A mainstay on the 80s and 90s bootleg circuit gets a new lease on life thanks to Terror Vision.
Release Date: 1978 (theatrical) / March 26th, 2024 (blu-ray)
Run Time: 1 hour 30 minutes 53 seconds (English Language Version) / 1 hour 27 minutes 12 seconds (Mandarin Language Version)
Region Code: FREE
Picture: 1080p (2.35:1 aspect ratio) (both versions)
Sound: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (English Dubbed Version) / Mandarin DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (Mandarin Language Version)
Subtitles: English SDH
Slipcover: Yes (thick cardstock)
Starring: Barry Chan, Chu Shao-Hwa, Ma Yu-Feng, Chan Long, Su Kuo-Liang, Tu Kuei-Hua, Lin Wan-chang, Lin Kuang-Yung
Written by Hui Sing-Yue
Directed by Hui Sing-Yue
Rating: Not Rated (martial arts violence)
Terror Vision is proud to prsent this rare kung-fu film that has been bootlegged and presented unfairly for decades. For the first time since it's theatrical release, Game of Killers is scanned, restored, and presented in it's original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Game of Killers survives from a print that was found in a warehouse in China that suffered immense damage and loss of color during tirs chemical breakdown from unhealthy storage conditions.Terror Vision has restored and meticulously color-timed the print in order to bring you the possible picture to date. While the picture is still rough at times, it is impossible to NOT enjoy this rare oddball piece of cinema.
This is what the back of the box says about how the film looks. They are right. GAME OF KILLERS looks REALLY rough, but knowing gives me pause to say that it looks like crap or that the transfer is terrible for reasons that shouldn't really apply to something like this. There was really no way for Terror Vision to do anything better than what they have done here without a great cost. Sure, the film could have been cleaned up more and given a restoration Universal gave to their Monster films a decade or so ago, but they don't have Universal money to play with. What they have done here is incredibly impressive. They have taken a film that was a mainstay at flea markets everywhere during the 80s and 90s, and given it a new lease on life. The print they had to work was degraded so they did what they could to bring it back to life. There are all kinds of imperfections found all over this transfer. Cuts, scrapes, lines, hairs, dots, a few rough splices can be found at any time. I don't have a problem with any of this as I am very forgiving when it comes to stuff like this. Could I shit all over Terror Vision for not doing more to make this most perfect transfer ever? I am sure I could but why would I want to? They have done a great job with GAME OF KILLERS. I don't know if anyone else would have given this much time and attention to this film as they have. I love the way the film looks here. It reminds us that we are watching something that was shot on film while also giving us a ton of reassurance that they have not applied any DNR to the picture.
Now, we have two different soundtracks and they are very different. The English track is clear and precise. You can hear everything that is going on and understand what people are saying. The Mandarin Audio version is not very good. The sound is muffled and hard to make out at times. The thing with this version is that the Mandarin track was thought to be lost so this is all we have. For something that no one thought existed anymore, it sounds better than you would have expected. Sure, it's soft and thin but it's there. That is the most important part.
 (Terror Vision) Blu-ray Review + 1080p Screenshots + Packaging Shots){kind=link}
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