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Shaolin Boxers
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - Eureka Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (30th March 2025). |
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The Film
 On the eve of the fourth annual Fuquan Martial Arts Association tournament, gangster's lackey Diao Gui (The Story of Drunken Master's Ma Chien-Tang) agrees to transport smuggled goods to Hong Kong for Boss Lei Baio (Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin's Li Min-Lang). Since they need to make use of the docks, Diao Gui appeals to Martial Arts Association leader and local head of security Master Ho Yong (Police Woman's Chu Mu) who tells him that he may not be able to guarantee cooperation if his North Gate School loses the tournament to the Dragon Village School who control the docks. North Gate only won the year before by bribing the referee and Ho Yong expresses doubt that his son Ha Dao-Yong (Chinese Godfather's Choi Sui-Cheng) can beat Dragon Village's Zhi-gang (Fist of Fury's James Tien). Diao Gui takes his men to the Dragon Village School and beats up sifu Zhung Tai (Killer Constable's Leung Tin) and orders him and his students to pack up and leave. Zhung Tai used to see the tournament as a means of showcasing their style but now knows that they must win it or Ho Yong will not only take over the docks but shake down the villagers for extortionate protection money. Much to the resentment of his hot-headed son Shao Xing (The Black Dragon's Revenge's Lee Tin-Ying) who has been training for the tournament, Zhung Tai decides that Zhi-gang should fight instead; whereupon, Shao Xing decides to run off with his love Cui Ping whose parents have had to promise her to a wealthy merchant to pay off their debts to Ho Yong. At the tournament, Shao Xing slips away only to discover Boss Lei trying to rape Cui Ping and has to flee when he cannot fight him or his men. Meanwhile, Zhi-gang's fight against Ha Dao-Yung is called as a draw when the referee (The Imp's Chan Fei-Lung) cannot declare beaten Ha-Dao Yung the victor, scheduling a rematch for two days hence. Boss Lei decides to ensure that Ho Youg remains in charge by dealing former brother Zhung Tai a deadly kick and abducting his daughter Ru Yu (Seeding of a Ghost's Tien Mi), as well as planning to take Ha Dao-Yung's place in the area. Before Zhung Tai dies, however, he reveals a tragic secret from Zhi-gang's childhood that that gives him an even stronger reason to take on Boss Lei. Feeling endless at just under eighty minutes, Shaolin Boxers is unexceptional in just about every respect with its only novelty value being one of the first starring roles for Tien who, despite a prolific career as a secondary lead, villain, and character actor will go down in history as the leading man that Golden Harvest poached from Shaw Brothers with the promise of the lead in The Big Boss with Bruce Lee as his sidekick only for the roles to be swapped a few days into production. In this film, there is not much he can do to liven up the stale scenario, particularly with the basher-style fighting – the early credit to "king of wire work" A Chinese Ghost Story (Tony Ching Siu-Tung) being the film's other novelty – where it is easy for the viewer to lose interest due to the length and only the final fight scene likely to elicit any kind of visceral reaction from the viewer. Ma Chien-Tang and Li Min-Lang are far more entertaining as the nasty villains, along with comic relief Chan Fei-Lung and Hon Kwok-Choi (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin) as Dragon Village's lazy, craven pupil while to females are decorative and/or rape scene fodder. While the production itself looks threadbare in terms of sets, costumes, and setting most of the film outdoors in daylight, and the synthesizer scoring feels just as cheap, the film is at least handsomely-lensed by Wong Tat-Lung with little of the gaffes or outright carelessness that sometimes crept into some of Golden Harvest's and Shaw Brother's bigger productions of the same period. Casual martial arts viewers may find Shaolin Boxers middling while those with a historical interest in Hong Kong martial arts films might at least appreciate its significance in Golden Harvest's catalogue in the aftermath of Bruce Lee's death and the efforts to find a successor. 
Video
Although dubbed into English for export, Shaolin Boxers was apparently not what Golden Harvest hoped for as a James Tien vehicle and may only have screened stateside in Asian-American theaters in Mandarin. The film was released on DVD in Hong Kong from Intercontinental Video Limited as part of their "Legendary Collection" line but there was apparently no interest in English-speaking countries until last year's beneath-the-radar Golden Harvest Vol. 2: Shining Stars boxed set release stateside which presumably features the same 2K restoration Eureka has utilized for their 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.39:1 widescreen Blu-ray. With its six-day theatrical run and scare video distribution history, the materials for the film appear immaculate based on the Blu-ray transfer which is colorful and as sharp as the anamorphic lenses allow – with the exception of a couple soft shots which might be focus issues since they are usually part of zooms – and blacks and dark blues only become a shade muddy in a couple dark exteriors and interiors. 
Audio
Audio options include post-dubbed Mandarin and English LPCM 2.0 24-bit mono tracks that both sound very clean without much in the way of hiss during long silences and the synth scoring and foley effects free of distortion. The English subtitles have a few issues of inconsistencies in naming, with Jun Ping referred to as Chung Ping at least once. 
Extras
For a film so average and insignificant, Eureka has once again treated it to a pair of audio commentaries. On the audio commentary by East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng, NY Asian Film Festival, Djeng charitably describes the film as an "old school basher" and discusses how Golden Harvest attempted to promote Tien as their successor to Bruce Lee while the rest of the industry was scrambling to find their own "clones." The audio commentary by Hong Kong cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema is more biting in its speculation on why Tien seems "out of his depth" here and suggests that the lead role was quite a comedown after being relegated to second string on the Bruce Lee films. They also try to puzzle out the origins of the production which was produced independently of Golden Harvest and features some names that may very well be pseudonyms owing to the few credits in vastly different production roles sometimes separated by years (although they also note the possibility of some of the obscure participants working in television or being given credits like Tien himself who had two credits as action choreographer two decades apart). "Shaolin Style" (16:46) is an interview with Wayne Wong, editor of "Martial Arts Studies" who does not try to shed light on the makers of the film but instead discusses it in the context of Golden Harvest attempting to move on a year after Lee's death taking various approaches including looking for a successor, incorporating comedy, and mixing genres. He also discusses Tien's career and how the film also provides evidence of choreographer Tony Ching Siu-Tung already experimenting, noting the use of trampolines to launch his performers as well as his use of parallel fight scenes. The disc also includes the Hong Kong theatrical trailer (3:33). 
Packaging
The limited edition first pressing of 2,000 copies comes with an O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Darren Wheeling and a collector's booklet featuring new writing by Hong Kong cinema scholar Aaron Han Joon Magnan-Park (not supplied for review).
Overall
Casual martial arts viewers may find Shaolin Boxers middling while those with a historical interest in Hong Kong martial arts films might at least appreciate its significance in Golden Harvest's catalogue in the aftermath of Bruce Lee's death and the efforts to find a successor.
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