Customer Reviews

The Delightful Forest [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(9/14/10 update!) This Blu-ray Disc of the Shaw Brothers classic "The Delightful Forest" (1972, directed by Chang Cheh and Pao Hsueh-li) is one of four Blu-ray Discs now available from Well Go USA for purchase at Amazon, and, initially, there were technical problems with this release. In the case of the first copy that was given to me, playback of the picture was hampered by brief moments of breaking up (pixilation of some kind) within thirty minutes of the viewing. The picture never froze, so I played it through with no further complications. Since then, Well Go worked out the bugs the best they could on the disc, offering consumers a new copy if they mailed in their bad copies right to the company! My replacement copy, and an additional one I bought for a friend (from Amazon), played well without any complications. With the newer pressing, a copy you get now should be okay, but be on the alert if you DO get a bad one. (Go to Well Go's website for details on exchanging faulty discs.)

Well Go USA's BD of "TDF" is an AMAZING improvement over the The Delightful Forest **SHAW BROTHERS** DVD! If Well Go got complaints about the doctored soundtracks on the DVD, they corrected them here with the English dub and the Mandarin dub BOTH in strong, UNTOUCHED mono! Yes, all the extra music and foley are GONE here, and they are NOT missed!

The picture is much sharper on the BD; it's 1080i (interlaced), NOT 1080p (progressive). Also, many visual issues that couldn't be resolved back in 1972 can't be corrected via the BD mastering (occasional blurriness due to the equipment Shaw's cameramen had to utilize), so the disc is a near-perfect visual experience. Regardless, after Tokyo Shock's BDs for Deadly Duo Blu-Ray [Blu-ray] and Heroes Two (Blu-ray), it's my opinion this movie looks even BETTER than the BEST Shaw DVDs from Dragon Dynasty and Tokyo Shock do, and we know how GREAT they look! (This disc will likely be bettered with Well Go's 1080p BD of All Men Are Brothers (Dub) [Blu-ray].)

The English subtitles are different from the DVDs in that they're done in another, smaller font that doesn't take up the space they do on the DVD. Beyond that, the BD subs have the same translation as on the DVD.

With my new and improved copy, I got MORE out of my viewing experience on the BD than the DVD because everything (especially the soundtracks) was ORIGINAL, which is how MOST enjoy seeing a classic Shaw Brothers martial arts movie (any "old school" classic, really)! Even if it's only 1080i, it's still one of the BEST reissues of a Shaw movie ever done, hands down! So it is I give this UPGRADE the maximum of five "stars"!

An essential purchase, and one of Ti Lung's best movies EVER!

All the best, Brother Fang.

(Also available from Well Go USA: The Heroic Ones [Blu-ray] and Brothers Five (Blu-ray) (Shaw Brothers)!)

I received my disc today and the bad news is that yes, there are some minor issues. I watched this on a Sony BDP-S370. Around the 1:55 mark I had a fluttering artifact on the screen for a half second. I replayed that section to confirm it was there. There was a also a kind of stuttering that lasted a second in a later scene which I again replayed to verify. Infrequently there was a tiny jerkiness but it didn't really detract from the movie; I only mention it in the interest of being complete.

The good news is that the colors pop and the detail is excellent. The sound was very good as well. Overall it is a solid disc but probably not up to the standards of people used to $25 blu-ray discs released by major studios. If you watch older kung fu flicks and have suffered through washed-out colors and crappy VHS transfers and cropped frames you will love it.

This is a very inexpensive disc and my viewing experience did not suffer greatly from the minor imperfections. I'll probably keep the disc unless I can be sure of getting a flawless one in exchange. YMMV.

I reviewed the Brothers Five (Blu-ray) (Shaw Brothers) disc (better!) and I will review the The Heroic Ones [Blu-ray] disc after I watch it.

This is the kind of movie in which the protagonist was beaten so badly that you would believe he would not be living long. Then, somehow, someway, he revived himself and next minute you saw him kicking asses!

Like most of Shaw Brothers' 1000 plus movies, this production was also staged in the company's various studios. The tired storyline and the lack of any jaw-dropping ku-fu actions really couldn't ease the claustrophobic feel that a lot of Shaw Brothers' movies frequently impact on the audience consciously and unconsciously.

Story line and acting was decent, fight scenes were not! I watch these types of films mostly for the fight scenes, in this flick they are slow and fake looking almost to the point of being funny. I think the fight choreographer must have fallen asleep too.....

I have yet to finish the movie it self, but with in the first min I already had a extreme ghost tear in the movie, then a 4 second freeze on the same part of the disc, I don't knwo why this is... but not too happy and scared of my future well go blu ray films.