The Madman Asian Eastern Eye/Director's Suite Thread!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 May 2006, 18:36

So far

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 17 May 2006, 13:09

DVDbeaver have put up a comparison for Kwaidan - R4 vs R2UK Eureka vs Criterion (which is cut to ribbons, making it moot). Both R4 and Eureka discs look excellent to me, but the Eureka disc has the better colours IMO (Who knows what the colour are meant to look like, since both director and DoP are dead). I'll probably get the R4 though since it's much much cheaper for me than the R2UK.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 23 May 2006, 15:00

Madman has been bought by toy company Funtastic.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=8841

We have nothing worry about though, at least for the next 4 years.

Tim Anderson informed concerned customers that although Madman will be pursuing properties focused towards the children's market, with a new label "Mad 4 Kids", that there is no intention of changing policy concerning new acquisitions anytime soon, and that Funtastic has given full support in Madman's current operations. Tim Anderson and Paul Wiegard have signed four year employment deals with Funtastic Limited and will be sitting on the companies' board.

Fellow Madboarders,

It has been awhile since I appeared here, but you all helped us get where we are today and so I wanted to address your concerns personally.

Many of you are correct: nothing will change! Funtastic were interested in Madman for what we do right and I like to think (for the most part!) we keep you all pretty happy. There will be no upsetting of apple carts and in fact, if anything, we will be teaching Funtastic a thing or two!

When it comes to anime, Funtastic trust us. They know that we are fans of anime. They know we read manga. They know we talk to you guys and do our best to address your concerns. They are right behind anime and INSIST that we keep doing what we’ve been doing and they want to give us the tools to do it BETTER!

I am staying right here as Managing Director of Madman. Sly and the rest of the anime team remain in place. For the record, AV Channel (our distributor,) is part of the deal, but this too will not affect the way we do business. Our products will show up in stores as normal.

Now, the other point of concern I can see is the references to Funtastic and kids properties. Let me assure you, if “Ninja Scroll 2” or a new Gantz series is released, I’m going to jump right on them. Remember: I love this stuff too!

We WILL be pursuing more kids properties, but under our new “Mad 4 Kids” label. Think of this like Eastern Eye – separate to the anime.

Keep an eye on Madman guys – there’s lots of exciting, POSITIVE stuff planned and I hope you’ll stick around to see us take anime and manga to the next level!

- Tim Anderson
Managing Director

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 May 2006, 15:47

Considering all the stella work Madman are doing for R4 oddly I've yet to actually buy any (except for 2046). There Spirited Away was a bit of a mess.

I'll pick up The Isle but am in no rush.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 25 May 2006, 16:45

Review of Koma. Has a native-PAL transfer (deduced from the running times) + full bit-rate DTS. Tartan R2UK is NTSC-PAL, so that's moot, but Tartan's R1 is native-NTSC and has a Director's commentary (subbed I assume).

Infernal Affairs 2 - native-PAL + DTS + most English -subbed extras of any release = Best English language release thus far.

Kwaidan tied with the Eureka MoC release (when you ignore their booket), get which ever is cheaper for you.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 25 May 2006, 16:58

What is Infernal Affair like - NTSC to PAL conversion?. I might wait until they release the boxset

Kind Regards

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 25 May 2006, 17:39

slasher13 wrote:What is Infernal Affair like - NTSC to PAL conversion?. I might wait until they release the boxset

Kind Regards

Yes, R4 IA1 is native-PAL.

Don't bother waiting for an R4 boxset, get the existing Tartan - the most extras for IA1 (all R4 IA2 offers over the Tartan is one additional delete scene (and some out-takes or awful cantopop music videos as easter eggs, can't remember which).) + native PAL transfers of all 3 films + DTS.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 May 2006, 19:02

EvaUnit02 wrote:Infernal Affairs 2 - native-PAL + DTS + most English -subbed extras of any release = Best English language release thus far.

Doesn't it only have 1 deleted scene more? I don't think the Tartan's are NTSC to PAL. I said months ago the R4 had one more extra and you said "Big fucking deal" or words to that effect.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Kwaidan tied with the Eureka MoC release (when you ignore their booket), get which ever is cheaper for you.

But why ignore the booklet? Which is 70 pages so more of a book in reality.

That is unless the R4 is wildly cheaper which it won't be.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 May 2006, 02:31

bradavon wrote:
EvaUnit02 wrote:Infernal Affairs 2 - native-PAL + DTS + most English -subbed extras of any release = Best English language release thus far.
Doesn't it only have 1 deleted scene more? I don't think the Tartan's are NTSC to PAL. I said months ago the R4 had one more extra and you said "Big fucking deal" or words to that effect.

Did you not read my reply to Slasher's query?

But why ignore the booklet? Which is 70 pages so more of a book in reality.

That is unless the R4 is wildly cheaper which it won't be.

Aside from the booklet, the releases are practically identical. So thus get which ever is cheaper for the particular individual.

Eg me = $25NZD for R4 vs. $35 for MoC. = no contest. Hardly worth an extra tenner for a booklet.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 May 2006, 12:50

It's a 70 page book not booklet, big difference.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 06 Jun 2006, 20:58

Any reviews of The Isle dvd?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Jun 2006, 23:10

I can't find any

I've got so behind with this thread and what's happening at Madn/Eastern Eye generally. Are there any "best English friendly version in the world" R4 titles I should add to post 1?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 08 Jun 2006, 03:49

Madman are considering changing the font, size and COLOUR of their subs. There's a thread here where they want user feedback.
http://madboards.madman.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=21869
Discussion thus far seems to be in favour of KEEPING YELLOW SUBS, so go have your say.

Eko Eko Azarak 3: Misa The Dark Angel is the native-PAL progressive-encoded and the ONLY anamorphic version of the film available anywhere. (source)

Also the Madman release of Nagisa Oshima's In The Realm of Senses is the only uncut release with English subs. It's non-anamorphic though. (source)

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 08 Jun 2006, 04:33

They're also releasing Blood & Bones, the brutal drama Japanese starring Takeshi Kitano. It has DTS and will highly likely have a progressive transfer. Thus it maybe better than the R3HK from Panorama which is interlaced.
http://www.madman.com.au/actions/catalo ... ethod=view

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 Jun 2006, 12:24

EvaUnit02 wrote:Madman are considering changing the font, size and COLOUR of their subs. There's a thread here where they want user feedback.
http://madboards.madman.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=21869
Discussion thus far seems to be in favour of KEEPING YELLOW SUBS, so go have your say.

Cheers. I've posted my comments.

It seems to be 50/50 though. Personally as long as they stop putting yellow subs on black and white films then I can live with it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 Jun 2006, 18:41

R4 SFMV details, better than both Tartan R1 & Tartan UK R2 DVDs:

Sympathy For Mr Vengeance

JULY 26
Rental/Retail: Retail
Video: 16:9 Anamorphic
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 117 mins
Transfer: Progressive PAL
Audio: Korean Dolby 5.1, DTS 5.1
Extras:
- Audio Commentary with Director Park Chan-wook & Ryu Seung-wan
- Making of MR VENGEANCE (30 mins)
- Actor Interviews (12 mins total)
- Original Trailer
- Stills Gallery (15)

ALSO:

AUGUST 16

Shinobi

Rental/Retail: Retail
Video: 16:9 Anamorphic
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running Time: 98 mins
Transfer: Progressive PAL
Audio: Japanese Dolby 5.1
Extras:
- Visual FX of Shinobi (41 mins)
- Visual FX Explanation (5 mins)
- Weapons of Shinobi (9 mins)
- Set Design & Construction (9 mins)
- Storyboards (41 mins)
- Original Trailers (6)
- "Meet The Clan" Character Gallery with Stats & Bios (10)
- Stills Gallery (15)

p.s - SFLV will also have a subtitled Korean commentary.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 Jun 2006, 01:21

Aha! Shinobi looks interesting. Especially, because it is PAL. Then I won't have to get the expensive Japanese disc. The HK version was supposed to be out a few days ago, but nothing out so far. Will wait for August 16th then.

Thanks, brad!

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 Jun 2006, 01:22

If SFLV turns out to have a good transfer, I might get it for the commentary and the subbed extras.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 24 Jun 2006, 03:42

Cool. Brad, looks Madman have listened to us since we're getting a subbed commentary.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 Jun 2006, 06:45

Won't the R4 of SMFV/SFLV have those ghastly huge ratings on them?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 24 Jun 2006, 11:46

grim_tales wrote:Won't the R4 of SMFV/SFLV have those ghastly huge ratings on them?

Oh you're right! Even if they turn out to be the best versions worldwide, I won't get them due to those huge ugly rating logos.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 Jun 2006, 12:50

Well maybe they'll do a reversible cover thing but the new R4 ratings are hideous. The old ones were bad enough.
I may get the r4 or r1, depends how badly I want SFMV

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 24 Jun 2006, 13:09

Havent seen those ghastly huge ratings yet. Does anyone have a picture of it???

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 24 Jun 2006, 13:36

I mean like these (the ones with the coloured icons on) - gross.

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/promo.zml?pid= ... l=1&ddat=1

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/785875

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/783734

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/787922

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 24 Jun 2006, 13:44

Those are pretty big yeah. Not very nice looking indeed.
It wouldnt be a reason for me to NOT buy a clearly superiour version fo a movie, though...
Obviously I'd prefer my covers without that kinda crap, but if I have no other choice I would put up with it. I dont stare at my covers usually, so it wouldnt be horrendous.

Thanks for the pics/links btw