Fox - Bruce Lee films - License versions from Hong Kong Legends??

[Henry Woo]

Peter, I believe Fox owns the North American rights to all of the Bruce Lee's films (except for 'Enter the Dragon' which Warner owns). These films which include Fists of Fury, The Chinese Connections, The Return of the Dragon and The Game of Death were first released by Fox onto dvd in a box set and then recently released individually. All versions were sub-par in terms of video, audio, little remastering and barebones extra.
I am just wondering if you are aware of a company called Hong Kong Legends in Britain who has released (or will be in the near future) remastered versions of the above titles and have loaded it with extras for Region 2 consumption. Has there been any talks or discussions to have Fox license these versions for North American releases? Though I am a die hard fan of the Hong Kong martial arts genre, I will not be buying the Fox versions until more effort and thoughts have been put into these releases. And I know many fans share the same thoughts. And since Hong Kong Legends have already made versions which would be very tough to beat, why not just license their versions? Heck, in the near future, they will be releasing a 2 dvd set for 'The Game of Death'.

 

[Henry Woo]

Doesn't anyone care to get the much better, remastered and loaded with extras "Hong Kong Legends" versions of the Bruce Lee films released here in North America? This company 'Hong Kong Legend' is like the Criterion of Hong Kong martial arts movies in terms of the money, effort and TLC that they put into remastering the films (which are often in poor conditions) and loading the dvd with quality extras like informative commentaries and rare interviews and trailers.
I know the fan base for the movies is a small one but it is a fierce and loyal one. Let gets some support behind this. I can't believe all of the fans are in Britain. Otherwise I going to have to get a regionless player (or PC) that does the PAL to NTSC conversion to enjoy these R2 dvds.

 

[Matthew Brown]

Henry -
I would love for the HKL to license their movies in America but they get their license based on their making PAL versions and only PAL versions. If they made NTSC versions, it would create competition against the company they buy the rights from as well as whoever owns the rights domestically, and themselves.
It's a shame that American companies don't take these movies seriously. Each company that tries doesn't try hard enough or doesn't want to. The only company that put a real effort behind it is Anchor bay and I am pretty sure it wasn't worth the hassle for them in the long run.
Another problem is that big American companies do marketing research that tells them that people don't like subtitles. They ignore the fact that fans of the genre want the original soundtrack with subtitles. Buena Vista does test screenings to see what the public wants. Not Hong Kong movie fans, the general public. This is another factor companies consider when obtaining rights to movies.
Matt
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Honk Kong DVD Reviews and News
loveandbullets.com

 

[Henry Woo]

Matthew, that is what I am hoping for. That the US film companies would license the rights from Hong Kong Legends (HKL) and Media Asia to release the HKL versions here in North America. They are heads and tails above anything released here presently. And though I am a hard core Hong Kong martial arts fan dating back to the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest films of the '70's and '80's, I will not buy any butcherized, barebones versions of these dvds when there are better versions being released abroad (at least for the Golden Harvest films).
That is why I am hoping that Fox (and Peter Straddon) will see the light first in terms of releasing the HKL versions of the Bruce Lee's films here. Then hopefully other studios like Miramax and Dimensions will do likewise.

 

[bill lopez]

I heard somewhere that they plan on releasing GAME OF DEATH with all the original footage on Hong Kong dvd.

 

[Richard Kim]

You know, this is something that we can bring up in the upcoming Fox chat.

 

[Henry Woo]

I can't make it to the Fox chat so if someone can bring this up with Peter, it would be very much appreciated.
Basically, I just want to know if Peter is aware of the fine work of Hong Kong Legends, and is there any chance of Fox licensing some of their dvd releases for release here in North America (particularly the Bruce Lee's films that Fox has the rights to here).
Thanks.