Shaw Brothers Classics: Volume Five (Jan 14, 2025)

Where we last left off in my Shaw Brothers collection, ending in Shaw Brothers Classic Volume 4 (which at the time I thought this was Shout Factory’s last collection), I thought it ended on a high note. That Fourth Volume collects all the 80s Kung Fu Classics, such as my favorite Five Element Ninjas and contains some of the last Kung Fu movies made by Shaw Brothers.

I have already gone on record for saying that I think these Shout Factory boxsets are too expensive (they’ve gone up to $170) and that the release schedule is just too aggressive. We now have eight boxsets, each set containing about 11 or 12 films. Not all of them are going to be winners, I know I have seen some awful Shaw Brothers titles… As far as I’m concerned, I already own all my favorite Shaw titles already, there’s no need for me to buy these other sets.

I am a man of my word, I said that if I can find these boxsets for a good price, I would buy them. So, that is how I ended up buying Shaw Brothers Classic Volume 5 to add to my collection. This set was a left-over Black Friday/Holiday sale, and I think I got a pretty good deal on it.

I will be honest with you: these 60s/early 70s wuxia films are not my cup of tea. There is a reason why these titles are obscure and less sought after, I can appreciate that these films lay the ground work for the 70s/80s Kung Fu rage. Most of these titles are new to me (as well as many other martial arts fans), as few were ever released in America. Remember, the first film to be brought over to America was Five Fingers of Death, and that came out in 1972.

Since they were never brought over to America – there are also no English dubs, meaning you will have to read subtitles. Not everyone will like reading, and personally speaking, I do prefer the English Dubs. On the bright side, these subtitles are newly translated for this Shout Factory release.

In addition, this time period features leading ladies (women were more popular than men at this time) and many of these women were more for looks than actual fighting. These films are all about wuxia (supernatural swordsplay) and often revolves around a weapon of some sorts. The worst part about this time period, coming off the 1950s, is that half these films will randomly feature the actor randomly singing Chinese opera!!! That just takes me out of the film.

I will briefly touch on some of the titles: The Silent Swordsman (1967) is a misnomer, as our hero can talk (and sing). This film was trying to cash in the popularity of 1967’s The One Armed Swordsman, which made over $1M HK Dollars.

Rape of the Sword (1967) has one of the most misfortune name in cinema. I can’t explain the title of the film. It is just widely accepted that it is a bad translation. There is no rape, there is no sex. This film is loosely based on Wang Dulu’s 1941 novel Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which was also later adapted in a more popular 2000 film). If you were to watch this film Rape of the Sword, next to Ang Lee’s film, they’re very different. Still, many of the same characters appear in the film, including Master Liu and the legendary jade (Green) sword. Warning: has singing in the middle of the film.

Of all the titles in this collection, The Fastest Sword (1968) has got to be my favorite film in this set. There’s no singing, and it’s probably the most Kung-Fu-ish film. It’s also very different, for its time, because it was shot mostly in Taiwan by the “Father of Taiwanese Art Cinema” Pan Lei. The story is great, it’s about the best/fastest swordsman in the South. He’s on a winning streak – until an 80-year-old monk beats him! As a result, he’s been humbled and now serves the monk for a few years. When he returns from his servitude, he’s a changed man and really no longer wants to be “the fastest”. Still, because he holds the title, many men would come to challenge him for the title. It’s mostly action, and there is a great slow-motion final fight between the North and South and it’s just a great film. I’m surprised I’ve never heard of this title.

A Taste of Cold Steel (1970) is about a Purple sword that everybody wants to get their hands on it. Although the audio commentary pointed out that this film is the sequel to Rape of the Sword, another commentator said that was not the case. More opera singing in this film. Hated this one.

Finally, Twin Blades of Doom (1969) is a good old-fashion revenge film. Our hero, a twin-sword user goes after this gang who murdered his parents. On paper, that sounds right up my alley. This story is written by Kang-Chien Chiu, and according to IMDB one of his first film was Bells of Death, which I really love. Like Bells of Death, our hero has to hunt down the gang who murdered his parents. The five killers are identified by their colors: Yellow, Green, White, Red, and Black. The movie dragged on a bit in the middle when the hero meets a traveling family.

Most film critics blame bad pacing of the film on the fact that film director, Doe Ching was undergoing illness with stomach cancer and basically had to stop work on the film (with the remainder of the film being directed by someone else). Ching ultimately died shortly after the film came out.

I’ve previously mentioned I own Vengeance Is a Golden Blade (1969) on DVD, and I liked it when I saw it on DVD. On retrospect, it’s not as good as some other films in this set. Twelve Deadly Coins (1969) is another film that I haven’t seen in a long time, from what I can remember, it has a woman in the lead (I’m not a fan of the girl-lead martial arts movie, sorry) and there are these coins that are used as throwing weapons. Like it can kill someone with these deadly coins. I thought it wasn’t a good film, but re-watching it, I thought it was pretty good. The bad guy with the eye is nuts in HD.

Another badly translated title: The Jade Faced Assassin (1971). There is no assassin, and there is no person wearing a green or jade mask. It’s just a bewildering title. It’s based on a Gu Long novel, and features three women in the lead. Kind of a forgettable film.

The only thing cool about The Iron Buddha (1970) is that it features an early Sammo Hung choreograph fight sequence… Hung also appears in the film. The film is about trying to find a blade to counter another blade. Don’t remember any Buddha in this film.

Not to be confused with the television show, but Mission Impossible (1971) is a rarely seen film. I guess during the remastering to DVD, Celestial Pictures found the original print unusable. They must have found an alternate print of the film, because it’s now watchable. This film does not have any spies or an impossible mission… it’s more of a supernatural film with a mix of horror. It’s not a great film, but I’m glad to see the film restored.

I felt like Six Assassins (1971) was highly influenced by Japanese cinema or stories. The story reminds me of 13 Assassins, where a group of people comes together to assassinate an evil lord. Not all the assassins are spotlighted, just mostly our main character who joins the crew.

Also, I wanted to mention that there are really NO SPECIAL FEATURES on these boxsets. The only features are audio commentaries found on all the movie, some are OK, some are bad. As far as I’m concerned, these are bare-bone releases. You can’t blame them, because they’re knocking out a 12-film boxset every three months, so they’re not going to have time to give you alternative versions, interviews, special making-ofs, or anything. To be frank, I’m kind of disappointed in the lack of features.

Shaw Brothers Classics Volume 5 is out now. The latest Shaw Brothers Classics Volume 8 came out December 2, 2025. It might be a while before I buy this, I need it to drop below a certain price. I have my eye on Shawscope Vol 4, which also came out in December 2025. Right now, they’re just too expensive, but once the price drops, I’ll definitely pick them up for my collection.