Ashes of Time: Mei Ah vs TF1 (R2FR)

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 10 May 2006, 20:40

Ashes of Time.

Note: the TF1 disc contains the international cut of AOT with approximately 6 minutes missing.

Mei Ah:
1:38:06 NTSC.

TF1:
1:27:40 PAL.

Mei Ah:

TF1:

Mei Ah:

TF1:

Mei Ah:

TF1:

The TF1 is obviously massively superior in the picture department, which only makes this release more disappointing.
Why didn't they include the Hong-Kong cut ?!

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 10 May 2006, 20:52

omg the whole thing sucks donkey baws. Is it worth enduring the Mei Ah disc, for the sake of watching the film? (for non-French ppl obviously).

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 10 May 2006, 20:56

Is it worth enduring the Mei Ah disc, for the sake of watching the film?

Since I believe Ashes of Time is by far the best swordplay movie ever made, I'd say YES !

I'll die before I let anyone take my Mei Ah disc.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 10 May 2006, 21:15

A definite NO if you've not seen it before or I guess YES if you want to buy an English subtitled DVD now. It's a confusing but also very good film.

You can always get the Mei Ah later. The thing is the Mei Ah is so atrocious it makes an already confusing film even more confusing, and painful to watch (DVD NOT Film quality).

I'd definitely add your own subs. I plan to buy this soon and do just that. Once Hung has provided me with some subs

Those captures make the Mei Ah look much nicer than it is in reality.

What idiots to release a cut version. What other DVDs use this cut? As I only know of this DVD (so really it should be called the French Cut). The R1 uses the same cut the Mei Ah uses BUT is even more of a mess, if that's possible.

What is missing btw? Is Mandarin or Cantonese the original soundtrack? How does this fair on the French DVD? What are the extras like?

Where can you get the French DVD? It's not on Amazon.fr or Mediadis/DVD Zone 2.

p.s - What went wrong with capture two? Grain heaven. It gets much better for the last two.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 10 May 2006, 21:27

What is missing btw?

-The text about the buddhist scriptures.
-The monologue about happiness.
-The entire opening fight.
-the last scene (where all the characters come together)

Pretty much all my favourite scenes are missing.

Is Mandarin or Cantonese the original soundtrack?

It's 100% cantonese.

How does this fair on the French DVD?

It sounds good. Not that I've tried to listen to it much.

What are the extras like?

What extras ?

What went wrong with capture two? Grain heaven

It's its intended look. Ashes of Time was shot with different lenses and on different film stock.

Where can you get the French DVD?

HungFist used Asia-diffusion.com

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 10 May 2006, 22:15

Hmmm see I regret watching 2046 Chinese DVD when it first came out. Ruined the film for me. I'd rather constipate myself than sit through that again.

I just hope that I can enjoy the film if I watch the Mei Ah...

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 11 May 2006, 13:57

bradavon wrote:
Where can you get the French DVD? It's not on Amazon.fr or Mediadis/DVD Zone 2.

Amazon had it yesterday... Asia-diffusion has terrible shipping cost, I always order at least 3 dvds at once, no sense paying 10€ for 1 disc. I would use amazon, but they don't like my Visa Electron...

The film is called les cendres du temps in french

It may take some time before I get the subs done. The film being a different cut makes it a lot more complicated. And I'm short of time too...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 May 2006, 15:15

@ Bisc the Mei ah AOT makes the Mei Ah 2046 look like the best DVD ever made.

HungFist wrote:It may take some time before I get the subs done. The film being a different cut makes it a lot more complicated. And I'm short of time too...

Good point. I'll wait until they're done before buying the DVD. It's not much use until I have subs.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 11 May 2006, 16:07

Yes, the French is better, but still not THAT impressive to my eyes. The first cap looks horrible (I assume this is down to arty-farty photography) and the other two caps have rubbish contrast. Maggie looks whiter than I do!

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 11 May 2006, 18:28

bradavon wrote:@ Bisc the Mei ah AOT makes the Mei Ah 2046 look like the best DVD ever made.

I'm not talking about the Mei Ah 2046 DVD, I'm talking about the Chinese DVD... with the floaty logo that comes on every 5 minutes.

2046 Chinese disc is a tough DVD to beat... Mei Ah AOT would have to be supershit if it were to be worse than that.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 11 May 2006, 18:43

Mei Ah AOT would have to be supershit if it were to be worse than that.

Nyar-nyar-nyar !

If you have no problems whatsoever reading these subs, then you'll love the Mei Ah DVD.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 11 May 2006, 20:30

. True some sentences are really hard to read. I had to rewind quite a few times, which completely breaks the flow :shock: