Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin [Blu-ray]

a classic Jackie chan movie

I've had numerous VHS and DVDs of 'Snake & Crane: Arts of Shaolin' and this one is by far the best. 88Films have made a forty year old film look utterly incredible, colours pop, black levels are gorgeous. They really are doing a wonderful job with cult films and companies like these are what make film viewing a pleasure.As a film, 'Snake & Crane: Arts of Shaolin' has always been massively underrated. From its incredible credit sequence to one of the finest finales ever committed to film, this is a truly great martial arts film. The plot is full of twists and turns and there is plentiful action throughout. What really sets this apart is the attention to character - the story is rich with picaqresque individuals who add something special to the overall feel. From the super-cool hero to the wonderful Lu Lu Quai, each character enriches the world created here and makes this a film deserving of recognition. So much more than just a fight-fest (which, in fairness, it could quite easily be given the quality on offer), this is a top notch film from Jackie Chan's Lo Wei years.

I recently purchase three Jackie Chan films, all of which have been recently re-released via 88 Films. I have already reviewed Dragon Fist and To Kill With Intrigue. Both can be found on my profile. It took me a bit but I finally got round to viewing Snake And Crane Arts of Shaolin. Another enjoyable film but the release leaves a lot to be desired.Snake And Crane Arts of Shaolin was originally released in March 1978. The film (obviously) stars Jackie Chan alongside actors such as Nora Miao and Kong Kim. The film was directed by Chen Chi Hwa, who also contributed to the choreography. The film was produced by Lo Wei and Hwa Hsu Li, features music by Leung Chow Fook and was originally released through Lo Wei Motion Picture Company, a subsidiary of the well known company Golden Harvest. This print of the film comes in three languages, the original Mandarin (mono and 5.1), English (mono and 5.1) as well as in Cantonese (stereo). The only extras on the disc are a couple of interviews with Hong Kong expert Rick Baker and another with Steve Lawson. It also has a changeable front cover, like the other 88 film releases.The plot for Snake And Crane Arts of Shaolin is remarkably basic. Eight Shaolin masters put their knowledge of kung fu together to create the Eight Steps Of The Snake And Crane book, the ultimate martial arts. After they suddenly disappear, fighters from across the country go out looking for this book hoping to gain fame and fortune. The book is being held by Hsu Ying Fung (Jackie Chan), who "accidently" reveals it. He's using the lure of the book to hunt down the man who is rumoured to have killed the Shaolin masters. The plot revolves around Jackie going on his way whilst partaking in a highly energetic fight every five minutes.I enjoyed the film for what it is. It's nothing amazing and is easily one of the simplistic kung fu movies I own. I have seen more complex writing in Star Trek Discovery and that's some awfully basic stuff (and not very good either). The film makes up for it by having some excellent fight scenes and some great stunt work, the kind only Jackie Chan can pull off. You can see he's finally developing that style that we have come to love. A couple of the characters do get a little annoying. Jackie's little nose rubbing side kick, as an example. But the plot development and script is so basic that this sort of thing really makes no real difference on whether I enjoy it or not.The quality of the 88 Films bluray is my biggest gripe. The picture quality isn't very consistent and it did bug me a bit. Some scenes looked as good as the two movies I mentioned above. Other scenes were very blurry and a few had this weird green ghosting effect going on. I don't know if this damage to the source or someone working on the film messed up, but it's there and very noticeable. It's pretty ugly to look at and it's a bit of a shame. There some nice scenery here, a lot of it was also in To Kill With Intrigue. The audio tracks are also a little crap. The mandarin is the most authentic but the voice actor they use for Jackie just doesn't work. It sounds like someone has sucked down some helium before recording his lines. The Cantonese sounds nicer and is better quality but is just as out of place as the English dubbing.Snake And Crane Arts of Shaolin isn't a very memorable movie but is an enjoyable one. It's very basic and is nothing but an excuse to have some cool action scenes. These scenes don't disappoint and I'm sure fans of kung fu films will get a kick out of it. Those looking to build their collection of movies should pass this up, look at better movies and then come back. It's fun for what it is and for more serious collectors.

Brilliant film fight scenes were excellent great story

Kung fu classic collection

This is Jackie Chan at his height, when he performed for martial arts forms for martial arts enthusiasts. An excellent reproduction of the original, for those of us who are fluent in English. However, those who are dependent on subtitles will be confused. Since there are two Chinese soundtracks, I guess the dialogue is trapped between two Chinese dialects.

S&C Arts is a quality Jackie Movie and it has some of the best action jackie has ever produced in his lifetime so for the image to be cut (anamorphic) losing the entirety of the image (on shots taken close up) really lost a couple of stars for the DVD. So Movie 5 stars, DVD 3 stars.

Awesome Jackie Chan movie under the director Lo Wei. Great fight choreography especially the fight between Jackie and the three spearmen. Another great blu Ray from 88 films, really hope they release The Prodigal Son starring Yuen Biao in the near future.

The DVD was great quality and worked flawlessly. Thanks

Ho acquistato questo film in lingua straniera perché sono un fan di Jackie Chan e si tratta di un film che non può mancare nella collezione di un grande fan. E' un bel film. Ci sono tante scene acrobatiche e poi che dire? Jackie Chan è sempre un grande!

Wahrscheinlich Jackie Chans bester alter Kung fu Film leider nicht uncut sonst hätte man evtl. auch 5 Sterne geben können aber trotzdem da er günstig war und durch die Schnitte nicht total verhunst wurde was leider bei einfach zu vielen eastern der Fall ist , ist diese Fassung trotzdem ganz gut

1970年代から1980年代初めごろの中華映画が好きですね。この頃の古い中華文化を見ると本物な感じがします。同時に懐かしい感じもします。俺の年齢だと、これが中華文化のスタンダードですね。ヒロインにノラミャオが出演してますが、かなり出番も多く、衣装は美しく、顔もそうとう美人です。このジャッキー・チェンのデジタルリマスター版はフルスクリーンなのが価値があります。このDVDは日本語吹き替えも収録されていて、しかもどうもセリフを聞いた感じでは、1990年代以前の声優さんのようで素晴らしいです。ネット配信されている1988年のサイクロンZではジャッキー・チェンの声優も新しいようで、声がジャッキー・チェンに合っておらず不自然さを感じてましたが、今の時代のコンテンツで昔の吹き替えを収録してるのは素晴らしいです。このDVDはデジタルリマスターですが、オープニングは古めかしい画質のままで良いですね。本編ではかなり画面から粒子を取ってる感じでした。映画は画質が綺麗であれば良いというものではありません。古い映像の古めかしい画質はそれも映画の内容のひとつですから、粒子などを取ってしまうと、古い時代の雰囲気がなくなってしまってダメです。予告編ですが、新しく編集した最新版予告編はいりませんね。古い映画なのに現代的な演出で編集されていて嫌です。古い作品ですから、オリジナルの予告編を収録して欲しかったです。

This review is for the Blu-ray. Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin is one of the rare gems from very early in Jackie's career. The movie is basically multiple fight scenes strung together by a thin plot, but that could be said of most kung fu films from this era. The fights are well-choreographed and seeing Jackie's stuntwork in his physical prime is always a sight to behold. The restoration work on the film is outstanding, but given how old it is there are some scenes where the color and lighting are quite off compared to others. The interviews with Rick Baker and Steve Lawson are nice and insightful. If you are a fan of Jackie's, you'll definitely want this one for your collection. I never thought this film would get the Blu-ray treatment and I'm happy it finally did. Be aware that this is a Region B disc so make sure your system can play it.