Zhang Yimou's Hero (Director's cut - Edko Edition)

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 Jul 2005, 11:00

Go to the DDDHouse main page.

What do you see ?

That's right ! A proper edition of Zhang Yimou's director cut of Hero.

Wooohooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 12 Jul 2005, 11:45

It's also posted on the front page of Asian DVD Guide. Hopefully they'll get this version right...

memetic · Post by **memetic** » 12 Jul 2005, 11:55

It's nice when they release old movies on DVD.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 12 Jul 2005, 13:03

Great news Tom

I'll wait for a review though, to check there's no FACE logo popping up every 5 mins...

Will definitely be buying this.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 Jul 2005, 13:41

Since it's Edko, it's pretty safe to assume that it will be a fine DVD.

BTW: I've been looking for the thread in which I explained all the differences between the theatrical and extended cut, but I can't find it.

I guess it was on the old bullets forum.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jul 2005, 13:46

This is one release I never thought I'd see.

For those who didn't get the Chinese DVD it's time to preorder. It's not like we're ever going to see a better version (bar eventually Korea or Japan maybe).

I already own the Chinese DVD-9 version but have yet to see it. The quality isn't "that" bad. It also has gorgeous LE style packaging. The HK Edko won't have this.

I've been meaning to see the EE soon and will have to now to see if it's worth upgrading. I hear the EE isn't much different to the TC so I may end up not bothering.

grim_tales wrote:Great news Tom I'll wait for a review though, to check there's no FACE logo popping up every 5 mins...

As Tom says there is no way it will have the Face logo if it did Face could sue Edko.

Tom2681 wrote:I guess it was on the old bullets forum.

I've not seen it here.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jul 2005, 13:58

OMG it's out in 3 days!

I love the cover art but it's a pity this isn't a 2 disc release keeping the originals extras (making it definitive).

The Spec:

# Anamorphic WS
# Mandarin (DTS ES Discrete 6.1), Mandarin (Dolby Digital Surround EX)
# Chinese (Traditional) and English subtitles
# Extras: Theatrical trailer, photo gallery, and cast/crew filmographies.
# Region 3
# DVD-9

# HK $109 (£7.93/11.52€ delivered from DDDHouse)

p.s - I've e-mailed CD WOW I'd be surprised if they didn't stock this.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 Jul 2005, 14:49

Too many Hero DVDs in my collection these days:

-Hero Edko 2-Disc edition.
-Hero French 2-Disc edition.
-Hero japanese edition.
-Cause: Birth of Hero documentary.
-Hero Guangdong Face Extended cut.

And now Hero Edko 1-Disc extended cut.

Too much... That's too much...
...I can't buy this... I won't buy this...
...bah, who am I kidding... I know I have to buy this.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jul 2005, 14:54

I assume you've heard of the words:

Sell
Trade

???

Why do you still have the HK Edko DVD?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 Jul 2005, 15:13

For comparison purposes.

And for the bonus features as well.
EDIT: And also because a cupboard with 800 dvds looks nice.

Don't worry, when a dvd is useless to me I usually try to get rid of it.
I'm not crazy (well not completely anyway

)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jul 2005, 17:37

Tom2681 wrote:For comparison purposes.

You've compared them now get rid

Tom2681 wrote:And for the bonus features as well.

Can you understand Chinese?

Most of the extras are the same anyway.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 12 Jul 2005, 20:15

Is the Director's Cut a better film or just longer?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 12 Jul 2005, 20:43

To me it's a better film.

There are no added scenes, just added shots.

IIRC:
-The Flying Snow / Broken Sword meeting in front of the waterfall begins with a fight.
-After Broken Sword writes a word for Jet in the sand, Jet has a fight with Zhang Ziyi.
-The Maggie/Ziyi fight in the golden forest is longer (+ the action matches the music).

It's not massively superior but it's slightly slower-paced than the theatrical cut.
Which is a good thing considering that the TC was way too fast for my taste.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 12 Jul 2005, 22:42

Anybody heard any reports about the DE HD release? Not sure if t's the extended cut or not but HD > a few more scenes.

Hopefully we'll get an extended R2J as Edko are.... well, you know.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Jul 2005, 22:51

Lourdes wrote:Anybody heard any reports about the DE HD release? Not sure if t's the extended cut or not but HD > a few more scenes.

Director's Edition High Definition???

Oh do you mean the HD DVD released "only" in China years ago? Yeah I read about that. It was on a propriety HD format for a particular DVD player (if DVD is the right word).

Lourdes wrote: Hopefully we'll get an extended R2J as Edko are.... well, you know.

Better than Face?

Are some people never happy?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 12 Jul 2005, 23:21

In Germany, they released the "Hero" director's cut as a 3-discer. The first disc is the director's cut, the second are the extras and the third DVD contains a HD version of the theatrical cut.

The bad thing about this DVD is that it has no subtitles. So you can watch it in either German or Mandarin, but without subs. Idiots!

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 12 Jul 2005, 23:44

I know that. And the subs are CC on the SD version. No subs = no problem, you are using a PC to watch it after all.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Jul 2005, 00:35

What did you think of the DC LD?

Is the HD version much nicer LD?

p.s - Oh DE = Germany of course!

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 13 Jul 2005, 00:50

Is the HD version much nicer LD?

I'm not LD but I'd like to answer your question anyway (if you don't mind

)
In one word: no.
In two words: look here:

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

Picture quality between DVD and HD is pretty much the same.
Hero always had a soft picture (even in theaters).
HD can't improve that.

The picture is only sharper when there's a lot of movement (the DVD can't keep up because of the low bitrate).

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 13 Jul 2005, 15:54

I won't bother then. A HD transfer should look considerably better in every scene, in those stills you see a miniscule different and although that would improve in motion the advantage is worthless. I'll keep my R2J.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Jul 2005, 23:01

Thanks Tom.

Only the Zhang Ziyi death capture looks better in HD. The rest look identical. The Chinese Face DVD look that bad in reality.

Weird the T2 HD version is vastly superior.

I wonder how WMA Pro 5.1 compares to DTS? How you're meant to decode it on your amp is beyond me (bar 5.1 analogue pass through pants). WMV DVDs are usually DD5.1.

Has anyone pre-ordered the new HK DC DVD?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 13 Jul 2005, 23:12

Has anyone pre-ordered the new HK DC DVD?

I'll order it in a couple of weeks.
Then I'll post an uber-super-dooper picture comparison.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Jul 2005, 23:21

Please do!

As I said I'll watch the Chinese DVD first and then decide if it's worth getting this.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 13 Jul 2005, 23:41

Analogue outs for WMA Pro. Future generation of decoders will support it though along with the other new formats we'll be seeing for HD releases.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 13 Jul 2005, 23:48

I thought so cheers.