Fan DVD Project One: PURPLE DARTS

The unreleased Shaw brothers classic from 1969.

Uncut fullscreen version of the movie.
Mandarin Language
Embedded English Subtitles
Removable clearer Overlap english subtitles

bonus

Newly made 'original style' trailer
coming soon trailer gallery.
film notes.
Unreleased Shaw brothers movies feature.
'showcasing scenes from some of the un remastered classics of the studio'

first 50 copies in sleeve with custom cover. 5x7" postcard of Movie poster
and a4 insert sheet. Numbered.

£12.00

shipping

UK £2.50
EU £4.00
Rest of World £6.00

Ninja In Ancient China

A solid final directorial effort from genre great Chang Cheh.Ninja in ancient China is a pretty unique film, it is technically a new wave kung fu movie but it untulised techniques that were used by Chang Cheh in his old skool kung fu movies. This makes for a fun and interesting viewing that harks back to the classics that we all love and cherrish.

The story concerns a group of young Ninjas all trained in the five elements, for those who don't know these are Earth, Wood, Fire, Water and Gold. When their master is killer by a power hungry General they have one thing mind and that is revenge. To do this the two lovers of the ninja group set about infiltraiting the Generals inner ranks by posing as skilled travellers, saving the Generals wife and becoming bodygaurds. Things become complicated when the campassion the General shows to our heroes leaves them in a tricky spot as to where they should place their loyalty.

The film starts off with a nice intoduction that displays the five elements and their special techniques, giving us an idea of our heroes skills before the film kicks off. There is loads of action packed into this film with nice sword fighting throughout. It isn't lacking any of the blood letting we expect from Chang Cheh with generous amounts of sprays and arrow wounds. The action in the final is fantastic the use of old skool fighting is something that had been mastered by Chang Cheh by the mid seventies so you can imagine that 20 years on he knows exactly what he wants from his actors. The mainland setting provides a good backdrop to the story and the use of huge castles and the Generals estate are all implemented well and add a good sense of atmosphere to the movie. The soundtrack ain't half bad either.The ending is rather bitter sweet and may even shock a genre fan or two.To conclude the film is a unique and fun affair that fans should definately check out just to see old skool kung fu in a new wave picture.4 out of 5

The GreenFan DVDThis is the first release from new genre label GreenFan DVD and it has made me nothing but excited about their future releases. The film is presented in widescreen and the colours and contrast are all good with the grain and print speckle we all expect, the night time scenes are all fine as well. The original Mandarin audio is good and the burnt in English subtitles are easy to read.

The extras include a feature length audio commentary by Jade Screen Magazine writer Nick Watkins, he provides a quite informative commentary that is worth listening to, i hope he returns for future label releases as he has a good balance between professional knowledge and fan appreciation for the genre. We are treated to 28 good quality film stills that make for a nice addition, finally there is a 3 minute preview of the fantastic looking dream sword, that is set to be the next greenfan dvd release. Liner notes by Linn are also included in a full colour insert.Nice menu's as well.

Greenfan have proved themselves as the next up and coming label and i for one knw i will be purchasing more of their titles in the future