Yup! I believe Arrow Video has acknowledged the issue but hasn't started the replacement program yet.

This is from last month:

I got the regular Blu-ray, was that one okay?

The error is on the 2018 BD too. It largely (completely?) went unnoticed then.

I watched the UHD knowing there was an issue and still didn’t notice it. I had to look up the scene and watch it two or three times to see the problem. I’m glad they’re doing a disc replacement, but I can see why this went unnoticed for so long.

New announcements tomorrow. MVD leaked one of the titles:



…but just the one. Unclear if there’s more to come for the US or if the other one (since September is only supposed to have two titles) will be UK-only.

I anxiously awaiting the news about Volume 2 Shwscope titles and release date.

MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG (Hong Kong, 1982; Dir. Wong Jing): An avalanche of non-stop gunfire, pyrotechnics, wild motorcycle stunts, and barrels of bloody excitement from Wong Jing, in true ’80s style. Starring some of the most famous Shaw legends: Ti Lung (THE DUEL), Lo Lieh (FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH), Wong Yu (DIRTY HO), and Wang Lung-Wei (HONG KONG GODFATHER). Unseen on Canadian screens for over 35 years. World Premiere of Arrow Films’ new 2K restoration.
https://rue-morgue.com/third-and-fin...etails-photos/

I wasn't familiar with Mercenaries from Hong Kong before I saw this. Now that I've looked it up, all I can say is "awesome". More like this please. Hopefully it makes the cut in volume 2. I'd rather this than some of the c-grade venoms titles.

That gives me hope that at least one of the future boxed sets might lean more toward contemporary-set HK action pictures of the Shaw brothers era, and away from the straight-up period martial arts shows. I can think of quite a few worthwhile titles, but who knows what they've picked up!

EDIT: I should probably add that Arrow had pretty good materials to work with on this. The print on my IVL/Celestial DVD was in excellent shape. Actually, a lot of the Shaw brothers elements were in fine condition back then (better than most had surmised over all the years they were mostly absent), so other than mild cleanups and generally better transfers, I'm just glad to see any picture like this one finally re-appearing on these shores.

I haven't heard of it either. I haven't seen many of his films, but Wong Jing's critical reputation is that of a hack.

Definitely a part of Volume 2

Personally I don't think that title is entirely earned, and has seemingly most often been applied by western fans (or "fans"?) of HK cinema who – for whatever reason – couldn't adjust to his free-wheeling, lowest-common-denominator, often incongruous blends of action, comedy, drama, violence, horror, cheesecake, stolen concepts, etc., often swirling together within the same film, even though that was a mix that domestic HK audiences of those eras went in for time and time again. I think they kinda knew what they would get – popcorn movies packed with incident and . . . stuff – so there was presumably some kind of comfort factor there. He's made his fair share of local duds for sure, but he was a reasonably consistent maker of "popular" entertainments in that era, and worked with all of the top stars with fairly large budgets to match. I doubt he'd have had the 106-film career he has (so far) if local audiences didn't see something of themselves and their culture reflected in his work, and I tend to approach and review them with that in mind.

Since then, however . . .

. . . I do feel that a lot of his output from the last 15 years or so – in part due to his willingness to bend over and praise communist China – really does play like big-budget hackwork sometimes, lazily revisiting 'moments' and 'feels' of his earlier work without the same sense of abandon and/or excess that fuelled Hong Kong cinema – and Hong Kong – in general throughout the golden era. See the VEGAS TO MACAU trilogy, or the CHASING THE DRAGON duo, for example. He recently co-directed two NEW KUNG FU CULT MASTER films with a cast largely made up of HK vets – no doubt in part to make up for his 1993 original lacking a second film to wrap up the story – but what few reviews I've seen have been mixed, despite all the whiz-bangery on screen:





This is many years before the Wong Jing of Naked Killer and the like. And the Shaw system guaranteed a certain level of homogeneity. Bottom line is it's got Ti Lung, Lo Lieh and Wang Lung Wei in a contemporary crime film, which is pretty much an automatic sell for me.

And it's not like late period Chang Cheh is a high bar to cross for inclusion in one of these sets.

Wong Jing himself knows about his reputation as a hack especially if you get to watch “Whatever You Want” a 90’s Shaw in which he makes fun of WKW and himself.

Looking forward to Mercenaries as it’s one that I haven’t watched before.

Arrow have hinted that they would focus on Chor Yuen in one of the upcoming volumes.

Besides June, when else does Arrow have sales at Barnes & Noble?

November. They're usually around the same time as the Criterion sales.

That one's a lot of fun, and the kind of movie we'll not likely see getting a release in the west. So many localized jokes (beyond just the WJ and WKW riffing). And despite his own acknowledgement of it, I still say WJ's reputation as a hack isn't entirely earned, especially from the western perspective where many folks actually haven't had access to his entire output. (also, I tend to think hacks rarely make good films, and Wong Jing has made a ton of good movies, maybe even a few great ones). I think some of his most gonzo pictures are quintessential viewing if you want to truly understand and appreciate HK culture and cinema beyond the more commonly exported action genre. There were other directors and screenwriters who cranked out films in the same 'anything goes' vein as Wong Jing, but through his prodigiousness and and factory-filmmaking techniques Wong Jing seemed to position himself at the top of the heap.

I wonder if Arrow Films would ever want to release the movie Samurai Reincarnation (1981) as a Blu-Ray. It's the kind of film that would be right up Arrow's alley.

Kinda surprised there hasn't already been a Sonny Chiba boxed boxed set assembled that would include this and maybe some of his similar films from that period. I know Shout did the STREET FIGHTER set, and Arrow has done some singles, but Chiba did a lot of movies (and movie series) that could be bundled together in cool packages.

12 Monkeys disc replacement update.

https://www.arrowfilms.com/blog/news...yKZLwshEa-zt10

My review of Hell High is up now. If you weren't into Arrow's past few offbeat slashers, especially Girls Nite Out, this one probably won't be for you either. Less Jason Voorhees, more high school sex comedy-meets-I Spit On Your Grave. The allure is less the body count (which is low and largely relegated to the final half hour) and more the tonal shifts and pervasive mean streak. This is a movie you'll probably just grudgingly tolerate, but the people who love it are really gonna be into it. And if you are, you have something like 7.5 hours of extras to look forward to, along with a top-shelf remaster. Recommended.

I guess if you ordered the Arrow Twelve Monkeys on blu-ray you are just shit out of luck.

Yeah, I just bought it from them in their recent sale, it's still sealed. I had no idea it had the error too. I wonder if I could get them to do a return at least.