Anamorphic The Last Emperor & Farewell, My Concubine! (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Adkins]

I am soo close to running down to Koreatown to Music Plaza's store to pick this up!

I'm going to run down there today and pick it up if they have it. I'll compare it to the Artisan release and post a comparison here later today (if they have it in stock).

Jeff

 

[Guy Martin]

I anxiously await your report Jeff!
- Guy

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Count me in as another HTF'er eagerly awaiting your review, Jeff. I'd love to have a decent-quality disc of The Last Emperor, and neither my old CAV laserdisc nor the current Artisan (R1) DVD actually fills that bill.
doug

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Something came up at the last minute and I wasn't able to head over there. Anyone know if they're open on Sunday? If so, I'll get it tomorrow.

Jeff

 

[Guy Martin]

Accoding to their website, they are open from 11am-7pm on Sundays.
- Guy

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I picked it up today. Depending on which cut of the film you prefer, you may or may not want the disc. I just did a quick glance, and here's the deal:
-Disc one is the director's cut. It is not anamorphic and appears to be the same transfer as either the Artisan edition or the Japanese LD.
-Disc two however is the theatrical cut and is anamorphic. It appears to be a goregous new transfer. Just doing a quick scan, it looks very good and I saw none of the aliasing, artifacting, or grain that is evident throughout all previous transfers of the film I've seen.
It says "Region All" on the jacket, so I assume it is Region 0. I will try it in a R1 player later just to make sure. The packaging definitely indicates that the director's cut is non-anamorphic, so I'm not sure why the websites have it reversed.
Anyway, I wish it was the other way around, but I'm still happy to have a decent DVD of the film. This will certainly hold me over until Artisan puts another edition. For now, it's the best version available.
Both sets have removable English and Korean subtitles.
It was on sale in their retail store for $21.97.
Jeff

 

[Guy Martin]

Jeff-
Thanks for the report. Bummer about the director's cut being the same non-anamorphic transfer. Since I already own the existing R1 DVD I guess I'll wait to see what Artisan does with the reported R1 re-release. What about the interviews and "additional footage" mentioned on the DVD Asian site?
- Guy

 

[Steve_Ch]

Thanks, Jeff.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Thanks for the review, Jeff. I'm a fan of the theatrical cut of the film (haven't ever been able to get through the director's cut owing to the awful quality of the Artisan DVD), so I might pick this up.

I'm just waiting to hear whether or not it plays in your R1 player (my only multi-region player is my DVD-ROM drive, which isn't as much fun as the full HT setup).

doug

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Thanks for the review. Now I'll have to decide to go with the 16x9 theatrical cut of this disc or wait patiently for a decent 16x9 DC R1 version.

hmmmm....

dave

 

[Jeff_HR]

In a similar vein, is anyone in possession of info about "Raise The Red Lantern"?:frowning:

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Well, I went ahead and picked the Last Emperor 2-disc set up, and I'm very glad I did. The transfer and compression for the theatrical cut is quite well-done: it's the best I've seen the film look -- in terms of contrast, framing, detail and especially colour -- since I saw it in the cinemas.
I wish the director's cut looked as good, but since the theatrical cut is the verison I know I love, it'll keep me happy for now.
Thanks again to Peter Jue for pointing this release out, and to Jeff Adkins for the detailed review. I've been waiting years for this one...
doug

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Just ordered L.E. and F.M.C.

I also enjoyed the theatrical cut of L.E. so a nice 16x9 transfer has succeeded in tempting me. If we ever get a decent 16x9 HD-downconverted R1 director's cut, I'll still be happy to have my theatrical version so nothing lost.

-dave

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

I don't think the MPAA's jurisdiction extends to Korea. Although, I'm sure it would like it to be so

Actually their jurisdiction does extend to Korea and to all parts of the world. This is quite smply because they represent the studio that owns the original rights to the film and therefore the right to control how it is presented worldwide.

Member since 1997
Sanjay

 

[Dave F]

Anyone have "Farewell, My Concubine" yet?

-Dave

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Just an update. This is available in Korea for pre-order for only $10 US! I paid $22 last year.
http://www.koreandvds.com/dvddetail.html?id=9539

 

[Joel Vardy]

I'd love to replace my 'flawed' Last Emperor disk with an improved anamorphic release for R1. I would also rather see some SE content for this historical film. It seems strange that there is no such release in the works. If there was no chance of a rerelease of LE I would contemplate the Korean offering.

BTW, is Farewell My Concubine in English or dubbed? I don't see any specifics to this effect on the website.

Joel