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 TEMPLE

High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation

Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films

English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dub

Appreciation of Chang Cheh by film critic and historian Tony Rayns

Interview with star Kong Do, filmed in 2003

Elegant Trails: David Chiang and Elegant Trails: Ti Lung, two featurettes on the actors produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003

Alternate standard-definition version of Shaolin Temple

Alternate opening credits from Five Masters of Death, the US version of Five Shaolin Masters

Alternate opening credits sequences for Shaolin Temple

Trailers

Image galleries for both films

DISC TWO - THE FIVE VENOMS / CRIPPLED AVENGERS

2K restorations of both films from the original negatives by Arrow Films

High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation

Uncompressed Mandarin and English original mono audio for both films plus Cantonese mono for The Five Venoms

English subtitles for both films, plus English hard-of-hearing subtitles for the English dubs

Commentary on The Five Venoms by critic Simon Abrams

Interview with star Lo Meng, filmed in 2003

Chang Cheh: The Master, a featurette about the director produced by Celestial Pictures in 2003

Trailers for The Five Venoms

Hong Kong theatrical trailer for Crippled Avengers

Image galleries for both films