The Official "Dragon Dynasty" Thread!

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 19 Feb 2009, 13:43

Better a delay than no Cantonese tracks. HKVideo recently released FSY films, but without English subtitles of course. I wouldn't say there's "no decent version" as it does have a few releases, they just aren't great (they could be combined to make a good DVD). I hope we get the following:

16:9 anamorphic progressive video with the transfer handled by a professional who won't obnoxiously pink everything (neither the Japanese or French releases will be as good as Dimension's levels).
Mono Cantonese (and curiously original English dub) options.
Newly translated subtitles.

In terms of extras, I doubt Jet will appear, but we could get Gai Chun Wai, Jeff Lau, Wong Jing appearing at least.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Feb 2009, 18:57

I didn't realise HK Video had released them. Are they any good? I only know of the Japanese DVDs, what I'd call decent. All HK DVDs suck.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 19 Feb 2009, 19:43

http://www.filmsactu.com/test-dvd-zone- ... k-5005.htm

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Feb 2009, 20:23

It looks decent, thanks. Odd rating out of 20.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 19 Feb 2009, 21:51

It looks along the same lines of the Japanese DVD. Anyway, despite the compression and the contrast boosting of the French, I did what I could to show how better it could look:

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 28 Mar 2009, 09:01

FSY
http://www.dragondynasty.com/films/show/114

luckystars · Post by **luckystars** » 28 Mar 2009, 12:05

Could be the first DD DVD I buy!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Mar 2009, 13:32

Fantastic. It better not be Dub only!

Obviously it's going to be the American cut, let's get that out of the way.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 28 Mar 2009, 14:38

bradavon wrote:Fantastic. It better not be Dub only!

Obviously it's going to be the American cut, let's get that out of the way.

I don't think it will be either of those. It could be a case of 'Tai Chi Master' when it uses the export print that's the same length as the HK version with a Cantonese soundtrack, and an English dub from Dimension with the missing sections from the previous 1993 dub (bad idea unless you've got dementia!).

DD need to colour-correct each scene using professionals, not just saturate the picture with a pink tone in a vague attempt to liven things up. It just renders it horrible.

Correcting the existing subtitles could work, but I'd still prefer a re-translation.

I would like to have the 1993 English dub as an option, not the bullshit that's in the Dimension version (stupid stereotype Chinese cues/sound effects/music).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Mar 2009, 14:59

What does export print mean? It's either the HK or American cut no? I thought Tai Chi Master was also the American cut, no?

Fair point. Either are just as likely though, American cut with timed Cantonese track (or just Dub) or HK cut. I'd be very surprised if they create a new dub or subtitles. They're not before, have they? The pink is a concern but I bet it returns.

Speaking of pink, I see the new Bond BDs have had pink added over their UE DVD counterparts

(at least for some of them). Check it out on DVD Beaver.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 28 Mar 2009, 15:29

bradavon wrote:What does export print mean? It's either the HK or American cut no? I thought Tai Chi Master was also the American cut, no?

You could say 'Tai Chi Master' has 3 versions. Soundtrack listings:

Hong Kong: Cantonese (HKVideo, Universe, Dragon Dynasty).
English (export): English (the 'Diskovery' VCD, small sections of DD's disc).
Dimension: English (Dimension DVDs, DD's disc most of the time).

The English one was created in 1993 for English-speaking releases. However, Dimension bought the rights a few years later and produced their own soundtrack.

Dragon Dynasty has the video of the export version (note the English credits). They had access to the soundtrack too (sections of it appear).

HKVideo and Universe contain the HK version in both video (Chinese credits) and audio.

Fair point. Either are just as likely though, American cut with timed Cantonese track (or just Dub) or HK cut.

Bey had stated in an interview it would be uncut and Cantonese. I'm sure he's right.

I'd be very surprised if they create a new dub or subtitles.

A new dub would be nice that sounds a lot better than Dimension's rubbish. I doubt they'll bother as original language is more a priority to them than the selection of English dubs.

They're not before, have they?

They re-do existing subtitles (some films of which usually contain a sub-standard effort). Re-translation is preferred incase the previous subtitles are impossible to fix because they're incoherent. It's far safer to ensure general accuracy too.

They've re-translated subtitles on 'Tom Yum Goong', but the results fell slightly inferior to the definitive Premier Asia disc. I assume they also commissioned a new translation for 'The Rebel' too.

The pink is a concern but I bet it returns.

Yeah, sadly. The films are being ruined by an amateur in the video department.

Speaking of pink, I see the new Bond BDs have had pink added over their UE DVD counterparts (at least for some of them). Check it out on DVD Beaver.

Yeah, I noticed that. They have indeed reddened them. This kind of infection has spread

!

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 28 Mar 2009, 16:08

I think the pink comes from an automatic setting on the video mastering, perhaps to obtain a generic skin tone. Of course, film colour isn't like that

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 28 Mar 2009, 16:11

Ivan Drago wrote:I think the pink comes from an automatic setting on the video mastering, perhaps to obtain a generic skin tone. Of course, film colour isn't like that

That's a good point.

If that is the case, then that's the wrong way of going about it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Mar 2009, 16:31

chenlung wrote:Bey had stated in an interview it would be uncut and Cantonese. I'm sure he's right.

Great, thanks.

chenlung wrote:Yeah, I noticed that. They have indeed reddened them. This kind of infection has spread !

I had to look twice but there's definitely pink added. I cannot work out why when the HD Remasters for Bond were only done a couple of years ago anyway.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 28 Mar 2009, 17:53

Which Bond transfers we talking about? I've seen their Goldfinger comparison and the Blu-ray absolutely slaughters all previous releases as far as transfer goes - including colour reproduction. Certainly they are nothing like the pinkifying you see on old HKL and some DD releases!

The problem is that most people seem to think reddened skin tones = bad. It doesn't, many DVD transfers brought skin tones too far away from the red end of the spectrum.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 28 Mar 2009, 18:19

Shingster wrote: The problem is that most people seem to think reddened skin tones = bad. It doesn't, many DVD transfers brought skin tones too far away from the red end of the spectrum.

That and certain people do have their screen settings wrong

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Mar 2009, 21:33

Goldfinger is one of them. It looks quite a lot redder than the UE DVD.

Screen settings aren't relevant here. If you're looking at two transfers and one is redder, it doesn't matter if your screen settings are wrong as you'll be using the same settings for both.

I just hope they remove the red added to Tomorrow Never Dies during the opening scene in the snow. The snow is pink on the UE DVD. I didn't bother upgrading my SEs of Goldeneye or Tomorrow Never Dies, the SEs are fine.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 30 Mar 2009, 03:34

bradavon wrote:I just hope they remove the red added to Tomorrow Never Dies during the opening scene in the snow. The snow is pink on the UE DVD. I didn't bother upgrading my SEs of Goldeneye or Tomorrow Never Dies, the SEs are fine.

Didn't the R1 UE fix the red snow?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 30 Mar 2009, 08:46

I have the R2 UE and not checked yet for red snow yet.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 30 Mar 2009, 09:30

Maybe Bond peed on the snow, making it red...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 30 Mar 2009, 13:20

Red pee??? WTF!

Markgway wrote:idn't the R1 UE fix the red snow?

Really? Did it come out later?

I hope so, it means the BD should also be fixed. I'm not interested in getting the UE DVD now. They better also fix Goldeneye, that one was a cropped mess. The World is Not Enough was better though.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 30 Mar 2009, 14:17

bradavon wrote:Red pee??? WTF!

Bond is banging hot, sexy chicks from all over the world each and every night, all night long, and you don't think he's pissing blood!?

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 30 Mar 2009, 14:19

P.S. Sort a DVD Mystere cap out!

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 30 Mar 2009, 14:23

gasteropod wrote:

P.S. Sort a DVD Mystere cap out!

I'd love to, but Microsoft paint isnt helping with the resizing of the picture, and as I mentioned my Adobe stabbed me in the back....

I'll post one, but it will once again be huge....

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 30 Mar 2009, 14:43

I just play my DVDs in Windows Media Player in its normal form (i.e. not fullscreen) and do a print screen of that, paste it into Paint, and voila it's the right size.