Fortune Star - A Better Tomorrow Trilogy - WTF???

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 15 Nov 2005, 10:41

Hey,

I bought the Fortune Star box set of this when it was released in April. However, I only came round watching the first part of it a few days ago. I don't need to tell you guys how much I love this film, so it was really a pleasant surprise to see the nice picture quality.

However...

...aaaargh. I can't believe that it is so impossible to get a definite version of this film. The first version I had of this film was a crappy VCD with burnt-in subs. The next version I got was the Deltamac DVD which also had a bad picture quality. Then I got the German DVD box set. I thought it was nice, because it had extra material like an interview with Chow Yun-fat. It also featured Cantonese stereo, but to my shocking, the Cantonese track featured the 'Forrest Gump'-music. But now comes the biggest issue... the first part was C-U-T.
Then they re-released it. I got it and thought, "Cool, finally an uncut proper version of the film." LOL, the only thing they changed was that it was uncut.

April 2005. Fortune Star release their HD re-mastered versions of all three movies in a very nice box set. However... grrrr... however when I got it, the only thing I did was skip quickly through the chapters to have a look at the picture quality. When I watched it a few days ago, I noticed that at the end of each scene, right before it cuts to the next scene, the motion turns into slow-motion for half a second. That's not with every single shot, but still in a lot and especially during the gunfights. I first wondered whether this was a stylistic device from John Woo, which I had never noticed before, but that's not true.

I first thought that I might got a bad pressing, but looking at the review over at 'Love and Bullets', I read:

There are also times when it appears that a frame repeats itself when scenes change. This isn't too distracting but it is noticeable.

http://www.loveandbullets.com/abttrilogy.htm

Wow. The reviewer is very nice as far as that aspect is concerned, because I was VERY distracted.

Did anybody else notice this?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 15 Nov 2005, 10:57

Yup, my ABT1 disc is just like that. It occurs the most when Mark goes to the counterfeiting facility to retrieve the money pattern film (or whatever the fuck that is).

My biggest criticism of the set is how Engrishy the subtitles are at times. They really hamper the film IMO, especially during Mark's infamous speech. I look forward to the ABT2 HKL for some better subs, it's a shame HKL don't hold the rights to ABT1 (the superior of the two films IMO).

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 15 Nov 2005, 11:32

Have you seen the old VCD or the Deltamac discs? THESE feature REALLY bad subs, lol.

However, I agree. They could have been better on the Fortune Star release.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 15 Nov 2005, 17:11

The use of the theatrical subs for ABT1 did annoy me, but I cant see I noticed the freezing/slo-mo problem you speak of LD. Romero has mentioned this too on the Korean version.
In every other respect (subs aside) I found the set quality very good.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 15 Nov 2005, 17:35

I did warn everyone. It was how to put this, appauling on the Korean dvds and it just looked like the film froze then went into Matrix slow motion it was that bad

distorted frames they were too which made it even worse, so its the same frame repeated, then distorted so it looks like its moving somehow.

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 15 Nov 2005, 18:08

As much as i hate to say it..i'm pretty happy with my R1 editions of ABT 1&2. The picture is good and it does not have this slow-motion-scene-change issue. Subs seem to be decent (except they are yellow, which i hate), and the audio is in original mono, which is certainly acceptable and preferable over a crappy 5.1 mix with new sound effects (IE Fortune Star 5.1).

I believe as of right now, these are they best ways to own the films, especially if your like me and are unable to tolerate strange artifacts like the scene change issue.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 15 Nov 2005, 18:15

The Fortune Star has the original mono though, no?

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 15 Nov 2005, 18:18

Yes it does, but i was just saying that the 5.1 track should not be looked at as a benefit over the R1, since the 5.1 sucks. FS mono tracks are also slightly out of sync sometimes, not sure about the ABT set though.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 15 Nov 2005, 18:26

Fair enough

I bought the FS set because of the vastly better picture quality over the R1

biguy · Post by **biguy** » 15 Nov 2005, 18:30

It's a shame that movies like these STILL cant get a DEFINITIVE release after all these attempts.......

Still not seen part 3 yet...and the Korean trilogy has been reduced to half price recently....as have MANY box sets..(Incl the Bruce Lee/Jackis Chan ones)

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 15 Nov 2005, 18:39

Well, i have not actually seen the FS set..but based on screenshots i would not say that it is a vastly improved picture, although it is certainly alittle better.
The point is that the slightly better image does not make it worth having to deal with the scene change artifact, or out of sync mono tracks (unconfirmed for this particular set)

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 15 Nov 2005, 18:46

But doesn't the US version contain the wrong soundtrack at certain points. Like the "Forrest Gump"-music when Ho is sitting at the harbor, or in the scene Mark Gor avenges his brother Ho, I remember that in the US version it plays the music that also plays in the garage shoot-out, instead of that song with Cantonese lyrics.

ReconFive · Post by **ReconFive** » 15 Nov 2005, 19:04

It did apparently on the first wave of discs, but not on most of them. If it says "Cantonese mono" for the audio track, then its the good version. If it says Cantonese 5.1, then its the fucked-up-soundtrack version. It seems they were recalled a while back so all the ones for sale now should be fine.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 15 Nov 2005, 20:14

Yeah I got the Forrest Gump R1 version and beleve me it was a shock

it went straight back to be burned!

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 15 Nov 2005, 20:19

I have ABT and ABTII - the same version as Recon.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 16 Nov 2005, 09:49

romerojpg wrote:Yeah I got the Forrest Gump R1 version and beleve me it was a shock it went straight back to be burned!

I got that once too from Play - I was not a happy chappy

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 17 Nov 2005, 19:09

There's a cheap as chips Anchor Bay R1 box set which contains ABT and ABT2 both the corrected versions (of whichever was messed up originally) with Mono not DD5.1.

I know because Romero let me know

I've not yet watched my HK R3 FS Box set but will one day. Many didn't notice so fingers crossed I won't.

p.s - There is a small audio blip in ABT Anchor Bay R1 but it's no biggie.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 17 Nov 2005, 19:16

I checked out my IVL A Better Tomorrow a couple of nights ago - forgot to mention it. I didn't really notice any frame skipping (although I did only skim the film in parts) except for one instance that was pointed out to me (where Emily Chu breaks Tsui Hark's car window). It's minor. Can't say I particularly noticed the audio being out-of-sync either. The biggest issue was the amount of grain on the film (especially during the opening credits sequence); see also HKL's The Iceman Cometh for the same thing.

jimmyscab · Post by **jimmyscab** » 17 Nov 2005, 20:30

wow lucky Cd-wow didnt have this in stock when i ordered it, i was pretty miffed as well.

My dad recently brought back some pirated version of the trilogy, have no idea which versions they are but are watchable.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 17 Nov 2005, 20:40

For many Jimmy this is still the best version.

Markgway wrote:except for one instance that was pointed out to me (where Emily Chu breaks Tsui Hark's car window).

When does this happen?

We're talking ABT right? I've not seen ABT2 yet.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 18 Nov 2005, 00:38

Um, not sure the exact point timewise, but it's just after Emily screws up her audition. Her first scene with Leslie Cheung.

I'd still say it's the best version.

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 14 Sep 2006, 12:56

EvaUnit02 wrote:Yup, my ABT1 disc is just like that. It occurs the most when Mark goes to the counterfeiting facility to retrieve the money pattern film (or whatever the fuck that is).

My biggest criticism of the set is how Engrishy the subtitles are at times. They really hamper the film IMO, especially during Mark's infamous speech. I look forward to the ABT2 HKL for some better subs, it's a shame HKL don't hold the rights to ABT1 (the superior of the two films IMO).

yes i just got the trilogy and that was my critism of ABT. I was shocked how bad the subs actually were and I'm not even that familiar with ABT (last seen 6-8 yrs ago on VHS) and I felt like i was losing something in translation.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 14 Sep 2006, 15:42

added some caps from the hkl abt 2 in the comparisons thread

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 18 Sep 2006, 17:22

saltysam wrote:added some caps from the hkl abt 2 in the comparisons thread

where about's is it?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 13 Feb 2009, 22:15

New ABT I&II KR double pack. Notable for including sunglasses