PA release of CRYING FIST to be CUT by 13 minutes.

[Yi-Long]

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=60032

I was actually gonna register at DVDtimes and comment there, but they dont accept hotmail/Gmail... so fuck them.

Anyway, back to Crying Fist...

Too bad about this news, as this would have been a sure buy for me. I wa svery much looking forward to this release.
I wont be buying it now. PA fuck up again once more. Such a shame that a label that's by the same people as HKL, as well as a label that has acquired so many great movies to release, don't have a fucking clue how to treat the fans with respect by giving them what they want.

What a bunch of fucking morons.

[tom2681]

I stand by my DVDTimes quote:

**‘International Cut’ format (running approx. 13mins less than the Korean theatrical release)**

Too bad the Premier Asia staff can't be arrested for "crimes against cinema".

Volcano High, Musa, Crying Fist... Why do they even bother to buy the rights if they're just going to release cut versions ?

There is no excuse for shortening a film...EVER.

[Romero mode on]

Damn evil PA bastards.
I'd kill all of them f*ckers.
May they burn in hell.

[/Romero mode off]

[bradavon]

It looks like the R1 will also be cut but not the R4 -

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0457007/

The HK DVD also looks to be cut. I'll wait for the R4, some label is bound to pick it up. I'm in no rush at all to see this.

[bradavon]

And I stand by my comments:

Volcano High, Musa, Crying Fist... Why do they even bother to buy the rights if they're just going to release cut versions?

I was really hoping the days of PA releasing cut films were behind us. I guess not, it seems if some hack has created an international cut they'll use it

It's such a shame as otherwise Premier Asia DVDs are always to the highest standard. Although to be fair this is the first time in ages PA have released a cut DVD.

Out of the 11 DVDs PA have released (including this one) 5 have been altered in some way:

1 has a new musical score - Ong Bak
1 cut by the BBFC - Ichi the Killer
3 PA have used an international cut - I fear that would've been more if PA got it their way

So roughly a third of Premier Asia's range they've decided not to release the Director's Cut. That still leaves two thirds you guys often forget to mention!

[bradavon]

Who makes these international cuts? I've never managed to find an answer to this.

The thing is it would sell just as well in a 122 minute form as it would a 135 minute form. We're not talking a film of 150-180 minutes which some maybe put off by.

At least the alterations previously made sense:

* Volcano High and Ong-bak are very much popcorn martial arts fodder so in the case of Volcano High the pacing is probably effected (I've only seen the Korean DC and thought it was tosh) and in the case of Ong-bak the musical score is very Eastern which some may not like.
* Musa at 150 minutes is a longer than average film.

Crying Fist is neither long nor a popcorn film (from what I can gather) so what actual difference would it make?

[BiscLimpkit]

:shock: This news is whack imo.

[Yi-Long]

You know the login name and password, click on settings on the left and change it . Don't change the password though please.

On second thoughts maybe not as others use that account to.

p.s - I'd just sign up using your Hotmail account, the worst they're going to do is reject it at a later date.

Actually, I tried the hotmail account first but it said it was banned so didnt work...

And why we 'forget to mention' the uncut releases, is because a; there are a couple of mediocre movies among them, so we dont care about those , and b; if I go to macdonalds 10 times, and 7 times the food is good, and 3 times I find fingers, hair, false teeth or whatever in my BigMac, ofcourse I won't comment on the times they did it right, because they fucked up an easy task 3 times out of 10.
They SHOULD release these movies UNCUT. It's their fucking task/responsibilty/job/whatever.

I think we are pretty positive usually about HKL, and give them praise for releasing most movies uncut (although mistakes have been maken, with no mono included soundtracks, or wrong/adjuster ratios etc etc...), but we kind ahope for and expect them to do the same with the PA label. And there's no excuse for giving Ong-bak a new soundtrack, or cutting great classic movies by a huge amount of minutes, to fit our 'western' needs. Fuck that. We like ASIAN movies. They dont NEED to be adjusted. Quit fuckinga round with other people's movies. I often wonder what kind of people those Weinsteins and all those other losers are, that wanna mess with other people's work. There's hardly EVER been an movie that has benefitted from being cut to suit a certain audience.

SO I think that's why we keep mentioning the wrongs, and forget about the rights. Cause they are SUPPOSED to do it right. that's why we pay them big bucks for these DVDs. NOT to hear Brian White enlighten us with his brilliant musical talents. or whatever. :shock: 8)

There really should be a law or something forbidding people to change art.
It's like China buying the Mona Lisa, then painting over her eyes so chinese audiences will identify more with the chick.

[bradavon]

LOL true at your last comment.

There's hardly EVER been an movie that has benefitted from being cut to suit a certain audience.

Good point, can you think of any?

[tom2681]

Actually I do "understand" why they cut some movies.
For example, the opening Mah-Jong scene in Project A was cut in the US because western audiences wouldn't know what the game was about.
In some cases, cutting a movie can be "justified".

But cutting the comedy and character development out of Volcano High to make it look like an action movie is just plain stupid IMO.

And if people can survive 12 hours of Lord of the Rings, I'm sure they can handle 2.5 hours of Musa.

[Yi-Long]

LOL true at your last comment.

There's hardly EVER been an movie that has benefitted from being cut to suit a certain audience.

Good point, can you think of any?

I cant, but I'm sure there would be 1 or 2 that DID benefit from a cut. Personally, I cant think of any though.

Actually I do "understand" why they cut some movies.
For example, the opening Mah-Jong scene in Project A was cut in the US because western audiences wouldn't know what the game was about.
In some cases, cutting a movie can be "justified".

But would it have ruined the movie for those audiences if they did let it in!? I doubt it. I didnt know about Mahjong either when I first saw Project A, but not one second did I go :' WTF is THAT!? Blimey... I'd better turn this off and go and watch 'Stop! Or my mom will shoot!' again...
No... I just realised it's just a lil game they play, nothing too demanding to handle for my (admittedly) tiny brain, enjoyed the lil bit of comedy, and it didnt ruin the movie for me. So western audiences might not KNOW the game Mahjong, but I'm sure they would understand it's just a 'local' game and that Sammo was about to win big time untill some fuckhead screwed it up for him.
It's not a good reason to cut a movie.

Bey Logan also pissed me off in some his commentaries where in some scenes (for example Warriors Two) he thinks that (although HE enjoys it - probably cause he thinks he's the only western guy to appreciate chinese humour or something) the 'OVERALL', 'WESTERN' audience might not GET it... (the humour) thus should be better off CUT.

That's just complete Bullshit.

First off all, the 'normal western movies wouldnt even BUY a Sammo movie from the 70's or 80's, so we are already dealing with a certain fan-base that's the main target for this release. And that target group is gonna be pissed of and dissappointed if a movie is cut. So it would be a bad idea to cut it. Marketing-wise.

Artistically-wise it's morally wrong to cut/alter a movie.

But finally, even if some scene doesnt work for 'us' ... so fucking what!?
Is there suddenly a shortage of disc-space or something? Do we NEED to cut everything we dont like!? What if some DO like the humour, and others dont!? What about the ASIAN people that live here in the west and wanna buy the movie, and find out their favourite comedy scenes are missing because some gwailos MIGHT not 'get it' !?

It's all just so bullshitty. Just fucking remaster and subtitle the movies and release them as they were intended to be released. I don't like the fucking red haired kid in Harry Potter, but that doest mean I dont like the movie, or want a version of the movie with the kid replaced by a CGI overlay of Jar Jar Binks or whatever. Fuck that.

Who the fuck do Bey Logan and the Weinsteins and all those other idiots think they are to decide they will cut those movies for our benefit!? Did we ask them to!? Since when are these people the proffesors of good taste!?
Has Harvey ever directed a good flick? Has Bey ever written one!? Or even been IN one!? No... so shut the hell up, stick to what your good at, and stop ruining these movies for us by altering them 'for our benefit'. it's NOT for our benefit. WE are the target-group you are SUPPOSED to want to sell these products to, and WE will just turn to importing or downloading, if YOU dont produce the right releases. Which are ALWAYS the UNCUT, SUBBED, ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK (No 50ct, no rap soundtracks, no Brian White masterpieces of utter worthless shite, no french hip-hop, no 70 year old veganist with a panflute... we want the ORIGINAL soundtrack).

People in this industry should either do something about their huge ego, or quit. Cause decisions like this just means we will have to wait another bunch of years before we will be able to get a decent release of thes emovies, when they finally re-release an UNCUT version, somewhere somehow.

Anyway, I aint buying this. I'll fucking download the movie, write the name of the picture on the disc, take a fucking picture and send it to PA with the words ' thanks for fucking nothing you worthless pieces of shit'

A good thing I just received the SPL HK version, cause I'm sure they would fuck that release up as well.

...and on a slightly different note: the cover art for this release is pretty mediocre.

[BiscLimpkit]

The cover art is about as appealing as a donkey's turd. Man I thought that PA were meant to be cool.

[bradavon]

The thing is if say Mahjong is cut from a film then people are never going to learn what is it. Leaving it in there will make people think "what's that? Let's find out".

Besides most people aren't stupid.

Back on topic . . . Is Crying Fist a good film?

[tom2681]

Back on topic . . . Is Crying Fist a good film ?

Well... I didn't like it much.
But that's only because I don't like boxing movies.

The acting and the cinematography are magnificent, though.

[thelostdragon]

I really enjoyed "Crying Fist". It's probably the only boxing film after "Rocky" that had my full attention and where I had sympathy for the characters.

[EvaUnit02]

I really enjoyed "Crying Fist". It's probably the only boxing film after "Rocky" that had my full attention and where I had sympathy for the characters.

What about Raging Bull?

Also I agree 100% about PA. Fuck those bastards for releasing cut/altered versions of films.

[grim_tales]

That sucks about Crying Fist being cut, I'd still like to see it though.
Brad isn't there a Korean DVD? If the HK DVD is the same cut as the PA one, to be fair it wasn't something PA did themselves was it? The HK DVD of Musa was the shorter version as well.

LOL at the "Digitally Restored and Remastered" comments - I notice the DVD of Ong Bak says that as well but the film is only from 2003 - does it need restoring? I don't think so. I can understand it for some of the older movies though.

[grim_tales]

I agree with Bisc BTW, that cover art is crap.
I agree with Yi's post in that there isnt a good artistic reason for movies to be cut (IMO) like that aside from censor cuts.
Also Bey has been in a good movie (albiet briefly) - Infernal Affairs II He worked on Purple Storm which was IMO a good movie.

[thelostdragon]

I really enjoyed "Crying Fist". It's probably the only boxing film after "Rocky" that had my full attention and where I had sympathy for the characters.

What about Raging Bull?

Oh yes, that was awesome as well.

[thelostdragon]

LOL at the "Digitally Restored and Remastered" comments - I notice the DVD of Ong Bak says that as well but the film is only from 2003 - does it need restoring? I don't think so.

Before re-mastering it "Ong-Bak" looked like a piece of cheese rubbed over the asphalt. Full of grain etc. As you say it is a quite recent film so I think that's due to bad film material they have used for shooting the film.

[bradavon]

I agree with Bisc BTW, that cover art is crap.

I think it's decent personally.

I agree with Yi's post in that there isnt a good artistic reason for movies to be cut (IMO) like that aside from censor cuts.

So there okay??? :drunken:

Brad isn't there a Korean DVD?

I suspect so but as Korean DVDs are expensive for what you get I've not bothered looking.

LOL at the "Digitally Restored and Remastered" comments - I notice the DVD of Ong Bak says that as well but the film is only from 2003 - does it need restoring?

They weren't, that's marketing bollocks.

[grim_tales]

I can at least understand why censor cuts have to be made (thats what I meant), they are more understandable than these International Cuts IMO.
I want my films uncut just like you.

[BiscLimpkit]

Crying Fist was one of my favourite films of 2005 and exposes the finer side of South Korean cinema. A surprisingly touching performance from Ryu Seung-beom, as well as Choi Min-sik. It's about two individuals who have reached rock bottom. They realise this and enter a boxing competition to fight for any dignity they have left. It's two hours long and is paced very well... so to modify it would be blasphamous.

[bradavon]

I can at least understand why censor cuts have to be made (thats what I meant), they are more understandable than these International Cuts IMO.

I can't most censor cuts make less sense than these international cuts but at the end of the day cuts are cuts.

That said I prefer the international cut of Musa but am pleased I've been able to see both.

[grim_tales]

At least censor cuts are made because they have to be made - some BBFC cuts are required by law and they can't be helped. I don't like cuts made by distributors if they think we're too stupid to sit still. There is a difference IMO.

[romerojpg]

Brad isn't there a Korean DVD?

I suspect so but as Korean DVDs are expensive for what you get I've not bothered looking.

Yes but the Korean dvd is better than this cut shit. The packaging is wonderfull too. Just get the Korean dvd set, its perfect quality and not expensive.