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Fist of Legend SE

#1
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5/24/06 at 2:20am
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It happened to me for the first time. One week ago I bought the bare bones, non-anamorphic, dubbed edition of FIST OF LEGEND. Today, I read the following in The Hollywood Reporter:
Dragon is planning a number of special edition DVD package, including 2-Disc Platinum Editions of Jet Li's "Fist of Legend" and "Tai Chi Master."

link
So needless to say, I take credit for this news due to my purchase. I'm not sorry, though, because I enjoyed the hell out of the film (a blind buy) and only paid $7, so I'll gladly upgrade for an anamorphic, original language edition when the time comes, if that's what we get. (the article also says that this same company is handling The Killer and Hard Boiled)
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#2
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5/24/06 at 7:56am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

I'm concerned The Weinstein Co. is doing these because it was Miramax that earned the name "MirmaAXE" due to heavy editing of its Asian cinema releases, which includes the Fist of Legend disc you picked up. That one is relatively unscathed, but IRC the title credits and music have been changed. The one bright spot is Tarantino and Bey Logan are involved, so that might prevent any tampering.

He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it. -- T. H. White, "The Once and Future King"

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#3
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5/24/06 at 8:13am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

It's going to take an act of God to get me to purchase any Asian film that has any connection whatsoever to the Weinsteins and their Editing Machine Spawned of Satan.

"How wonderful it will be to have a leader unburdened by the twin horrors of knowledge and experience." -- Mr. Wick

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#4
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5/24/06 at 8:19am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

I'm anxious to see good R1 versions of all four movies you mentioned. My fingers are crssed...
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#5
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5/24/06 at 2:18pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

This is awesome news! I hope they take The Killer, Hardboiled, A Better Tomorrow I and II and
seek out the best master prints available and give them a full restoration, for some stunning new transfers
to DVD. These are the greatest Hong Kong blood operas ever, and we've been waiting a long time for
some really superb transfers on DVD! =)

They should get John Woo to oversee the restoration and/or transfers, to make sure the colors are right
and the translation of the English subtitles are approved by him. And to make sure the original mono
Cantonese soundtracks are available on the DVD for each film.

By the way, if you're interested in Hong Kong action movies, check out the excellent site,
"Love and Bullets" (see link below). Great name, huh?! =)

http://www.loveandbullets.com/
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#6
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5/26/06 at 1:11pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

there are many titles in that announcement I'd love to pick up: as long as they are uncut and properly represented.

I had heard of Mirimaxs heavey handed cutting. Was this a Weinsten thing or a Disney corp thing?

Tarantinos name attached to the imprint should offer some hope that these remain uncut. I don't think anything got edited out of his "Rolling Thunder" releases.
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#7
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5/26/06 at 2:38pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

I had heard of Mirimaxs heavey handed cutting. Was this a Weinsten thing or a Disney corp thing?


My understanding is that it was a Weinstein/ Miramax thing.

"How wonderful it will be to have a leader unburdened by the twin horrors of knowledge and experience." -- Mr. Wick

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#8
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5/26/06 at 3:16pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Let's hope this version will be uncut.

Master Poe: Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Caine: I hear the water. I hear the birds.
Master Poe: Do you hear your own heart beat.
Caine: No.
Master Poe: Do you hear the grasshopper, which is at your feet.Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?Master Poe: Young man, how is it...

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#9
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5/26/06 at 7:19pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

I hope this is uncut with original language and some good English subtitles.

Unfortunately with Weinstein involved, that probably won't happen. Logan isn't helping either, since he likes what Weinstein does with Asian films.
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#10
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5/27/06 at 1:41pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Wow, Tai Chi Master is my all-time favorite wire-fu movie, looking forward to a decent release of this and the others mentioned.
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#11
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5/27/06 at 2:42pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman
It's going to take an act of God to get me to purchase any Asian film that has any connection whatsoever to the Weinsteins and their Editing Machine Spawned of Satan.





After seeing Jet Li for the first time in Lethal Weapon 4, I immediately purchased Fist of Legend. I thought it was very good as it was. How badly edited was it? I definitely wouldn't mind seeing this in its original form. I liked how the fighting appeared more grounded than wire-fu'd.
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#12
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5/27/06 at 2:54pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
How badly edited was it?
The opening credits is totally different - in fact, I'm not sure if the original had opening credits. The score is also new/different. As far as I can tell the actual feature content was left untouched. And of course there is the English dub.

He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it. -- T. H. White, "The Once and Future King"

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#13
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5/27/06 at 4:16pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

It looks like the stuff coming out is the stuff they have had the rights to for a long time and did nothing with. Harvey Weinstein claims to love films but he has no problem cutting them to what he sees fit. I just don't understand why a film that gets international acclaim everywhere in the world gets chopped up and dumbed down for America. Generally the stuff they cut is what made them so popular. Look at most of the Jackie Chan releases from all the various companies. Jackie is so popular because of the comedy involved in his best films. When they come to America what do they cut? The comedy!

I also can't understand why when one of their acquisitions went straight to DVD, it couldn't be uncut and have the original language. I have no problem with them throwing a crappy english dub on the DVD. That is one of the features for DVD, multiple language tracks!

Fortune Star has a new distributor in HK for their catalog titles and I am looking foward to those releases. 9 times outta 10 I will probably grab the HK version over anything the Weinsteins put out becasue I just don't trust them!


--Ian
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#14
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5/27/06 at 4:59pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cameron Yee
The opening credits is totally different - in fact, I'm not sure if the original had opening credits. The score is also new/different. As far as I can tell the actual feature content was left untouched. And of course there is the English dub.

The original version did have opening credits. If I recall, they were just plain credits on a black screen with the theme music playing.

Not only was the score changed, but the sound effects are completely different. Instead of the classic sound effects from martial arts movies that we all grew up with, we get shoddy and repetitive grunts, groans, and smacks. Basically, the kind of sound effects you can buy on those cheap 1,000,001 Sound Effects collections.
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#15
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7/20/07 at 8:03am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Dragon used to have this listed on their website as a December 07 release. Now its no longer listed on the site at all. I didn't see any other Jet Li movies listed there either.
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#16
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7/20/07 at 8:25pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

It is still coming here is the news link:

http://www.dragondynasty.com/news/show/5
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#17
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7/24/07 at 9:05am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Lee -
Thank you for mentioning Loveandbullets. I am going to start the reviews up again as soon as I get HARD BOILED.

The dubbing is horrible in FIST OF LEGEND. In this case it actually changes the motivations of one of the characters. The Japanese Master is almost a mentor to Jet in the Buena Vista version. In other versions, he is more of an equal and there is a mutual respect, but that is about it.

It also downplays the political tension between the Chinese and Japanese and practically omits it. It dumbs the movie down incredibly and takes a whole demension away.

In the movie Fearless, Jet Li is actually portraying the master he is avenging in Fist of Legend.

I plan on doing a review for what they call "The Protector" with Tony Jaa at some point. If you want to see a perfect example of how they change these movies the Dragon Dynasty has the "US" version and "International (UNCUT)" versions. The US versions is literally all the action scenes edited together. They cut about 20 minutes.

Not to derail this thread so back to FIST OF LEGEND. As long as the uncut version with original soundtrack is included in the Dragon Dynasty release I will be happy.

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#18
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7/24/07 at 9:14am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

thats a neat post Mathew. I had no idea about "Fist Of Legend". I've only seen the Buena Vista version, it's easilly my favorite Jet Li movie. I'd love to see it closer to it's original intentions.
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#19
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7/24/07 at 9:21am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Thanks Russell -
Now we need to hope that they don't use "dubtitles" from the Buena Vista release.

I think I am going to write another e-mail to Bey Logan.

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#20
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7/24/07 at 9:22am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Not to derail this thread so back to FIST OF LEGEND. As long as the uncut version with original soundtrack is included in the Dragon Dynasty release I will be happy.
The trend has been good with these Dragon Dynasty titles (I guess the Weinsteins finally listened to all the complaints about the Dimension releases) so I'm cautiously optimistic this will happen.

He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it. -- T. H. White, "The Once and Future King"

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#21
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7/27/07 at 11:19am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Another big thank you to Bey Logan for answering all my e-mails!

Here is Bey's response to my concerns about those Buena Vista subtitles and the possibility of dubtitles on the Dragon Dynasty version of Fist of Legend.

"...Our DVD will certainly feature the full Chinese version with proper English subtitles, best, Bey"


That is very good news.

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http://www.loveandbullets.com

New Jersey Punk Rock
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#22
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7/27/07 at 11:49am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Brown
I plan on doing a review for what they call "The Protector" with Tony Jaa at some point. If you want to see a perfect example of how they change these movies the Dragon Dynasty has the "US" version and "International (UNCUT)" versions. The US versions is literally all the action scenes edited together. They cut about 20 minutes.

To be honest, after seeing the original, that might have improved the film.

Tony Jaa's films make the average HK film look like Oscar candidates.

Just as a note, I'm not a fan of cutting films without the director's permission.

Jason
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#23
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7/27/07 at 1:59pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
To be honest, after seeing the original, that might have improved the film.

They literally strung the action scenes together for the Protector. Sure, it's the only reason many people watch the movie in the first place but it removes any depth that is there. They could have called the cut version "Tony Jaa and his Amazing Stunts".

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#24
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7/27/07 at 2:42pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Brown
They literally strung the action scenes together for the Protector. Sure, it's the only reason many people watch the movie in the first place but it removes any depth that is there. They could have called the cut version "Tony Jaa and his Amazing Stunts".
I only watched the UNCUT version, does the US version still have the same ending?
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#25
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7/28/07 at 9:05am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew Brown
Another big thank you to Bey Logan for answering all my e-mails!

Here is Bey's response to my concerns about those Buena Vista subtitles and the possibility of dubtitles on the Dragon Dynasty version of Fist of Legend.

"...Our DVD will certainly feature the full Chinese version with proper English subtitles, best, Bey"


That is very good news.

If only their DVD of HARD-BOILED had certainly featured the full Chinese version with proper English subtitles...

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#26
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10/18/07 at 6:40am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Originally Posted by MattMC
It is still coming here is the news link:

http://www.dragondynasty.com/news/show/5


Still no mention of Fist of Legend on their website beyond this old press release. Tai Chi Master is listed as an October release and no sign of that either. I didn't see a contact email to confirm if either is still being released.
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#27
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10/18/07 at 7:00am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

If you e-mail Bey Logan I am sure he will get back to you. His address should be on the web site.

Hong Kong DVD Reviews and News
http://www.loveandbullets.com

New Jersey Punk Rock
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#28
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9/8/08 at 10:12am
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

So how come no one told me this is finally getting released tomorrow?

I can't remember the last time I was this excited about a DVD release.

http://www.dragondynasty.com/films/show/109

He was one of those people who would be neither a follower nor a leader, but only an aspiring heart, impatient in the failing body which imprisoned it. -- T. H. White, "The Once and Future King"

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#29
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9/8/08 at 1:55pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

is this his best movie ?

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#30
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9/8/08 at 2:08pm
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Re: Fist of Legend SE

Quote:
Originally Posted by oscar_merkx
is this his best movie ?

I think so. not as flashy as his current work, and the fights are kick ass brutal, more like Bruce Lee.

I have this on pre-order, hope it's uncut.
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