One-Armed Swordsman and My Young Auntie Dragon Dynasty DVD Reviews

Screencaps will follow late tonight or tomorrow.

Video: Dragon Dynasty continues the excellent transfers for their line of Shaw Brothers films with these two releases. Both One-Armed Swordsman and My Young Auntie have been transferred to Region 1 DVD perfectly and look great. There are no signs of a poor transfer such as motion blurs, jerky movement, etc. In short these DVDs are gorgeous and a joy to watch. The colors are also natural and do not look oversaturated. Both films are anamorphically enhanced for widescreen tvs.

Audio for One-Armed Swordsman: OAS sounds great and is a pleasure to listen to. The Mandarin Mono track is exactly that and free of any and all sound “enhancements” that can often be found on Celestial created re-mixes. It is free of hiss and any noise. The same can be said of the English track, which previous to this release was only available (and all bootlegs derive their copies from this) an old Dutch VHS tape. The sound difference is light years better. These dubs are being remastered and may actually sound better than anyone has ever heard them.

Audio for My Young Auntie: The same general comments can be said about the audio for My Young Auntie, except instead of a proper Cantonese soundtrack, a Mandarin soundtrack was used on this DVD release (it still sounds fine and is not re-mixed). The English dub is fine however (it was previously issued I think in the UK on VHS, but not re-mastered) and if you are a fan of the English Dubs as opposed to the Chinese tracks (which I myself am a lot of times), then this issue of no Cantonese track may not be a problem for you. Still, Dragon Dynasty should make every effort in the future to secure the right soundtrack. It’s a shame as it mars a disc that is perfectly fine otherwise.

Extras for One-Armed Swordsman and My Young Auntie: Both My Young Auntie and One Armed Swordsman receive some nice extras on these Dragon Dynasty special editions. A collection of trailers similar to what has been seen on other Shaw Dragon Dynasty DVDs features many original Shaw trailers (which are subtitled also). There is a also a nice interview with Jimmy Wang Yu on One Armed Swordsman, which talks about how Jimmy got started at the Shaws and what working there was like. It’s a short (around 12 minutes) interview, but it’s filled with some really nice details. A similar interview with Kara Hui is on My Young Auntie. Props to Mike Leeder (well I’m just guessing on it, but I would bet good odds on it) for the great interviews. On both discs there are some interviews with film critics who also appear on a commentary track. They talk about the more analytical side of the film, but I can’t help wishing that Bey Logan or Linn Haynes recorded a track (or Mike Leeder or Jude Poyer, or even the RZA). Both discs also have a stills gallery. The One Armed Swordsman disc also has the Celestial-produced “The Master” documentary about Chang Cheh. It runs about 17 minutes and is pretty nice as an introduction to Chang Cheh.

Overall: One-Armed Swordsman is a must-buy recommendation with no issues whatsoever with the disc (besides a lackluster commentary track). The great video and sound make it an easy recommendation. My Young Auntie is a different matter. It's hard to say that fans who want the Cantonese track should by the R3 as it has a nasty re-mix on it apparently. I would say get the Dragon Dynasty as it does have the superior video and the Mandarin dub is original and was made at the time of My Young Auntie’s original theatrical release in Hong Kong. If you only listen to English dubs then it's an easy recommendation without any issues (save once again for a poor commentary). Still Dragon Dynasty should in the future ensure that all of its audio tracks and subtitles are correct to prevent a similar issue.