Way Of The Dragon HKL vs HLK PE vs IVL vs ZC

RickyTheDragonSteamboat · Post by **RickyTheDragonSteamboat** » 10 Dec 2006, 05:07

I can confirm that Bruce's yelling is indeed on the Fox/Fortune Star Mandarin track.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 10 Dec 2006, 11:17

Mandarin mono? If so, excellent.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Dec 2006, 16:59

I guess it's an alternate Mono then on the ZC, it's certainly not a downmix though. I'm done with this tbh, the HKL PE is much better anyway.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 10 Dec 2006, 17:12

Yes HKL is much better, with no original language track. You have funny standards Brad - though I won't deny the HKL has some very good extras

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Dec 2006, 17:36

The Mandarin Mono on the ZC is a mess and has marks all over the place. I don't like either of those.

Have you even read my comments on the previous page? Where I went into some length to backup why the HKL PE is better than the ZC. Why Fortune Star went to the trouble to Remaster it but then not bother to remove all the marks is beyond me.

A DVD is not just made up of what audio track is present (which incidently Cantonese has been featured on by far the majority of the Bruce Lee DVDs). Sure if you want to listen to a messed up Mandarin soundtrack and inferior print be my guest. At least I've seen both, before dismissing either.

The Fox doesn't count as I'd be forced to but a box set just to get 1-2 DVDs I want.

As I've said plenty of times I've no problem with Cantonese when it should be Mandarin for these sorts of films. Yes if the Mandarin was decent and the film cleaned up of course I'd prefer it but it's not.

It's not like either feature Bruce Lee and at the end of the day both are dubs anyway, if we're going to be picky TBB should have a heavy dosage of Thai but it doesn't. Funny I never knew Thai police could understand Chinese.

Which incidentally I remember everyone gushing when HKL first released the Bruce Lee films, suddenly they're rubbish. I bet most on this forum own at least one Bruce Lee HKL with that faulty soundtrack.

We're talking about "original" as if for years Mandarin was what appeared on all prints when it never did in the first place.

My standards aren't funny, you'll find them quiet common:

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=63175
http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/th ... ition.html

A quote from that DVD Times review:

There's a long-running thread on the original news item regarding this release and whether the Cantonese or Mandarin soundtracks constitute what was original and what was dubbed in post-production. I'm not going to enter that debate here, largely because I don't know but also because I'm not entirely sure that I care. I am, if I'm being honest, someone who watched Monkey for many years during childhood without ever realising that English was not the cast's first language and the watching of martial arts films has always been complicated by two things - one that they were, more often than not, dubbed into English for a Western market but also that a cast assembled from various Asian countries had already been dubbed long before an English-speaking cast got anywhere near the project.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 10 Dec 2006, 18:48

If you really care about the movie you'll buy the Fox boxset. It has original mono and a better image than either of the HKLs.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Dec 2006, 19:07

Bollocks!

p.s - If you really cared you'd buy all Bruce Lee DVDs, VCDs, Laserdiscs and Videos ever released. You're not a true fan otherwise, didn't you know.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 10 Dec 2006, 19:16

Never said I was.

I'm not a fan of WAY which is why I sold it.

The Fox is, however, the best version available.

Whether you act on that is up to you.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 10 Dec 2006, 19:33

bradavon wrote:Bollocks!

p.s - If you really cared you'd buy all Bruce Lee DVDs, VCDs, Laserdiscs and Videos ever released. You're not a true fan otherwise, didn't you know.

You do talk some rubbish sometimes.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 10 Dec 2006, 20:07

Ivan Drago wrote:
bradavon wrote:Bollocks!

p.s - If you really cared you'd buy all Bruce Lee DVDs, VCDs, Laserdiscs and Videos ever released. You're not a true fan otherwise, didn't you know.
You do talk some rubbish sometimes.

I have to agree, I'm not about to fork out my pockets for the price of all these fucking half-arsed attempts.

Incompetance at HKL and the likes, pure fucking incompetance.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 10 Dec 2006, 20:31

I think I'll go with the Fox set and leave it at that.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 Dec 2006, 21:17

Good for you.

I did recommend people pick up the Fortune Star transferred DVDs if they want Mandarin, a comment you guys choice to again ignore yet again.

I wouldn't mind but you're picking holes in my comments and ignoring others, where it suits you.

Ivan Drago wrote:You do talk some rubbish sometimes.

No more rubbish than your or Mark's previous comments. It all comes down to what you consider a DVD priority and to make sweeping statements that fans would buy the Fox DVD is nonsense.

chenlung wrote:Incompetance at HKL and the likes, pure fucking incompetance.

And an interlaced transfer isn't also incompetent? Which all Fox, IVL and ZC have.

That to me is just as much incompetence as not including the original soundtrack, but I guess we'll forgive Fox (who are on top a considerabely larger company to the rest, they have no excuses), IVL and ZC won't we.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 11 Dec 2006, 00:27

Deep Discount appear to be selling the Bruce Lee box set as a BOGOF.

You probably won't find better value.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 11 Dec 2006, 01:01

Why do you think I said "and the likes"? It was refering to all of them.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 11 Dec 2006, 06:14

Interlacing's an interesting thing. My old DVD player - a Toshiba - showed any interlaced image as a strobing flicker when the film was paused. Since then I've bought a multi-region Sony and that doesn't show interlaced images as a flicker, it shows them the same as a progressive image - standards conversions such as the IVL Shaw releases still show blurred frames but again without the flicker - and the picture looks better.

Aside from a computer, where I can't get interlaced images to appear without blurr or combing, thus making TV programmes a pain in the neck to watch, where else will an interlaced image present a problem?

And I have to admit, when it comes to progressive but with the wrong language, or interlaced with the correct language, my money's on the latter.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Dec 2006, 21:27

WOTD: Chinese Zolk Culture captures added.

That blue splodge on the zc menu is how to get back to the Chinese/English selection menu

(i.e - Chinese or English menus). I think it's their logo. Also note the selection of clips behind the menu is different on the ZC to IVL.

As for which is better I still prefer the HKL PE as the film dirt and marks really should've been cleaned up on the Fortune Star prints. As for IVL vs. ZC I'd say the IVL is that bit better, the ZC is slightly too bright.

Still the ZC is the ONLY way to get WOTD (+ others) Anamorphic, partially cleaned up remastered print, Mandarin Mono without buying a box set.

Any chance anyone can add the Fox R1 captures?

Hurry up Grim and buy a DVD-ROM drive

DangerousLeeHandsome · Post by **DangerousLeeHandsome** » 22 Dec 2006, 22:15

Zoke looks exactly like the FOX and IVL. Even the menu looks nearly identical.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Dec 2006, 22:16

I know but the ZC looks different from the IVL so it would still be nice to add it. It would also make it complete.