The Shaolin Plot appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Overall the movie looked positive.
In general, the movie came with reasonably precise sharpness. Occasional slight soft shots materialized – most of which appeared to stem from the source photography – but the majority of the flick seemed well-rendered.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects emerged, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt natural, and print flaws remained absent.
Plot opted for a fairly natural palette. The hues felt vibrant and full.
Blacks seemed pretty deep and dense, while shadows displayed fine clarity and smoothness outside of some murky “day for night” material. Overall, this became a more than satisfying presentation.
Don’t expect much from the iffy LPCM monaural soundtrack of Plot. Speech suffered from a fair amount of edginess and never seemed especially natural, though the lines remained intelligible.
Neither music nor effects boasted much range, and they turned fairly shrill at times. Some mild background noise manifested through the film. I’ve heard worse 1970s Asian soundtracks, but this one nonetheless felt subpar.
Note that in addition to the original Mandarin audio, the Blu-ray comes with an English dub. I sampled some of it and found it predictably awful in terms of acting quality.
When we hit the disc’s extras, we find two separate audio commentaries. The first comes from film historians Frank Djeng and Michael Worth, both of whom sit together for a running, screen-specific look at cast and crew, stunts and martial arts, sets and locations, genre domains and connections to other films, and their general thoughts about the movie.
Veterans of the format, Djeng dominates the commentary, and he does fine. Worth throws out a decent array of notes but this one largely belongs to Djeng, and he manages to offer a positive view of the various topics.
For the second commentary, we hear from film historians Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. They also chat together in their running, screen-specific view of cast and crew, stunts and martial arts, sets and locations, genre domains and connections to other films, and their general thoughts about the movie.
In other words, Venema and Leeder touch on domains similar to those of the Djeng/Worth, and inevitable repetition occurs, especially when they discuss cast/crew careers. Nonetheless, they come at the film from a somewhat different slant.
Along with their enthusiasm, this helps make the track engaging, even when it becomes repetitive. I think they push their comparisons between Star Wars and martial arts movies too hard – and too often – however.
Alternate English Credits span two minutes, 10 seconds and show the same footage as the theatrical version but simply with different text. This seems nice for completists but no one else appears likely to care.
In addition to two trailers, we conclude with an Image Gallery that offers 36 elements. These mix shots from the flick and some ads to become a mediocre compilation.
When it focuses on its martial arts scenes, The Shaolin Plot becomes pretty entertaining. Unfortunately, it devotes too much time to dull stabs at narrative elements that just make it drag. The Blu-ray comes with pretty solid picture, iffy audio and a mix of bonus materials highlighted by two commentaries. I think Plot offers enough to intrigue genre fans but its drawbacks make it a mixed bag.