French DVDs and Blu-Rays of Asian Movies

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 27 Apr 2005, 23:06

I have the Quad poster of the Tartan cover.... I actually rather like it, if I pretend his nose isn't there. The top French one is great.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 11 May 2005, 01:42

Tom, could you try to find out if the Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance subs on the R2FR are burnt in or just forced please?
Hmm, I think I might expand that to some more DVD's after I've had a look. If they're not burnt in I can just do a copy.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 May 2005, 19:42

I have the dvd and it has forced player-generated subs.

BTW: all HK Vidéo and Wild Side titles have player-generated subs.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 May 2005, 22:05

Forced?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 12 May 2005, 23:18

bradavon wrote:Forced?

Forced=Unremovable player-generated subs. Surely you knew that Brad?

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 13 May 2005, 03:56

Tom2681 wrote:I have the dvd and it has forced player-generated subs.

BTW: all HK Vidéo and Wild Side titles have player-generated subs.

Thanks Tom, I'll pick this up sometime then.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 May 2005, 10:14

EvaUnit02 wrote:
bradavon wrote:Forced?
Forced=Unremovable player-generated subs. Surely you knew that Brad?

I do but I was actually asking if all HK Vidéo and Wild Side DVDs were forced you didn't stipulate.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 13 May 2005, 13:42

HK Vidéo : All of them are forced AFAIK.
Wild Side : I have 3 titles and all of them have forced subs.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 May 2005, 17:57

Merci.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 14 May 2005, 21:18

Here's a picture comparison between the french Wong Kar-Wai boxset titles and the ones featured on DVD-Beaver:

-------------------------------------------------
1st: Days of Being Wild (Tartan vs TF1):
Subtitle comparison:

In this shot the translation is exactly the same in both editions.

Picture comparison:

-The green tint that all other editions seem to have isn't present in the TF1 edition.
-Notice the different aspect ratio. While the Tartan is cropped for 16/9, the TF1 is a 1.66 transfer.

----------------------------------------------
2nd: Chungking Express (Miramax vs TF1):
Note that the Miramax caps come from DVD-Beaver. It wouldn't be fair to compare the sharpness based on those pictures.

I don't know which one is more accurate. Still, I don't think the title was meant to be pink.

Err... Based on this picture I can only come up with 2 explanations:
A: Miramax used some sort of contrast booster to alter the shot.
B: The guy who took the Miramax caps didn't know what he was doing.

The TF1 edition seems to be cropped but the colors are way more accurate.

-------------------------------------------------
Next I'll try to post a Fallen Angels comparison.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 14 May 2005, 22:04

And now for Fallen Angels:

1st pic: Subtitle sample Kino vs TF1:
Top: Kino
Bottom: TF1

Translation is the same, framing is different.
TF1 looks a lot better than Kino.

2nd pic: Pic comparison Accent (R4) vs TF1:
Top: Accent
Bottom: TF1

While the TF1 transfer looks very good, it's no match for the fully restored Accent DVD.

3rd pic: Accent vs TF1:
Top: Accent
Bottom: TF1

It looks like TF1 used the same negative as Daum and Ocean Shores (when compared to the caps on DVD-Beaver).

4th: Accent vs TF1:
Top: Accent
Bottom: TF1

TF1 is slightly sharper but not better.

5th: Accent vs TF1:
Top: Accent
Bottom: TF1

Now I'm reassured. While the TF1 boxset is by no means great, I'm sure that the R1 boxset can't be vastly superior.
If Lourdes (or somebody who has the R1 boxset) could provide some matching caps, I'd love to compare them.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 15 May 2005, 08:14

Hey Tom,

Are the UK R2 shots of CKE from the Artificial Eye disc (the new one)?
I prefer the French title screen to the pink-tinted one on the R1 (though I'm sure if I saw that running it would just look off-white), the shot after that of the landscape (R1) looks awful. Its supposed to be blue!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 15 May 2005, 08:33

Interesting caps there Tom. It does prove to me again caps can be ambiguous as I don't recall CE R1 looking nowhere near as bad as that.

Pretty good in fact. It's part of my R1 box set and I'm happy with it.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 15 May 2005, 15:01

Thanks for the caps Tom, most interesting along and the comparison is good too. I don't trust DVD Beaver at all and this adds to that.
I think I may have to get the French box sometime to see how it feels. The problem with WKW films pre-ITMFL is that there just aren't any good prints to work from. And DVD releases are either cleaned up a little and presented as is OR they go all the way which inevitably involves boosting the contrast and other things which can look better but doesn't feel right. And with WKW films that can really harm the viewing experience.
"Fallen Angels" as an example, I first watched it as a murky and horrible DVD and I loved it. When I saw a much cleearer but terribly brightened TV broadcoast I didn't enjoy it very much. But now I have the R4 release which is cleaned up and looks so much better than the awful Daum DVD but it still has the atmosphere.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 15 May 2005, 15:03

Are the UK R2 shots of CKE from the Artificial Eye disc (the new one)?

Yep. Didn't know there was another R2UK edition.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 15 May 2005, 15:06

There as an older one, cropped and letterboxed.

Re: CE R1. I just stuck mine in (well it's R0K but is a direct port) and there's only the slightest pink tint on the titles. More tint than the R2FR but so much less than in that cap.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 15 May 2005, 15:18

DVD releases are either cleaned up a little and presented as is OR they go all the way which inevitably involves boosting the contrast and other things which can look better but doesn't feel right.

This is why I like French editors like TF1, HK Vidéo and Wild Side.

They usually clean up the prints but they don't use Digital Noise Removal tools as HKL do. This is why french transfers are often sharper than their UK or US counterparts.
The only big problem is that the colors are often washed out (Mr Vampire is a good example):
Top: HKL
Bottom: HKV

But at least they always provide the original mono or stereo soundtrack.

there's only the slightest pink tint on the titles. More tint than the R2FR but so much less than in that cap.

I was right, then: The guy who took the DVD-Beaver caps didn't know what he was doing.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 15 May 2005, 16:50

Contrary to what DVD Beaver think they don't always know what they're doing.

The HKL looks much better, the HKV is cropped also.

Chow Gam Kong · Post by **Chow Gam Kong** » 15 May 2005, 20:13

the hk video is not cropped but windowboxed, they do it to counteract the overscan on TVs. like dvd beaver you don't always know what your talking

the black bars are entirely intentional in order to preserve the integrity of the movie on televisions that overscan an appreciable amount

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 15 May 2005, 20:47

the hk video is not cropped but windowboxed,

It IS slightly cropped on the sides but has a lot more picture at the top and the bottom.

And I don't think that this decision to present the film in a 1.66 ratio has anything to do with overscan. HK Vidéo must have thought that 1.66 was Mr Vampire's original aspect ratio.

But I must admit that on a regular TV the HK Vidéo will look less cropped than the HKL.

Chow Gam Kong · Post by **Chow Gam Kong** » 15 May 2005, 21:19

le film est bien en 1:85 et non en 1:66, tu te trompe tom

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 15 May 2005, 21:29

No probs posting in non-English but please also post in English as well. That way everyone here can understand you.

Cue Grim showing off

Tom2681 wrote:It IS slightly cropped on the sides but has a lot more picture at the top and the bottom.

:bootyshake: to "Chow Gam Kong"

p.s - How would I know if it were window boxed from one screen shot? It still looks worse than the HKL :rr:

Chow Gam Kong · Post by **Chow Gam Kong** » 15 May 2005, 21:36

It still looks worse than the HKL

you better stop judging from pics because here my hkv look way better than this screenshot...

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 15 May 2005, 21:38

le film est bien en 1:85 et non en 1:66, tu te trompe tom

T'es sûr ?

Regarde bien les captures:
Le HKL est en 1:778 (16/9 si tu préfères).
Le HK Vidéo est bien en 1:66 (il a des bandes noires sur les côtés mais pas en haut ni en bas).

EDIT: après vérification, tu as raison. Le Mégastar (qu'on peut considérer comme l'édition de référence) est en 1:85.
Le HKL et le HK Vidéo ont tous les deux les bords coupés.
Le HK Vidéo s'en sort un peu mieux puisque le haut et le bas sont moins coupés que sur le HKL.

http://www.cinemasie.com/fiche/video/50 ... aison.html

N'empêche, ni HKL ni HKV ne présentent ce film dans son ratio d'origine.

What a pity...

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 15 May 2005, 21:42

my hkv look way better than this screenshot...

I agree, it's totally unfair to judge a dvd from one screenshot.
HK Vidéo's transfer looks better than this.

And when you add the fact that the HK Vidéo:
- doesn't have dubtitles
- subtitles the songs
- has the original mono

It makes HKV a winner IMHO.