Keeping that in mind their latest release has hit stores. THE SWORD AND THE CLAW might seem like an old Hong Kong kung fu movie if you just look at the box but it has nothing to do with that genre or even that country. Instead it's a movie made in Turkey by the same people responsible for the fan favorite TURKISH STAR WARS, an obvious remake/tribute/rip off of the famous film. This time around they go for their own story though.
The film opens with a major battle between two rulers that's somewhat lengthy and filled with swords, archers and bloodletting. It's loosely the Ottoman Empire in the middle of changes once the battle ends, the losing ruler now set in place as a subject of the new king. To add insult to injury the new king is seduced by the deposed ruler's wife and impregnates her before heading home. He shows her before leaving a birthmark that all male members of his family are born with.
A year later the deposed ruler sets out to reclaim his country just after the king has had a son by his own wife. The child and his nurse escape but before she can get to safety she leaves him in the woods and is killed. The child grows up in the wild with lions and develops into a muscular fighter.
Time passes and both boys grow up, one free in the wilderness and the other at his father's side, watching the tyrant impose his will with an iron fist. Of course the two will eventually find one another and it then becomes a question of which will change to be like the other or will they kill themselves trying.
It might sound interesting but for the casual viewer not much so. There are plenty of fight sequences and most are overlong and repetitive. The dubbing is what you would expect, along the lines of the previously mentioned kung fu movies. As for the claw in the title, the wild son is captured and his hands burned with acid so he has claws implanted in them so he can continue fighting.
But you have watch this movie in the context of which it was released. It wasn't made for American markets but for Turkey. Unfortunately I have no idea if it was a hit there or just another standard film. But odds are it was dubbed and released here to play on drive-in double bills and repetitive grindhouse runs.
Along with this film on the disc is a second feature, THE BRAWL BUSTERS. This one IS one of those Hong Kong style kung fu films complete with badly done dubbing and high wire leaps and fight sequences. The story has an abandoned girl growing up, learning martial arts and revenging herself against those that left her an orphan with her own specially selected team. At best it gives fans another movie to watch and at worst it's kind of confusing to catch what is going on when. The end result is not the best example of the genre.
While AGFA is releasing them on blu-ray with the first feature a 4k scan of the only 35mm print available it doesn't mean they've been cleaned up to perfection. There are still the scratches and splices seen on the screen while watching. But wouldn't that have been part and parcel with how they were viewed in those seamy grindhouses back when first released? So if you're a fan of those films it won't matter.
The extras are limited but the odds of finding a "making of" featurette or interviews with cast and crew are pretty much ridiculous to expect. Instead there is a collection of action film trailers for films that would fit right into playing with either of these films.
The end result is two movies that mainstream audiences would probably overlook but that fans of drive-in and grindhouse entertainment will love. It's the kind of movie you don't take to seriously, that drinking games could be based around and that would play well in the background while a party was going on. In short a movie that fans will adore and want in their collection.
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