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

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 27 Nov 2006, 14:33

I think it's just a poor film, horrid unlikeable characters, flat anonymous direction and a very silly plot. I think the fact the studio released Rasen & Ringu together as a double release - expecting Rasen to be the big success (as the book was more popular and widely considered better than Ringu) - but it bombed miserably while Ringu became an instant hit, says it all really.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Nov 2006, 00:15

slasher13 wrote:Can we please get rid of the following for Spiral please.

Fair enough. While the overwhelming opinion from what I can see is it's drivel it's not really the right place to post such comments.

Consider it removed.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Yah.

Thanks

EvaUnit02 wrote:Brad, it's worth noting that the film is also known as Rasen.

It's already mentioned

EvaUnit02 wrote:Please make a note of GITS2 as well.

Why because it has two featurettes and a better layer change over a DTS track? Is the layer change really that bad to lose DTS, especially as it only affects the dub too???

EvaUnit02 wrote:I never bothered seeing Rasen or Ringu 0, as Ringu 2 was absolutely dire.

Ringu 0 is good IMO. A decent back story to the films, but then I also liked Ringu 2. I think most prefer/liked Ringu 0 if it helps.

BiscLimpkit wrote:Ok, assuming I'm a complete idiot, could someone please list the Ringu/Rasen/The Ring films from best to worst please? Thanks.

The consensus seems to be:

Ringu - Way up at the top
Ringu 0 - I liked this, most seem to also
Ringu 2 - I liked it but most didn't
Rasen - Made as a sequel to Ringu but it did so poorly in Japan (different director, same cast) Ringu 2 was quickly created and Rasen was quickly forgotten. Slasher is the only person who likes it (AFAIK).

The R1 box set contains all of the above, the UK R2 Tartan box set loses Rasen but gains DTS, oh and I think NTSc-PAL. The UK R2 also gets some short stories (I think). I forget what the R1 gets.

I used to own Ringu R1 (AFAIK the only R1 released on it's own) and yes it does have better PQ to the UK R2 Tartan Remastered Box set version but not greatly (which is what the DVD Times Reviewer also said) and IMO the Box set is fine.

I didn't bother to get the R1.

Slasher does like B-Movie Horror remember

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 28 Nov 2006, 13:55

bradavon wrote: Why because it has two featurettes and a better layer change over a DTS track? Is the layer change really that bad to lose DTS, especially as it only affects the dub too???

Hehe, true. Don't bother.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 28 Nov 2006, 16:40

bradavon wrote: Fair enough. While the overwhelming opinion from what I can see is it's drivel it's not really the right place to post such comments.

Consider it removed.

Cheers

The consensus seems to be:

Ringu - Way up at the top
Ringu 0 - I liked this, most seem to also
Ringu 2 - I liked it but most didn't
Rasen - Made as a sequel to Ringu but it did so poorly in Japan (different director, same cast) Ringu 2 was quickly created and Rasen was quickly forgotten. Slasher is the only person who likes it (AFAIK).

Tom may even like it, he likes movie other hates

.... Seriously thou, is there no one else who liked Rasen?

Slasher does like B-Movie Horror remember

LOL guilty as charged

....

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Nov 2006, 19:19

I suspect most didn't bother. TBH I would but there are already plenty of decent films I want to check out.

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 28 Nov 2006, 22:41

slasher13 wrote: Tom may even like it, he likes movie other hates .... Seriously thou, is there no one else who liked Rasen?

I liked Rasen more than Ring 2. Ring 2 was more of the same of the first Ring and had story elements typical of a lot of horror sequels, whereas I liked the more scientific approach to the curse in Rasen (which is probably why I like Kairo so much). It did suffer a little from over-explanation and the ending was pretty weird but a good flick overall.

Unfortunately, Joji Iida's output varies quite a lot. I really dug Another Heaven but Dragon Head was a real piece of crap.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Nov 2006, 23:13

Kairo is excellent but as for Ringu 2 I seem to remember lots of scientific mumbo jumbo. It was very different from Ringu too.

It's such a shame Kairo has never become as big as Ringu, A Tale of Two Sisters and the like.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 28 Nov 2006, 23:53

bradavon wrote:It's such a shame Kairo has never become as big as Ringu, A Tale of Two Sisters and the like.

Yeah, it wasn't until like this year that it did the Aus/NZ festival circuits (talk about 4 years too late) and that was probably only after Madman acquired the rights like in mid-late 2005.

It was popular enough for Weinsteins to see it as a viable investment to make another terrible Hollywood remake with a hot TV 20-something cast (to make fanboys go, "Holy shit, Veronica Mars in a movie!"). It was a success apparently, since it made over double it's budget in the US grossings alone. Sad really, mainstream cinema-going audiences will see any old bullshit.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Nov 2006, 19:36

Sad indeed and as sad they've not released an R1 DVD. I'll pick the R4 up for sure but am not keen to as R4 DVDs are too expensive usually.

I'd have ordered it in the recent Madman sale but it wasn't part of it

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 29 Nov 2006, 20:04

Slasher wrote:Rasen - Tom may even like it

Don't count on it.

I hate all horror/suspense movies.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 30 Nov 2006, 22:22

bradavon wrote:Sad indeed and as sad they've not released an R1 DVD. I'll pick the R4 up for sure but am not keen to as R4 DVDs are too expensive usually.

They released a R1 of Kairo a good while ago (but you knew this already. Unless you were refering to the remake, if you were then who gives a shit?), its just as lame as the UK disc though (except with a native NTSC transfer, naturally). IIRC according to reviews the transfer looks the pretty much the same as the HK disc minus the DD5.1 track.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Dec 2006, 20:41

Oh yeah so they did, oops I forgot.

The transfers on the R1 and UK Discs are better but frankly all 3 including the AWFUL sub-VHS HK DVD are dreadful.

The R4 is the only one worth considering. I'll get that one day.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 02 Dec 2006, 00:04

Been looking through my Madman sale DVDs tonight and thought I'd offer some info:

Incident at Blood Pass: Lovely transfer, looks a lot better than the screengrabs in the DVDTalk R1 DVD review. Here's a grab from the R4:

Even with a 400px comparison you can see how much more natural the colours and contrast levels are compared to the over saturated colours and clipping of the R1.

Red Lion doesn't look much different to the R1 if the DVDTalk R1 DVD review screengrabs are anything to go by:

Colours are way over-saturated, but it's a decent enough transfer, and a fucking country mile better than the shitty UK DVD. Between the R1/R4 I'd get whichever release you can find cheaper.

The R4 Sword of Doom uses the same prints as the Criterion, but they've boosted the brightness levels for some reason, which loses detail in a few scenes (judging by screengrabs). If transfer is important to you, the Criterion is the better relase, but it's pretty close!

Likewise Kill! has a transfer on par with the Criterion, couldn't find any decent res grabs of the Criterion to properly compare the R4 disc to.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 02 Dec 2006, 00:15

You've posted the wrong review for Red Lion

. Nice work there though thanks.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 02 Dec 2006, 00:26

So I did, fixed now though.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 03 Dec 2006, 09:35

Cutie Honey coming 07/02/2007. Now all you guys can get yourself an official release

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 03 Dec 2006, 23:39

HungFist wrote:Cutie Honey coming 07/02/2007. Now all you guys can get yourself an official release

Bandai Ent is bringing out an R1 release next year as well.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 15 Dec 2006, 17:57

LOL, How did I miss this, Madman released a Native Pal version of Street Fighter 2 Uncut

Sourced from Japanese release

Elric of Grans wrote:
Hmm... just how uncut is this release? For a laugh, I looked at the DVD which said 97 minutes, then the VHS... which says 100 minutes...

I am sure they just rounded it off, but is there any difference between this release and the VHS Siren released a while back?

About the running time. It has to do with our remastering process to pure PAL video format which = shorter running time (but still the same footage - no cuts)

Kero-chan wrote:
I know the recent US "uncut" release censored a couple of f-words - is this true of the Madman release also?

There is no censoring of the swear words that Deejay and Guile say in our release.

Bradavon It looks like this is the best version available, so please put it on the front page

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 15 Dec 2006, 18:31

Sweet, I was going to get the recently released R1 but this looks better.

I'm currently sitting through the anime series, which is pretty shite tbh. It's about as accurate to the games as the Hollywood Van Damme version (or worse... the S.Korean version

).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Dec 2006, 17:42

So it's better than the R1 because it's uncut right? Whereas the R1 is cut. Anything else making it better? I presume the R1 is also anamorphic with DD5.1? Does the R1 have any extras?

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 16 Dec 2006, 19:04

I've heard that the R1 pic quality isn't that great.

They say that the R4 is sourced from the Japanese master or something.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 16 Dec 2006, 19:32

Correct, a rumor which I cannot find its that it was NTSC->PAL->NTSC converted

If that is correct, then damn!!!!

Trying to get more information.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 16 Dec 2006, 20:35

Is that a record or something, on the no. of conversions?

RickyTheDragonSteamboat · Post by **RickyTheDragonSteamboat** » 17 Dec 2006, 21:26

So is the Madman Street Fighter II disc out now? I'll defintiely pick it up. Also, I'm in the US. Where would be the best place to purchase this DVD?

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 17 Dec 2006, 21:31

Try:

www.dvdcrave.com
www.ezydvd.com.au

I'll probably place an order in the new year - once the xmas rush has died down, ken fit like.