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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Po jie" or "Broken Oath")

 

Directed by Jeong Chang-hwa
Hong Kong 1977

 

Made at the height of her fame following roles in Hapkido, Lady Whirlwind, Enter the Dragon and When Taekwondo Strikes, Broken Oath is one of Angela Mao's very best films - and boasts action choreography orchestrated by Hsia Hsu (Drunken Master) and Yuen Woo-ping, one of the most respected stunt coordinators in both Hong Kong (The Magnificent Butcher) and Hollywood (The Matrix). Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world from a brand new 2K restoration.

***

Lotus never had a chance. Her mother seethed with anger at being unjustly imprisoned for turning her attempted rapist into a Cyclops. Mother repeatedly asked her good friend and fellow prisoner, Pickpocket, to urge Lotus to take revenge for her as an adult. Lotus is given to a monastery and grows up there, but twenty years of peace and love make no impression on Lotus, who skips classes to practice pole and sword skills. Joining forces with Pickpocket and Big Rat, Lotus gets her chance at revenge.

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 3rd, 1977

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Review: Eureka - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Eureka - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime

Theatrical: 1:37:57.246

Extended Cut 1:42:09.665        

Video

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 47,075,602,691 bytes

Theatrical: 21,912,856,128 bytes

Extended Cut: 21,441,611,328 bytes

Video Bitrate: 23.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Theatrical Blu-ray:

Bitrate Extended Cut Blu-ray:

Audio

LPCM Audio Chinese 2304 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2304 kbps / 24-bit

Optional DUB on Theatrical:

LPCM Audio English 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit
 

Commentaries:

Dolby Digital Audio English 320 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 320 kbps / DN -31dB

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Eureka

 

2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 47,075,602,691 bytes

Theatrical: 21,912,856,128 bytes

Extended Cut: 21,441,611,328 bytes

Video Bitrate: 23.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Brand new audio commentary by East Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)
• Brand new audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema
• Broken Oath - an appreciation by Andrew Heskins (11:50)
• Female Revenge: Scorpion vs. Katana – new appreciation by film writer Patrick Macias (7:58)
• Trailer (4:12)

A Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kung Fu Cult Masters author Leon Hunt


Blu-ray Release Date: October 21st, 2024

Transparent Blu-ray Case inside slipcase

Chapters 10 / 11

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Eureka Blu-ray (October 2024): Eureka have transferred Jeong Chang-hwa's Broken Oath to Blu-ray. It offers both the original Hong Kong cut and the 4-minute longer extended cut with more nudity, sexual torture and 'intense' situations - I think in the birthing scene too. It is cited as "brand new 2K restorations". While these are separate transfers (not seamlessly branched) I could fine no appreciable difference in the HD presentations. With a few inconsistencies - mostly saturation - that look inherent in the production - the resulting 1080P looks excellent - notable in close-ups of our heroine, Angela Mao playing 'Lotus Lin'. There are sequences where the ratio appears slightly distorted (anamorphic lens distortions) but it seems very probable that this too was a function of the production. There is depth and pleasing detail, solid colors and contrast. I thought looked wonderful overall - very reflective of the late 70s.  

NOTE: We have added 82 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Eureka use linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) in the original Mandarin language. Only the theatrical cut offers an English DUB (linear PCM dual-mono 16-bit) option. Broken Oath has multiple fight sequences with snappy, whiplash-like, cracks with karate chops, poles and swords etc. The audio is authentically hollow without much bass. The enthusiastic score was stated in the English translated credits, SEE HERE, as Joseph Koo (The Skyhawk, Lady Whirlwind, Fist of Fury, The Way of the Dragon, Slaughter in San Francisco) but he was fired and the Chinese character-credits state: Frankie Chan (The Prodigal Son, Fallen Angels, The Fearless Hyena, Chungking Express, Odd Couple) and it supports the film in verbose, and occasionally subtle, ways. Eureka offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Eureka Blu-ray offers two new commentaries - one of each cut. For the Hong Kong theatrical cut we get go-to Asian film expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival) who did the commentaries on Eureka's Blu-rays of The Double Crossers, The Swordsman of All Swordsmen, Slaughter in San Francisco, Magic Cop, Angela Mao: Hapkido & Lady Whirlwind, Knockabout, The Shaolin Plot, Dreadnaught and many more. There is a lot of about Angela Mao, the film's translated title "broken commandments", the opening credit paintings, the Hong Kong film industry at the time, why Mandarin was used although 90% of Hong Kong spoken Cantonese, producer Raymond Chow South Korean director Jeong Chang-hwa (The Double Crossers), choreography etc. - Frank is an encyclopedia of data on the era and genre. As per his standard; this was excellent. The second commentary is on the 'extended cut' by action cinema experts Mike Leeder (editor of 100% Jackie Chan: The Essential Companion) and Arne Venema. We have heard Leeder and Venema via excellent commentaries on Eureka's Blu-rays of Odd Couple and The Shaolin Plot - plus 88 Films Blu-rays of The Fearless Hyena, Dragon's Forever plus Vinegar Syndrome's Righting Wrongs and many more. They have fun and cover everything from the Lady Snowblood connection to referencing many other similar genre films tangential to the cast and crew. They discuss the differences from the 'theatrical' to the 'extended'. Both commentaries are very educational.  We also get a dozen-minute appreciation by Andrew Heskins and 8-minutes with film writer Patrick Macias (Tokyoscope: the Japanese Cult Film Companion) entitled Female Revenge: Scorpion vs. Katana. Lastly is a trailer. The package has a limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kung Fu Cult Masters author Leon Hunt author of Kung Fu Cult Masters: From Bruce Lee to Crouching Tiger.  

Jeong Chang-hwa's Broken Oath is an unofficial remake of Toshiya Fujita's 1973 Japanese film Lady Snowblood (adapted from manga series) about an abused 'lady' (Naomi Oka aka Mae Ho - Girl Boss Guerilla) who gets thrown in jail when pregnant and vows that her child (delightful Angela Mao) will seek revenge. It's an appealing action-revenge-martial-arts saga with our gal utilizing deadly scorpions snuck, or hurled, onto her enemies. This is a god one. Watch for bit parts played by Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen and Yuen Biao! Eureka Blu-ray of Broken Oath has the original and more explicit cut, a superb genre film with stunning Angela Mao, two expert commentaries, visual essays, a booklet and more. It's a huge keeper and enthusiastically endorsed.

Gary Tooze

 


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Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:

Distribution Eureka - Region FREE - Blu-ray


 


 

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