Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin Blu-ray Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

Things are improving in this box set if Snake & Crane Arts of Shaolin is any indication. There remains a small digital tinge to the proceedings, a low pass filter applied to keep grain controlled. Some smearing and wonky grain is worse than any reduced detail. Color reveals a yellow-ish fade, but primaries seep through regularly.

The scan itself looks recent, displaying crispness and clarity indicative of 2K sourced material. Note that definition is on the lower end due to the processing, but only inconsistently offensive. Generally, the grain structure holds together, and encoding handles things without issue.

Contrast drifts into clipping, while black levels rarely fall to crush. For all the complaints though, credit goes to the restoration; that doesn't leave behind any damage or dirt.

Audio

Three mono tracks include Mandarin, English dub, and Japanese Mandarin. A stereo track uses Cantonese. Defaulting to the mono Mandarin track, it's terrible. The constant hum, static, and popping cause problems, but the rotten fidelity is worse still. Music hits a loud peak, sounding as if the speakers are blown out. Dialog comes across so hollow, the original recording quality causes problems galore.