French DVDs and Blu-Rays of Asian Movies

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 20 Apr 2006, 23:17

OK... now which frickin' version "Black Mask" is the best one out there. I'm sick of looking for one, because there are millions of it around the world and none seems to be uncut.

Argh...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 Apr 2006, 23:24

Tom2681 wrote:Picture quality probably can't be as good as the new HK remaster, but I'm positive it's better than the original R1 Artisan.

You reckon? I'd bet the French DVD could easily beat the HK DVD. HK Companies often aren't very good at remastering.

I'd be interested to see this comparison.

Yeah the Taiwanese DVD is an Extended cut BUT has god awful PQ (the same as the original HK DVD) and burnt in Chinese/English subs. Making it barely watchable.

thelostdragon wrote:OK... now which frickin' version "Black Mask" is the best one out there. I'm sick of looking for one, because there are millions of it around the world and none seems to be uncut.

If you understand Cantonese or can read French subs then I'm not sure between the HK Remastered DTS DVD or the French DVD but if you need English subs then easily the HK Remastered DTS DVD.

If you can understand Cantonese or read French subs I'd opt for that as it's uncut.

It's missing the Extended Taiwanese footage and some of the violent additions found in the R1, French DVD and of course Extended Taiwanese cut but crucially it's in Cantonese and is Anamorphic.

The R1 is English dub only, non-anamorphic and despite having said violent footage cuts more out. IMO the Extended Taiwanese isn't watchable/certainly not worth it for the quality drop.

Me I'm going to get the HK Remastered DTS DVD. It was really cheap at CD WOW for ages but has been out of stock for months and months now (i.e - not listed) meaning I'm in no rush as I'd have to get it from DDDHouse and pay more.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 20 Apr 2006, 23:45

Thanks, brad!

The HK DVD it is then... although... how does it compare to other versions in terms of picture quality?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Apr 2006, 00:12

I'm wondering that.

Well clearly it beats the original HK DVD and Taiwanese Extended Cut as those are awful. EDIT: I stand corrected the R1 is in fact anamorphic with English DD5.1:

http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=21

HK Remastered DTS DVD Review:

http://www.sogoodreviews.com/reviews/blackmask.htm

R1 vs. Original HK DVD:

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

I used to own the Original HK DVD, it's worse than those captures show. Between the two "decent" versions only one has English subs.

Make sure you get the Remastered DVD (it has DTS and no doubt Stereo/Mono too) not the original DVD. The original DVD has been OOP for yonks so it should be safe but worth mentioning.

p.s - The HK DVD to be precise is the HK Theatrical Cut so in some ways not cut, you know what I mean. The additions are only minor violence, although I've not seen the extra footage to say 100% for sure.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 21 Apr 2006, 04:13

hey,

problem with the violent cuts is that they get quite jarring at times, especially when the toss around the severed hand. But yea, HK dvd is not at fault or Mei Ah but the French dvd would be a much cooler solution.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 22 Apr 2006, 07:39

How is the quality of the french Bird People China / Fudoh double pack (by Canal + Video if I remember correctly)? I'm especially interested in Bird People.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 22 Apr 2006, 10:43

I'm especially interested in Bird People.

When I was looking for a good DVD of Bird People 6 months ago, I was wondering whether I should try the french disc.
I went for the Universe disc instead.

French disc = I heard it was bad. Non-anamorphic, burnt-in french subs (it's the first time I've seen this on a french DVD). Possibly better than the Universe but not by much.
Universe = Soft picture. Otherwise it's quite good.
Artsmagic = Same as the Universe. Extreme edge-enhancement to increase the sharpness.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 22 Apr 2006, 10:58

Thanks.

Tom2681 wrote: French disc = I heard it was bad. Non-anamorphic, burnt-in french subs (it's the first time I've seen this on a french DVD). Possibly better than the Universe but not by much.
Universe = Soft picture. Otherwise it's quite good.
Artsmagic = Same as the Universe. Extreme edge-enhancement to increase the sharpness.

Happinet Pictures (Japan) = non-anamorphic, otherwise pretty decent

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 22 Apr 2006, 11:02

So, are all the releases of Bird People sourced from the same shitty Chinese print?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 22 Apr 2006, 11:22

I don't think it's due to the print.
Wasn't Bird People shot on 16mm ?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 23 Apr 2006, 14:52

Weekly HK Vidéo DVD overview:

Claws of Steel aka The Last Hero In China (Hong-Kong - 1993 - From Wong Jing with Jet Li)

http://rapidshare.de/files/18740275/Cla ... l.rar.html
Promotional trailer.

Again, Claws of Steel was part of the very first batch of titles to be released on DVD by HK Vidéo in 2001.

The picture is quite dirty but very sharp and anamorphic.
The original mono is quite clean.
Subtitles are good (the english/cantonese jokes are well translated).
There are no significant extras.

This is probably the only good edition for this movie. The UK dvd is supposed to be horrible.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 Apr 2006, 15:03

hey,

The UK dvd is all right as far as I'm concerned. Ok 16:9 transfer and while the subs are digital, they're imbedded and based entirely on the original cinema subs. I don't mind as such, it's a silly movie anyway. Nothing you want to pay much for though (got it in a trade myself).

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 23 Apr 2006, 15:06

Not a Wong Jing fan, eh ?

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 Apr 2006, 15:09

hey,

oh I meant silly as in very Wong Jing in mostly unbearable ways but it's a Wong Fei-Hung movie after all, some cool stuff from Woo-Ping.

Wong Jing can win you over, at other times it's plain embarassing. This film...hmm...a little of both. I guess naming Nat Chan Mass Tar Wong is slightly inspired.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 23 Apr 2006, 18:44

I don't understand that Wong Jing-guy. Some of his movies are total crap, but others are pure classics in my opinion.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 23 Apr 2006, 18:47

It's just like Takashi Miike and Kim Ki-Duk:
It all depends on the amount of time they spend on their films IMO.

If they spend 2 weeks, they make crappy films.
If they spend 2 months, they make greatb films.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 23 Apr 2006, 19:07

hey,

Wong Jing could combine his preferred commercial style with for instance gunplay back when he had stars. He may have "stars" of today still but it's not enough to draw people into the cinemas anymore (Kung Fu Mahjong and the subsequent comedies of his have been flops). Not that his serious ventures such as Colour of The Loyalty and Colour of The Truth were any great hits or masterpieces but they showed the dedication to drama that Wong can put forth if he wants to. Probably the best example of all this is the late 90s film A True Mob Story. I support him when he tries. That isn't often and films like Last Hero In China works to the degree that they do thanks to the action director. The humour can be infectious just because it's so stupid but hardly memorable stuff.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 23 Apr 2006, 19:20

Wong Jing-movies I love (INPO):
- City Hunter
- God of Gamblers
- The Prodigal Son (which he wrote)
- High Risk

Wong Jing-movies I enjoyed watching:
- Last Hero in China
- Colour of the Truth
- A True Mob Story

Wong Jing-movies I have in my collection, which I have yet to watch:
- The Conman
- Conman in Tokyo
- Colour of the Loyalty

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 23 Apr 2006, 19:39

Wong Jing throws a hundred darts at the quality board... some are bound to hit.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 23 Apr 2006, 20:41

I usually enjoy Wong Jing movies. Thought Future Cops was the greatest rip-off ever. How the hell did he not get sued by Capcom?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 24 Apr 2006, 11:35

Update:

Films Sans Frontières will release Kurosawa's Rashomon in may.

84 minutes.
Black and White 4/3 transfer.
Original japanese mono.
Removable french subs. (unlike Touch of Zen, this FSF dvd will not contain english subtitles).
No significant extras.

Source: hkmania.com

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 Apr 2006, 12:01

Awesome cover art.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 Apr 2006, 12:39

Yeah, I like it. Looks like an old-style poster.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 27 Apr 2006, 00:48

Update:

Better late than never, I guess.
Kubik Vidéo have announced the DVD release of Ichi the Killer for September 2006.

All they've said so far is that it would be a 2-disc edition, with 150 minutes of bonus features, and that the film would be completely uncut.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 27 Apr 2006, 11:55

Update:

If all goes well, July 10th is going to become Tom's national holiday.

StudioCanal will release the greatest film ever known to man (Casshern, of course) in a double-disc edition.

I'll probably be tempted to make a huge picture comparison as I already own:
-The japanese disc.
-The HK disc.
-The R2UK disc.