John Woo's The Killer

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 23 Jan 2008, 23:08

Does anyone know, besides the OOP Criterion, if this is even available in region one? I've been trying to track this down and with the rate it's going I might just order a used Criterion.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 Jan 2008, 00:05

The Criterion is shit, apart from the commentary track.

If you are looking for the R1 your best choice is probably wait for the Dragon Dynasty release. They claimed to release it this year.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2008, 00:23

Personally I'd wait for the Dragon Dynasty too. If you cannot wait the HK Fortune Star may suit. It's Remastered at least and is Region Free/NTSC. I own the UK HKL and am happy with it.

The only strictly R1 versions are the Fox Lorber and Criterion both OOP and both have very old and shite picture quality. I certainly wouldn't buy either.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 24 Jan 2008, 00:49

Okay, thanks. I'll wait for the DD. I know that Hard-Boiled was an awful Criterion with terrible picture and I guess it makes sense that The Killer is too because they were both released at the same time.

RickyTheDragonSteamboat · Post by **RickyTheDragonSteamboat** » 24 Jan 2008, 00:52

DD's The Killer may take a while. The film's 20th anniversay is nearing so DD may hold on to it untill then. Or maybe it'll drop whenever Woo's Red Cliff arrives in theatres.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 24 Jan 2008, 00:58

IF I ever do find a very, very good deal on the FL or Crit then I may get it but otherwise I'll wait.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 Jan 2008, 01:00

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=1975

There is a German disc by e-m-s that is newer and with a way better image quality than the German version we see in this comparison.

However, here is a comparison between a few versions including the new e-m-s.:
http://web12.dvd2web.de/killer/killer.htm

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2008, 01:09

Captainjoe is yet to move to the light side and embrace Multi-region

That EMS German DVD easily looks the best then the HKL.

captainjoe wrote:IF I ever do find a very, very good deal on the FL or Crit then I may get it but otherwise I'll wait.

Why not pick up the HK IVL Remastered by Fortune Star? It's Region Free and NTSC too. So will work in your Player and is much better than the American DVDs. It's Anamorphic too.

Personally I think it looks poor compared to the others in Lost Dragon's comparison review but it will look better to the Fox Lorber and Criterion.

RickyTheDragonSteamboat · Post by **RickyTheDragonSteamboat** » 24 Jan 2008, 01:13

I have the Zoke version, which is basically the IVL/FS version, and it looks and sounds like crap. Hopefully the Joy Sales version fixes the audio.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 24 Jan 2008, 03:30

bradavon wrote:Why not pick up the HK IVL Remastered by Fortune Star? It's Region Free and NTSC too. So will work in your Player and is much better than the American DVDs. It's Anamorphic too.

The IVL has appalling subs. Very Engrishy and badly timed.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 24 Jan 2008, 04:36

Brad, where can I order that one from?

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 24 Jan 2008, 07:09

Doesn't the IVL have OOS sound too?

The HKL DVD isn't too bad and has some good extras but it's rather murky and compressed in places - apparently a result of being a 2-disc set in the planning, and a last minute shoving of all the extras onto 1 dvd with the film

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 24 Jan 2008, 07:46

The EMS has the best image, but no subs rendering it useless unless you speak Cantonese or German. Pity. Until the DD comes out I would hang on to the acceptable HKL, which has a decent picture and good subs.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2008, 14:16

Ivan Drago wrote:The HKL DVD isn't too bad and has some good extras but it's rather murky and compressed in places - apparently a result of being a 2-disc set in the planning, and a last minute shoving of all the extras onto 1 dvd with the film

I doubt that. The extras aren't exactly long.

EvaUnit02 wrote:The IVL has appalling subs. Very Engrishy and badly timed.

It's overall way better than the Criterion and Fox Lorber

RickyTheDragonSteamboat wrote:I have the Zoke version, which is basically the IVL/FS version, and it looks and sounds like crap.

It's way better than the Criterion and Fox Lorber

Remember guys talk of non Region 1 or Region Free + NTSC versions is a moot point as Captain Joe doesn't want them or cannot play them.

Personally I'd get the HKL which has a decent Anamorphic transfer and known to be the best English subtitles on any release but Captainjoe doesn't want that.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2008, 14:27

captainjoe wrote:Brad, where can I order that one from?

It's available in three versions:

Single disc just The Killer
Double Disc combined with A Better Tomorrow
Double Disc combined with Bullet in the Head

I'll concentrate on the single disc version:

I can recommend all three companies. All prices include postage to/inside The USA.

American Stores:

$19.90: Out of Stock: http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.541 ... etails.htm
$16.90: In Stock (I think): http://www.dvdasian.com/_e/Hong_Kong/pr ... n_DVD_.htm

Hong Kong Stores:

HKD$112/USD $14.34: In Stock (I think): http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... uctID=6714

Postage links:

http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/infoID.5/qx/info.htm
http://www.dvdasian.com/_e/page/1017/Sh ... mation.htm
http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/cms.php?id=2&LanguageID=0

Currency Converter:

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Those are all the HK Region Free DVD with Cantonese DD2.0, DD5.1 or DTS. There is also a Korean Region 3 DVD which only has Cantonese DD5.1 or DTS:

http://www.dvdasian.com/_e/Hong_Kong/pr ... ion_3_.htm

All have English subtitles and a Remastered Anamorphic picture.

I've no idea how good they are but surely they all must be better than the Criterion and/or Fox Lorber R1 DVDs, right?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 24 Jan 2008, 18:54

Ivan Drago wrote:Doesn't the IVL have OOS sound too?

Yes, the IVL mono is out of sync. The remix is terrible even on Fortune Star standards. Overall I think this is the worst dvd available for this film. I'm much rather own the Fox Lorber or Criterion.

For those who need subs and don't have to worry about region codes the HKL is probably the best version. I had it for some time but sold it because I didn't have any use for the theatrical cut.

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 24 Jan 2008, 21:05

bradavon wrote:
captainjoe wrote:Brad, where can I order that one from?
It's available in three versions:

Single disc just The Killer
Double Disc combined with A Better Tomorrow
Double Disc combined with Bullet in the Head

I'll concentrate on the single disc version:

I can recommend all three companies. All prices include postage to/inside The USA.

American Stores:

$19.90: Out of Stock: http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.541 ... etails.htm
$16.90: In Stock (I think): http://www.dvdasian.com/_e/Hong_Kong/pr ... n_DVD_.htm

Hong Kong Stores:

HKD$112/USD $14.34: In Stock (I think): http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_deta ... uctID=6714

Postage links:

http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/infoID.5/qx/info.htm
http://www.dvdasian.com/_e/page/1017/Sh ... mation.htm
http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/cms.php?id=2&LanguageID=0

Currency Converter:

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Those are all the HK Region Free DVD with Cantonese DD2.0, DD5.1 or DTS. There is also a Korean Region 3 DVD which only has Cantonese DD5.1 or DTS:

http://www.dvdasian.com/_e/Hong_Kong/pr ... ion_3_.htm

All have English subtitles and a Remastered Anamorphic picture.

I've no idea how good they are but surely they all must be better than the Criterion and/or Fox Lorber R1 DVDs, right?

Thanks a lot, I'll have a look at those.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jan 2008, 21:29

No worries. Glad I could help.

Obviously take into account Hungs comments above too. It sounds like it's case of PQ (Fortune Star releases) vs. Audio and subs (Criterion/Fox Lorber). As to Audio I don't know how you think about Remixes.

That and both the Criterion and Fox Lorber are very Out of Print but the Hong Kong DVDs are not.

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 02 Feb 2008, 17:32

I own the IVL/Fortune Star release from the John Woo's Hero Collection set. Here's to hoping that Dragon Dynasty's 2-Disc won't have dubtitles. That was the only thing, besides the slightly stretched image, of their 2-Disc of HARD-BOILED. I could care less about English dubs.
I loathe dubtitles but strangely I own some of the FOX/Fortune Star which have dubtitles. I may as well buy the Joy Sales/Fortune Star versions.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Feb 2008, 18:01

What do you think of Fortune Star's The Killer?

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 02 Feb 2008, 18:11

bradavon wrote:What do you think of Fortune Star's The Killer?

I think the IVL/Fortune Star is a quite good release. Unsure if it's interlaced or progressive. As I've said, I'm waiting for DD's 2-disc release forthcoming in the hopefully near future. I think of it as an interim release and was also considering purchasing the Joy Sales/Fortune Star version if there was anything different about it. More being it'd probably be a progressive transfer.
There're image comparison sites you know...

EDIT: I used to own the Fox Lorber. I should've kept it for the commentary...

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 02 Feb 2008, 18:20

Why not just get the longer version from the HK video DVD with english/chinese subs ? For me it's the ideal of course it's not the theatrical.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Feb 2008, 18:24

Thanks Ray.

It's cool I'm happy with my HKL which I personally think is the best English subtitled version, maybe the DD will beat it.

dvdvision wrote:Why not just get the longer version from the HK video DVD with english/chinese subs?

Why not? Because it sucks. It's a nice extra but isn't "the" version to own. The Engrish subs make it very hard to watch.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 03 Feb 2008, 09:26

Ah, yeah, but that is the way these films were shown then, with burned in english/chinese subs. For me it's missing a bit when the subs are just regular subs, I loved the burned in, unreadable on video subs.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 03 Feb 2008, 09:40

hey,

indeed. You're as insane as I am dvdvision. Bless you, sir.