A martial arts master who specializes in the Shaolin pole is tricked by an underhanded clan into teaching their students his powerful specialty.
Recently, thanks to multiple boutique disc labels, there has been an onslaught of Shaw Brothers films making their way to Blu-ray™ Disc. I have not had much exposure to this production company’s work until this recent boom of releases. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to be much of a fan of their work.
Released on disc by 88 Films, “The Kung Fu Instructor” is a 1979 release from the Shaw Brothers studio. The story focuses on a town divided between two clans — if you cross the border into another clan’s territory, you’ll face dire consequences. To break the divide, one of the clans decides to coerce a kung fu master, Wang Yang (Ti Lung), into training their men. They quickly find out that Wang Yang isn’t one to be easily coerced.
Despite the film’s seemingly simple plot, I found elements of it difficult to follow. There were several moments when I caught myself wondering why something was happening. Maybe I missed some exposition? Even focusing on elements outside the movie’s story, I didn’t particularly enjoy this film. While the performances were fine, and the movie was competently made, I couldn’t get into the action. The fights were heavily staged and choreographed, becoming more of a distraction than anything. Quite frankly, they were a little dull as well. Although I wished for this movie to end, its inevitable conclusion was too abrupt.
The film presentation on this disc is good. No compression/encoding issues stood out to me as I watched. However, the lens used to capture the film sometimes gives the edges of the image an unusual appearance. Viewers wanting to watch the movie with its Mandarin audio track will want to visit the disc settings before starting; the disc defaults to the English dub. I noticed no problems with the film’s aural presentation.
This limited release includes a slipcase and four collector’s art cards. There are few on-disc features, but the disc itself consists of the film’s trailer and a stills gallery.
I have no experience with the Shaw Brothers’ repertoire, so I have no idea where “The Kung Fu Instructor” stands amongst their works. This movie didn’t do much for me, but fans of kung fu cinema may have an entirely different experience. This disc is recommended on the strength of its technical presentation.
Now available on Blu-ray™ from 88 Films