pack Blu-ray

Shaolin Temple - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, TVP- The Vengeance Pack DVD

Challenge of the Masters - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD

Executioners from Shaolin - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD

Chinatown Kid - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Red Sun DVD (International Cut)

The Five Venoms - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD, Dragon Dynasty Blu-ray

Crippled Avengers - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD, TVP- The Vengeance Pack Blu-ray

Heroes of the East - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD

Dirty Ho - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD

Mighty Peking Man - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Lion's Gate DVD ("Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures Triple Feature" set along with DETROIT 9000 and SWITCHBLADE SISTERS), 88 Films Blu-ray

So as you can all plainly see... I need this Shawscope set.

 

* If you don't count the great VHS-pile toppling tragedy of '91 that took out Uncle Spaz and his poor dog Hitchcock. But that was an isolated incident.

[FightingFool]

15 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Shaolin Temple - Own various VHS copies, IVL DVD, Dragon Dynasty DVD, TVP- The Vengeance Pack DVD

 

There is not DD dvd of shaolin temple, unfortunately.I guess can`t remember all when have lots of releases of several movies like You do. Arrow BR will be 1st official physical release with english dub since days of warner vhs.
 

Edited September 27, 2021 by FightingFool

[KUNG FU BOB]

9 hours ago, FightingFool said:

There is not DD dvd of shaolin temple, unfortunately.I guess can`t remember all when have lots of releases of several movies like You do. Arrow BR will be 1st official physical release with english dub since days of warner vhs.
 

I was copying and pasting within my post to avoid typing the same thing over and over and forgot to edit that one. Thanks for the heads up @FightingFool, I fixed it.

Yes! It's going to be nice to see a beautiful widescreen print of SHAOLIN TEMPLE with the English dub finally. I've only ever seen it dubbed and cropped or subbed in its proper aspect ratio.

[lilmanjs]

Still really excited to see this set coming out. I pre-ordered it back when it went up and I'll find space for it along with the Once Upon A Time In China set too. This will be my first physical HD copies of any Shaw movie and I'm excited as heck! I can finally upgrade from the longer international cut of Chinatown Kid that a forum member gave me a rip of from his VHS copy.

[TheFlyingPanda]

 Im pretty excited about this too, even though I have most of these films already on DVD or other version, Chinatown Kid is one of the Gems in this pack.   

[Red Lion]

Wee question. Anyone know what the SD version of shaolin temple is going to be? Always felt that the end fight scenes are slightly cut, particularly the scene where the guy learning the turning paper on the sharp stones technique is doing a slo mo jump when the archers shoot arrows at him and the screen freezes only to start up again when he lands on the floor and i think it freezes again. Seemed too clunky to be stylistic cos if you ask me Chang Cheh was too good a director for how clunky that scene felt. I did hear that supposedly there was a german TV edit that had uncensored footage during the end fights. Anyone know?

[Super Ninja]

On 9/27/2021 at 12:12 AM, KUNG FU BOB said:

Plus, I suffer from "collectoritis" which is barely contagious, and not dangerous to others like situations that can arise from alcoholism or drug addiction.* And no... I'm not currently seeking treatment.

I've also been diagnosed and needles to say, also not seeking treatment. 

[teako170]

Coming soon to a DVD near you….

 

[FightingFool]

For those who pre-ordered from arrow is your order still valid?Paid it at 9th of July and just took a look at site(which seems to have gone through some changes) that order has disappeared...I did read some pre-orders which were not paid were terminated coz changes in site but seems at least one paid disappeared too...Dunno how their customer service is as 1st time need to contact them...

[clanarchy]

1 hour ago, FightingFool said:

For those who pre-ordered from arrow is your order still valid?Paid it at 9th of July and just took a look at site(which seems to have gone through some changes) that order has disappeared...I did read some pre-orders which were not paid were terminated coz changes in site but seems at least one paid disappeared too...Dunno how their customer service is as 1st time need to contact them...

My order was paid for and has disappeared too. I’m contacting them now

[FightingFool]

50 minutes ago, clanarchy said:

My order was paid for and has disappeared too. I’m contacting them now

They replied;

Hey "FightingFool":P We recently updated our website to improve our service and to provide you with a better shopping experience. As part of these changes, we have successfully migrated all paid pre-orders from our old platform to our new one. This will take up to 7 days to fully transfer all the paid pre-orders and to appear on your account! Please don't worry or place a new order for the same item(s), you order is safe 🙂 You don't need to do anything, as soon as the uploads are completed, your will be able to view your full order details on your account on our new, improved website! Thank you for your support as we move into this exciting new chapter for Arrow Films and hope to see you shopping with us again soon! if you have any other questions, please contact us via your account and one of the team would be happy to help! Kind regards, Team Arrow

[sifu iron perm]

In the same boat, I've emailed arrow to get some clarification and a refund! 

Edited October 1, 2021 by sifu iron perm

[FightingFool]

1 minute ago, sifu iron perm said:

In the same boat, I've emailed arrow get some clarification and a refund! 

Makes wonder why they don`t in advance send mails they are making changes to site and it affects to status of orders. They must get flooded of messages as customers are confused what is going on..

[sifu iron perm]

22 minutes ago, FightingFool said:

Makes wonder why they don`t in advance send mails they are making changes to site and it affects to status of orders. They must get flooded of messages as customers are confused what is going on..

Most likely have other stuff going on like getting dinner ready for tonight? 

 

 

[AslanBey]

Never ordered from Arrow. Shawscope will be my first order. Any tricks or ways to get some discount?? Maybe first time order or subscription blabla???

[ShawAngela]

I preordered it From zavvi as soon as it was announced on their site and they take the money only when they ship the item.

I received my Duel to the death this way yesterday.