The Killer: R2DE vs R1 vs R2UK vs R2FR vs R2Nordic vs R3HK

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 May 2006, 13:41

A mixed bag.

But honestly none of these transfers do the film justice.

Paging Harvey Weinstien.

1 - IVL
2 - IVL
3 - HKL
4 - HKL
5 - HKL

HKL marginal win.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 27 May 2006, 14:20

Overall I'd probably give it to the IVL but I like the HKL for the overall package which I hear has the best English subtitle translation.

I'm happy with my HKL and as I'd have to buy the inferior BITH: IVL to get this I'll pass. If I could get The Killer on it's own I may just do so.

grim_tales wrote:Wasn't the French DVD of the Taiwan cut taken from a workprint?

Yes with burnt in subs which made the film so hard to follow. The first time I saw it was from this DVD (but on video).

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 27 May 2006, 14:26

Mark wrote:HKL marginal win.

Yeah right.

Cap 1:
HKL is too dark + horizontally stretched.

Cap 2:
Too dark, can't see Chow's eyes.

Cap 3:
Soft, but good.

Cap 4:
Almost as good as the HKV, but way too soft.

Cap 5:
Completely blurry.

HKL used too much digital noise removal on this one IMO.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 27 May 2006, 14:45

I don't think Mark is looking at the HK Video, like me tbh. For me it could be the most amazing looking DVD on earth it means nothing without English subs. I'm sorry to say.

When I said I'd give it to the IVL that is comparing it against the HKL, as the other English friendly releases are all awful.

p.s - I disagree about your analysis btw.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 27 May 2006, 15:16

p.s - I disagree about your analysis btw.

I sure hope so.

Bullets wouldn't be Bullets without all this pointless bickering.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 27 May 2006, 16:24

The burnt in subs on the Taiwan cut are a bit arkward (in fact the first time I saw the Taiwan cut was on a video taken from the DVD as well) but they werent bad TBH. However, IIRC the French subs do actually pop up for one line (even if they're switched to "OFF"

) during the scene where the guys first attack Sally Yeh outside the nightclub (I think) - the subs say:

"Je vous de prie!" (or something like that), ("I beg you!")

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 27 May 2006, 17:06

The Criterions for both The Killer and Hard Boiled are massive wastes of time IMO. They're awful laserdisc ports. If anyone wants unique extras I don't see they cant buy the cheap bootlegs of them off Ebay.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 27 May 2006, 21:06

My only two problems with the HKL is that the audio at times seems to sound like a worn out tape or as if the batteries of a cassette player went empty or so. The other problem is that one Sally Yeh-song is missing, too. Instead plays her other same song "Once in a Lifetime".

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 28 May 2006, 03:48

Tom2681 wrote:
Mark wrote:HKL marginal win.
Yeah right.

Seriously. 3/5 purely on the basis of those caps.

Cap 1: HKL is too dark + horizontally stretched.

Agreed, but the HKV looks awful. The IVL is the best here.

Cap 2: Too dark, can't see Chow's eyes.

Agreed, I prefer the IVL contrasts to the HKV here.

Cap 3: Soft, but good.

Agreed. HKV is washed out, IVL very grainy.

Cap 4: Almost as good as the HKV, but way too soft.

HKV looks a bit fuzzy, IVL has a less pleasing tone than the HKL.

Cap 5: Completely blurry. HKL used too much digital noise removal on this one IMO.

HKL isn't as sharp as it should be, but I still prefer it to the other two.
The HKV is the weakest of the three and I stand by my original decision in favour of HKL.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 28 May 2006, 10:18

thelostdragon wrote:My only two problems with the HKL is that the audio at times seems to sound like a worn out tape or as if the batteries of a cassette player went empty or so. The other problem is that one Sally Yeh-song is missing, too. Instead plays her other same song "Once in a Lifetime".

What other song should play instead? Are you talking about the scene in her apartment?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 28 May 2006, 10:39

grim_tales wrote:Are you talking about the scene in her apartment?

Yeah. During thihs scene it should not be "Once in a Lifetime", but "It's Been Written", also by Sally Yeh.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 28 May 2006, 11:03

Thanks

I'll compare it with the HKV I also have.

gojensen · Post by **gojensen** » 29 May 2006, 11:19

Here's my take on IVL vs HKV vs HKL that I did back in 2004.

http://sb.gojensen.no/?p=14#more-14

I ended up with picking the HKL since it has english subs. The IVL looks BAD because it's not progressive... which matters a lot for me.

gojensen · Post by **gojensen** » 21 Oct 2006, 19:26

I took comparison shots from the new Nordic Scanbox John Woo collection box sets; It's a bit soft, but there's no digital enhancing nor any restoration for that matter.

Here ya go...

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 21 Oct 2006, 20:35

Don't like it.
Too dark, too red, too blurry.

But thanks.

gojensen · Post by **gojensen** » 21 Oct 2006, 22:34

It's not perfect

But it's actually not blurry. Just very ... not sharp

I'll pop this in on my projector one day and see how it holds up on the wall of fame... (though it seems to have more picture information on the sides than most other releases don't it??)

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 22 Oct 2006, 00:42

tom2681 wrote:Don't like it.
Too dark, too red, too blurry.

Too not french perhaps?

I think it looks quite good.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Oct 2006, 01:15

tom2681 wrote:Don't like it.
Too dark, too red, too blurry.

But thanks.

Tut tut for not adding them

Okay I'll do it.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 22 Oct 2006, 01:17

The Nordic looks alright, better than most actually.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Oct 2006, 01:21

Oh wait you have done it but stuck them in an odd place, the order is very weird.

I agree with Mark the Nordic is very good, one of the best. In fact I'm going to go as far to say it looks the best.

The best of the English friendly ones is the IVL which I would get but I'd have to get the trashy BITH IVL too, they really messed that one up. The HKL Is way better for BITH.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 22 Oct 2006, 03:30

Can someone please re-order the caps so that the ones with English subs are next to each other? Thanks.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 22 Oct 2006, 13:14

Originally I wanted the best editions (HKL - HKV - IVL) to be next to each other.
Then I put the Nordic in the middle because I thought it looked OK.

please re-order the caps so that the ones with English subs are next to each other?

So much work... Maybe later.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Oct 2006, 16:08

EvaUnit02 wrote:Can someone please re-order the caps so that the ones with English subs are next to each other? Thanks.

That was bothering me too but tbh it's only the IVL and HKL I give a hoot about.

I just opened each myself in their own windows so I could flick back and forth.

As I said I reckon the Nordic is best (the colours look lovely, I just like the tone) but of the IVL and HKL it's IVL that wins BUT otherwise the HKL is great with decent subs and decent extras.

I'd also have to own BITH to get it and I don't want that one.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Can someone please re-order the caps so that the ones with English subs are next to each other? Thanks.

Of the IVL and HKL which do you prefer?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 22 Oct 2006, 17:11

bradavon wrote:Of the IVL and HKL which do you prefer?

HKL. The brightness saturation is too high on the IVL and you lose detail. Plus it's interlaced and the subs suck. The HKL has wonderful subs.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 30 Oct 2006, 03:58

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