Hard Boiled Anamorphic now available all region (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Brown]

Here's a preliminary review. I watched most of it but when it's a big movie like this I really try to watch it twice before writing a full review.

The subtitles are acceptable. Occasional minor spelling errors. The translation is fairly close to the Criterion one but it does differ at times. I'm not sure why, but it seems that this translation emphasises the fact that the police department is throwing undercovers in the field without any regard for their safety or those of the uniformed officers.

The original mono track is included. It sounds good. The 5.1 is louder, more robust and heavier on the bass. Not much going on in the rear speakers.

The film print used for the transfer has some specks and pinhole types of damage at times. It's not the best print but I have never seen a pristine one. I didn't expect a film restoration so I can't say I'm disappointed. It's watchable but it's average in comparison to older movies from imports. After watching several movies from Hong Kong, you sort of start to compare them to other imports as opposed to main releases in the US. It'd break your heart otherwise! So overall, the print could have been better but it's not horrible.
The transfer itself isn't bad on the 47 inch TV. I need to watch the Criterion again before I can say which is better. Some of the scenes that I thought would look bad actually looked pretty good. The scene in the chop shop were Chow Yun Fat storms in is one of them. I thought all the smoke would cause prblems but it was ok. I will have comparison screen shots in a day or so. I know most people just want to know if it's worth the upgrade from the Criterion so I want to be able to answer that for everybody.

There aren't any extras on the Mei Ah dvd. I would keep the Criterion DVD regardless.

I will write much more detail when I watch some of the Criterion DVD again. At this point, I can definitely reccamend this DVD if you are in Region 1 and don't own it. As far as an upgade is concerned, I can say I like the transfer better than Winstar's even though the source print isn't as good. I am watching this on a 47 inch Panasonic RPTV.

Matt

 

[TonyE]

Thanks alot Matthew for giving us your first impressions! If the subtitles are not far off from the other releases then i probably won't have a problem with them. What i really can't wait for is at least one screen shot comparison between this, the Criterion, and the Winstar version. I currently have the Winstar version, and this would be the deciding factor for me. Once again, thanks for a quick preview of your review. You've been lots of help!

 

[Mark_Wilson]

Found these on DVD Talk a few days ago:

http://www.geocities.com/dtaveras00/first.html

http://www.geocities.com/dtaveras00/second.html

http://www.geocities.com/dtaveras00/third.html

http://www.geocities.com/dtaveras00/fourth.html

 

[TonyE]

Am i right that the Criterion and Winstar transfers were very similar. Cuz if i am, then i am a happy camper and will go ahead and order this new version.....

 

[Matthew Brown]

Criterion and Winstar had the same exact master but the Winstar was a little brighter.

TonyE -
What size TV do you have? I only ask because the Winstar didn't look so hot when it was on my 47 inch TV. It looks much better on a smaller set like a 27 inch. I think this is an important factor in considering an upgrade. I am going to try to finish my review up later tonight. I noticed that some of the reviews I have read so far on forums have been overly positive. I just want to present the facts so people can make a good decision without getting their hopes up.

Matt

 

[Edward Schatz]

I have to say the best DVD release of Hard Boiled in terms of picture quality is the HKVideo release for the French market. It has a beautiful, color corrected picture that is remarkably clean, fresh and vibrant. It has a mono and 5.1 DD track. The only problem is, no English subs. :frowning:

 

[Matthew Brown]

Here's the review.

http://www.loveandbullets.com/Hardboiledmarm.htm

I'd post it here but the screen shots are big.

Edward -
I believe the French sutitles are forced so even if you wanted to just hear the Cantonese soundtrack the French subs would still show. I have heard that the HKVIDEO is great also.

Buena Vista has US rights so we will never see a director's cut with the original language for Region 1.

Matt

 

[Matthew Brown]

I apologize for the typos in the review! It was very late when I put it up and didn't catch them.

Matt

 

[Matt<>Broon]

Not to worry, it was an interesteing and informative review. I think I may get this release as well just for the anamorphic print, the Criterion looks so dark next to it.

You have no idea how disconcerting it is to see your name you know.


The other Asian film fanatic Matt Brown.

 

[TonyE]

Thanks alot for the review Matthew! I think the transfer looks great, not to mention it's anamorphic. Being this movie is really important to me, since it is one of my favorite action movies of all time, I have just ordered my copy. I'm mean it's only $9.95, how awesome is that! I will still hold onto my Winstar disc for John Woo's commentary and for a subtitle comparison. I am really interested to see what the differences are in the translation.

Matthew, you and loveandbullets.com have helped me with several of my purchase decisions. I always want to make sure i grab a good disc before it goes OOP (which it always does!) What you guys do, really helps. Also, thanks to you and HKFlix for the great deal!

 

[Matthew Brown]

Thanks for the compliments!
Since I was able to do the promotion with HKFLIX I was really careful to just state the facts. I didn't want it to look like I was overhyping the DVD.

All the reviews are written as if a friend asked me how a DVD was and I told them. I wanted to create the atmosphere I used to get when I would go to NYC and buy tapes. There was always some guy working there who knew about every one of the movies and would just talk to you like he knew you all your life.

The site is going to get a major update soon because a lot has gone out of print and other things have changed. I now have to update every reference to the HARD BOILED dvd's! It's just me but sometimes I get some great contributions from Matt Stevens.

I am going to watch the movie again and update the review if need be. I was checking the sound options on the fly so I want to watch it again straight through in mono just to make sure I didn't miss anything. This is a high profile movie so I have to be better than 100% on everything. I usually hear about it very quickly if I'm not!

I'll be totally honest in saying that until I compared the new DVD against the previous ones on the 47 inch TV, I was a tad skeptical about a full reccamendation. After watching the same scenes in succession from the different versions, this new one was the winner. If anybody is unimpressed with this DVD, they only have to watch the other ones back to back to change their mind.

Matt -
When I started my job there were 4 other people with my name! E-mail was a nightmare!

Matt

 

[Edward Schatz]

The French subtitles are forced. Does anyone know of a player that is as good as the Malatas that can remove forced subs?

 

[Chris Xolotl]

Thanks for the deal Matt. I was holding off for a stack to order from HK. But, this is a better deal. Good Job as always!

 

[ChrisJefferys]

Thanks for the informative review, Matt. When you say that this DVD lacks the "jump frames" that some of the other versions had, are you referring to the "jitter" that often appears in the picture when the scene changes? I know that this is caused by print damage and is often hard to fix, but I've always found it distracting on my Winstar disc, so if it is less noticable (or non existant) on the new disc, an upgrade is definitely in order for me.

 

[Joshua_Y]

Well...hell...looks like I might just buy this...can I order it off Amazon...or buy it at a store or what...


Also...any word on The Killer getting similar treatment...or Bullit in the Head?

 

[Matt<>Broon]

Also...any word on The Killer getting similar treatment...or Bullit in the Head?

Joshua, I believe the HK Legends range (nearly the only reason I buy my native R2 DVD's!) has been picked up for release in the US and they put out a very good anamorphic edition of The Killer with a cleaned up image and a full length commentary from the ever entertaining Bey Logan. I would imagine the film will make its way out over there although I have to confess I don't know exactly how the rights stand in the US.

If you're multi region capable of course the HK legends store should ship it to you and they do some pretty good deals online.

 

[Matthew Brown]

ChrisJefferys -
yep! That jumping frame thing. Supposedly Mei Ah found new source materials for this release.

For the KILLER, here are reviews of all teh different versions.
http://www.loveandbullets.com/killerdvd.htm

The Hong Kong Legends Region 2 is the best at the moment that has English subtitles. The French HKVIDEO version is good for diehard Woo fans because it is a two DVD set and while the main feature had forced French Subtitles, there is a Tawanese cut that is more like a work print. It has burned in English subs.

BULLET IN THE HEAD is also coming from Hong Kong Legends for Region 2 perhaps by the end of the year. It may be a two DVD set.

Forget about Region 1 with these titles. Buena Vista has the rights to these. If they ever do release them, they will be R-rated cuts with English dubs. I have a source that is about 2 removed from John Woo and he said Woo was pissed that Buena Vista wanted to do this. This is the closest thing to a scoop I ever got!

Supposedly they have had BULLET IN THE HEAD for a long time and aquired THE KILLER and HARD BOILED around the time the Winstar version went out of print.

Matt

 

[Matthew Brown]

Just a little note : hkflix is out of stock but they will be getting more a a couple of days.
The promo I have should be good for the whole month.

Matt

 

[RichD]

Just got my copy. Thanks to Matt for pointing out a good deal (except seeing this film again forced me to spend 2x as much to get the good copy of the Killer )

One question -- the opening credits appear cropped. Is this the correct aspect ratio for the film? IMDB says 1.85:1, so it's in the ballpark. Just thought I'd ask.

I'm really happy with the transfer. The source print obviously isn't the best, but it looks great on my 92" screen.

 

[Matthew Brown]

RichD-
The screenshots I have look like the apspect ratio is about the same as the Winstar and Criterion. I have seen somebody mention that they thought it was slightly cropped at the sides even though I didn't see this. I don't have an incremental zoom on my current DVD player so I wasn't able to adjust for overscan. The Winstar version has a hair more information on the left side.

Seeing this on a 92 inch screen must be incredible! You gain so much from seeing this on a big screen. Mad Dog's facial expressions give such a depth to his character that is just lost on a small screen.

Matt