Product Details

• Actors: Ti Lung
• Directors: Chang Cheh
• Format: Box set, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Chinese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Well Go USA
• DVD Release Date: November 17, 2009
• Run Time: 423 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002N5L4V4
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,392 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The ultimate collectors set featuring four legendary Shaw Brothers movies. This set comes in a collectable metal tin case and includes a classic Shaw Brothers free t-shirt offer. Titles include the following.

Heroes Shed No Tears
Alexander Fu Sheng's martial arts talents are awesomely featured in Heroes Shed No Tears as he plays the son of man a who's supposed to die at the hands of a sword with a forged teardrop on its blade.

The Heroic Ones
The iron triangle of director Chang Cheh and protégés David Chiang and Ti Lung make The Heroic Ones a quintessential action epic, set during the waning years of the Tang Dynasty and centering on a royal family rife with intrigue.

Delightful Forest
The legendary hero Wu Sung (Ti Lung) was sent to the prison in Meng province after murdering his sister-in-law and her lover. There he was acquainted with the prison officer Shih En (Tien Ching), who saved Wu from the baton punishment required for new prisoners. Wu found out that Shih s restaurant Delightful Forest was taken by Chiang Chung (Chu Mu)...

Two Champions of Shaolin
Legendary kung-fu film director Chang Cheh presents another of his on-going, action-packed, internationally loved Venom cult classics, pitting anti-Manchu Shaolin masters against devious Wutang warriors in a literal fight to the death.

All four movies have an English language track and subtitles.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Collection of Shaw Movies, December 14, 2009

By 

K. F. (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shaw Brothers Metal Tin: Epic Heroes (4 DVDs and T-Shirt Offer) (DVD)

The Epic Heroes Shaw Brothers collection from Well Go USA is a set of four classic Shaw Brothers martial arts movies, nicely packaged in a collectible tin case. The Hong Kong based Shaw Brothers studio was the biggest Chinese language movie studio of its time, and made literally hundreds of martial arts movies (as well as other genres) during its heyday from the mid 1960s through its closure in the mid 1980s. The movies were internationally popular for their depictions of Chinese history, legends and literature, their wonderful sets, costumes and production values, their stable of charismatic stars, and their pioneering directors, martial arts choreographers and stuntmen.

Of the movies included, "The Heroic Ones" is perhaps the most notable. Made in 1970, it was one of the most expensive Chinese movies ever made at the time, and it deals with the exploits of a heroic family fighting bandits during the Tang dynasty. With a huge cast of extras, lots of large, outdoor battle scenes, and non-stop action, it's a film that's very impressive in its scope. Directed by Chang Cheh (who became famous for his "heroic bloodshed" movies featuring noble heroes who always go down fighting), The Heroic Ones features David Chiang and Ti Lung. These two charismatic stars were the main draws for Shaw Brothers at this time, and they give great performances in this tale of intrigue, betrayal and conflict.

"The Delightful Forest" from 1972 is the film version of one of the stories from the famous Chinese historical novel "Outlaws of the Marsh", and features Ti Lung as the hero Wu Song. Great production values and sharp martial arts scenes highlight this entertaining film.

"Two Champions of Shaolin" is from 1980, and features "the venoms", a troupe of actors/martial artists/acrobats that starred together in a number of Shaw films, most famously in "The Five Venoms" from 1977. This film is also directed by Chang Cheh, and compared to his films from the early 70s, his early 80s films usually had lower budgets and production values, and instead amped up the martial arts scenes, both in speed and complexity. "Two Champions" is a story of conflict between Shaolin and Wutang students, and concerns the latter's collaboration with the Qing rulers over Han China. There is action throughout, and the film ends with a typically exciting and acrobatic fight scene from the venoms actors.

"Heroes Shed No Tears" is also from 1980, and is a film version of one of the wuxia (heroic swordsman) novels of popular Chinese author Gu Long. It can be a bit confusing, with many clan characters, betrayals and shifting loyalties, but the action scenes deliver. This movie also stars popular Shaw actor Alexander Fu Sheng, who was tragically killed in a car accident in 1983. His upbeat, likeable, mischievous personality made him a fan favorite during his years with the Shaw studio.

Although these four movies don't quite represent the cream of the crop of Shaw Brothers studios, they're each solid, and are a good representation of the variety of martial arts movies that the studio produced. From accounts of actual historical events, to the retelling of both old and new stories from Chinese literature, these films provide an interesting, entertaining window on Chinese culture and filmmaking.

Well Go USA should be complimented for presenting each of these films in anamorphic widescreen, preserving the original aspect ratio of the films. The picture quality of these restored films is very nice, and the audio options include the original language track and an optional English dub. All in all, a very nice set.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Stuff, August 28, 2011

By 

Victoria Rose "Victoria J. Rose" (Burbank, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shaw Brothers Metal Tin: Epic Heroes (4 DVDs and T-Shirt Offer) (DVD)

Seller was prompt. Material arrived when predicted. Material was in excellent shape as advertised. Material was as adveristed, good olde kung-fu movies. I am not an expert, except in what I like. These are fun movies. I will use this seller again.

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice collection of Shaw Classics, January 22, 2010

By 

Andrew Strawn "i-man" (ATX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shaw Brothers Metal Tin: Epic Heroes (4 DVDs and T-Shirt Offer) (DVD)

This set does a good job of covering some various aspects of the Shaw's output. Kind of wierd that 2 of these movies were in Well Go's other Shaw Boxset but its obvious this company is just slapping these things together, check out the cover art on Two Chapmions of Shaolin for example.

Heroic Ones (1970) a big budget epic by Chang Cheh starring David Chiang, Ti Lung. Doesn't have the intricate martial arts of later kung fu movies but is great if you can appreciate the older Shaw classics.

The Delightful Forest (1972) Another Chang Cheh, this one showcases Ti Lung, a little more open handed kung fu, still not the Venoms or Lau Kar Leung level of coreography but its a step away from the big budget sword epics. One of the bloodiest endings in a kung fu movie I can remember.

Two Champions of Shaolin (1980) Chang Cheh and the Venoms team. This is a stark contrast to the old school epics, filmed on the shaw studio sets with a smaller cast, the focus is now on the action and skills of the preformers. Lots of fun, espcially if you like cheesey dubbing.

Heroes Shed No Tears (1980) isn't anamorphic, I watched it once and I probably won't ever watch it again. I guess its ok if you're into WuXia coustume fantasies, or a big Fu Sheng fan, but I found it hard to follow and not enough action to revisit it.