Shaw Brothers Presents: Four Films by Chang Cheh

By the early-1970s, Chang Cheh was already Shaw Brothers’ most prolific and well-known director with a plethora of box office hits (including the One-Armed Swordsman franchise) to his name and renowned for discovering the hottest young talents to star in his films.Three of those stars – David Chiang, Ti Lung and Alexander Fu Sheng – all feature in Five Shaolin Masters and Shaolin Temple, two selections from his instant-classic ‘Shaolin Temple Cycle’, based on the real-life tales of fighters training to face off against the ruthless Qing armies taking over China. A few years later, Chang outdid himself with the formation of the all-powerful posse of kung fu experts known to fans as the Venom Mob, whose talents would be showcased most famously in The Five Venoms and Crippled Avengers.Blood-soaked, brutal, and a marked influence on the ‘heroic bloodshed’ films by Chang’s sometime assistant director John Woo, these four films show one of Shaw’s greatest directors working at the height of his talents.DISC ONE - FIVE SHAOLIN MASTERS / SHAOLIN TEMPLEHigh Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentationUncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both filmsEnglish subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubAppreciation of Chang Cheh by film critic and historian Tony RaynsInterview with star Kong Do, filmed in 2003Elegant Trails: David Chiang and Elegant Trails: Ti Lung, two featurettes on the actors produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003Alternate standard-definition version of Shaolin TempleAlternate opening credits from Five Masters of Death, the US version of Five Shaolin MastersAlternate opening credits sequences for Shaolin TempleTrailersImage galleries for both filmsDISC TWO - THE FIVE VENOMS / CRIPPLED AVENGERS2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow FilmsHigh Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentationUncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films plus Cantonese mono for The Five VenomsEnglish subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubsCommentary on The Five Venoms by critic Simon AbramsInterview with star Lo Meng, filmed in 2003Chang Cheh: The Master, a featurette about the director produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003Trailers for The Five VenomsHong Kong theatrical trailer for Crippled AvengersImage galleries for both films