Customer Reviews

The 14 Amazons

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Shaw Brothers, the company known for their many releases of Hong Kong films for many decades ran by producer Sir Run Run Shaw, knighted by the British government and founder of Shaw University in Hong Kong and even founded the HK-TVB TV network was a major power behind the company and his third brother Runme Shaw (who founded South Sea Film), the film company would become known as Shaw Brothers Studio and become the first studio to bring Hong Kong cinema with sound in 1934.

The Shaw Brothers have created over a thousand films and with several having been aired on US television and some being released on video, "The 14 Amazons" gets its release on DVD courtesy of Celestial Pictures and FUNimation Entertainment via their Hong Kong Connection line featuring original masters of the original film and both the Mandarin and English dub dialogue.

In 1972, the film "The 14 Amazons" was released in theaters and won Best Director (Cheng Kang), Best Supporting Actress (Lisa Lu), Best Sound Recording and Honorable Mention for Drama for the 11th Golden Horse Awards in 1973 and earn Lily Ho the "Oustanding Female Lead Performance" for the 19th Asian Film Festival (1973).


VIDEO:

"The 14 Amazons" is presented in 16:9 and received restoration by Celestial Pictures. I was absolutely impressed by the restoration since a lot of the older Shaw films I have seen definitely shows its age. Watching this film, I was impressed by the colors and how the film looks as if it was made recently versus in 1972. I can definitely imagine how beautiful the print would be on Blu-ray where I'm sure the colors of the film would definitely pop.

The film utilizes quite a bit of colors and since the characters are seen during the outdoors, a good level of natural light is shown through the film. Details on mountains and lush scenery can be seen and of course, a lot of red for the blood seen on this film.

But aside from the colors which I enjoy, there are some problems that I did find. There is a blurring effect when the camera pans quickly and also some parts, was not sure if it was intentional (to be artistic) when you see the picture pause for a split second. Also, one scene where I felt the editing was cut to abruptly.

But overall, aside from those few negatives, it doesn't ruin the enjoyment of the film at all. The restoration of "The 14 Amazons" is quite impressive.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for audio, the film is presented in English Dolby Digital stereo and Mandarin Mono. Personally, having endured these Shaw films with the terrible (yet humorous) English dubs back in the late '70s and early '80s, just watching it again with the English dub just didn't make sense anymore (unless you get a kick of how bad they were acted). So, watching it with the Mandarin mono track was my choice and preference.

I felt the English stereo soundtrack was OK but felt the Mandarin mono to be much better. For listening, I had my receiver set for stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundtrack.

Some may be wondering why the film is presented in Mandarin when Hong Kong films are typically in Cantonese. The Shaw Brothers Studio had films split into Mandarin and Cantonese. Kang Cheng spearheaded the Mandarin division and was known for his violent martial arts films which were box office hits for the Shaw Brothers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"The 14 Amazons" comes with trailers of upcoming releases.

EXTRAS:

The DVD comes with a slipcase.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"The 14 Amazons" was actually quite an epic film and at first I was expecting a cheesy film but I was very impressed by the sheer amount of action, violence and also how many talent were featured in this film to showcase the battles between the two clans. I use the word "epic" but not in the way that you see many people onscreen like John Woo's "Red Cliff" but for a '70s film, there's a lot of extras on this film to create the feeling of war.

And in some ways, I felt that this film was quite ambitious with the amount of obstacles the Yang Family had to endure during their march towards Western Xia and showing the sheer violence of the King and his sons.

Also, different compared to other Hong Kong Wuxia films is that the cast is mostly all female (for the Yang family). Although General Pao's remaining son Yang Wen is played by a woman (Lily Ho), the film which the actress really shines in but can see her in other Shaw Bros. films such as "The Golden Knight", "Jade Faced Assassin", "Silver Fox" and "Angel" films.

But "The 14 Amazons" was definitely an exciting adventure/martial arts film. The amount of action and violence worked well with each other as well as having a clan full of women who can kick ass makes things a bit more exciting as well. Interesting to note is a short early appearance by now world renown martial arts actor Yuen Biao (who trained with Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Corey Yuen) who has a role of a Yang soldier.

As for the DVD, I'm glad that you do have the option of the Mandarin or English dub track and the restoration of the film definitely adds to the enjoyment of the film as well. A shame that there are no special features but then again, since the Shaw Bros. churned out films one after the other, I'm not sure if that type of footage of the making of the film is lost.

But on its own, FUNimation Entertainment and Celestial Pictures are doing a great service for fans of these classic martial arts films by releasing it on DVD in the US. If you are a fan of the Shaw Brothers, these restored DVD releases are worth watching!

"The 14 Amazons" originally came out in Hong Kong back in 1972, months after the OTHER epic Shaw Brothers film of the year, The Water Margin, had been released. Of the two, only "TWM" made it to the U.S. (albeit, it lost about thirty minutes in a re-edited, English dubbed overhaul by Roger Corman that came to be known as "Seven Blows of the Dragon"), and its [co-]direction by the great Chang Cheh helped to make it a favorite among many fans of martial arts movies. Back then, could "TFA" have made the Pacific leap (preferably intact)? It's hard to say, but now, with Funimation taking up from the collapsed BCI (like Funimation, it was a Navarre company, so the switch-over had to be painless) fifteen classic Shaw films for domestic reissue, fans have a chance to see what was so special about a movie that did great box office in Hong Kong (number four for the year) and won some major Asian film awards. I say, it's deserving of all the hype!

Of the many reviews online for "TFA", I recommend reading Andrew Pragasam's write-up on The Spinning Image site as HIS is the best at summarizing how great the movie is (with a load of good trivia included)! After that, I can tell you that this is similar to "TWM" in that it was adapted from an old story ("The Yang Heroes"); here, the women of the heroic Yang family take up arms against invading Western Hsia barbarians after the last of the Yang men, a general, is killed in battle with his troops (excepting two survivors, played by Huang Chung Hsin and Fan Mei Sheng, who warn of the advancing enemy). Because the cowardly emporer would rather BARGAIN with the barbarians than FIGHT them, in order to save the country and uphold the Yang reputation, the women (led by the great grandmother, played by Lisa Lu) round up an army of their own and set off against impossible odds (due to a limited amount of soldiers gathered up at short notice)!

"ONE YEAR IN THE PREPARATION.....TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING!" is how the original trailer (not on the DVD) describes "TFA", and all that effort shows up favorably on the big screen. Beyond a few technical points, this holds up very comparably to "TWM", and sometimes, it OUTDOES "TWM" by the sheer spectacle of it all, especially with the violence. (One of the action directors, Cheng Hsiao Tung, would later choreograph House of Flying Daggers.) On the surface, it could be seen as a work of "feminism" or even as a counterpoint to Chang Cheh's movies that emphasized brotherhood ("yang gang") and [mostly] kept women in small supporting roles, but it is more about FAMILY honor than anything else. (The Yang women are as tight-knit as the Yang men are, it's no stretch to guess.) Like Mr. Pragasam, I see the moments that remind me of old John Ford westerns (Pragasam cites Ford's "calvary" trilogy), as well as "Westward the Women" (1951), where the bond between the women (and their forces) never breaks through lean times as they fight against the barbarians; Cheng Kang (who co-directed with Tung Shao-yung) did craft a nuanced script for this!

The cast is big, including many ladies we've seen in other Shaw pictures, such as Ivy Ling Po, Lin Ching, Karen Yip and Wong Chin Feng, but special mention MUST be given to Lily Ho; she won an award at the '73 Asian Film Festival for "Outstanding Lead Female Performance" by playing a... BOY, but not for real. According to the Weird Wild Realm site, because the last male Yang died in battle, leaving NO male heir left, his "first-born" (Lily's character) is labelled a "son" who must live up to the Yang tradition of being a warrior. Everyone goes along with OBVIOUS lie so the Yang legacy may carry on. The movie never made this point very clear (Hong Kong audiences were most likely to know the old tale more than Americans, who weren't expected to see this film AT ALL! Shaw Brothers never saw DVDs coming!), so I'm happy to have read that enlightening review! (For those who did not comprehend why the gorgeous Lily was being called a "boy" in the movie until you read this, give thanks to WWR reviewer Paghat the Ratgirl.... That's a psuedonym, by the way.)

Also in the cast are Yueh Hua, Tien Feng, Tien Ching, Lo Lieh, James Nam, Goo Man Chung, and look for Bolo Yeung and Yuen Biao in bit roles. Even [Alexander] Fu Sheng is an extra in this movie, but as the action gets very busy by the great number of people involved in many scenes, I couldn't spot him if I tried! (He IS readily found in some publicity stills, so it's no rumor about his involvement.) Overall, this is an epic that has a lot going on with a lot of characters to follow (like "TWM", too), so more than one look at this will help you appreciate it, but that initial watching will stun you, even with the few bits that can be only described as OUT OF THIS WORLD!

NO "SPOILERS"!

The picture on this Funimation DVD is 2.35:1 anamorphic and quite lush (better on your TV than a computer); the English dub is decent, but the Mandarin dub (with subs) is much better. No "extras" here (not counting "coming attractions"), but as fine as the feature is, you can manage without any. For those who love the big Shaw epics, and Lily Ho, this is to be gotten with all due speed! I'm looking forward to more Funimation/Shaw DVDs in the future!

All the best, Brother Fang.

This is one of the many delightful Shaw Brothers films featuring MEGA-STAR Ivy Ling Po!
Life doesn't get better than the opportunity to see her movies!