The Official Sonny Chiba Thread!

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EvaUnit02
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

thelostdragon wrote:Isn't it just a shame that whenever Tarantino releases a film, all DVD covers try to cash in on him being inspired by old stuff?
The more people watching these films, the better really. If having Tarrantino ripoff art helps the cause, then so be it. Just have a reversible cover with the original poster to keep the cult audience happy. No need for any elitist attitudes.
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Post by HungFist »

thelostdragon wrote:Isn't it just a shame that whenever Tarantino releases a film, all DVD covers try to cash in on him being inspired by old stuff?
I can't imagine Tarantino having anything against it.
EvaUnit02 wrote: The more people watching these films, the better really. If having Tarrantino ripoff art helps the cause, then so be it. Just have a reversible cover with the original poster to keep the cult audience happy. No need for any elitist attitudes.
yeah, and it's not like it's something new. Remember how many movies were sold with Spielberg's name in the 80's?

Also, see how BCI and Adness are selling their Chiba films with Chiba's name even though Chiba hardly appears in half of the movies. In Virus Chiba's role is less than three minutes, yet it was a "Sonny Chiba action pack" movie.

But that's nothing new either. Back in the 70's when these movies were released Toei would often promote them with fancy trailers using footage and action scenes from other movies.

and for the record, I think releasing "Chiba films" as grindhouse double features with trailers is a cool idea. I just wish they had included the original audio tracks too so you could choose between the grindhouse experience and the normal movie watching experience which I'm used to.
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

HungFist wrote:
thelostdragon wrote:Isn't it just a shame that whenever Tarantino releases a film, all DVD covers try to cash in on him being inspired by old stuff?
I can't imagine Tarantino having anything against it.
Especially considering that Tarantino's films are 70% ripoffs of cult genre movies, 30% witty dialogue about pop culture.
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Post by saltysam »

are these grindhouse releases in widescreen?
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Post by HungFist »

yeah, should be anamorphic 2.35:1 and english dubbed (Sister probably having japanese audio too). But Cliff said something about them not being able to afford the japanese versions so where do the transfers come from?

The price is set very low too (7,5$ at pacific) so maybe the quality isn't gonna be that good.
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Post by EvaUnit02 »

HungFist wrote:yeah, should be anamorphic 2.35:1 and english dubbed (Sister probably having japanese audio too). But Cliff said something about them not being able to afford the japanese versions so where do the transfers come from?

The price is set very low too (7,5$ at pacific) so maybe the quality isn't gonna be that good.
I suggest waiting for reviews before you purchase. DVDtalk will probably do one, they have reviewers who like cult genre films like these ones.
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Post by HungFist »

Nah, for two reasons

1) dvdtalk, dvdmaniacs, dvdtimes etc. reviewers don't exactly know what they're talking about as they have little idea how international, especially unsubbed releases look like (which is not to say I always know what I'm talking about)
2) For the two films I'm interested in, these are the only dvd releases available, not counting the horrifying full screen bootlegs. So, these will be improvements in any case.

in other words, I'm getting these for temporary use. I'll throw them out of the window as soon as decent releases appear. But right now, I'm actually pretty excited about finally getting to see Karate Warriors and The Bodyguard in widescreen.
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Post by thelostdragon »

EvaUnit02 wrote:No need for any elitist attitudes.
Has nothing to do with being an elitist, but rather with the mere fact that nobody would be willing to watch such a film if it wasn't for Tarantino. I remember after "Kill Bill" was out at the theatre, so many people came to the video rental store I have been working at and asked for films like "36th Chamber of Shaolin". Before "Kill Bill" was out, I would recommend certain Asian films and I swear to God not one person wanted to watch them.

The usual procedure:
"Can you recommend me a film?"
"Sure. What kind of film do you wanna watch?"
"Maybe a suspenseful crime thriller."
"Have you seen Infernal Affairs?"
"No."
"It's about these undercover guys...(synopsis)."
"Wow! Sounds really good. Can I see the DVD cover?"
"Sure. Here you go."
Customer looks at it. His anticipating view changes to an irritated one as he sees Asian faces on the cover.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm not really into karate films".

WTF? The fact that Tarantino needs to open people's minds just shows what kind of an ignorant bunch the general Hollywood mainstream audience is. It's good Tarantino is doing this, I'm just pissed at ignorant fucks.

EDIT: BTW, I stopped recommending Asian films to the average customer. There is no point in doing that anyway. There are certain cusotmers who are like me and most of the people here at BnB and don't care about where a film is from. These are the only guys I recommend Asian films to.
Last edited by thelostdragon on 15 Jul 2007, 22:53, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by HungFist »

aka thank God we have Tarantino. Without him mainstream audiences would never watch these films... in which case no one would be willing to put any money into remastering them.
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Post by Shingster »

HungFist wrote:1) dvdtalk, dvdmaniacs, dvdtimes etc. reviewers don't exactly know what they're talking about as they have little idea how international, especially unsubbed releases look like (which is not to say I always know what I'm talking about)
You cheeky sod! :D
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Post by HungFist »

Shingster wrote:
HungFist wrote:1) dvdtalk, dvdmaniacs, dvdtimes etc. reviewers don't exactly know what they're talking about as they have little idea how international, especially unsubbed releases look like (which is not to say I always know what I'm talking about)
You cheeky sod! :D
well, there may be a few exceptions :D
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Post by saltysam »

sister streetfighter will utilse the same transfer as the box set i'd imagine.
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Post by HungFist »

Original poster for The Great Chase (Karei-naru tsuiseki / 華麗なる追跡 ) starring Etsuko (no Chiba)

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from yahoo
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I've got...

Post by Linn »

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this mint, framed, and hanging in my room. One of my all time fave posters. BTW, Soul of Chiba is coming. ;)
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Re: I've got...

Post by HungFist »

Linn wrote: this mint, framed, and hanging in my room. One of my all time fave posters.
Wow, cool. I've got this on my wall
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Linn wrote: BTW, Soul of Chiba is coming. ;)
You made my day 8)
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Post by LoBo »

It`s good that Soul Of Chiba will be released. It looks cool.

When will The Defensive Power of Aikido be released?
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Post by saltysam »

Grindhouse screenshots:

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Bodyguard

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Sister Streetfighter

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Dragon Princess

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Karate Warriors

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Post by saltysam »

gotta say english dub aside these are excellent value dvds for the price... :D
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Post by LoBo »

The org. language should have been included. I will buy Karate Warriors pretty soon, but i won`t enjoy it dubbed.
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Post by Shingster »

CDwow are doing Shadow Warriors for £25.50del right now (£24.50 with a £1 off voucher), should be customs friendly as well.
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Post by HungFist »

Shingster wrote:CDwow are doing Shadow Warriors for £25.50del right now (£24.50 with a £1 off voucher), should be customs friendly as well.
That's one thing. Getting it delivered is another (look for a recent cdwow thread anywhere if you don't know what I'm talking about).
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Post by Shingster »

Oh I know what you're talking about alright, they're one of DVDtimes' review copy suppliers. (Not at the moment though, for obvious reasons)

What can I say, I'm an eternal optimist. :P
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Post by saltysam »

Hung i'm at work right now but will check the Sister Streetfighter discs tomorrow.it states on the back of the grindhouse case for Sister "completely uncut version"... :)
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Post by saltysam »

Ronin

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Grindhouse

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The grindhouse version of sister streetfighter runs 2 seconds longer according to my player,not watched them yet.
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Post by HungFist »

Oh dear, the english dubbed version fixes the transfer flaw or the orig. language version...

The 2 second difference in running time probably doesn't mean anything

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