Bullets 'n' Babes

Pleasure Campus: Secret Games (Japan, 1980) – 2,5/5
Kumashiro’s high school rape comedy has a good start but doesn’t rise above avarage as a whole.

Ichijo's Wet Lust (Japan, 1972) – 2/5
Why Kumashiro won the Kinema Junpo prize for this basic drama remains a mystery to me.

Attacked (Japan, 1978) – 2,5/5
Hasebe’s thriller of a shy female cop who uses her body as bait. Cool soundtrack by Ludwig van Beethoven.

Hard Boiled - 5/5

Fantastic It's been a long while since I'd seen it and I'd forgotten just how COOL this film was 8) There are some brilliant scenes, the action kicks ass (motorbike scene, when CYF is shooting riding down the stairs) the hospital finale is amazing. Tony Leung and CYF are both very good in the film.
The transfer on the Tartan R2 CE is excellent. For some reason at the beginning of the film there was a "window" around the frame The translation is fine. The subtitles fade out in an unusual way.

How come you didn't go for the DD? I think the dubtitles are decently made, even if they are technically dubtitles.

It is great isn't it. It took two viewings for me to appreciate it. It's easily Woo's best film and is way better than ABT/ABT2. It's also better than The Killer, which has good moments but is overall average. I do plan to watch it again soon though. If I still feel the same way after it's third viewing I'll give up with it.

DVD Beaver says this about the windowed opening. It's plausible:

There’s a hidden TITLE-4 on the Tartan disc (perhaps it’s an Easter-egg) that contains the English version of the opening and closing credits and these are anamorphic. I would venture that Tartan used an anamorphic master containing these English credits and simply lopped them off, replacing them with a conversion of non-anamorphic titles from their own older master. Might be worth noting.

Dubtitles? Really? They seemed like subtitles to me.
Well as for the DD, I had had the Tartan CE for a long time and STILL hadnt seen it.
I'm not sure which is better, Hard Boiled has better action.

To clarify for Grim:-
The Dragon Dynasty "UE" has a dubtitles.
The Tartan "CE" has proper subtitles, they commissioned an all new translation specifically for that release.

Personally I wouldn't bother double-dipping with the DD release, it'll end up on BD in one form or another, sans having to buy some mediocre PS3 game. The transfer and subs on the Tartan are excellent IMO.

I have the HK release of Hard Boiled, which is good enough for me untill a decent HD version comes out.

The Blu-ray version wasnt HD, right!? Just the old DVD version burned on BluRay!?

@ Grim: How did you think I was talking about the Tartan release? I was talking about the DD.

@ Yi: Dude the HK DVD is awful. The Tartan CE is 100% better. It really is the "look and sound of perfection" . It's light and day better. Today I personally would consider the DD, despite the dubtitles but the Tartan CE is still lovely.

There is no Blu-ray release. There was a release that was supplied with the video game. I've never seen a review of it and I "think" it was an HD-DVD, if anyone can confirm this? Unless you know more than I do and it was infact an SD DVD plonked on a BD.

Thanks for clearing that up Brad I thought you meant the Tartan had dubtitles.

Hmmm... to me the HK dvd was ok. certainly not awful. Very watchable.
I didnt have any problems with it.

bradavon wrote:There is no Blu-ray release. There was a release that was supplied with the video game. I've never seen a review of it and I "think" it was an HD-DVD, if anyone can confirm this? Unless you know more than I do and it was infact an SD DVD plonked on a BD.

HD-DVD? Get a clue. It was packaged with the North American release of the Stranglehold CE for PS3, so it was on a BD-rom.

grim_tales wrote:I thought you meant the Tartan had dubtitles.

No, the Tartan has Dudetitles.

Yi-Long wrote:Hmmm... to me the HK dvd was ok. certainly not awful. Very watchable.
I didnt have any problems with it.

It is all that and neither did I, until I saw how much better the Tartan looks. It's a massive remastering upgrade.

The HK DVD is full of fleck marks, for example.

EvaUnit02 wrote:HD-DVD? Get a clue. It was packaged with the North American release of the Stranglehold CE for PS3, so it was on a BD-rom.

Meh! Computer games are for kids.

EvaUnit02 wrote:HD-DVD? Get a clue. It was packaged with the North American release of the Stranglehold CE for PS3, so it was on a BD-rom.

bradavon wrote:Meh! Computer games are for kids.

OH NO HE DI'NT!!!

bradavon wrote:Meh! Computer games are for kids.

You forgot immature, emotionally stunted adults.

Ah good point, thanks Mark

Eva knows I've zero interest in Computer Games, so it was a particularly dumb thing to say.

The Killer is a masterpiece, IMO. Possibly a better "film" then Hard Boiled but both are great.

grim_tales wrote:The Killer is a masterpiece, IMO. Possibly a better "film" then Hard Boiled but both are great.

I'd 100% agree. Although overall I'd rate "Bullet in the Head" as superior to both of those.

Forgot Bullet In The Head - doh!

The Killer (124 min cut) and A Better Tomorrow are easily better than Hard Boiled.

A Better Tomorrow is a classic too.

The problem with A Better Tomorrow and The Killer is that they aged really bad. The hairdo's, the outfits, etc... it just all looks like crap. It's lame.

ABT is still a great movie, but The Killer is just meh, also partly because of the horrible Danny Lee, and some of the other poor acting performances...

I think Hard Boiled is Woo's best, and A Bullet in the Head is awesome as well...

Yi-Long wrote:The problem with A Better Tomorrow and The Killer is that they aged really bad. The hairdo's, the outfits, etc... it just all looks like crap. It's lame.

That's only your own personal short-coming, not the films'.

A lot people can distance themselves from thoughts like "Oh, the special effects look like crap" or "I couldn't get over the fact that I identify this particular actor with a certain previous role" and appreciate a film's story, acting and filmmaking merits, sans any excess baggage.

Aging is a highly positive thing, not a flaw at all. Old movies are supposed to reflect the ideas, fashion and technology of their own time. That's a part of their charm. If you don't like that, don't watch old movies. Surely the Wachowski's have a new movie ready for you?

I dont mind old movies, as I love flicks from especially the 70's, yet the 80's fashion is kinda hard to look past

I agree with Eva, when I watch The Killer, I concentrate on the acting, action, story etc, not the clothes and Danny Lee's mole