Return to the 36th Chamber

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Return to the 36th Chamber" or "Shao Lin da peng da shi" or "Return of the Master Killer")

directed by Chia-Liang Liu
Hong Kong 1980

When some Manchurians are hire at a local dye mill which also leads to the workers losing 20% of their current wages. Cho Shih Sheng hires his younger brother Chou Jen Chich (Gordon Liu Chia-hui) to impersonate the famous Shaolin monk San Te. At first their plan works and the workers get the previous wage back. Then Mill factory boss song discovers that he has been fooled by the workers. His men quickly expose Chou Jen Chich for the fraud that he is which leads to him seeking entrance into the Shaolin temple where he plans to really learn Kung Fu. After Chou Jen Chich finishes the job of remodeling the Shaolin Temple they ask him to leave. Unknowing while he spent time at the Shaolin Temple he learned Kung Fu. With Chou Jen Chich’s new found martial arts skills can he finally win back his brother and the other mill workers lost wages?

Even though Return of the 36th Chamber has many similarities to its predecessor the 36th Chamber of Shaolin it is only a sequel in name only. Director Liu Chia-liang flawlessly balances the slap stick comedic moments with the all out action set pieces. Chou Jen Chich does just about anything to gain admittance into the Shaolin temple. In one scene he puts something into one of the monks’ tea which makes his bowels move uncontrollably. Chou Jen Chich is always telling lies like the boy who cried wolf and even when he is telling the truth no one believes him. The fight scenes are beautifully executed as bamboo and step stoles are used as weapons instead of your usual martial arts weapons. One scene that is sure to remain with you long after the movie is over is when Chou Jen Chich throws a rock down a well. He then proceeds to wash himself with the water from the splash created by the falling rock. The choreographed action in Return of the 36th Chambers is on par with its predecessor the 36th Chamber of Shaolin making this film a must see martial arts classic.

Excerpt of review from 10kbullets located HERE

Theatrical Release: August 24, 1980

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DVD Comparison:

IVL - Region 3 - NTSC vs. Dragon Dynasty (The Shaw Brothers Classic Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Michael Den Boer for all the Screen Caps!

(IVL - Region 3 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Dragon Dynasty (The Shaw Brothers Classic Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	IVL Region 3 - NTSC	Dragon Dynasty Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	99:12 (4% PAL speedup)	101:46
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: IVL
Bitrate: Dragon Dynasty (The Shaw Brothers Classic Collection)
Audio	Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), Cantonese (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono), Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	English, traditional Chinese, Bahasa Malaysia	English, English SDH, Spanish
Features	Release Information: Studio: IVL Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Theatrical Trailer (16:9; 1:07) • Trailers for The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (16:9; 1:03), Shaolin Temple (16:9; 0:55), Heroes Two (16:9 • Photo galleries (behind the scenes - 6 images, movie stills - 10 images and still of the film's original poster art) • Bio / filmographies for Gordon Liu (Lau Chia-hui), Chen Szu-chia, Wang Lung-wei and Lau Kar Leung (a • Production Notes (Text based in English and Chinese) • Hero on the Scaffold featurette (16:9; 14:38) DVD Release Date: February 7, 2005 Amaray Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Dragon Dynasty Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Dragon Dynasty Promo Reel (16:9; 2:27) • Trailers for The Killer (16:9; 2:10) and Fist of Legend (16:9; 1:46) DVD Release Date: March 2nd, 2010 Amaray Chapters 20

Comments

Both release present the film in its original aspect ratio. The region 3 DVD released by IVL like many of the region 3 Shaw Brothers DVD releases is interlaced and there are several instances of stuttering / blurring of the image. Also the IVL DVD release is a PAL to NTSC conversion. The better of the two transfers is the region 1 DVD from Dragon Dynasty which has been flagged for progressive playback and judging by its running time it is a straight up NTSC transfer and not a PAL to NTSC conversion like IVL. Another area where Dragon Dynasty release fares better is that it looks sharper of the two releases.

The audio mixes for both releases are all in very good shape with the slight edge going to Dragon Dynasty who has included the English dubbed audio mix. Both release also feature English subtitles with the main feature.

The one area where the Dragon Dynasty release comes up short is that lack of extra content (they did not even included the trailer for Return of the 36th Chambers. The IVL release comes with a handful of extras with the best one being the informative and entertaining featurette "Hero on the Scaffold" which includes comments from Gordon Liu. Best of all the extras on the IVL release either have English subtitles or are at least English friendly.

- Michael Den Boer

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(IVL - Region 3 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Dragon Dynasty (The Shaw Brothers Classic Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)