French DVDs and Blu-Rays of Asian Movies

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 27 Apr 2006, 17:49

Update:

Asian Star will release Seven Swords on DVD on July 19th.

Unfortunately it will only be the HK theatrical cut and not the long-awaited Director's cut.

There won't be a DTS track (Jean-Pierre Dionnet, head of Asian Star, doesn't believe in DTS) and there won't be a cantonese track.
Only the mandarin dub and the french dub will be included in Dolby 5.1.

The bonus features will be the same as on the first HK 2-disc edition, although there will be one added deleted scene.

No sale for me. Nice cover, though.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 27 Apr 2006, 18:35

Why doesn't he believe in DTS?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 27 Apr 2006, 19:09

He thinks that the only thing that matters is the film, and NOT the disc.
So it doesn't matter to him if picture quality is a little off, or if sound quality isn't optimal.

I guess you could say he's not a quality-freak.
He probably thinks that DTS is a waste of space.

I tend to agree with him to some extent. A small decrease in quality is a small price to pay considering the extras and the good subtitles that can be found on Asian Star DVDs.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 28 Apr 2006, 09:00

Nice 7 Swords cover!

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 29 Apr 2006, 16:29

Indeed.

Update:

No guarantees, but I've heard that HK Vidéo will release:
-A Better Tomorrow 1, 2 & 3 in february 2007.
-A Chinese Ghost Story 1, 2 & 3 in april 2007.

It's far into the future, but as long as we're patient...

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 30 Apr 2006, 13:55

Weekly French DVD overview:

New Dragon Gate Inn aka Dragon Inn (Hong-Kong - 1993 - From Tsui Hark with Brigitte Lin)
Green Snake (Hong-Kong - 1993 - From Tsui Hark with Joey Wong)

http://rapidshare.de/files/19268574/NDGI.rar.html
http://rapidshare.de/files/19268385/GreenSnake.rar.html
Promotional trailers.

These two movies were released by HK Vidéo in the Maggie Cheung Boxset.

Green Snake:
-Picture is on par with Mei Ah. Maybe a tad sharper, but also a tad darker.
-Original cantonese mono sounds good.
-Subs are very good.

New Dragon Gate Inn:
-Picture is sharper than the Mei ah and HKL, but doesn't have the yellow colour filter.

Comparison:
HKL:

HKV:

Mei Ah:

Overall, I'd say:
Best = Mei Ah
Good = HK Vidéo
Worst = HKL

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 30 Apr 2006, 14:04

I can live without that yellow filter: looks horrible. Was it really intended to look like that?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 30 Apr 2006, 14:09

I think so. I've watched the french release and it looks washed out.
The yellow filter gives it some kind of epic feel (kinda like the golden filter on OUATIC 2 HKL)

Swordsman HKL also has a yellow filter (although the FS remaster doesn't have it).

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 30 Apr 2006, 14:39

The HKV looks fine IMO.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 03 May 2006, 11:39

Update:
The Blade, 1-Disc edition.... Look at those caps ! 8) 8)

http://www.dvdrama.com/rw_fiche-6329-.php

At the bottom: click on " menus p# " to get more caps.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 03 May 2006, 12:59

Tom2681 wrote:Update:
The Blade, 1-Disc edition.... Look at those caps ! 8) 8)

http://www.dvdrama.com/rw_fiche-6329-.php

At the bottom: click on " menus p# " to get more caps.

Can't wait to get the dvd.

How come I can't find the final Ashes of Time cover art anywhere? It will be released tomorrow...

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 03 May 2006, 13:06

I know. Can't find it either.
I sure hope the release won't be delayed...

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 03 May 2006, 13:21

I get fed up with these yellow filters. Makes it look as though the elements were processed in urine. I'd say the HKV has the best image (of Dragon Inn) but I guess the Mei Ah represents the intended look.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 03 May 2006, 18:03

@Hungfist:
My Ashes of Time DVD just got shipped 20 minutes ago. :drunken: :drunken:
Expect a mini-review on friday.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 03 May 2006, 19:23

Tom2681 wrote:@Hungfist:
My Ashes of Time DVD just got shipped 20 minutes ago. :drunken: :drunken:
Expect a mini-review on friday.

Mine didn't :x

I hate HK Video. I was just about to "complete" my Sonny Chiba collection with R1 Ninja Wars, and now I saw their trailer for Shogun's Shadow and the image quality looked mindblowning. If their transfer (and other upcoming Chiba transfers) will be anywhere near that quality, then I'm gonna have to upgrade my R1's as soon as their discs are out. Now I don't want to buy Ninja Wars or anything they are gonna release because I'm tired of buying the same films two or three times. Any idea if they are gonna release Yakuza Deka 1 & 2, Bullet Train and Golgo 13? (in other words: are the UK discs a safe buy

)

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 May 2006, 19:35

Azumi 2 Amuse Soft vs TF1:

Amuse Soft:

TF1:

TF1 DVD is a tad brighter, and slightly sharper I believe.

Amuse Soft:

TF1:

Still brighter, and EXTREMELY sharp. A little hint of edge enhancement, but nothing too serious.

Just for fun, here's the Optimum DVD:

How do you spell "yuck" ?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 May 2006, 19:41

Oh fuck it. Fucking TF1. The were not supposed to be that good...

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 May 2006, 19:49

Optimum Asia presents Azumi 2: Love or Death in an anamorphic widescreen that preserves the films original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The source material used for this release is in great shape as the colors look nicely saturated and flesh tones look natural. There are no problems with artifacts or compression and edge enhancement is kept to a minimum. Overall details remain sharp and even at a distance

- 10kbullets.com

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 May 2006, 19:51

Oh yeah, I'm sure it's sharp when you're sitting 50 feet away from your screen.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 May 2006, 20:19

Here's new caps from the jp, without the framing problems this time. Could you please update your post with these (note: my new caps (taken with power) dvd look slightly different from my old caps (probably taken with windvd). And no, my power dvd settings are not fucked up)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/ ... az2jp4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/ ... az2jp5.jpg

And could you take one more cap from TF1, I would like to see how it can handle fast motion
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/ ... az2jp3.jpg

Have to go to sleep now (I was supposed to be in bed an hour ago, but then Tom and TF1 ruined everything

)

and btw, my Ashes is ready for shipping. I should receive it... uhmmm... within a couple of weeks...

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 May 2006, 21:55

Done. It's an improvement, but I still think the TF1 looks better.

AmuseSoft:

TF1:

The french disc is still sharper, but it's very hard to see in this kind of shot.
BTW: the small compression artefacts visible on Chiaki's legs are due to JPG compression only. The TF1 DVD uses a very high bitrate.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 05 May 2006, 00:24

The Amuse disc and the TF1 are both acceptable (the latter being marginally better) but the UK disc is pish.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 05 May 2006, 12:31

Thanks, that saves me a lot of money. I spent the whole day at work thinking if I should update or not, and I decided that if the last cap has notable improvement in clarity, then my next (big) asia-diffusion order will become even bigger. But that saves my money. TF1 does look better, but I'm gonna lose some of the advantage in compressing process (probably a big ass file) so I'm not gonna bother.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 05 May 2006, 13:43

Yeah, the R2J should be good enough.

About Ashes of Time TF1:
It's bad, very very very bad.
Some people say it's much much worse than VHS.

I'm thinking that TF1 used the same master as Mei Ah (and that the original master is long gone).
Still I'm hoping that the restoration process and the anamorphic enhancement will result in a better image.

Mei Ah:

TF1:
(coming soon)

Mei Ah:

TF1:
(coming soon)

I'm not including the Japanese DVD in this comparison because it's heavily cropped.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 05 May 2006, 14:12

Tom2681 wrote:Yeah, the R2J should be good enough.

About Ashes of Time TF1:
It's bad, very very very bad.
Some people say it's much much worse than VHS.

I'm thinking that TF1 used the same master as Mei Ah (and that the original master is long gone).
Still I'm hoping that the restoration process and the anamorphic enhancement will result in a better image.

I'm not including the Japanese DVD in this comparison because it's heavily cropped.

Damn, that's a shame. if ANY movie deserves to have a brilliant Videoquality, it's this one.
There SHOULD be a pristine source left somewhere, as I recall there is a trailer for this movie which supposedly looks gorgeous.