Posts
TITLE-The Crippled Masters
SOURCE-Film Masters Blu ray
2010 or 2011 I first saw this insane late 70s martial arts film. My trust dvd player that could also play DIVX/XVID files had died. I made a trip to the nearest Best Buy, over an hour away. Had 300 bucks. Dropped 150 on another player then the rest was spent on DVDs. Got a Grindhouse Experience set from Video Asia. And since buying that set that was all VHS rips put on DVD I have bought 2 of the films again on Blu Ray.
Now yea I know Crippled Masters is easy to find cheap on DVD or streaming. And seeing that VHS rip that is easy to find is enough to catch your attention. How many martial arts films have your two heroes being one dude with no arms and the other dude has no legs? I just loved this movie so much I wanted a good copy. And this Blu ray from Film Masters is a great copy.
Film Masters is basically the new Film Detective. In that they take Public Domain films or stuff that has never really gotten a release and put it out. Load the disc up with extras and if you are a fan of stuff like Frankenstein's Daughter or Redneck Miller these two companies are your best bet.
Fully remastered from 35mm archival elements the front cover proclaims. And this looks better than I have ever seen this movie look.
Look at those extras. Got a info filled commentary, with some digs at the owner of Video Search of Miami. A fun documentary on the history of Martial arts films in the US. The original 1982 US trailer and a newer re cut one. Almost 20 minutes worth of classic Martial Arts trailers from Something Weird. Then you see a booklet mentioned.
16 pages of info about the film. Love when companies do this now. Use to be every dvd had a card listing the chapters. Now we get nothing from the big studios. Which is why I try to pick up smaller label releases like this one.
So what about the film? Simple we got one dude with no arms and his brother who gets acid poured on his legs. But they get trained and can put the no leg brother on the other brother's shoulders and we got a supreme fighting machine.
You don't go into older martial arts films like this for the plot. You watch them for the fights. And these fights are great. I for years just assumed this was made by one of the big studios that made martial art films. Nope this was made by some small company in Taiwan.
If like me you grew up with Kung Fu theater airing right after cartoons on Saturdays and miss those days this is worth grabbing.
The Crippled Masters Blu Ray from Film Masters gets a B+
