What are some decent Thai DVDs?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 May 2005, 18:13

I'm off to Thailand in August for 3 weeks (+ Vietnam) and was going to buy some DVDs while I was there. They're only £2-3 on average when bought over the counter (yes they're official).

What are some decent DVDs? Which are as good as the other regions or basically as good as? (i.e - No DTS but who cares for that price). Here is an example of what I'd consider a decent DVD. Shanghai Knights looks as good as the R1, R2 etc . . :

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=10000

I know this example is expensive but I won't be paying online prices.

The film can be from any country. I'm looking for decent DVDs not necessarily decent films. If they're non-English then they must have English subs.

Lastly I currently own these Thai DVDs:

1. Nang Nak - Best version out there!
2. Ong-Bak
3. Behind the Painting
4. Three - Best version out there! (anamorphic, one disc also)
5. JSA: Joint Security Area
6. Suriyothai - Best version out there! (uncut)
7. Suriyothai: The Making Of.
8. La Bella - The same as the Korean DVD (NTSC also)

I've also owned Failan but the subs were TINY. I can't track down the Korean 1 discer. Oh and Whispering Corridors to but the less said about that the better.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 16 May 2005, 20:26

The Thai releases of:

Ju-On
Finding Neverland
Casshern
Resident Evil Apocalypse
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Toolbox Murders*
Once Upon A Time In Highschool
Cellular
New Police Story

based on a quick browse of some pages on ethai are all good and cheap.

*this is sitting on my shelf waiting to be checked, but I'm just assuming it is ok, as aside from Whispering Corridors I've not been disappointed with a single Thai DVD!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 May 2005, 21:20

Thanks.

It's a pity many people were introduced to Thai DVDs with Whispering Corridors.

* Ju-On looks okay but has no extras and only has Thai DTS. True it's cheap but the UK R2 is much, much better. I had no idea there was a Ju-On 3???
* Casshern looks good but going by DVD Compare the Making Of. is dubbed not that it really matters. It also says it has no subs for them.
* Resident Evil: Apocalypse looks decent.
* Once Upon A Time In Highschool looks decent too. I see no reason to pay for extras I can't watch.
* New Police Story looks decent but I have the HK DVD.

* The Way Home (Korean) looks decent. It's no better than the R1 and the Korean DVD has DTS but is much more money.

Where is Ricochan when you need him?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 May 2005, 21:34

Once upon a time in Mexico looks decent also:

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=12758

It's a pity the film is a mess. The Uninvited looks good also:

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=12793

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 May 2005, 21:56

OMG copied from a post to me from "padayachy3000" at DVD Forums:

A bit OT:
According to IMDB, Tom Yum Goong (Tony Jaa's latest) is released in Thailand on 11 August. If I was you, I'd definitely check that one out in the cinema while you're there

And my reply:

OMG thanks for the heads up. Many cinemas in BKK add English subs for non-English films also (even Thai films). There is one in the centre which is bound to for sure. Lovely.

I'm in August/Vietnam between the 30th of July and the 20th of August: 3 weeks.

Could I be one of the first people in the west to see this! 8)

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 16 May 2005, 22:23

Once upon a time in Mexico isnt a very good film

but the dvd is cheap as hell anyway, It was 3.99 (after 2 quid vouchers off) on CDWOW not sure what it is now.

I dont own any decent Thai dvds, all the ones I got seem to have some problems in some ways, compression probs are most ugly

Mindhunters looked like it had been dvdshrinked down badly

still they are cheap I guess, but I would rather have the best version rather than the cheapest.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 May 2005, 23:30

It depends how picky you are IMO. Most recent anamorphic DVDs I'm more than happy with, especially from recent films.

I simply don't notice things such as edge enhancement so put simply for me I can reliably go on what the spec. says but do read reviews to double check.

If the best version is £14 (Korean DVD for example) and the cheapest is £3 (Thai DVD for example) but both are anamorphic with DD5.1 for example I'd pick the Thai DVD everytime. Like I said most recent anamorphic DVDs I'm happy with.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 17 May 2005, 08:39

There were obvisouly plenty of other DVDs in the ethai list, but I didn't mention them cause I don't have them!

I was going to get ones like Saw and Haute Tension and maybe a few others sometime soon, but I've got so many films to watch I might not bother.

Say your average film is US$10 on ethai, how much would it be in Thailand?

Ricochan38 · Post by **Ricochan38** » 17 May 2005, 09:43

Hi i added a reply at your thread the dvd forums.....

I wish i would be in thailand in august, i want to see the premiere of TYG!

But i will be there from the end of june till end july..

maybe i will book another short trip

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 17 May 2005, 12:10

Oh I thought this would be a thread about Thai movies on DVD. If you're buying there and they're so cheap it doesn't really matter about which ones are good?

bradavon wrote:Could I be one of the first people in the west to see this! 8)

I saw about 10 mins of it.. does that count?

It should be great to see. Should be great trip too, wouldn't mind going there someday.

bradavon wrote:It depends how picky you are IMO. Most recent anamorphic DVDs I'm more than happy with, especially from recent films.

IMO all you guys are too picky about your DVDs!

Ricochan38 · Post by **Ricochan38** » 17 May 2005, 12:21

degeneration wrote:There were obvisouly plenty of other DVDs in the ethai list, but I didn't mention them cause I don't have them!

I was going to get ones like Saw and Haute Tension and maybe a few others sometime soon, but I've got so many films to watch I might not bother.

Say your average film is US$10 on ethai, how much would it be in Thailand?

I have the thai edition of SAW, and its very good in quality and nice packaging !
I also have the thai release from once upon a time in highschool..

And when they release hk movies now, it usually also has a cantonese channel...before it often only had mandarin..

If a movie is 10$ at ethai, it will be about 3-5 $ there...but off course ethai has to ship it to you also for that price.....

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 17 May 2005, 12:55

What's the Thai Once upon a time in a Highschool like?

Degeneration Rico has answered yours questions about how much cheaper they are but I just wanted to add I've found some for less than $3.

memetic wrote:Oh I thought this would be a thread about Thai movies on DVD. If you're buying there and they're so cheap it doesn't really matter about which ones are good?

Because I wouldn't pay 1p for a crap film.

Besides quality is up to the individual. I wanted this thread about the DVD quality and the ones which aren't bettered elsewhere.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 17 May 2005, 13:32

The Thai OUATIH was decent enough. The pic and everything was good and I had no complaints at all! I didn't care too much for the film though - thought it was nothing more than average.

I'll prob be picking up Saw as well now... so many films, too little time.

Ricochan38 · Post by **Ricochan38** » 18 May 2005, 06:53

I thought OUATIH was brilliant movie, and the thai release was surely decent enough.

And about cheap movies, if you buy movies that are released a long time ago, you can find some for 1 or 2 $ bradavon is right about that.

Cant wait to go dvd/cd shopping in the malls again

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 20 May 2006, 16:11

How official are these official thai discs really? For example most japanese movies seem to be ports of R2J's. I'm just wondering why companies around the world release shitty All About Lily Chou-Chou discs while the thai distributor ports the great R2J transfers puts the dvd on sale for 8$. That's what happens all the time. Do they really have rights to everything, or are those just official bootlegs?

I'm asking because I'm highly tempted to make a big order from thaicdexpress. I could order 5 or 6 R2J ports for the price of one "genuine" R2J...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 May 2006, 18:44

Surely an official bootleg is an oxymoron? I'm sure they must obtain the rights. It's not hard for Thai distributors to get rights to the Japanese master for example being so physically close.

It's harder for Western companies to do this so they don't bother trying.

I'm asking because I'm highly tempted to make a big order from thaicdexpress. I could order 5 or 6 R2J ports for the price of one "genuine" R2J...

If you're sure the AV will be decent I'd say go for it. Most Thai DVDs are of high quality now but some aren't.

I'm just wondering why companies around the world release shitty All About Lily Chou-Chou discs while the thai distributor ports the great R2J transfers puts the dvd on sale for 8$.

The Thai economy is very low hence DVDs are priced low and of course illegal bootlegs are very easy to get hold of. Just walk down most streets in BKK. Japanese and Western economies are much stronger and therefore we pay through the nose. Japanese and Western distributors make ridiculous profit.

I can't find "All About Lily Chou-Chou" Thai DVD, does it have English subs?

Any others worth considering?

p.s - How do ThaiCDExpress compare to eThaiCD?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 20 May 2006, 19:09

bradavon wrote:
I can't find "All About Lily Chou-Chou" Thai DVD, does it have English subs?

No subs, but reportedly my R2J subs match with it (which is natural, it being a port...)

bradavon wrote: Any others worth considering?

Are you talking about Lily or thai dvds in general? For Lily, it's R2J or Thai, don't even consider anything else.

If you were talking about thai dvds in general; I was planning to include the following films to my next ThaiCDExpress order:
Nana (2 Disc)
Hana & Alice
Zoo (with subs)
Ong-Bak
Born to Fight
42$ in total... and that includes shipping. I believe the japanese films are ports of R2J's

I'm also thinking about getting Sars Wars and Swing Girls (I think someone said it's a R2J port)

bradavon wrote: p.s - How do ThaiCDExpress compare to eThaiCD?

I know this sounds weird but I'm not sure which one I have used... I may have used both...

ThaiCDExpress seems cheaper if you order several dvds...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 May 2006, 19:22

Why are you picking up Born to Fight?

Both the UK R2 and Aussie R4 are decent already English subtitled Proper PAL DVDs. I own the UK R2 which has additional DTS.

I was talking about Thai DVDs generally thanks.

Aivansama · Post by **Aivansama** » 20 May 2006, 21:00

HungFist wrote: I'm also thinking about getting Sars Wars and Swing Girls (I think someone said it's a R2J port)

I have the Thai release of Swing Girls. Dunno if it's a R2J port, but it seems fine to me on my 28" widescreen. I'm not exactly a videophile, though.

Also Saving My Hubby (Bae Du-na!) has a nice release in Thailand.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 20 May 2006, 21:02

Welcome to BnB Aivansama

Hope you like it here

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 20 May 2006, 21:04

Great, another finn !

Welcome, dude.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 20 May 2006, 22:18

Welcome from me too. We must have more Mainland Europeans (for want of a better word) now than we've ever had before. Good stuff.

I can't see us ever getting many Americans or any Asians though.

Aivansama · Post by **Aivansama** » 20 May 2006, 22:19

Thanks. :mrgreen:

I've been mostly lurking since the Jenz days. I just write so seldom that I forget what nicks I've registered previously.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 20 May 2006, 22:28

bradavon wrote:Why are you picking up Born to Fight?

Because it costs $5.99 and is probably better quality that EE and Momentum. And since all the bootlegs were based on it, it should be easy to find timed subs for it.

bradavon wrote: Both the UK R2 and Aussie R4 are decent already English subtitled Proper PAL DVDs. I own the UK R2 which has additional DTS.

Isn't the UK disc missing some scene/stunt?

Ja tervetuloa aivansamalle minunkin puolesta, vaikka toivotukset ovatkin pari kuukautta myöhässä. Kukaan ei ilmeisesti huomannut sinua aiemmin

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 20 May 2006, 22:32

Aivansama wrote:Thanks. :mrgreen:

I've been mostly lurking since the Jenz days. I just write so seldom that I forget what nicks I've registered previously.

And I write so slowly I didn't see that post (referring to the finnish language part in my previous post)