Asian Cinema on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Brian Thibodeau]

This begs the question of which version you managed to find for THUNDERBOLT, Paula. I have the Japanese laserdisc, known as DEAD HEAT, but it's missing a wicked fight that IS in the HK VCD version. The fight is between Jackie and those tattooed yakuza guys just before the big Pachinko parlour dustup. This fight does not appear on the Japanese LD (perhaps Jackie whipping yakuza ass was a no-no?). I know there is a HK R3 THUNDERBOLT DVD, which I'm assuming has the uncut film, but I'm certain it was full-frame, which wouldn't do justice to the 2.35 aspect ratio. As this is one of the titles Miramaxe or New Line is sitting on, I'm wondering if there's any other versions of this out there on DVD, widescreen, Cantonese, subbed in English.

 

[David Lawson]

Layoyo.com had stock of My Sassy Girl, and that won out over City Of God. It always seems to garner rave reviews, and I was beginning to feel left out. I threw in The Last Present for another few bucks, and I'll post my thoughts on both once they arrive.

 

[ChrisBEA]

Brian, you're knowledge is amazing! you have been a fantastic resource in this thread!

I just finished watching The Duel. I really enjoyed it, nice mix of action, comedy, fantasy. I enjoyed Zhao Wei and Nick Cheung.

Can't wait for my next DDDhouse shipment to arrive. Plus wtach the last selection!

So many movies.....

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

...so little time!

In case anyone missed it, here's the link to RinoC's comments about Bullet In The Head and A Better Tomorrow III, posted elsewhere accidentally:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=188646

Hopefully responses can be posted back here to keep this thread plugging along.

 

[ChrisBEA]

Read those comments, I remember reading about the prequel. But I've never heard about Hark's ABT III?

My DDD shipment arrived! ANother 9 movies to watch.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

Just noticed a title over at Deep Discount called NEW CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON. Knowing that Tai Seng, the distributor, isn't immune to retitling certain films, I suspect that this is really FLYING TIGER, LEAPING DRAGON, with Sammo Hung.

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=TAI051424

The only thing is, I thought that title was owned by Miramaxe so they could sit on it to keep the appeal of the real CROUCHING TIGER from being diminished. Or something. I've seen bootlegs of this title off and on for ages in Toronto's Chinatown areas, but I was never sure if had even been released in a theatre in China for someone to pirate it. I don't think I've ever seen a legit release, even from Hong Kong. Not that the movie looks as arty and deep as CTHD, but it looks like a lot of fun nonetheless.

Anybody know anything else about this one?


EDIT.: incidentally, ChrisBEA, A Better Tomorrow III used to turn up in the DDD House weekly cheap sale from time to time. Perhaps it will resurface at some point, although I expect even their regular price for it is quite reasonable. It's a pretty decent movie, and holds up to the other two quite well while being less high-minded and more political, The stylistic differences between John Woo and Tsui Hark (Part III's director) are enough to make it a good stand alone movie. Personally, I prefer the other two a little more, but still, it's worth owning at a cheap price.

 

[Chris_Morris]

I thought Columbia/Sony owned CTHD.


Chris

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

Oops, my mistake. Maybe THEY bought the right to FLYING TIGER. I'm certain I read somewhere that SOMEONE did in order to soften the impact it might make on the better known film. Of course, Tai Seng might have simply unearthed some older title and slapped a new title on it.

 

[ChrisBEA]

Brian: I may have to check that out.
I actually have to slow down a bit. Finances are getting a bit thin....:frowning:
I did break down and pick up Heroic Duo today. I have no idea if it's any good, but it has intrigued me as one of the few foreign language films at my local BB.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Just received my first rentals from Ehit.com

Heroic Duo
Twins Effect (VCD)
Running on Karma
36th Chamber of Shaolin (VCD)

plus my Sony is crapping out, so I am going to pick up a Cyberhome 300/s tomorrow. Region-free with PAL-NTSC
R3 here I come.


Chris

 

[Chris_Morris]

Is the R3 version of Tsui Hark's Iron Monkey in good shape? I have been dying to see this uncut, and un-MiramAxed.

Chris

 

[ChrisBEA]

I'd like to know about that Iron Monkey as well, i've only seen the Mirmaxe version. How much was cut from it?

Chris: Nice choices. I loved both Running on Karma and the Twins Effect. Twins Effect is actually getting an R1 release, chopped by about 25 minutes and retitles to Vampire Effect. I also just picked up Heroic Duo, but haven't watched it yet.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Iron Monkey cuts from the Alliance site (in my sig):

The two worst IMO
1. Unlike most Disney releases, this is not dubbed, but subtitled. Subtitles are grammatically correct, but change the dialogue drastically in some places. For instance, they introduce a background involving Iron Monkey's father, which was not mentioned in the original.

2. New musical score. This is a new orchestral score, rather than techno or rap. It does lose the traditional Wong Fei Hung theme and its placement leaves some scenes silent that previously had music.


* Adds an animated intro before the movie with an explanation that sets up the scene for the film.

List of cuts:

1. After Wong Kei Ying eats with Dr. Yang and Miss Orchid and takes his leave to try find Iron Monkey, they cut the part where Miss Orchid gives him some buns to take with him.
2. When Wong Kei Ying and Cheif Fox are eating and talking on the roof, they cut the part where the pan is blown off and someone shouts "Who blocked the chimney?"
3. When Wong Fei Hung is going to sell the pills after leaving Dr. Yang's clinic, they cut his little kung fu demonstration before he starts selling the pill.
4. After Dr. Yang and Wong Fei Hung leave, after being warned by Chief Fox that they are being sought after: The part with the villagers and the rice was cut. We see them just as Miss Orchid comes to tell them about Fei Hung.
5. This wasn't an actual cut from the film, but they cut out a bit of dialogue. After the final battle when Dr. Yang and Miss Orchid see each other, and Kei Ying and Fei Hung see each other - they cut out the dialogue of Chief Fox saying "Why no one cares about me?"
6. When Wong Kei Ying starts to cry when saying goodbye to his son, they cut him wiping the tear like his son does.
7. Some of the part where Fei Hung is getting whipped is cut.
8. Some of the fights have been trimmed here and there. Supposedly, this was done by Yuen Woo Ping himself to "tighten up" the fights. He mentioned this in an interview on the official site for the film's re-release.


Chris

 

[ChrisBEA]

Wow, didn't realize so much was cut!
I've never liked the way Asian films get treated by American companies, primarily the much maligned Miramaxe (which I feel has a good track record with American films). I should probably also admit that a lot of my films are the R1 releases, like a lot of Jet Li's titles. SOme I didn't learn about cuts until afterwards. I admit I wasn't always the most educated when it came to buying films, I'm better off now though. I also have the R1 OUATIC 1-3, which I believe are uncut? correct me if I'm wrong, but they also have the dubbed versions as a bonus which are probably about a half hour shorter than the subbed versions.

Being a fan of Asian cinema can be a real pain sometimes....:frowning:

 

[Chris_Morris]

Columbia has done a fairly good job. The OUATIC series is complete and uncut. I have the HK versions due to the cheaper price and more features (though the Ric Meyer commentary on OUATIC 1 is excellent).

Chris

 

[Andy Patrizio]

Miramax has earned my ire just for what it's done with Hero. Not so much that I want the movie; I have the regular import and a $35 gift set with a nice box and booklet in Chinese. But I want it to get a theatrical release so my friends can see what I'm raving about. I mean, if ever there was a movie that has to be seen on the big screen...

Fox's HK DVDs look spectactular. I mean, the clean up is incredible. But they really are using the second-stringers. I mean, My Lucky Stars? Give me Supercop or Police Story. They sent me a list of the upcoming titles, I have it at work but can't remember the names. I will say this, none of them were A-list titles.

Plus, Fox had to change the name. They lost the rights to use "Hong Kong Legends." Not sure what the new name is. I just know I had to go through my old reviews and remove that term.

 

[Lloyd White]

Thanks all for your contributions to this thread. All these titles are nearly overwhelming and it would seem I have a lot to choose from. Starting with the most serious movies first, or at least takes itself seriously. I will soon chime in one some of the titles I have seen, especially since American cinema has gotten bland lately.

 

[ChrisBEA]

I picked up a used copy of Another Meltdown with Andrew Lin and Shu Qi. Any thoughts on this title?
I kind of figure they're banking off Jet Li fans by calling it 'Another' Meltdown plus Shu Qi is front and center on the cover, probably calling on her turn in Transporter. i'm not expecting much, hopefully some good action....

 

[Rino C]

I am exact opposite. I loved Musa but I just couldn't get into the Storm Riders. It was too cartoony, not motion picture-ish enough. Perhaps it was too faithful to the source material. Same with Bichunmoo. I enjoy wire-fu up to a certain point but some are just too much. FYI, the word Musa is pronounced Bushi (as in Bushido) in Japanese. It's a Chinese word meaning Warrior or literally Martial Gentleman. So Musa the Warrior title is redundant.

I read that Bruce Lee and Jet Li are martial artists that became actors. Jet Li actually won the national martial arts contest of China. Jackie Chan, on the other hand, was originally of Chinese Opera background and had "acrobatic" training. Hence different feel to the seriousness of their "martial arts" performance. Although one of my favorite fighting scene is from Jackie Chan's Meals on Wheels. His climactic fight with Benny "the Jet" Urquidez (sp?) was serious kickass.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Yep, he was with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao in training. There were 4 others and they were nicknamed the 7 Little Fortunes (I think Yuen Woo Ping was with them too, but not certain). There is a movie out there that is basically autobiographical about their training (very intensive and abusive) but the name escapes me which stinks because it was on the "Art of Martial Arts" docu. that I watched recently **


Chris

** This docu. is *very* well done and great for anyone interested in MA, especially the HK/China influence. It goes into great detail about the Peking Opera beginnings, and spends more time on Asian actors, directors, etc. It is not a "Chuck Norris, Jean Claude, Steve Segall are the only MA out there" type docu. Only downside is alot of talk about the Matrix near the end (it is hosted by Samuel L. Jackson) and I still don't see that as a MA movie, and they don't give Jet Li as much time or credit as they do Jackie, Yuen Woo Ping, Tsui Hark etc.