Holy Sh*t Play have killed off HKL's website! ;-)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Aug 2006, 11:51

Lots of menus images up at DVD Active:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... ition.html

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 13 Aug 2006, 12:19

Permit me to have a little rant

http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/d ... Index=5148
http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/r ... 5&User=203

"Before I start, a plea.

Can any DVD company who have rights to martial arts films, and who aren`t called Hong Kong Legends, please transfer all those rights to the aforementioned Hong Kong Legends effective immediately. Nobody does it better than Hong Kong Legends, although perhaps because nobody is trying. But if you won`t try, then don`t do it at all. The reason for this rant will become clear in a moment."

Where to begin?

How the hell is transferring the rights to HKL going to magic a decent theatrical print out of thin air? And "nobody does it better"? Well, if remixes, distortion, deliberate cropping and tampering with the colour scheme are your bag, then OK

And with Snuff Bottle, HKL had the rights but were reportedly unable to find a decent print. Fair enough - given Toby Russel's involvement with Soulblade, it's possible he recovered the German source print, give Seasonal's rep for film storage. But to criticise Soulblade for releasing the film in its OAR, original language instead of HKL is pathetic. The reviewer is ignorant of the fact that HKL often has semi-decent prints to work with whilst Soulblade has an old beaten up print. I'm not in the habit of bashing one company whilst praising another - HKL did a great job with tons of films but screwed up the likes of Warriors Two, Legend Of A Fighter and Police Story 2, Soulblade's Dance Of The Drunken Mantis had potential but was ruined by carelessness.

SB's Snuff Bottle is not perfect by any means but does a reasonable job with the materials. They have not remixed the audio or noticeably cropped the audio. To critisicse them for not being HKL is like criticising a cat for not being a dog

JinMode · Post by **JinMode** » 13 Aug 2006, 19:21

bradavon wrote:Lots of menus images up at DVD Active:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... ition.html

yeah, the menus look neat! will definitely buy it. I bought Heroes Shed No tears today also; menus, picture/audio/subs are great and the film itself is quite good than I expected.

Here's some menu shots for Hapkido: http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/hapkido.html

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Aug 2006, 20:09

IF it's better looking than the IVL I'll get it too more than likely.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 13 Aug 2006, 21:09

The lack of the mono track on HKL's ABT2 and the reported dreadful state of Optinum's ABT1 is swinging me in favour of buying the IVL set but even that seems less than satisfactory

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Aug 2006, 21:18

Lets face it the films were kept in dreadful condition so a decent version is unlikely to ever happen. Unless the likes of Criterion pick them up that is.

The consensus seems to be only Part 1 is shoddy from IVL, parts 2 and 3 are fine.

JinMode · Post by **JinMode** » 13 Aug 2006, 21:27

Ivan Drago wrote:The lack of the mono track on HKL's ABT2 and the reported dreadful state of Optinum's ABT1 is swinging me in favour of buying the IVL set but even that seems less than satisfactory

that means nothing, other than HKL being way superior than Optimum.

I hate to say this now, but where HKL became weak in the extra department (since Bey and Brian left), all of a sudden, their picture/audio quality seem to have improved a bit (I keep hearing about some recent releases being less cropped than usual etc.). Any one noticed that? just an opinion...

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 13 Aug 2006, 21:35

ABT 1 is missing a lot of music cues according to a poster on this forum.

HKL's recent releases are improving thanks to superior prints from FS and the inclusion of the mono tracks

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Aug 2006, 22:15

JinMode wrote:that means nothing, other than HKL being way superior than Optimum.

I would disagree with that statement. One shoddy release doesn't make a bad company.

Their "Born to Fight" DVD is tops and check out the forthcoming 3 Disc Wickerman SE.

Ivan Drago wrote:HKL's recent releases are improving thanks to superior prints from FS and the inclusion of the mono tracks

Which was the case while Bey was on board too.

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 14 Aug 2006, 05:03

The menus of ABT2 and their other new releases (Hapkido, Heroes shed no Tears, Dreadnaught, Initial D, Peacock King...), they all look awesome!

What a pity Bey isn´t doing the commentary tracks for them anymore...

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 14 Aug 2006, 13:30

bradavon wrote:I would disagree with that statement. One shoddy release doesn't make a bad company.

Their "Born to Fight" DVD is tops and check out the forthcoming 3 Disc Wickerman SE.

Agreed. Another example is their superb La Haine Ultimate Edition (the 3-discer in the tin).

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 14 Aug 2006, 15:18

Optimum goes all over the place in terms of quality. Henry Portrait Of A Serial Killer excellent. A Touch Of Zen awful

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 18 Aug 2006, 12:00

Brad where did you hear about a Wicker Man 3 disc SE?

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 18 Aug 2006, 12:09

grim_tales wrote:Brad where did you hear about a Wicker Man 3 disc SE?

It announced here Grim: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62351

To be honest, I'm keeping my previous version unless their is a improvement on the A/V. I'm happy with my 2 disker at the moment

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 18 Aug 2006, 14:01

Slasher, thanks

I *think* I have the Burnt Offering doc on VHS somewhere, I'm happy with my 2 disc

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 18 Aug 2006, 17:47

Hey,

From the latest HKL update:

Extras Confirmed for Big Boss
The Big Boss gets the Platinum Treatment with over 2.5 hours of extra features including a feature length audio commentary*, examination of the elusive deleted scenes** and sneak peek at some rare photos. The DVD is released on the 23rd October so order your copy now!

*I'm guessing its the same one as the old DVD
**Could be interesting, but it means they havent used a Mandarin print. Oh well. Worth double dipping though maybe (or upgrading).

Jackie's Back!
Jackie Chan is back with New Police Story! Fans of Jackie Chan will be all too familiar with his Police Story series, this new instalment will be hitting cinemas on October 13th.

................

Probably get NPS for Crimbo then

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 18 Aug 2006, 17:58

Hey,

Also I've noticed that HKL have a "3 for £18" running on the site, I have my eye on Dragons Forever PE, Wheels on Meals PE and The Warrior (Musa) PA 2 disc

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 18 Aug 2006, 20:32

The Wickerman SE does have a lengthy Kermode documentary, not that I'm upgrading either.

I paid £3-4 from CD WOW for the 2 Disc one.

dragonhero005 wrote:The menus of ABT2 and their other new releases (Hapkido, Heroes shed no Tears, Dreadnaught, Initial D, Peacock King...), they all look awesome!

Shame they've spent more money on the menus than extras!

grim_tales wrote:Also I've noticed that HKL have a "3 for £18" running on the site

£6 for a 1 Disc HKL = Yawn but a PA maybe.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 18 Aug 2006, 20:36

This box set looks to be part of the 3 for £18 -

http://www.hongkonglegends.co.uk/index. ... 1&pid=1672

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 19 Aug 2006, 02:19

grim_tales wrote:*I'm guessing its the same one as the old DVD
**Could be interesting, but it means they havent used a Mandarin print. Oh well. Worth double dipping though maybe (or upgrading).

Surely if it was the same commentary they wouldn't mention it as though it were new? That's cheeky. Mind you the original commentary is fine for the standard version. Can't think of anyone I'd rather hear than Bey.

Sounds like it won't be the long lost director's cut which is a real pity. At worst it'll be the standard version with Mandarin Mono. As long as the image is as good as the Fox I'll get it.

Jackie Chan is back with New Police Story! Fans of Jackie Chan will be all too familiar with his Police Story series, this new instalment will be hitting cinemas on October 13th.

I can't see the big screen improving this tosh any.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 19 Aug 2006, 07:47

Well I'd like to see it anyway

Mark would you upgrade/get rid of the old HKL of Boss? Even if it is the "worst" scenario (it sounds like it will be) I'll buy it.

dragonhero005 · Post by **dragonhero005** » 19 Aug 2006, 09:54

grim_tales wrote:Hey,
The Big Boss gets the Platinum Treatment with over 2.5 hours of extra features including a feature length audio commentary

That doesn´t mean the audio commentary is part of the 2.5 hours of extras, does it?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 19 Aug 2006, 10:03

I don't know, sometimes a commentary is included in the extras runtime.
Even if it did 2.5 hours is more than the old release had.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Aug 2006, 10:45

dragonhero005 wrote:That doesn´t mean the audio commentary is part of the 2.5 hours of extras, does it?

Of course it's hard to say but I seriously doubt it being a Platinum Edition. Still 2.5 hours seems a bit low, weren't the previous ones 4 hours?

BTW FYI it's - ' not ` 8)

No doubt Mark will slew loads of English remarks at me now

Markgway wrote:Surely if it was the same commentary they wouldn't mention it as though it were new? That's cheeky.

Have I missed something. Where does it say it's new?

I'd be seriously surprised if:

1. It's not the same commentary, there's no chance of Bey doing a new one now and AFAIK they've not found a replacement.
2. If it's not from the FS HD Print
3. It doesn't have Mandarin Mono
4. It's anything other than the current cut, it has deleted scenes after all.

Markgway wrote:At worst it'll be the standard version with Mandarin Mono.

Mandarin Mono is the worst case scenario???

When you say standard version I presume you mean standard cut not standard HKL transfer?

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 19 Aug 2006, 12:35

grim_tales wrote: Mark would you upgrade/get rid of the old HKL of Boss?

Yes.