The official Tartan Asian Films thread!

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 29 Sep 2006, 05:08

I don't know if it's a soft ballad but yes, those are the scenes I'm talking about. On the Korean dvd it's the exact same track. The only difference is that corridor scene skips the first (about) 15 seconds of the track, but the track itself is the same, just a shorter version.

That means I'm not interested in Tartan. But we'll do the picture comparison of course.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 29 Sep 2006, 13:29

I'm gonna download every single version of Bittersweet Life out there.
Then I'll write a proper TC vs DC comparison.

I don't understand why they'd be so different.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 29 Sep 2006, 14:02

Great

tom2681 wrote:
I don't understand why they'd be so different.

Probably because the director doesn't like the original music. And neither do I. It totally ruins the scene. If I remeber correctly, the director didn't want the theatical cut to be released on dvd at all (in Korea at least). I could be wrong about this, though.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 25 Oct 2006, 04:24

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/divergence3.html

This cover looks really goofy, with the oversized hand and the GUN WHICH IS ON FIRE.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 25 Oct 2006, 04:52

That cover reminds me of something else... if only I could remember what??

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 25 Oct 2006, 11:04

That "Divergence"-cover is more fun to look at than the movie.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 25 Oct 2006, 14:41

What's the verdict on Divergence then? Not worth the time of day?

Aside from Who Am I, has Benny Chan ever made a good movie?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 25 Oct 2006, 15:06

Sure, "A Moment of Romance". It's one of my favourite HK films.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 25 Oct 2006, 16:05

I have a soft spot for The Magic Crane, which nobody else seems to rate.

But in general terms he's a hack, whose output is, typically of HK directors, uneven.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Oct 2006, 21:41

Eitherway it's great to see a HK film get 2 discs from Tartan.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Oct 2006, 20:33

Info on the Tartan WKW box set:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62367

I'm even less interested in it now Chris Doyle and the DOBW commentary has been dropped.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Oct 2006, 21:22

Ozu Collection Vol.4 in January: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=63128

Make sure you read the comments.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 28 Oct 2006, 00:45

Cheers Brad. Fuck the Tartan WKW boxset then, not like I would've bought it anyway since already own those all movies and nothing can top the 2046 R4 2-disc LE as far English language releases go - unless if Tartan were to do a full port-over of the French set with English subs for everything (which I don't see them doing).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 28 Oct 2006, 00:54

I would've got DOBW with new Commentary IF it were available separately though. Not now as even if ATGB is re-released I won't bother.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Jan 2007, 21:12

The Bow R1 to be released soon: http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/the-bow3.html

Inner Senses UK R2 review, no word on NTSC-PAL: http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/inner-senses.html

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Jan 2007, 16:26

Thai horror, Shutter is coming from Tartan USA. March 27th.
http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/shutter2.html

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 26 Jan 2007, 16:49

I truly hope those screen caps for INNER SENSES aren't representative of the actual image...?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Jan 2007, 16:52

Markgway wrote:I truly hope those screen caps for INNER SENSES aren't representative of the actual image...?

True, those caps do look shitty.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Mar 2008, 07:04

The Wig - 14th of April:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/the-wig2.html

I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK - 26th of May:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/im-a-cyborg.html

Spider Forest - 23rd of June:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... rest3.html

Princess Aurora - 23rd of June:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... rora2.html

A Bittersweet Life: Director's Cut: 2 Disc SE - 23rd of June:

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/ ... s-cut.html

Only the following two extras are on the original release, the rest are new to Tartan:

Cannes Festival Footage
Cast & Crew Interviews - (21:24) - I guess this could be the Making Of?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Apr 2008, 05:15

It's cool to see "A Bittersweet Life" 2 Disc SE coming. I'll stick with my existing DVD though.

I've heard about "I'm a Cyborg" but are any of the rest any good?

* The Wig was briefly discussed here back in 2005:

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... .php?t=991

It looks rubbish, or rather another Asian Horror.

* Tom hated Princess Aurora but LD said it was better than Sympathy for Lady Vengeance:

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... php?t=3483

What a pity Tartan didn't use the awesome Princess Aurora Korean cover art:

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

* Finally Madman released Spider Forest back in 2006:

DD5.1 or DTS
Making of SPIDER FOREST
Actor Interviews
Deleted Scenes
Stills Gallery (40)

http://www.madman.com.au/actions/catalo ... aseId=6795

And so did Tartan USA in 2005 (same extras):

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=18518

Is Spider Forest any good? It's the one which looks the most interesting.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Apr 2008, 13:13

What are Tartan like nowadays with NTSC to PAL transfers? I've not bought a Tartan disc for ages. Those are all UK releases btw.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 23 May 2008, 10:56

Tartan USA closes

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 23 May 2008, 15:47

OMG! That's shocking. I guess they couldn't compete in such a large market, especially with companies the size of Lionsgate.

It's still sad though. I imagine Tartan's USA titles will be up for sale. I guess that also means there is a finite amount of time to pick up their USA DVDs/BDs before they go OOP.

I was wondering why their latest BD batch hadn't been announced for America, that would be why.

RickyTheDragonSteamboat · Post by **RickyTheDragonSteamboat** » 30 May 2008, 00:59

But honsestly their dvds weren't always up to standard. Their R1 release of Divergence was terrible.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Jun 2008, 02:19

More info:

majorforce wrote:The closure's at Tartan USA are indeed a real shame for the company as a whole, yet probably not that unexpected; there was an article in the January 2008 issue of 'Sight & Sound' magazine which made reference to both the distributor's Tartan Films and Artifical Eye running into serious problems.

I've quoted a passage of the lengthy article verbatim below:

".....At least two of the UK's leading independent distributors have been having problems recently. Tartan Films - british moviegoers' main source of cutting edge Asian titles, Bergman box-sets and an impressive spread of other 'difficult' films - is paying the price of ambition.

Things grew so bad that it finally came down to whether or not one of Tartan's releases was a major hit: Paul Verhoeven's 'Black Book'. It wasn't, and at the start of November Tartan fired one of it's top execs and reportedly invited others to reapply for their jobs....."

Source: http://www.theimportforums.com/viewtopi ... 935#345935

RickyTheDragonSteamboat wrote:But honsestly their dvds weren't always up to standard.

As has proven with HKL, what we'll be left with would likely be worse. For that alone I don't want them to go, that would be a real shame.