Revenge of the Shogun Women (Blu-ray 3D Review)


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  • Reviewed by: Tim Salmon
  • Revision date: Dec 17 2021
  • Format: Blu-ray 3D

Revenge of the Shogun Women (Blu-ray 3D Review)

Director

Mei-Chun Chang

Release date)

1982 (December 14, 2021)

Studio (s)

Eastern Media / 21st Century Film Corporation (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

  • Film / program rating: C +
  • Video quality: B
  • Audio level: B
  • Category of extras: B

Revenge of the Shogun Women (Blu-ray Disc)

Buy it here!

Review

Following the 1977 martial arts extravagance Dynasty has been Revenge of the Shogun Women. (Although it was made in 1977, it didn’t come out in the US until 1982.) Director Mei-Chun Chang returned with much of the same crew on board to make a much more aggressive story. and violent on a group of bandits who have set their sights on a young woman and her family. Unfortunately for them, thirteen highly trained fighters from a nearby monastery arrived to stop them. Swords, throwing stars, and braids of hair fly in this simple yet entertaining slice of Eastern Combat Schizophrenia.

Both films used the 3D Super-Touch or Optimax III system. This was the promise kept by low-budget filmmaker Michael Findlay, who had developed the technology before his untimely death. This stereoscopic format filmed separate left and right images stacked on top of each other, creating two distinct images in the same frame on the negative. It was finicky with mixed results in terms of image quality, but produced excellent 3D images when properly aligned. And Revenge of the Shogun Women benefits enormously.

Revenge of the Shogun Women was shot by cinematographers Jung-Shu Chen and Lorenzo Somma on 35mm film using the Super-Touch 3D lens system, photochemically finished and cropped at 2.35: 1. Kino Lorber Studio Classics presents the new 3-D Film Archive restoration of Revenge of the Shogun Women on Blu-ray 3D in three distinct presentations: Polarized 3D, Anaglyph 3D, and Normal 2D. The 3-D Film Archive managed to save the film from the only known elements in existence, which had already started to deteriorate. The fact that they were able to save anything is simply miraculous. Before the start of the film, a title card informs us that “Shogun Women has been restored from the best surviving 35mm elements and the main photograph’s stereoscopic vertical alignment issues have been resolved. However, there are some abnormalities with the Super-Touch 3-D lens system that cannot be repaired. “

Due to the amount of glass surfaces used in the Super-Touch 3D camera system, constant maintenance was required for optimal filming, which was not always done. Because of this, a myriad of issues arose including lag in lighting, speckling, and vignetting. As noted earlier in the opening title card, many vertical alignment issues have been fixed, but minor instability, smudging, discoloration, and dark edges are still present and appear to be permanent. There are also leftover lines, splice marks, and scratches, most of which are more prevalent in 2D presentation.

The 3D itself is stellar with wonderful depth, thanks in large part to the film’s work of composition. Traditional 3D effects, such as swords pointing at the camera, and arrows and fireballs flying beyond, are mostly effective. Only minor ghost images are visible, but they are never intrusive. The 2D presentation is a bit coarser. The opening sequence of rape and looting is ubiquitous in terms of color temperatures, focal issues, crushed blacks, and more noticeable damage. The presentation balances out a bit after that. In fact, some areas look great, especially the footage before the second bandit attack. Herculean efforts to bring the presentation to this point, after carefully sorting out the faded and deteriorated material, are to be commended.

Also included is a 3D anaglyph version which is a new 2021 master using the new 3-D Film Archive adaptive multiband anaglyphic encoding process. It does a lot better than most presentations of this type. In fact, it is superior to any anaglyphic version that has been seen in the past. It also offers anyone who purchases this version a way to experience the film the way it was intended, even without access to modern 3D technology.

Audio is included in English 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with optional English SDH subtitles. It’s a dubbed track (the original soundtrack probably no longer exists) that offers a lot of muscle for its 80s synth soundtrack. The dialogue exchanges are noticeable and the sound effects come in various qualities. The whistling sound is widespread everywhere, but overall it is satisfactory.

The following extras are included, all in HD:

  • College capers (3D and 2D – 15:15)
  • Persian slave market (3D and 2D – 11:05)
  • Two guys from Tick Ridge (3D and 2D – 16:28)

3-D Film Archive also lovingly restored three rare 3D shorts and included them as extras. In the years 1953 College capers (featured in black and white), a goofy panty thief is caught trying to steal underwear as part of a fraternity prank, and hilarity ensues. The film notably stars Dolores Fuller (The monster bride, Glen or Glenda) and was directed by editor Elmo Williams (20000 Leagues Under the Sea, Midi high). In the years 1953 Persian slave market (also in black and white), three women perform striptease dances outside in a garden. And in the years 1973 Two guys from Tick Ridge, a film producer shows his southern friend some examples of 3D footage. His friend then provides “hilarious” reviews and comments.

In most cases, the original negatives of these shorts no longer exist. For College capers and Persian slave market, all that survive are badly faded and rapidly deteriorating anaglyphic prints. Additional 3D scanning and extraction techniques were used to achieve the absolute best quality of both 2D and 3D images. 3D is obviously doing much better in comparison because 2D shows the abundance of defects still present in the images. In the case of Two guys from Tick Ridge, additional cleaning had to be done due to the encrusted dirt cases. The short was originally shot in 16mm and blown down to 35mm, which of course increases the grain and debris present on the original negative. But, thanks to the many restoration efforts, the material had the best possible opportunity to shine.

The disc is inside a blue amaray case with the original artwork from the US movie poster on the front. The packaging also includes a single pair of anaglyph 3D glasses.

Another stellar release from 3-D Film Archive and Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Revenge of the Shogun Women is a Silver Age 3D title that can be enjoyed to the fullest, with three additional 3D shorts in tow. If you are a 3D fan this is a must have version!

– Tim Salmon

(You can follow Tim on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook. And don’t forget to subscribe his YouTube channel here.)

Keywords

13 Golden Nuns, 13 Nuns, 1982, 21st Century Film Corporation, 3-D, 3-D Movie Archive, 3D, 3D Movie Archive, Anaglyphic, Anaglyphic 3D, Blu-ray, 3-D Blu-ray, Blu- 3D ray, Blu-ray Disc, Chang Ma, Chen Zong-Su, Cheng Ku, Chin-Chen Wang, Ching Hsi Weng, College Capers, Di Lin, Eastern Media, Frank Wong, Hsiang-Chin Han, Hsiu-Shen Liang, Huang- Kun Lin, Ivory League Pictures, Ju-Yu Chang, Jung-Shu Chen, Kim Yung Koo, Kino Lorber, Kino Lorber Studio Classics, Kuo-Chu Huang, Lorenzo Somma, Mei-Chun Chang, Mei-Lun Shih, Michael Findlay, Niels Rasmussen, Pai-Ying, Persian Slave Market, polarized, 3D polarized, Revenge, Revenge of the Shogun Women, review, Rob Walsh, Robert J Walsh, Sang Shi Choon, Shi shan nu ni, Shirley Han, Shiusen Leong, Terry Chambers, The Digital Bits, Tim Salmons, Tsang Mei-Chun, Two Guys from Tick Ridge, Ying Bai, Ying Lee


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