Member Sandpalm79 Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 I can't even imagine. well first off. when they showed 36th chamber at that one festival.. did it look clear? just curious if it was 35mm film or what..any details be great.. and someone said the action seems slow on the big screen? maybe cause 36th chamber is from Liu chia Liangs early period before the pace was picked up in the fights ( legendary weapons etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member falkor Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 Celestial's remasters look very blurry on the big screen, but original unmastered 35mm look crystal clear. I watched Magic Blade, uncut Clans Of Intrigue, Crippled Avengers among others and they were so glass! I remember focusing on some splinters of wood on the leg of a table in Crippled Avengers. Basically, if you think Celestial DVDs look great on your TV screen at home then you ain't seen nothing mate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member The Amazing Psycho Per Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 I saw 8 diagram pole fighters for the first time ever at Fantasia a couple years ago and from what I remember the print looked great. I believe it was a Celestial new 35mm print. Was the action slow??? Not really. Why would it look slower? Of course I don't regard the fights of 36 chamber as being extremely fast paced, but 8 diagram looked as intense as it did from subsequent viewings. Seeing this film, and espacially the last fights with a cheering festival croud was a truely unique experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kungfusamurai Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 As long as they are screening a print and not playing a DVD with a projector, it looks great! I just wish there was more opportunity to see them on the big screen. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member falkor Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 The fact is: after Celestial has treated a film it doesn't matter whether projected by DVD or restored 35mm print, it will NOT be sharp on the big screen. If your only experience is a Celestial print on the big screen then you will have nothing to compare it with and rather believe you was watching the best quality. I can tell you now that anything with Celestial before it is only good for home entertainment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member mantis FIST Posted November 25, 2008 Member Share Posted November 25, 2008 KFS: I agree 100% on the whole DVD on the big screen nonsense. Falkor: I agree. I remember thinking that while watching One armed swordsman. I was the Celestial remastered print on 35mm. While it looked good it was not as clear as I had expected it to be. I am sure the prints you saw looked great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member greenfan Posted November 25, 2008 Member Share Posted November 25, 2008 Legendary Weapons of China original print looked amazing at the cinema. It was nice not to have the 'Celestial squeeze' on the pans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mark Pollard Posted November 25, 2008 Member Share Posted November 25, 2008 I saw several non-Celestial treated films on the big screen including RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, GOLDEN SWALLOW and INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN as part of UCLA's first tour of Shaw classics. The prints had a fair amount of wear and tear but clarity was excellent. I have not seen any Celestial prints on 35mm. As for the speed of the action, the only thing that didn't play well was some of the early wuxia stunt work that appeared artificial and stiff. I also remember folks laughing as some of the violence because it appeared both unreal and excessively violent. Lau Kar-leung's fight work looked fantastic. Most Shaw films were tailor made for the big screen. Overall, it was tremendous fun, much more so than simply watching it at home on a small screen. I've said this before and I'll say it again, if you ever get a chance to watch a 35mm screening of a Shaw Brothers movie in a theater, preferably packed with an enthusiastic audience, don't miss it for anything. After coming out of RETURN OF THE 36TH CHAMBER, I must have felt like one of those kids on 42nd St in New York back in the late '70s who had just seen a double bill of old school kung fu for the first time and came out wanting to take on the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member mr HKmovie Posted November 26, 2008 Member Share Posted November 26, 2008 I've seen Shaws on the big screen in the late '70s - early '80s in Philly, and I've seen the Celestial prints on the big screen in Philly and NYC. Even back in the late '70s the prints showed scratches and other signs of wear and tear. I never saw pristine prints back then, probably because the prints had been shown in other places by the time they got to Philly. The Celestial prints look better than what I saw back then. Five Venoms definitely looked better than what I saw back in the day! Back then, the crowd was mostly kids and we did feel like we could take on the world after we spent the entire afternoon in the theater watching old school kung fu! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member vengeanceofhumanlanterns Posted November 26, 2008 Member Share Posted November 26, 2008 I saw Golden Swallow, The Blood Brothers, and Vengeance in Boston MA at the Museum Of Fine Art as part of UCLA's first tour of Shaws Classics as well and remember the wear and tear factor. Also, people did laugh at parts I didn't expect them to, like when Ching Li starts falling for Ti Lung. It takes away from the Shaw experience watching them with people who can't appreciate the genre. I'd rather watch em at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member June Posted November 27, 2008 Member Share Posted November 27, 2008 mr. hk movies, 5 element ninja was the last subtitled film i saw at the trocoderra (10th & arch) in philly. but the captial (52nd & girade) played all the dubbed venom films. do you remember the bruce lee theather at 17th & market? the played lots of old school films? i showed magic poe our theather in chinatown when he was in philly for the lo meng event in 07. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member mr HKmovie Posted November 29, 2008 Member Share Posted November 29, 2008 June, I had no idea that the Troc played kung fu movies! I never knew 5 Element Ninja played in the theater in Philly. I can't believe I missed out on my favorite kung fu movie in the theater. I lived in West Philly, so I only saw Shaw films at The Capital and at the theater on 69th St. I went to elementary school in Center City, so I do remember how I would walk by all the Shaw Brothers and horror movie kung fu posters on 15th St. between Chestnut & Market. There used to be a theater there, and I would imagine how the film would be based on the poster. Movies like Flying Guillotine played out better in my head just based on the cool poster than when I finally saw it. I do remember walking by the theater at 17th & market a few times with my mom and wishing I could go inside. It seemed they always played kung fu movies, but I was never allowed to go into that theater. I think my mom thought it was too seedy. It's too bad that all those theaters are gone, except for the Troc and they don't show movies. A couple of years ago they showed Kid with the Golden Arm at International House, but I couldn't make it that night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Winfred Posted November 29, 2008 Member Share Posted November 29, 2008 I grew up watching the Shaw classics on the big screen. Celestial's remasters are no match for the original cinema prints in terms of clarity. In many cases, they have removed blemishes by blurring the image. The cuts are another major issue. In Ivy Ling Po's The Crimson Palm, Celestial removed a key scene towards the end of the movie when Ling Po comes home riding a white horse as he has passed the Imperial exams with flying colours. Even his future father-in-law who tried to implicate him in Li Ching's murder had to kneel down. Celestial's version merely shows the end of the court case and then straight to the last scene which is the wedding of Ling Po & Chin Ping. It is no wonder why Celestial's version merely runs 77 minutes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member inframan Posted December 2, 2008 Member Share Posted December 2, 2008 A couple years back the Austin Film Society did a Shaw program. I saw New One-armed Swordsman, Five Venoms, Legendary Weapons of China and Dirty Ho. I missed Vengance. All subtitled Celetial Prints, theater was pretty full each time, lots of fun. Probably had the large turnout because it was sponsored by AFS but I'm guessing the AFS members are ready for anything since the year before it was the films of Takashi Miike. The same theater also has an old 35mm copy of Crippled Avengers that is a good one to see on the big screen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member June Posted December 3, 2008 Member Share Posted December 3, 2008 mr hkmovie, that theather was called the goldman on 15th street. the last kung fu film played there was the 7-grandmasters. but we use to go a theather in the franklin mills mall the see jet li films at midnight in the 90's. but the capital & troc. was the best. wow being 45 is real old:nerd: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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