Best NTSC versions of these Jackie Chan films.

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 13 Aug 2006, 14:32

I'm curious as to what are the best NTSC DVD's which are uncut for the following Jackie Chan films.

Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars
Mr. Nice Guy
Police Story IV: First Strike
The Protector (Jackie Chan version)
Rumble in the Bronx
Dragons Forever
Drunken Master II

Thank you kindly.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 13 Aug 2006, 14:35

The Protector release from Warner Brothers is fine - US version only. Joy Sales are going to release restored prints of TTLS, Protector [presumbly HK version] and Dragons Forever.

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 13 Aug 2006, 15:29

That's great news!

I'm already going to buy their Twin Dragons remastered DVD and the Joy Sales/Fortune Star remastered DVD of Crime Story in the near future. 8)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Aug 2006, 16:09

* Drunken Master 2 - Personally I'd say the Thakral HK DVD which maybe OOP and despite being cropped to 1.85:1 non-anamorphic is much better IMO to the R1 (also identical to the R4 PAL) from Disney which is uncropped at 2.35:1 anamorphic BUT has an awful English dub (aren't they always awful?). I guess the dub has Jackie's voice at least.

I watched both and overall much prefered the cropped HK DVD. Oh the R1 is cut also so you may not want that. It's only cut ever so slightly though.

* Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars - There is only two DVDs to choose from: Fox R1 or UK HKL. As you're only interested in NTSC DVDs get the well cheap Fox R1 it's from a Fortune Star HD Master too.

* Dragons Forever - Isn't there a Fox R1 DVD?

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 13 Aug 2006, 16:12

Fox hasn't released Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars OR Dragons Forever. That's why I said wait for the Joy Sales releases

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 13 Aug 2006, 18:58

To be honest: Only The Protector has a decent NTSC release. The Warner R1 as mentioned.

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 14 Aug 2006, 04:03

Ivan Drago wrote:Fox hasn't released Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars OR Dragons Forever. That's why I said wait for the Joy Sales releases

That's why I'm waiting for them from Joy Sales/Fortune Star.

A side note, I am going to buy the UK PAL Special Editions of both Starman and They Live as an exception.

I really should put a link to my DVD collection in my signature so you guys know what I have owned and in my wishlist concerning HK films... They are set up as a "Filter" though.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 14 Aug 2006, 09:32

The UK PAL They Live is cropped isn't it?

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 14 Aug 2006, 10:11

Ivan Drago wrote:The UK PAL They Live is cropped isn't it?

I have zero clue if it is. I ought to look on dvdcompare.net if they list the UK version.

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 14 Aug 2006, 11:48

They Live as in John Carpenter's? Very cool movie!

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 14 Aug 2006, 13:23

Ray, I take it you didn't see this:-

EvaUnit02 wrote:
Ray_Rogers wrote: But I have no qualms about buying the R2 UK PAL Special Editions for both They Live and Starman since they're exclusive. (They are exclusive, right?)
Extras wise, the R2UK They Live is far far better (the Carpenter/Roddy Piper commentary is excellent). But the R2UK is heavily cropped to 2.10:1, very noticeable when Piper looks at the billboards with the glasses on.

Also the R2/4 of Carpenter's Starman shits all over the R1: - excellent Carpenter/Jeff Bridges commentary + a terrific DD5.1 remix.

Figure I might as well stay in my native NTSC thing and go for the R2 JPN Ultimate Edition.
Fair enough, but the Ronin R2UK SE will probably far cheaper than any over-priced Japanese disc - I got my R2 SE for £6 IIRC.

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 14 Aug 2006, 14:04

nope I didn't see that , thanks eva. it's good to see other They Live fans

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 14 Aug 2006, 14:09

I'm a fan of Carpenter. They Live was like his last great film (from what I've seen). I've seen all his films except In The Mouth of Madness, Darkstar and Halloween (yes, I know I should've seen it by now. Need to get the R1 AE for the commentary and original mono first, but it's expensive).

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 14 Aug 2006, 14:53

In The Mouth of Madness with sam Neill ? Is Very good...it's much better on 1st watch imo. I'm not a carpenter fan as such but what the hell happpened to him?

Hmmm I last watched They Live in 4:3 on Scifi I may go for the cropped edition R2 to get the commentary, i'm unsure

Is the Thing anygood?

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 14 Aug 2006, 15:05

sky75 wrote:Is the Thing anygood?

The Thing is utter superb. IMO Carpenter's best by leagues (from what I've seen) and one of the best horror films of the 1980's. An atmospheric masterpiece that outdoes Scott's Alien IMO. Be sure to pick up the the 2004 R1 CE though, for the remastered ANAMORPHIC transfer.

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 14 Aug 2006, 15:34

EvaUnit02 wrote:
sky75 wrote:Is the Thing anygood?
The Thing is utter superb. IMO Carpenter's best by leagues (from what I've seen) and one of the best horror films of the 1980's. An atmospheric masterpiece that outdoes Scott's Alien IMO. Be sure to pick up the the 2004 R1 CE though, for the remastered ANAMORPHIC transfer.

I own THE THING via the edition you mention in it's original digipak packaging. Great film and I've played the video game sequel.
I'm going to mention something about some Chow Yun-Fat films in a bit. More questions.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 14 Aug 2006, 18:53

Ray_Rogers wrote:That's great news!
I'm already going to buy their Twin Dragons remastered DVD

The Joy Sales one? It's not remastered.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 14 Aug 2006, 22:35

Ray_Rogers wrote:I'm going to mention something about some Chow Yun-Fat films in a bit. More questions.

Good luck with that. The NTSC DVDs of CYF's best HK films are mostly all shit, except the Fortune Star sourced A Better Tomorrow trilogy & The Killer releases and a handful of HK "remasters" (eg God of Gamblers, An Autumn's Tale) which are passable at best.

Ray_Rogers wrote:I own THE THING via the edition you mention in it's original digipak packaging. Great film and I've played the video game sequel.

I have the digipack as well, the coverart is dreadful. Is the game any good? I've heard mixed opinions.

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 15 Aug 2006, 11:00

EvaUnit02 wrote:
Ray_Rogers wrote:I'm going to mention something about some Chow Yun-Fat films in a bit. More questions.
Good luck with that. The NTSC DVDs of CYF's best HK films are mostly all shit, except the Fortune Star sourced A Better Tomorrow trilogy & The Killer releases and a handful of HK "remasters" (eg God of Gamblers, An Autumn's Tale) which are passable at best.

The Killer FS R0 dvd was very disappointing because the DTS just sounded wrong. how's the PQ compare to the UK r2 HKL?

The Thing is utter superb. IMO Carpenter's best by leagues (from what I've seen) and one of the best horror films of the 1980's. An atmospheric masterpiece that outdoes Scott's Alien IMO. Be sure to pick up the the 2004 R1 CE though, for the remastered ANAMORPHIC transfer.

I'll have to see it sometime then if I see the dvd cheap

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 15 Aug 2006, 12:14

I own The Killer IVL/Fortune Star from the John Woo's Hero Collection set. I just put on the original audio track and let my receiver output it as DTS Neo 6. I always do that whilst watching a film since I'm not that fond of remixes.

THE THING video game sequel is quite good. Can be frustrating at times since certain team members turn out to be "Things" at times while the next time playing they aren't. Great game from Vivendi Universal.

Quick question about the Lucky Stars film series. Here're what I know are in order...
Winners & Sinners
My Lucky Stars
Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars

I've no idea how the other films fit in the series. I know there's one starring Andy Lau.
The Chow Yun-Fat titles will come later.

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 15 Aug 2006, 13:20

Ray_Rogers wrote:I own The Killer IVL/Fortune Star from the John Woo's Hero Collection set. I just put on the original audio track and let my receiver output it as DTS Neo 6. I always do that whilst watching a film since I'm not that fond of remixes.

I prefer remixes myself but this one just didn't sound right. Bullet in the head DTS sounded very good from my John Woo collection IVL/Fortune Star, but the Killer from that set was really off, for lack of a better description.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 15 Aug 2006, 21:49

sky75 wrote:The Killer FS R0 dvd was very disappointing because the DTS just sounded wrong. how's the PQ compare to the UK r2 HKL?

Look here.
We've done screenshot comparisons for all the other major John Woo HK movies as well, look here.

sky75 · Post by **sky75** » 16 Aug 2006, 11:58

EvaUnit02 wrote:
sky75 wrote:The Killer FS R0 dvd was very disappointing because the DTS just sounded wrong. how's the PQ compare to the UK r2 HKL?
Look here.
We've done screenshot comparisons for all the other major John Woo HK movies as well, look here.

Thanks Eva

Ray_Rogers · Post by **Ray_Rogers** » 04 Feb 2008, 08:27

Might as well bump one of my old threads.
For $5.13 USD each for the Fortune Star Legendary Collection DVD5 Anamorphic titles, I figure they're a great deal. I only own one out of that release line-up and was a bit miffed they used edge enhancement. It's still sorta watchable but I would've preferred it if it was actually a part of the Digitally Remastered line.
Here's some titles from the Legendary Collection I'm considering purchasing and would like to know owners opinions as to the PQ/AQ/subs and what have you. I mean for that cheap at DDDHouse I figure it's worth it. I'm also adding towards my 1980's count too so they'll be higher priority compared to a title from the 1990's.

Dream Lovers
Cherry Blossoms
City War
Spiritual Love
The Owl vs. Bombo
Fractured Follies
The Greatest Lover
Haunted Cop Shop
Triads: The Inside Story

And questions about these titles from the Joy Sales/Fortune Star Digitally Remastered line if they have subtitles instead of dubtitles and the original audio track. I own their FOX/Fortune Star counterparts and wanting to "retire/sell" them if the Joy Sales ones beat them.
City Hunter
Eastern Condors
Heart of Dragon
Hong Kong 1941

Last but not least are the titles from the Digitally Remastered line which I'm wanting for to purchasing. And opinions of course.

All About Ah Long
The Canton Godfather (Mr. Canton & Lady Rose, Miracles)
The Diary of a Big Man
Dragon Lord
Duel to the Death
Eighth Happiness
Films of Stephen Chow: King of Beggars, Legend of the Dragon
Millionaire's Express (might get this for certain DTS and DD's "Shanghai Express" for more extras.)
Once a Thief (is a definite purchase.)
Once Upon a Time in China Trilogy
The Postman Fights Back (I sold my FOX copy due to the dubtitles.)
The Prodigal Son
Shanghai Shanghai
The Young Master
Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain

All Chow Yun-Fat, Andy Lau, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung titles are surefire purchases.

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 04 Feb 2008, 11:45

City Hunter, Eastern Condors, Heart of Dragon, Dragon Lord, Young Master, Postman Fights Back, Prodigal Son, Duel to the Death and 1941 were all lacking the original audio on the Joy Sales. The HKLs at least sound close to the original

Joy Sales Canton Godfather and Zu Warriors are original sound

Once A Thief - don't know about Joy Sales but the Region 1 is good

Dragon Lord - HKL has a different edit to the FS print, with exclusive scenes in both. DD might do Dragon Lord so at least you'll get original audio there hopefully

Millionaire's Express - get the HKL for original sound

Postman Fights Back - get the Fox region 1 dvd for original sound