Bullets 'n' Babes

thelostdragon wrote: Is the German disc better in terms of video quality. That's the most important aspect about "Dolls".

Nah, the exact same transfer (on all the R2 Euro releases) as the R2UK according to DVDbeaver.

More coming from EE in 2006:-
Infection (2004, Japan)
Premonition (2004, Japan)
(source)

*Yawn* More J-horror Ringu clones.

There's also another Kitano film coming in the "near future". (source)
Hopefully it's something which have only received shit releases in the past (at least in English-speaking countries) like Kids Return or A Scene at the Sea.

Cheers for the recent help on this thread.

That's the most important aspect about "Dolls".

The audio is nearly as important.

I finally got the R4 Hana-bi Directors Suite release today (after a week's worth of fuck ups on the NZ distributor's end). After I give the film a watch I'll tell you how the DD5.1 remix performs.

bradavon wrote:Cheers for the recent help on this thread.

No problem.

The audio is nearly as important.

Yes it is. So LD should upgrade to the German release for the Japanese DD5.1 plus additional extras.

EE have started master release schedule thread (chuck this onto the first post of the thread, Brad) displaying the whether the discs are anamorphic; native PAL or NTSC>PAL; what extras, etc.

I watched Hana-bi this evening, fantastic film. BTW the DD5.1 remix was terrible, it's basically a phony Anchor Bay UK-style ones where the front channels of the original stereo track are played through all 5 channels. Needless to say I quickly switched over to the original stereo track after about 7 minutes.

thelostdragon wrote:I really want to see "A Scene at the Sea", "Boiling Point", "Kids Return" and "Getting Any".

The R4 of Boiling Point sounds excellent:- anamorphic uncropped 1.85:1 native PAL progressive-encoded transfer + a mostly probably decent 5.1 remix (the ones on R4 Violent Cop and Sonatine were very effective and are properly mixed, they're not travesties like the DD5.1 remix on the of R4 Hana-bi). I've yet to see the R4 of Boiling Point, if it's anything like R4 Violent Cop/Sonatine then it should kick ass.

The R2UK Artsmagic release of Getting Any is supposed to be very good, it has a Tom Mes commentary and those are reportedly excellent.

Thanks for the info, Eva!

EvaUnit02 wrote:The R2UK Artsmagic release of Getting Any is supposed to be very good, it has a Tom Mes commentary and those are reportedly excellent.

Oh that's cool. I get Artsmagic DVDs for free. Will ask for it as soon as I have reviewed some of the DVDs they sent me to review first.

It's been confirmed that R4 Dolls (Director's Suite) will have a native PAL transfer. (Source)

The Eye 2 Retail is set for 17/05/06 BUT the Alternative Ending looks to be dropped (from the Rental too). Pity!

Added to first post:

1. Eastern Eye - DVD Release Schedule + Specs
2. The Isle
3. Dolls
4. The Quiet Family -The UK Region 2 is a 2 Disc (with commentary and short film) release but is OOP.
5. Beautiful Boxer - The UK R2 Tartan has DTS but is NTSC to PAL

EvaUnit02 wrote:I watched Hana-bi this evening, fantastic film. BTW the DD5.1 remix was terrible, it's basically a phony Anchor Bay UK-style ones where the front channels of the original stereo track are played through all 5 channels. Needless to say I quickly switched over to the original stereo track after about 7 minutes.

Cheers. That's the only reason IMO to get it over the UK R2, which is much cheaper and is the same otherwise.

I see no reason therefore to add it to the first post.

Eastern Eye no longer suck as much apparently since they claim that 90% of their output since mid-2005 has been native PAL transfers. (source)

Madman's 2-discer of Appleseed (2004) is HD-to-PAL (the UK release is NTSC-PAL). (Source).

The R1 2 Disc CE looks better again, no?

Also their upcoming release of Howl's Moving Castle is also HD-to-PAL. (Source) On March 15th they're releasing a 2-disc LE with "exclusive extras".

Until we know what they are it looks to be the same.

p.s - What's a Bellyband? -

"The LONE WOLF & CUB boxset will feature a bellyband for OFLC rating, thus this rating can be removed after unwrapping. This is also the case for the LADY SNOWBLOOD boxset. Smile"

Also their upcoming release of Howl's Moving Castle is also HD-to-PAL. (Source) On March 15th they're releasing a 2-disc LE with "exclusive extras".

I've got in pre-order (out the same day as the 2046 LE tin), I'll let you once I get it.

p.s - What's a Bellyband?

I guess it's a cardboard strip that's wrapped around the boxset with the massive Aussie ratings banner printed on it (rather than the actual box).

I didnt know there was a R4 Lone Wolf and Cub set?
When will it be released?

grim_tales wrote:I didnt know there was a R4 Lone Wolf and Cub set?
When will it be released?

It was released a few months ago, I've seen the set in shops.

Thanks
I wonder how it compares to the R1s (and Thai set?) Probably cheaper (for me anyway) to get the Thai set - I'm not paying AU$125 for it
Funny its R rated for "Medium Level Violence" (!)

The Thai set will be cheaper that's a given.

grim_tales wrote:Thanks
I wonder how it compares to the R1s (and Thai set?)

At least Sword of Vengeance has a terrible transfer

http://web12.dvd2web.de/okami1/okami1.htm

Ewww...
I'm told the Thai is the same as the R1's AV wise, it just has white subs instead of Animego's colored subs.

It looks like your best bet is the Thai box set.

Madman are really hotting up IMO and are even overtaking HKL in many ways. Shame R4 DVDs are pricey but if they get the DVDs right then top stuff.

LATE 2006... (Some highlights)

Sha Po Lang - Newly added
Shinobi - Newly added
A Bittersweet Life
Pulse (Kairo)
Alive
Untold Scandal
Kamikaze Taxi
Premonition
Infection

I have the Hong Kong Version of Kairo, and quite happy - Anamorphic transfer with okay sound. Not the best but it suits me. I am looking forward to Godzilla Final War, then i can sell my Region 1 version.

Cool, may get Shinobi, if there have some extras.

May get Shibobi and SPL too, if the R4 beats the HK DVD.

slasher13 wrote:Cool, may get Shinobi, if there have some extras.

Going by their recent output it will be 1 disc (they don't much like 2 discs), with either DTS or loads of extras. It's hard to say which they'll choose.

Deltamac's SPL is almost perfect in my opinion, probably the best quality HK dvd I own. The only bad thing is the lack of good extras, but I'm too busy to watch extras anyway

Yeah that is good.

bradavon wrote:Shame R4 DVDs are pricey but if they get the DVDs right then top stuff.

Madman releases are affordable for me, as I can get them below the RRP from certain shops.

These days it's best for me to wait for their releases to be released locally by Gamewizz (Madman NZ). Eg, if the Aussie RRP is $29.95AUD, then when it's released over here (about a month later), it'll have an RRP of $29.95NZD.

Before Madman NZ (formerly Manga Entertainment NZ) was bought by Gamewizz, the NZ RRP would've been eg $39.95 if the Oz RRP was $29.95.

The EE release of Kwaidan (1964, Japan) is the best English-friendly release available.

It's the only English subtitled release of the uncut version (the Criterion is cut) and it has a native PAL transfer. (source)

Madman has definitely improved in recent months, they've taken onboard complaints. Eg their latest Ghibli releases, My Neighbour Totoro and Whisper of the Heart (Howl's Moving Castle is native HD-to-PAL) are proper DEFT NTSC-PAL conversions. DEFT = reverse telecine process, just as good as a native PAL transfer apparently.

EDIT: Ignore all that rubbish about DEFT regarding Totoro and Whispers of the Heart, they're native film-PAL. (source)