Royal Warriors Blu-ray Screenshots (Patreon)

Video

Fresh from a new 2K scan, Royal Warriors makes a positive impression in the beginning, but looking closer, there's slight suspicion. While grain is preserved, it's also filtered. This leads to unfortunate smearing and messy motion. This also reduces detail, shaving off the finest top layer while leaving the rest intact.

With the modern master, color grading skews digital too, if not offensively so. The subtle teal push saps flesh tones of their vibrancy, if leaving them intact. This same push swings primaries to the cooler end of the spectrum too.

This luckily leaves the contrast alone, slightly chilled of course, but bright, perky, and energized. Shadows dip toward pure black, slightly off from perfection, but enough to do the job.

Audio

Cantonese theatrical mono defaults at beginning, with an alternate Cantonese track, English dub, and a new English 5.1 track also offered. The new 5.1 mix is a mess, with a blown out center channel that's difficult to listen to. While the Cantonese mono lacks range (stuck in a mid-tone), at least it's pleasing on the ears. Rough as the dialog sounds, coarse as the action is, that puffiness doesn't ruin anything. It's more in line with the era's limitations, if still in need of clean-up. The rotting score alone deserves attention.