The Official "Dragon Dynasty" Thread!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Jan 2008, 23:56

LOL I was thinking of Full Contact, oops

HungFist wrote:Really, I'm not gonna support DD's releases if they can't make better trailers than that.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 29 Jan 2008, 00:01

HungFist wrote:
thelostdragon wrote:Fatal Contact trailer:
http://www.dragondynasty.com/vault/trai ... 0_Post.mov
Well, that was a bad one.

Really, I'm not gonna support DD's releases if they can't make better trailers than that.

LOL

I really like the old HKL trailers, cheesy as they could be. Since Brian White left, they've gone downhill

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Jan 2008, 00:23

Gone downhill to extinction

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 29 Jan 2008, 00:34

Well, they still do them for Premier Asia - which I assume is ongoing for the moment?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Jan 2008, 01:05

The website takes you to Play too. So who knows. Shutter may have been their last release.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 29 Jan 2008, 01:24

Saw Shutter in the cinema. Scared the hell out of me!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 29 Jan 2008, 08:49

HungFist wrote:
thelostdragon wrote:Fatal Contact trailer:
http://www.dragondynasty.com/vault/trai ... 0_Post.mov
Well, that was a bad one.

Really, I'm not gonna support DD's releases if they can't make better trailers than that.

It's just a trailer!

RickyTheDragonSteamboat · Post by **RickyTheDragonSteamboat** » 03 Feb 2008, 19:57

Dragon Dynasty presents The Royal Tramp Collection - Feb 12, 08

Royal Tramp 1 Special Features:
· Feature Length Audio Commentary By Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan
· Original Theatrical Trailer

Royal Tramp 2 Special Features:
· Feature Length Audio Commentary By Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan
· An Interview With Writer/Director Wong Jing
· Original Theatrical Trailer

Source

I've heard that the Joy Sales and Spectrum versions were very grainy so expect more of the same.

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 04 Feb 2008, 05:38

RickyTheDragonSteamboat wrote:I've heard that the Joy Sales and Spectrum versions were very grainy so expect more of the same.

At least it's not DVNR'd all to hell. I'd rather them keep the grain and the detail that comes along with it. Why do people have an aversion to grain? And bring on the 2-Disc of THE KILLER already!!!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Feb 2008, 15:45

Personally I don't have an aversion at all but some of these old films have so much grain it's just ridiculous. If that can be lessened I'm all for it.

ericf · Post by **ericf** » 04 Feb 2008, 16:55

I've seen the HK and Korean releases of the remastered Royal Tramp.

I don't know if this movie is remastered from original negatives or anything like that. I have never seen a movie that claims to be remastered that is so blurry. It's soft and much detail is missing and I am having trouble believing that this was how the source looked. The original letterboxed DVDs showed no grain at all, perhaps understandable, but this remaster has the kind of grain that looks processed. I don't know how to describe it but it isn't pretty.
I'm sure a better job could have been done.

I'm buying the DVDs for the commentaries (and hopefully a new set of translated subtitles. The New HK subs are allright but some of the timing and break up of sentences is still crappy.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 Feb 2008, 17:33

I've had a chance to compare the old HK DVD to the korean remaster.

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=3795

And you're right. It looks like they've tried to filter out the grain.
But I wouldn't be at all surprised if the DD transfer turned out to be much much worse.

DangerousLeeHandsome · Post by **DangerousLeeHandsome** » 05 Feb 2008, 01:05

So far, DD hasn't released any of their Fortune Star titles with DVNR. DD's Fortune Stars look much more raw when compared to their Joy Sales/IVL counterparts.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Feb 2008, 18:46

What are:

Fatal Contact
The City of Violence

Like? I'm considering picking up the DD 2 Disc SE's of them. I may also upgrade:

SPL
Born to Fight

To the 2 Disc SEs if I like them enough when I've seen my HK and UK R2 DVDs respectively. Thanks.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 06 Feb 2008, 18:51

Fatal Contact isnt supposed to be very good. Pretty mediocre action flick I believe havent seen it.

City of Violence is an OK korean action-flick. Nothing special tbh. Some OK actionscenes. Just OK-ish popcorn fluff...
I've watched it once and dont really feel any need to rewatch it anytime soon (and I cant, as my best friend's former girlfriend has it now...)

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 06 Feb 2008, 19:46

"Fatal Contact" is an entertaining film with some really good fight scenes. In terms of storytelling, it can't really compete with other films, but it is entertaining enough and a better excuse for action scenes than "Ong-Bak" was. Wu Jing is a likeable actor and plays a likeable character as well, unlike the bastard he played in SPL.

"City of Violence" is really good in my opinion. It looks stylish, has Jung Doo-Hong in the lead role for a change, great Spaghetti Western music, one of the most badass bad guys in recent cinema and some really good and brutal action scenes designed by Jung Doo-Hong and the people from his Seoul Action School.

Upgrading SPL is worth it if you are getting the DD release. However, I am only speaking in terms of extras.
My reviews:
Deltamac: http://www.asia-on-dvd.com/index.php?na ... cle&sid=50
Dragon Dynasty: http://www.asia-on-dvd.com/index.php?na ... cle&sid=71

As for "Born to Fight", I'd personally only upgrade if I found it cheap somewhere, because I'd like to listen to the commentary track. The film itself has great action, but out of some reason I don't see myself watching it again from start to finish. Now I only watch the breathtaking action scenes and that's it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Feb 2008, 00:13

Yi-Long wrote:Fatal Contact isnt supposed to be very good. Pretty mediocre action flick I believe havent seen it.

I've been hearing that.

I find I can usually tell what the general consensus is by how much people talk about it. SPL still keeps getting mentioned but Fatal Contact doesn't. I tend to rely on forum members for which Far East Asian films to pick up as I can never see them in cinemas and you simply cannot buy all of them on DVD. I need to be picky.

thelostdragon wrote:and a better excuse for action scenes than "Ong-Bak" was.

Personally I found bar the action (which wasn't "that" great) Ong-bak was severely lacking. The story was such a disaster. I have TYG but my expectations are very low. It's in my pile to watch soon.

If you say the story in Fatal Contact is better/has more worth to Ong-Bak that's something. Like Ong-bak Fatal Contact looks very generic and functional, basically an excuse to string a plot around some fights.

thelostdragon wrote:"City of Violence" is really good in my opinion. It looks stylish, has Jung Doo-Hong in the lead role for a change, great Spaghetti Western music, one of the most badass bad guys in recent cinema and some really good and brutal action scenes designed by Jung Doo-Hong and the people from his Seoul Action School.

Thanks. The trailer makes it look good.

Unlike HK cinema today there seems to be so may glossy and well made Korean films I'm not sure where to start. Like American cinema they look to have high productions values but whether they have any soul I'm not so sure.

Many Korean films are also so similar. They tend to all blend into each other. I'm not convinced City of Violence is for me.

thelostdragon wrote:Upgrading SPL is worth it if you are getting the DD release. However, I am only speaking in terms of extras.

I was thinking of it for that. DD DVDs are usually reasonably priced. I've still to see my DVD first though. The new title stinks but frankly it's just a title. I don't really care.

Thanks for the reviews. I'll check them out.

thelostdragon wrote:As for "Born to Fight", I'd personally only upgrade if I found it cheap somewhere, because I'd like to listen to the commentary track.

The same reason to upgrade Born to Fight as SPL. Both the HK SPL and UK Born to Fight AV wise are fine, both have DTS too.

It depends if I like them enough to want to upgrade.

p.s - I've just ordered Dog Bite Dog 2 Disc SE from Amazon Market place for £4.33 delivered. My first DD DVD! It's listed as "Used - Like New" so finger crossed it's fine.

RickyTheDragonSteamboat · Post by **RickyTheDragonSteamboat** » 07 Feb 2008, 00:22

City of Violence is a pretty decent movie. DD's DVD presentation is top notch. The second disc is stacked! This may be a rare occasion where there are too many extras.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Feb 2008, 00:56

Thanks.

I may get the Premier Asia of that one which is identical except it loses the commentary (right down to virtually the same extras on disc 2 and DTS). I'd prefer the DD (for the commentary) but the HKL can possibly be bought for less. I'll get it if it goes into any sales.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 07 Feb 2008, 01:06

bradavon wrote:Unlike HK cinema today there seems to be so may glossy and well made Korean films I'm not sure where to start.

Many Korean films are also so similar. They tend to all blend into each other. I'm not convinced City of Violence is for me.

Are you talking about Korean Cinema in general, or just action cinema? Have you seen any Korean films beyond, say: Shiri?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Feb 2008, 01:11

Shingster wrote:Are you talking about Korean Cinema in general, or just action cinema?

When it comes to them all looking similar/the same (in the respective genres) Generally but when it comes to looking like glossy Hollywood films then specifically Action.

Shingster wrote:Have you seen any Korean films beyond, say: Shiri?

Yes

. But yes you're right my knowledge is severely limited. I must've only actually seen about a dozen, nothing really all that new (as in 2006/2007).

Mostly for the reasons I just mentioned. There is so many Korean films all with high production values. It's hard to know which ones to pick up. By the time the UK/USA DVDs come I've forgotten about them. I used to find waiting for the UK/USA DVD was a good way to filter out which ones to get.

I used to pick them up on HK DVD but even that's hard to keep a track of and I'm certainly not picking up the expensive Korean DVDs!

It's easy with HK films when most are turds

.

I don't know why but I also find it much easier to follow HK film stars and know if a film star or director is talented instead of Korean cinema where most it's just Korean faces, except for the odd actor/director who I know. I suspect part of that is because HK film people often use Western names.

For example I know if Tony Leung is in a film it will definitely not be a complete disaster if nothing else. I cannot "really" say that about Korean film stars.

DangerousLeeHandsome · Post by **DangerousLeeHandsome** » 07 Feb 2008, 01:16

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Feb 2008, 01:22

Thanks Dangerous Lee. What a swift way to bring it right back on topic

Is PTU any good? It seems like an odd one to go after being released way back in 2003.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 07 Feb 2008, 01:44

bradavon wrote: Yes . But yes you're right my knowledge is severely limited.

Hehe I wasn't making a statement about your knowledge, was just curious about what you'd seen.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Feb 2008, 01:50

Oh right fair enough then.

I have 17 Korean films in my collection (more than I thought) and I've seen 9 of them. So I was about right when I said I'd seen 12. I cannot remember which but I've seen a bit more than I own.

My newest two seem to be "A Bittersweet Life" and "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance".

p.s - It would've been a nice nod to the fans if DD had continued to call their 2 Disc SE's Platinum Editions instead of Ultimate Editions.