French DVDs and Blu-Rays of Asian Movies

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 27 Mar 2008, 17:58

hey,

tom, or anyone else, could you set me up with a link to the HK Video dvd of LOVE IN THE TIME OF TWILIGHT on amazon?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Mar 2008, 01:11

Knetan wrote:well, Fortune Star print was partly extended (with some more but not all of deletions/extensions available as extras) but this is confirmed as the full Taiwan version?

Serious question: Are you telling us or asking us?

tom2681 wrote:Le Protecteur is Half a Loaf of Kung-Fu.
Le retour du Chinois is The Protector.

WTF! Are the Yanks releasing these?

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 28 Mar 2008, 05:06

hey,

asking. MAYBE, HK Video have the power to demand Fortune Star (IF it's them they're working with) to supply them the full Taiwan edit and not just the remastered partly extended print I mentioned.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Mar 2008, 06:05

Thanks. I thought you were but you said this is instead of is this, so I wasn't sure.

Fingers crossed it is then.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 28 Mar 2008, 06:12

HK video actually found a complete print sometime years ago and they kept to it, so like the extended Killer, this ABT3 is mastered from it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Mar 2008, 06:29

Their Killer: Extended Cut was awful quality though. I presume this isn't?

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 28 Mar 2008, 07:20

hey,

I believe on video, HK Video presented the Taiwan edit with an English dub. A dub later cut to fit the theatrical version. Nothing special but worth noting. Doubt it'll appear on this set though.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 28 Mar 2008, 10:40

Knetan wrote:could you set me up with a link to the HK Video dvd of LOVE IN THE TIME OF TWILIGHT on amazon?

You need to search for "Dans la nuit des temps".

Buy it on its own and it's 22 euros.
But buy it in a boxset with The Lovers and it's 20 euros.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 28 Mar 2008, 10:48

The Killer extended was as is the print they found, there was no way to make it better sadly (it was a film print and badly preserved). It's better than any of the bootlegs tapes thought. The ABT3 version in comparison is pristine, yes it was released on VHS tape by HK with the english dub. I have no idea if they recut the soundtrack to make it also a mandarin sound thought, we'll know pretty soon.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Mar 2008, 10:49

You've got to love those madcap cluelss retailer prices

ericf · Post by **ericf** » 01 Apr 2008, 19:49

Just a heads up:
I got the French Tsui Hark 3-movie box from Amazon.fr.

It seems there are some faulty sets.

I don't have the movie Magic Crane in my set. The label says Magic Crane but the movie is Le Grand Alligator, an Italian movie.

Did anyone else have this experience? The Alligator movie is released in a set with another movie by Warner Vision France. The set is called Le continent des hommes poissons / Le grand alligator - Coffret 2 DVD.

ericf

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Apr 2008, 19:58

Are Amazon going to replace it?

ericf · Post by **ericf** » 01 Apr 2008, 20:09

Don't know. I just mailed the seller. It's not Amazon themselves that sold it. They don't stock it.
We'll see.
ericf

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 23 Apr 2008, 18:58

Just got confirmation from the HK team, the long version of ABT 3 will be included in the box set with the mandarin dub this time !

I saw the final box of this too, it's not a box, it's a full on BOOK, as thick as on this picture, with the DVDs included in the last pages, this is a MUST HAVE, this box set book blows my brain already tons of pictures, interviews, text etc in the book ! And guys I'm not speaking thin 20 pgs books with heavy cardboard binding to fatten them up ala Warner Blu-Ray books, this is a FULL ON BOOK, with the DVDs offered as bonuses !

HK are the gods of HK films on DVD, I don't care what anyone says

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 23 Apr 2008, 19:09

Wow.
ABT3 extended cut, really?

And I love those HK Vidéo boxset things.

If I had some money, I'd be buying this.
But I'm saving it for their upcoming Swordsman boxset.

A Chinese Ghost Story, A Better Tomorrow, and soon Swordsman.
Now give me the Fong Sai-Yuks and a proper Ashes of Time, while you're at it (I know TF1 still has the rights to it)

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 23 Apr 2008, 19:23

It's a nice looking set, but I've had too many bad experiences with their transfers to get excited right yet. If the image (and audio) are fine, then I'll get this.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 23 Apr 2008, 19:28

Yeah, I guess it all depends on what material they can get their hands on. Some of the early stuff is not so great upscaled on plasma TV, but the Shaolin Soccer double DVD with the two version is near HD quality when upscaled. What's the word on the Chinese Ghost Story set ?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 23 Apr 2008, 20:48

I was referring to their more recent releases. At least with japanese films HK Video almost always has worse transfers than the R2J or R1 counterparts, and often seemingly not so much because of poor source but heavy digital manipulation.

Some examples include Kagero (beaten by R2J), Sword of the Beast (beaten by Criterion), Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (beaten by Toei and Media Blasters), Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs (beaten by Discotek, although only barely, and HK has better audio), Perfect Blue (beaten by R2J), The Street Fighter's Last Revenge (beaten by Optimum) and Sister Street Fighter (beaten by Toei).

The main reason why I continue to buy HK Video's jp releases is that they have so many great films no one else has bothered to release. With HK films they also benefit from usually getting the main things (mainly proper audio) right when everybody else fucks up.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 24 Apr 2008, 07:06

I have none of those you mention except for Perfect Blue (I happen to miss about 20 releases), I'll check out the comparison section.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 24 Apr 2008, 09:50

To save you time, here are some:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=4324
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=2115
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... 0&start=12
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=3815
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=4477

Still, I don't mean to be too hard on HK Video. I'm forever grateful to them for all those Gosha's (although I wish they had gone to Wild Side), canto Drunken Master and many others. I'm just a bit pissed because I feel HK Video's short comings with transfers usually result from their own doings (like how come every single japanese film they've released has a slight blue tint and overly pale skintones?) and not the source.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 05 May 2008, 16:27

Captures from the forthcoming A BETTER TOMORROW 3 DVD BOX SET from HK

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/fr/page.asp?aid=274&page=4

A better tomorrow 2 menus

http://www.hkcinemagic.com/fr/page.asp?aid=274

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 05 May 2008, 16:42

Interesting.
If those caps are correct, ABT3's french transfer is a lot more colourful than its IVL counterpart.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 05 May 2008, 21:10

is there a german ems dvd set in the works ? Just asking, I'm getting lost in all these multi-reissues from country to country.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 19 May 2008, 21:34

We french like to put boobies on our DVD covers.

Damn that's beautiful. Hope they won't change it.

Flower and Snake, by Takashi Ishii.
To be released next week by KubiK Vidéo.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 May 2008, 22:03

I wouldn't say it's beautiful myself. Bondage has never been my thing.