Dreamworks Will Officially Release "Ringu" March 4th (Same day as re-make) (1 Viewer)

[YANG]

Will the original japanese language release be clean or suffered with cuts?
Like what other studios did to asian films released in U.S?

So far...only SHIRI and CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON is not edited...

 

[Dan Rudolph]

This is an exageration. Japanese stuff is hardly ever edited except for a few things American distributors see as aimed at kids. There's really no reason to edit Ringu that I can think of.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

There's really no reason to edit Ringu that I can think of.

There's no reason to edit any of the films Harvey Scissorhands gets his blades on either.

Dreamworks is founded by firm believers in creator's rights, therefore I believe it will be untouched

But since DW has no track record with foreign films, I remain pessimistic till someone's got the disc

 

[Travis D]

I'll bet my stack of chips that it somehow get's screwed up. Don't know how, but it'll happen.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Those tend to be theatrical releases, so they'll be modified for mass-market appeal. Same with stuff that editted for tv. If something going direct to video in the US, no reason to spend money tampering with it.

 

[YANG]

Those of you who have owned HK films released by hollywood studios, should have known that whoever the studio maybe...(WARNER,MIRAMAX,NEWLINE,CTHV),original versions gets cuts...

Like JEFF, me too is pessimistic on DREAMWORKS coming release. Only the final product will tell the truth.

HERO will be distributed by MIRAMAX in the U.S soon...if i am not wrong.
Mr HARVEY SCISSORHANDS will/may once again lay his artistic opinion on it.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Those tend to be theatrical releases, so they'll be modified for mass-market appeal. Same with stuff that editted for tv. If something going direct to video in the US, no reason to spend money tampering with it.

But Miramax does, on EVERY SINGLE HONG KONG FILM THEY GET!
They cut, slice, butcher, dub and change the entire meaning of films. For example, Legend of Zu, since Xiang Xiyuyi is not famous because of Crouching Tiger, they decided SHE SHOULD BE THE CENTRAL CHARACTER, AND CUT 20 MINUTES OF FILM AND REDUBBED VOICEOVERS TO MAKE IT THAT WAY (OK, I though Legend of Zu was AWFUL, but that's not the point) Fist of Legend had all references to the Japanese occupation of China removed, Shaolin Soccer on the current edit has the entire backstory of the film cut out for no reason!

Miramax goes out of their way to butcher foreign films, and that's the bottom line

 

[Richard Kim]

I have not seen either the original Ringu or the US remake. If I were to buy both on DVD, which one should I view first?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The real version, the original Japanese

and it's THE RING

RING!!!!!

by calling it Ringu you just sound ignorant, honestly. Katakana is meant to approximate, NOT be definative. Otherwise the Sony PlayStation would be called PuraiSutayshion in the Us, GameCube GamuCubo, XBox EhkusuBoxu and so on

 

[Bill McA]

Dreamworks is founded by firm believers in creator's rights, therefore I believe it will be untouched

Tell that to Neil Jordan who had his Dreamworks film, In Dreams cut and re-edited against his will.

 

[Tim RH]

Bill, where did you here that?

I'm assuming if DreamWorks did take the film from Jordan, it was only to improve (if possible) what was already a disaster of a film. Unfortunately, no one could save that movie. At least they released the thing!

 

[JonS]

I am not happy with Dreamworks at all. Just because they release a bare bones version of a superior film, to make their very bad remake look original, that they selfishly hid from the public. It is their duty to release this movie, since they bought the rights to it. They will probably only ship 1/5 amount of copies of the original as the remake to the stores.

I hope people mistakenly pick up the original. It needs to be seen.

The Ring is not a classic, it is a very poor remake of a much superior film. The remake embarrasingly failures in every aspect.

Stay far, far away from the remake. It is VERY VERY bad.

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

I am not happy with Dreamworks at all. Just because they release a bare bones version of a superior film, to make their very bad remake look original, that they selfishly hid from the public.

Bitch bitch bitch moan moan moan. Shouldn't we be happy that DreamWorks is even releasing the original Japanese film at all? Now if they really wanted the remake (which actually wasn't that bad considering how most remakes go) look original, they wouldn't release the original film at all onto DVD. Also, DVDs of the original film that are available don't really have that many extras. So where exactly will DreamWorks get extras from?

As long as the film is uncut, I'll be happy. What also would be nice if DreamWorks also releases the film's sequel and prequel.

 

[Justin_S]

That's just your opinion. THE RING is a new classic in my book, and the original film from Nakata is a classic as well in my eyes! I treasure both films, and being one of the original's biggest fans, I must say that the remake doesn't fail at all! At least Dreamworks is releasing the original, and if you don't like that, don't buy it. While I would love extras, none of the other region DVDs I've seen of the original have any extras either.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

They will probably only ship 1/5 amount of copies of the original as the remake to the stores.

Well, you're working under the assumption that the studio does the orders for the stores with that statement, couldn't be more wrong

The buyers at stores of course are going to order less of "that one where they don't speak English", and Dreamworks is going to fill the orders for what they get.

Dreamworks had an clause in their license that no one but them could license Ring until their remake was released, and that they had first right of refusal afterwards. They excercised their right, and they have fast tracked it and are not polluting it with a bad dub. That's respect in my book. I'd love some extras, but I'll deal.

I only hope that if it sells well, DreamWorks might pick up Battle Royale 1 and 2(Due in August 2003).

 

[ChrisJefferys]

I'm just happy that Dreamworks is releasing the original Ring at all, instead of sitting on it. As long as its uncut and untampered with, I'll be happy! I'm glad I can finally watch it with subtitles and understand more than about 10% of the dialogue. Lack of extras on the disc will be of no concern to me.

 

[Bill McA]

Bill, where did you here that?

This was widely reported in the trades around the time of the films release.
Neil Jordan wasn't too happy with the edit job, and those that did see the original cut said that it was a much better film.
After re-editing the film and reshooting the ending, Dreamworks decided to dump the film to theatres in the middle of January.
Dreamworks was also at the receiving end of a lawsuit from director Barry Levinson.
Apparently Dreamworks didn't like his film An Everlasting Piece and couldn't re-edit the film as Levinson had final cut.
They instead dumped the film in only a handful of theatres without any publicity.
Levinson sued, claiming that Dreamworks deliberately buried the film and in doing so, harmed his reputation.
I never found out how the suit was resolved.

 

[Tim RH]

If I remember correctly, DreamWorks won the Levinson lawsuit outright. Even if they didn't give the film a huge marketing push, they still fulfilled their part of the deal by releasing his film, if only in a few theaters.

 

[YANG]

"The real version, the original Japanese

and it's THE RING

RING!!!!!"

JEFF and fellow members...
If you guys love the RING(original japanese version),you will love another work from the same director...DARK WATER.
Another japanese horror boxoffice hit.

Other notable japanese horror films are...
UZUMAKI
SHIKOKU
KAKASHI

 

[Matthew Chmiel]

According to the back of the box...

The disc runs at 96 minutes.
The disc includes a new transfer created from the new high definition master.
The disc includes a newly remixed Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound track.
The disc has subtitles in English, French, and Spanish.