Bullets 'n' Babes

We still haven't seen Bruce movies in the original language - uncut yes, Mandarin no

Considering not even HK can do this then I can't see we ever will. Surely there is a Chinese or Taiwanese version with Mandarin and uncut? In the case of Taiwanese it will probably have English subs also.

As for the quality well . . .

Hmm well, maybe even in HK they think the Cantonese is what people are used to I don't know (I know I was until Mark stated otherwise )

It's more likely it's what they "want" to hear.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Updated to include information on rental titles for our very own favourite Kiwi! . It only has six titles which I find low and none for April which can't be correct but there you go. It's all I can find out.

p.s - It's in the second post on page one.

grim_tales wrote:Hmm well, maybe even in HK they think the Cantonese is what people are used to I don't know (I know I was until Mark stated otherwise )

I dunno, but I find it interesting that they produce NTSC DVDs when it's a PAL country, so it seems like they hardly cater for themselves.

Huh I didnt know HK was a PAL country? Do you mean the TV system there is PAL?

I suspect he does. It wouldn't surprise me.

Thailand is another example which is effectively dual. Most releases are PAL but there are also many NTSC DVDs. I suspect both countries have been so long with dual compatible equipment it doesn't really matter.

Mainland China is also another example which is both. AFAIK only Japan (and I thought HK) was is a full NTSC country in the far east.

grim_tales wrote:Huh I didnt know HK was a PAL country? Do you mean the TV system there is PAL?

Yeah the TV system in Hong Kong and China is PAL, not NTSC. The Asian countries that are NTSC are Japan, Taiwan, Phils and Korea. It's all about catering for a pan-Asian market presumably.

If they (China/HK) use PAL TV why do they have NTSC DVDs then?

grim_tales wrote:If they (China/HK) use PAL TV why do they have NTSC DVDs then?

I believe it's mainly to cater for the pan-Asian market which largely uses NTSC. The largest component of the pan-Asian market does tend to be Japan, particularly from the perspective of Korea, but I guess it's so important to Hong Kong that it even foregoes local PAL DVD releases.

OK then

There are many PAL discs from Mainland China, most I've seen have been PAL actually.

bradavon wrote: Updated to include information on rental titles for our very own favourite Kiwi! . It only has six titles which I find low and none for April which can't be correct but there you go. It's all I can find out.

p.s - It's in the second post on page one.

Cheers. Sweet Azumi TC (the Versus TC felt too long, I imagine the DC would have even worse pacing), I'll be renting that for sure.

Does EE have the rights to Rashomon? That and Thrown of Blood are the next major 60's Kurosawa flicks I'm keen to see for the moment.

What are Ikiru and Red Beard like?

EvaUnit02 wrote:Does EE have the rights to Rashomon?

Yep. I really can't see it beating the Criterion though.

bradavon wrote:

EvaUnit02 wrote:Does EE have the rights to Rashomon?

Yep. I really can't see it beating the Criterion though.

Of course not. But the EE release will be more than adequate in the PQ and audio department. I only plan to rent it (not buy) so I can finally see the damn film.

BTW EE will release all their Kitano films with anamorphic transfers, so it's safe to destroy those reportedly awful R2 MIA releases. Also EE are looking into licensing more Kitano films.

Source:-

Eastern Eye bloke wrote:Subject: RE: A few questions
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:26:20 +1000

Hi *EvaUnit02*,

All films are 16:9 Anamorphic- audio varies - so check the back of the
DVDs for more info.
I would love to release everything Kitano has done - he is a genius-. We
are looking into other titles.
Keep you fingers crossed.
Thanks again

Best Regards,

Garry Seven - Brand Manager

EASTERN EYE - LIVE ACTION ASIAN CINEMA
easterneye.com.au

EvaUnit02 wrote:-----Original Message-----
From: *EvaUnit02*
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 7:56 AM
To: info@easterneye.com.au
Subject: A few questions

Hello,
Will your releases of Boiling Point, Sonatine, and eventually Violent
Cop feature anamorphic transfers? What audio tracks will each DVD have?
Do you plan on releasing anymore Kitano films in future?

Thanks.

EDITED: To remove sender's e-mail address.

Thanks Eva.

FYI I removed the sender's e-mail address as it's not a public one. Has anyone bought any though?

It's a shame that nearly every AV Channel disc is a NTSC>PAL conversion, even many films. All the Kurosawa ones for a start and they're the only discs that interest me. I imagine the same applies to the Kitano films but you can get the R3K's of those anyway, ports of the R2J's with improvements or English subtitles where required.

Kitano, well worth upgrading if they are worth it

(Hello Lourdes)

Lourdes wrote:It's a shame that nearly every AV Channel disc is a NTSC>PAL conversion

Where has that been confirmed please? I only knew of Hidden Fortress.

Like Tartan with the NTSC to PAL conversion many are still much better than the alternative. Sure some have decent Korean DVDs but some don't. I guess like Tartan they need to/decide to save money some where.

Lourdes wrote:I imagine the same applies to the Kitano films but you can get the R3K's of those anyway, ports of the R2J's with improvements or English subtitles where required.

Are you saying titles such as Violent Cop, Sonatine etc . . . all have decent Korean DVDs with English subs? If so where? I only knew of a handful of Korean Kitano DVDs these not being them.

I've just checked out KoreanDVDs and I can't find Violent Cop but I can Sonatine, and it's non-anamorphic. I don't know about you but I'd prefer an otherwise decent anamorphic picture but from an NTSC source over a non-anamorphic picture which going by the packaging is a dodgy as you like release.

p.s - Which ones aren't NTSC to PAL conversions also please?

Updates:

* Sonatine and Boiling Point added to front page
* Throne of Blood is out now but the Criterion looks much nicer
* The Twilight Samurai is no longer going rental on the 25th of May it's going retail instead - Yipeey!
* The Bride with White Hair and The Bride with White Hair 2 out for retail on the 15th of June.

Won't these be the first anamorphic releases?

Out of the releasing coming soon with a release date I'm looking forward to The Twilight Samurai most. I hope it's a decent extra laden release.

I concur with Lourdes about EE/Madman NTSC-PAL transfers.
I questioned EE about this but got nothing.
Chris wrote Master is Film -> PAL transfer. Subs are not burnt-in for Azumi but not DC.
Any more dvd info on Ong Bak and Breaking news?

I find you need to bump some threads to get a reply.

If it's from FILM then it's not an NTSC transfer though, right? The subs are burnt in for Azumi . That goes against EE saying they'd be creating new removable sus with the same house style.

I also find EE don't even know about a DVDs spec. until it's nearer it's release date.

bradavon wrote:

Lourdes wrote:It's a shame that nearly every AV Channel disc is a NTSC>PAL conversion

Where has that been confirmed please? I only knew of Hidden Fortress.

Like Tartan with the NTSC to PAL conversion many are still much better than the alternative. Sure some have decent Korean DVDs but some don't. I guess like Tartan they need to/decide to save money some where.

Lourdes wrote:I imagine the same applies to the Kitano films but you can get the R3K's of those anyway, ports of the R2J's with improvements or English subtitles where required.

Are you saying titles such as Violent Cop, Sonatine etc . . . all have decent Korean DVDs with English subs? If so where? I only knew of a handful of Korean Kitano DVDs these not being them.

I've just checked out KoreanDVDs and I can't find Violent Cop but I can Sonatine, and it's non-anamorphic. I don't know about you but I'd prefer an otherwise decent anamorphic picture but from an NTSC source over a non-anamorphic picture which going by the packaging is a dodgy as you like release.

p.s - Which ones aren't NTSC to PAL conversions also please?

No Tartan NTSC > PAL transfer is superior in any way, shape or form. Although some look okay in screenshots.

The only Korean releases which aren't any good are those by companies other than Enterone (not sure about the Anamorhpic Kids Return from Spectrum). Dolls, Sonatine and Violent Cop are the only Kitano films that needs a decent DVD. Although Enterone will be releasing more Kitano films this year. Sonatine has been released by Miramax and it's great, there are good English subtitled and affordable releases of Dolls, so Violent Cop is the only one that eeds a decent DVD.

And regarding the NTSC>PAL releases. Nearly every Madman releases is a NTSC>PAL conversion, the only recent progressive release is GITS:SaC. Some films Film > PAL but for some weird reason many are NTSC>PAL conversions (a few Ghibli films for example). ALL EE Kurosawa releases are sourced from NTSC masters (same used for the R2J's). And some other releases of theirs have been NTSC>PAL for some odd reason.

Lourdes wrote:No Tartan NTSC > PAL transfer is superior in any way, shape or form. Although some look okay in screenshots.

I'm confused are you saying Tartan's or EE's DVDs are better and why?

Lourdes wrote:Dolls, Sonatine and Violent Cop are the only Kitano films that needs a decent DVD. Although Enterone will be releasing more Kitano films this year. Sonatine has been released by Miramax and it's great, there are good English subtitled and affordable releases of Dolls, so Violent Cop is the only one that eeds a decent DVD.

Is there a decent Boiling Point DVD? I'm not aware of one. Sonatine R1 you have to buy with Zatoichi so it may not appeal to some.

Meaning Dolls aside which we weren't really discussing these 3 EE Kitano DVDs still have a place in the first post.

Dolls has a pretty decent R1 Canadian DVD (anamorphic, DD5.1 + interviews). The PQ isn't fantastic but it's not crap either, it's a little washed out. The R1 US DVD looks awful.

Lourdes wrote:And some other releases of theirs have been NTSC>PAL for some odd reason.

Why is it odd? Australia is a PAL country and most of Asia isn't.

Thanks btw.

p.s - Which Kitano films are Enterone going to release?