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Buy your Hong Kong DVD's while you still can! (1 Viewer)

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
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Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781
Disney/Miramax/Dimension/Buena Vista has bought the rights to several Hong Kong movies. All North American retailers are no longer supposed to be selling any movies that Disney has the rights to. These movies include GOD OF GAMBLERS, HEROIC TRIO, THE EXECUTIONERS, BULLET IN THE HEAD, SHAOLIN SOCCER, CITY ON FIRE, most all movies starring Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, as well as several others.
So what does this mean to the Hong Kong movie fans?
Disney tends to cut, re-edit, re-score, and almost always English dub their Hong Kong movies. Disney does not mention that these movies have been altered anywhere on the packaging or on the DVD. The originals will be unavailable for you. In other words, there will be no region 1 release of these movies in their original form. It is already impossible to get a DVD of FIST OF LEGEND with it's original soundtrack anywhere on earth.
There are two ways around this. You can still order these movies direct from Hong Kong. The prices still aren't bad. It just takes longer to get. The other way is a region free player so you can enjoy the Hong Kong Legends releases from region 2.
I see a lot of threads that ask for uncensored versions of movies or extended cuts. I'm all for those. I'm just asking for the original cut of the movie with it's original soundtrack in the right aspect ratio. Is that asking too much? Apparently, for Disney it is.
By the way, these aren't bootlegs that Disney doesn't want sold. These are legitimate imports.
Matt
 

Jeff Kleist

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Dec 4, 1999
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IIRC, Fist of Legend has NEVER been on DVD in OSL

Shaolin Soccer is a Region 0, anamorphic and DTS disc with extras, so don't be bashful about snagging it! I'm terrified of what Disney is going to do to it when it's released in March theatrically

Then again, Iron Monkey was subbed, and the only monkeying (sic) was with Yuen wo Ping's direct request and involvement. Could this be a turnaround at Disney?

Yeah Yeah, I know, don't get your hopes up
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
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781
If Miramax released IRON MONKEY with the original score and called it a Director's cut, I would have no problem with it. Also, from what I understand, people who know Cantonese say the subtitles are off almost 50 percent of the time.

I agree that the current version of SHAOLIN SOCCER is great. The only minor complaint is that some of the scenes that were in the extended cut need to be accessed while the DVD is playing. The dance number floors me everytime I see it. Disney showed the extended print of the film to test auduances with only a few seconds cut from the very first locker room scene. This minor snip changes what you think about a main character.

I'll see if I can get a list. So far, most Jackie Chan movies that Newline doesn't have rights to are included.

One more thing. These movies can't be sold whether Disney plans to release them or not.

Matt
 

Dan_I

Auditioning
Joined
Jan 9, 2001
Messages
3
Hm, that explains why, as of a couple of days ago, these movies suddenly appeared as unavailable/OOP on US vendor sites like hkflix.com. So, yeah, it's already too late to get them "locally." This seems to have happened pretty suddenly and without notice.
 

Richard Kim

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Jan 29, 2001
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Brian E:

The Ritek version of Fist of Legend is in MANDARIN. The original soundtrack is in CANTONESE, which is still not availible on DVD.
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
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Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781
Brian -
The Ritek DVD of Fist of Legend does not have the original Cantonese track. Also, the original track had Japanese characters speaking in Japanese. The Mandarin track has everybody speaking in Mandarin. For some of the differences between the Buena Vist aversion and Ritek, click here http://www.loveandbullets.com/fol.htm
The current list I have seen is :
Armor Of God
Armor Of God 2
Bodyguard From Beijing
Bullet In The Head
Chinese Ghost Story
Chinese Ghost Story 2
Chinese Ghost Story 3
City On Fire
Dr. Wai In The Scripture With No Words
Dragon Lord
Dragon Forever
Dream Lovers
Easy Money
Heroic Trio
Heroic Trio 2: Executioners
Fighter's Blues, A
Fist Of Legend
Flaming Brothers
Fong Sai Yuk
Fong Sai Yuk 2
God of Gamblers
God Of Gamblers Returns
Handsome Siblings
Iron Monkey
Last Hero In China
Legend Of Zu
Master, The
My Father Is A Hero
Once Upon A Time In China And America
Peking Opera Blues
Police Story 3: Supercop
Prison On Fire
Prison On Fire 2
Project A
Purple Storm
Shaolin Soccer
Shaolin Temple 2: Kids From Shaolin
Swordsman
Swordsman 2
Tiger Cage
Tiger Cage 2
Tiger On Beat
Triads: The Inside Story
Twin Dragons
Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars
Wonder Seven
Yes, Madam
I found these on the forum from cityonfire.com . I double checked them against what HKFLIX.com notes they aren't allowed to sell anymore do to Disney owning the rights.
Matt
 

Jeff Kleist

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According to Yuen wo Ping, the Disney version IS his director's cut. However, they should have branched the DVD :frowning: Oh well, Hong Kong Legends fixes that right up :)
 

Roger Mathus

Supporting Actor
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Location
Central Oregon
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Roger Mathus
Can Disney legally prohibit parallel imports? I recall that there was a court decision a couple of years ago that made this illegal? Perhaps someone reading this has some facts?
 

TheLongshot

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Jason
Is this just for the US or for the world market? What does this mean for the titles on that list put out by HKL?

This does suck, considering Disney's track record...

Jason
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781
This appears to be for the US, Region 1. Hong Kong Legends is unaffected since they are exclusively PAL and Region 2.

Whether Disney can legally do this or not, they are threatening legal action to North American retailers. They can't stop imports from being sold from other countries. Many places can't afford a legal battle even if they win.

Matt
 

Chris Xolotl

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 28, 2001
Messages
482
Disney doesn't want these to be imported. But, they can't stop them.

Anyways, they seem to only buy the rights to the print not the soundtrack.

IF you remember, they (Miramax) tried to pull the original Iron Monkey DVD off of e-Bay. They couldn't and the MPAA let the auctions continue.

Some DVD's we get from Hong Kong specifically have a Parallel Import Restrictions; but these DVDs are always encoded R3 for that reason.

Even though they are wrong, they have enough money and lawyers to illegally squash people selling these domestically.

Sigh...

Hopefully they run Tai Seng into the ground....

my 2 cents.

Also, FOL was only released in it's original form on LD, VHS and perhaps VCD.
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781
I hope they leave the theme song to HEROIC TRIO intact if they release it. Anita Mui belts out the vocals with authority! If you can still find it, the TAI SENG DVD is excellent.

Luckily, the UK based Hong Kong Legends knows how to release these movies. HKVIDEO from France also does a great job.

Another movie that should be on the list in the above post is Supercop 2, which is also called PROJECT S. This stars Michelle Yeoh and is a good movie that would be even better in its original language.

Matt
 

Wouter Heyse

Agent
Joined
Apr 20, 2000
Messages
34
I am positive this only concerns the US (or at least R1), since Hong Kong Legends has just closed a deal for several of these films themselves. I am sure we can expect some stellar versions from them, no matter how much Disney wants them out in butchered versions only. According to HKL, these are the movies they just closed the deal for:
1. The Killer
2. Bullet In The Head
3. A Better Tomorrow 2
4. A Better Tomorrow 3
5. Once A Thief
6. City On Fire
7. Prison on Fire
8. Prison on Fire 2
9. A Chinese Ghost Story
10. A Chinese Ghost Story 2
11. A Chinese Ghost Story 3
12. The Swordsman
13. City Wars
14. Peking Opera Blues
15. Triads: The Inside Story
16. The Big Heat
17. Tiger on the Beat
It's a shame they couldn't get ABT 1, but all three Chinese Ghost Story films are more than I could have hoped for :)
Also, they commented on Fist Of Legend, and on Drunken Master 2, and according to them, they will NOT be able to get the rights to either :angry:
 

TheLongshot

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Jason
Well, that's good news. I was a little worried that they might have picked up worldwide distribution for these titles. I know that's probably why HKL couldn't get DM2.

I only hope that HKL can get The Heroic Trio...

Jason
 

Chris Xolotl

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 28, 2001
Messages
482
Well, HKL still isn't the be all end all for HK movies. The fact is on a lot of their movies they don't include the Cantonese track, which sometimes is the preferred track.

Disney bites.
 

Matthew Brown

Supporting Actor
Joined
Sep 19, 1999
Messages
781
Chris -

I think HKL only put out their early releases with Mandarin only tracks. People complained and they now get the original Cantonese track. Some of their DVD's are also not in their correct aspect ratio like DRUNKEN MASTER. I hope they re-release this as one of their Platinum Editions with the original soundtracks and correct aspect ratio. Now all their movies should be in their correct aspect ratio, as HKL listened to people who complained about DRUNKEN MASTER being cropped.

I think HKL is used as an example because they may not be perfect all the time but they seem to at least give it a try.

Matt
 

Chris Xolotl

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 28, 2001
Messages
482
New Dragon Gate Inn is also Mandarin only :frowning: and that I believe is a newer title, which disappoints me because it is such a great film!
 

DavidAnd

Auditioning
Joined
Apr 13, 2002
Messages
2
A tad off-topic, but France is getting a Special Edition of Fist of Legend. Two DVDs, containing, interestingly enough, both the original, uncut version and the Buena Vista version (on separate discs). By my best guess, it appears that the BV disc has English 5.1 on it, while the uncut has French dub and Cantonese, both in 2.0. At least the uncut has French subtitles. I'm definitely picking this baby up. Some previous posters appeared upset at the lack of a FOL with Cantonese, so I thought this may cheer at least some of them up.
 

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