Legend of Zu R3HK vs R3KR + Wheels on Meals Universe vs R3KR

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 20 Jul 2005, 18:02

What is this comparison ?

This is a picture comparison between:

Legend of Zu Chinastar Edition + Legend of Zu Korean IVision Edition.
Wheels on Meals Universe Edition + Wheels on Meals Korean Spectrum Edition.

Why the comparison ?

Legend of Zu:
Knowing that MiramAxe will never release a proper edition of Legend of Zu in the US or the UK, and knowing that the french edition is completely fucked-up, the only options are either the Chinastar or the Ivision.
I've always disliked the Chinastar because of the "holes" in the subtitles.
I was hoping that the korean disc might not have this problem.

Wheels on Meals:
-Universe disc: Cut but it always had the best picture.
-Megastar: Uncut but looked like crap.
-Korean: Unknown until now (uses a FS transfer).
-HKL: Will use a FS transfer (probably).
I'm hoping that the Korean disc will show how the HKL disc will look.

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Legend of Zu comparison 1:
Chinastar top, Korean bottom.

Don't bother to search for differences. There are none.
The Korean disc is a direct port from the Chinastar (same transfer/same bitrate). Both are perfect. 8)

Legend of Zu subtitle comparison:

Good news and bad:
Good news: the subs are bigger and easier to read on the Korean DVD.
Bad news: the holes are still there. There are about 10 untranslated sentences in this movie.

--------------------------------------
Wheels on Meals picture comparison 1:
Universe top, Spectrum bottom.

Both discs are framed differently.
The korean has more info at the bottom but is cropped on the sides.
And while the Universe disc has boosted contrast levels I can't help but think that there's something wrong with the Fortune Star transfer on the korean disc.

picture comparison 2:

Sell my Universe disc ? I think not

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Jul 2005, 18:29

* In the first capture the Chinastar looks a whee bit sharper.
* In the second is that how the subs are cutting words off?
* In the third the Universe looks god awful and the Sprectum is way to dark. Both look a bit of a mess.

Knowing that MiramAxe will never release a proper edition of Legend of Zu in the US or the UK, and knowing that the french edition is completely fucked-up.

What's wrong with them?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 20 Jul 2005, 20:06

In the first capture the Chinastar looks a whee bit sharper.

It's either a glitch with VirtualDub's resizing feature or an optical illusion.
I have watched them very closely and they are identical to the pixel.

In the second is that how the subs are cutting words off?

Erm... no, sorry, I must have said it wrong.

Most of the subtitles on those dvds are correct, but some sentences are not subtitled at all. That's what I meant by "holes".
The second cap merely shows that the korean subs are easier to read (although they suffer from the same problem).

In the third ... Both look a bit of a mess.

Agreed. But for a 90-minute movie I'd rather watch the Universe transfer (the FS transfer is way too dark IMHO).

Legend of Zu Miramax/ French disc....What's wrong with them?

MiramAxe never released the film although they published a US trailer in 2001 (I believe). I guess they thought they had purchased the rights to a cool swordplay film with Zhang Ziyi.
Maybe they didn't expect to find in it a masterpiece about chinese legends, fairy tales, reincarnation, karma and all that.

As for the French disc, the color filters have been removed (which makes the whole thing look very dark and depressing).

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 21 Jul 2005, 03:04

Spectrum's WHEELS ON MEALS is too dark and colourless - look at the GREY sky. It's sunny Barcelona for Christ's sake!?! I have the Mega Star. I can't recall the qaulity in comparison to what's posted here - but it's uncut and that'll do for now. Fingers crossed for an HKL definative edition. PLEASE don't fuck up, Brian!!

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 21 Jul 2005, 03:23

Fingers crossed for an HKL definative edition

Since they'll probably use the FS remaster I'm extremely worried about the HKL edition.

jimmyscab · Post by **jimmyscab** » 23 Jul 2005, 13:11

Is the FS remaster uncut ?

does it include the intro and the outakes on the closing credit seqence ?

also what subtitles are used in the intro. I have a taping from ch4 (old jonathan ross hk season) and the policeman says "damn chinks" just wondering if they used the same one.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 23 Jul 2005, 14:04

jimmyscab wrote:Is the FS remaster uncut ? does it include the intro and the outakes on the closing credit seqence ?

The out-takes weren't on the HK prints only Japanese... and what intro?? The beginning is the same on every version which goes from the credits to Jackie and Biao training...

I have a taping from ch4 (old jonathan ross hk season) and the policeman says "damn chinks" just wondering if they used the same one.

The English dub uses that expression also IIRC.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Jul 2005, 14:11

Tom2681 wrote:Agreed. But for a 90-minute movie I'd rather watch the Universe transfer (the FS transfer is way too dark IMHO).

Me to. Which is a pity as bar the darkness the Spectrum is much better.

As for the French disc, the color filters have been removed (which makes the whole thing look very dark and depressing).

Any chance of some caps?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 23 Jul 2005, 23:59

-Is the FS remaster uncut ?
-does it include the intro and the outakes on the closing credit seqence ?
-what subtitles are used in the intro ?

I'll check it out and get back to ya.

Brad wrote: Legend of Zu (French dic): Any chance of some caps?

Not hi-res ones, because I didn't buy the french disc.
But here's a comparison between the Chinastar and Asian Star disc:

http://www.dvdrama.com/rw_fiche-5245-.php

You can see how awful it looks.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 24 Jul 2005, 00:07

-Is the FS remaster uncut ?

Seems to be, as it contains the car-washing scene (not present in the Universe disc). It's 108 minutes.

-does it include the intro and the outakes on the closing credit seqence ?

No outtakes. No intro...what "intro" are you talking about anyway ?

Jimmy wrote: -what subtitles are used in the intro ?

-"Damn Chinese" on the Korean disc.
I haven't watched all of it yet, but the subs seem to be better (and slower) than on the Universe disc.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 24 Jul 2005, 00:15

108m is the length of the uncut version. I don't know how HKL's print is coming along... but someone with a contact might want to mention the dark levels and make sure that they've fixed them.

I'm not bothered if they use "Damn Chinese" or "Damn Chinks" in the subs. I think both get the idea of an insult across.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jul 2005, 01:09

I'd prefer Chinese to Chinks. I hate that word.

So the Megastar is currently the way to go? Being uncut, unlike the Universe.

Tom2681 wrote:Not hi-res ones, because I didn't buy the french disc.
But here's a comparison between the Chinastar and Asian Star disc

I must be missing something bar the last capture (which is to dark) the French DVD looks fine.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 24 Jul 2005, 03:36

I must be missing something bar the last capture...the French DVD looks fine.

Chinastar disc:

Asian Star disc:

*Cough* Green Color Filter *Cough*

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 24 Jul 2005, 03:42

Tom get to bed it's nearly 5 in the morning

p.s - Is it supposed to be green then?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 24 Jul 2005, 03:46

get to bed it's nearly 5 in the morning

Ever heard of Insomnia ?

(I mean the illness, not the demon from Legend of Zu)

Is it supposed to be green then?

Go ask Tsui Hark. How the *beep* should I know ?

If the Chinastar disc is green, that's probably how it's supposed to look.