Clan of the White Lotus – 88 Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Hong Kong, 1980
Director: Lo Lieh
Writer: Haung Tien
Cast: Chia-Hui Liu (Gordon Liu), Kara Wai, Lo Lieh, Johnny Wang, Hsiao Ho

Release Date: April 13th, 2020
Approximate Running Time: 93 Minutes 43 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Cantonese, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region B
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK)

"Director/ star Lo Lieh (Five Fingers of Death, Miracles) plays the evil ex-monk Pai Mei, a man with white hair, near-supernatural fighting skills and a bitter hatred of Shaolin scholars. Facing him down is is the callow Hung Wen-ting (Gordon Liu, who would himself play the cruel Pai Mei in Kill Bill Volume 2). But will his kung fu ever be good enough to take out the mad killer?." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Restored HD Master."

Clan of the White Lotus comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 20 GB

Feature: 19.9 GB

This is yet another Shaw Brothers release that uses a pre-existing source, and the result leaves plenty of room for improvement. There are times when flesh tones look off, colors are inconsistent, image clarity ranges from serviceable to good, and black levels are adequate. Also, digital noise reduction strips the image of any film-like appearance.

Audio: 3.75/5 (DTS-HD Mono Cantonese, DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Cantonese and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clear and balanced, and range-wise action sequences sound robust. Included are removable English subtitles for the Cantonese language track and a second removable English subtitle track for Cantonese text when watching with the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to the first pressing) and a 12-page booklet (limited to the first pressing), with an essay titled Balls to the Wall Clan of the White Lotus: Action. Excitement. Eunuchs. written by James Oliver.

Summary:

Directed by Lo Lieh, a prolific actor whose career spanned four decades and more than 200 films. Notable films he appeared in are Golden Swallow, King Boxer, The Bamboo House of Dolls, The Stranger and the Gunfighter, Human Lanterns, On the Run, and Supercop.

The narrative revolves around an evil priest named White Lotus who avenges the death of his brother Pai Mei.

Clan of the White Lotus is part of a trilogy of films. The other two films are Executioners from Shaolin and Abbot of Shaolin. In the first two films, the villain is Pai Mei, while Pai Mei’s brother, White Lotus, is the villain of Clan of the White Lotus. Actor Lo Lieh appeared in all three of these films.

The narrative quickly jumps into the action, with Pai Mei’s death at the hands of two fighters in the opening credits. From there, the action sequences continue with White Lotus and his minions exacting revenge for this dead brother. And though this opening setup is action-heavy, things calm down action-wise by the middle act. With the last action being wall-to-wall action building towards an exceptional finale.

When it comes to the performances, the cast is all very good, especially Lo Lieh in the role of White Lotus. He delivers a phenomenal performance that is a text-book example of how to portray a martial arts villain. Chia-Hui Liu (Gordon Liu), in the role of Hung Wen-ting, one of the men who killed Pai Mei, delivers a memorable performance. That said, the scenes that these two actors share are extraordinary.

Training sequences are a staple of martial arts cinema, and Clan of the White Lotus features one of the more original ones. Hung Wen-ting’s sister teaches him a fighting skill that is rooted in chores assigned to women and improves his fighting skills. This fighting style is softer than his more forceful style, and combining them will give him the upper hand against White Lotus.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where the Clan of the White Lotus does not deliver, and then some. The briskly paced narrative has a good balance of action and exposition. And though White Lotus severely beats Hung Wen-ting multiple times, only to let him fight another day, that is one of the narrative's strengths. The exceptional action sequences were choreographed by Lau Kar-Leung. Ultimately, Clan of the White Lotus is an amazing conclusion to a trilogy of martial arts films that are excellent.

Clan of the White Lotus gets a lackluster audio/video presentation from 88 Films.

Written by Michael Den Boer