Any reviews on Chungking Express yet? (1 Viewer)

[Jay Gregory]

There are two English subtitle tracks (one subtitles, the other captions for the hearing impaired,) and there is some English dialogue in the movie, but I cannot find or explain an English audio track. I've seen this movie numerous times on various movie channels, and I don't recall encountering an English dub on any of those viewings either. I wouldn't mind checking it out, for perversity's sake, but I'm not really buying that it's there.
Disk looks good, and is anamorphic. When i put the DVD in my player, a screen appears with two options: PLAY MOVIE or MAIN MENU (or their equivalents.) Oddly enough, when I just hit the play movie option, no subtitle tracks are "on." Maybe it is the settings on my Sony player, but it seems a bit odd. I'm not sure of the purpose of that screen, but it seems to be the opposite of the forced trailers that Disney was including a year or so ago.
Tarantino's "intros" and "outros" are ported over from the VHS (where I originally saw this movie.)
All in all, it is much nicer presentation than most HK DVDs I've seen, and most Wong DVDs, not including Criterion's In The Mood For Love (and presumably the other SE versions of that title not available for Region 1.)

 

[Rich Malloy]

Maybe not quite amazing, but I'm convinced! Glad to be spending my money on this; glad it's worth it.

 

[Christopher D]

I owe you guys a big apology -- after Jay's post I went back and double checked this on another player which definitively read it as having a *single* audio track (Chinese).

I was confused by the English dialogue at the start of Chapter 3, which is where I was doing my check, compounded by the two subtitle tracks, the listing of the original track as a "bonus" feature, and Miramax's generally poor reputation with respect to stuff like this . . . .

Sorry for sending you off on a wild goose chase, but at least the question's answered for sure.

 

[Matthew Brown]

Here are a few screen shots from my review which should be up tomorrow.
Matt

 

[Matthew Brown]

Here's the review : http://www.loveandbullets.com/chungkingxpress.htm
Matt

 

[Peter Kim]

The international print is slightly longer than the Hong Kong Version. Because of this, I was fairly confident that Miramax would release this movie in it's unaltered form. Thankfully, the movie has the original music and soundtrack and is the same cut that is on the laser disc.

I've not heard of this happening before, where an international, exported print is longer than the print found in the movie's native country.
Another great review...made me feel safe about my purchase. Now I only hope Best Buy would hurry up and mail my damn copy. It's been a week since its release and still not shipped. :frowning:

 

[Matthew Brown]

Peter -

Thanks! I think the extra footage is during the Brigitte Lin segment with the guys who are smuggling the drugs. I am going to try to find one of the import DVD's to see what the exact differences are.

I am going to be playing this soundtrack all week now!

If anybody likes CHUNGKING EXPRESS, you have to see FALLEN ANGELS. It has the same vibe.

Matt

 

[Jeff Vachon]

Matthew,

Apart from gaining the anamorphic enhancement, do you feel it is worthwhile to replace the laserdisc with this DVD? I love this movie, but if the DVD only offers a marginal difference I will put it in low priority. Thanks.

Jeff

 

[Matthew Brown]

Jeff -

The DVD being anamorphic is the best thing about it. That would be the only reason to upgrade. I really don't think the picture is all too much better than the laser disc.

The extras aren't really worth buying the DVD for. I have a feeling that Miramax was sitting on this for a while because the extras are all very old and from the VHS tape.

One thing that the laser disc has over the DVD is the extensive notes on the back cover. I missed that with the DVD.

Matt

 

[Bryant Frazer]

The laserdisc also has better sound -- PCM versus Dolby Digital 2.0.

I just saw a 35 mm print of this a few weeks ago, and I've got to say I was underwhelmed by the DVD transfer in comparison. It's certainly the best way to watch the film on video (the import DVDs have a worse transfer than the laserdisc), but it's not a Criterion-level image or anything like that.

-bf-

 

[Matthew Brown]

Bryant -

You are right about the sound. I haven't heard the laser disc in a while but i don't remember the vocal track being so harsh.

Do you recall which aspect ratio the movie was projected? I could swear the laser disc is closer to the original aspect ratio even though it says 1.85 on it. I have to watch the laser disc again.

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Jeff Vachon]

Thanks Matthew and Bryant, it looks like I'll be sticking with the laserdisc.

Jeff

 

[Matthew Brown]

I am going to watch the laser disc again when I get a chance and update my review on my site for more comparisons between that and the DVD.

I'm happy I never got rid of my laser discs.

Matt

 

[Darren H]

For $14.99, I'm quite pleased with the transfer, but like others I'm surprised by how distorted the high frequencies of the audio track are. Very disappointing. Bryant, how did the 35mm print sound?

 

[Matthew Brown]

I found out the proper apect ratio. It is 1.85:1. I have heard from somebody who was fortunate enough to attend a function where Wong Kar Wai gave a talk. Wong Kar Wai said that the movie was shot 1.66:1 but felt there was too much empty space in some of the compositions so he decided that the correct AR should be 1.85:1.

I hope the rest of Wong Kar Wai's movies get a decent release. With the exception of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and CHUNGKING EXPRESS, the current DVD's aren't that great. The perfect release would have a cd of the soundtrack with all the songs from the movies. The soundtracks for CHUNGKING EXPRESS and FALLEN ANGELS are good but they don't have all the songs on them.

Matt

 

[Cary T]

I was looking for Wong Kar-Wai threads and found this one. Just want to clarify the differences between the HK version and the international version. I've seen the HK version on a Hong Kong vcd. There is a missing soundtrack in the officer #633 story when Faye Wong wants to hand the break-up letter to him and he prolongs it and drinks coffee in the international version. The audio track is the Faye Wong song. There were some missing scenes in this story as well. I'm not sure about the first half. I don't remember that half as much as the second. To me the the HK version seems longer than the international version, but I'm just going by memory. I prefer the HK version over the international because it was the version I saw first.

 

[Peter Kim]

The audio track is the Faye Wong's song.

Hah, I knew I wasn't hallucinating when I thought something was missing. I believe the song was Faye Wong's rendition of 'Dreams' by the Cranberries.