Hard Boiled/The Killer on eBay (1 Viewer)

[Neil Campbell]

Hi. I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this but it seemed close and there's a fair amount of traffic so here's hoping.

Does anyone have any experience and hints about how to get legitimate Fox Lorber versions of these DVDs on eBay? I see information everywhere that suggests almost everything on eBay is a bootleg, although all sellers have a long diatribe in their listing that says their products are legit.

I'm looking at one that has both DVDs for $23.95 Buy It Now with 26 copies being available. The seller has 20,000 feedback that are 99% positive but I've e-mailed with some questions about why he has so many and why the outside box for the two DVD set is not included, etc. He has not responded.

I'm thinking that many people may provide positive response even if they get a "good" pirated copy??

Is there any way to tell or do I spend my money and take my chances?

Thanks for any advice.

Neil C.

 

[Phil_La]

Hi. I bought this same DVD set on ebay last year and it's the real thing, not an import (although mine came with the box). The first thing to do is make sure they're a US seller. You have to check the item location and what country they registered in (look under their username).

I just looked at the same auction that you are and it appears to be legit. He actually states this:

"ALL DVD SETS ARE BRAND NEW AND FACTORY SEALED. THESE ARE THE OFFICIAL U.S. RELEASES FROM FOX LORBER. THE OUTSIDE BOX IS MISSING FROM THIS SET BUT EACH DVD IS GUARANTEED TO BE BRAND NEW & FACTORY SEALED AND GUARANTEED TO BE THE OFFICIAL U.S. EDITIONS RELEASED BY FOX LORBER. WE DO NOT SELL ILLEGAL BOOTLEGS."

However, if it doesn't come with the box, he's essentially selling both individual DVDs and advertising it as the box set. As far as I know, the individual DVDs are exactly the same as the ones that come in the box. If you really want the box, you might have to find it used. Otherwise, I think they're the legit, individual DVDs.

 

[Neil Campbell]

Phil, thanks for the comments. I had been thinking about the same as you. I'll likely go for it and hope for the best.

Neil C.

 

[TonyD]

if that falls through, "I" know someone who has that for sale.
box included.

 

[Yee-Ming]

FYI, there's a new R3 release in Hong Kong that was supposed to have been released last week but has been delayed a bit due to some unspecified manufacturing error. So you might want to hold off until reviews/reports come in on that one.

 

[Matthew Brown]

Yee-Ming
I don't know if an error, but I've seen the Woo Set listed as All Region on all the sites it's listed on. This really has the potential to be the BEST release of this movie, extras aside.

Matt

 

[Alfonso_M]

"Hard boiled" was also released with anamorphic video and dts audio, all regions.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Does anyone know if Criterion has plans to reissue these?

I've read that the recent Hong Kong Legends R2 disc has improved on the video transfer and audio...

I wonder if Criterion plans on revisiting these titles with new anamorphic video transfers?

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Btw... what "box" are you guys referring to in discussion of these Criterion discs?

I was unaware that they were ever offered in DVD format as a "box-set" from the CC?

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

woops, I should have read through more attentively..

I just assumed when I heard talks of Ebay, bootlegs and high-prices, that they were referancing the Criterion versions.

In any case, does anyone know if there's any potential in revisiting these titles from CC?

 

[Yee-Ming]

Whaddya know, it does seem to be "all-region" -- I didn't pay attention since I have a region-free machine anyway (heck, just about all DVD players here are region-free ), but this is good news for those of you who are "region challenged". And the "A Better Tomorrow" set is also all-region.

I see the revised release date is today -- hopefully my set ships and gets here in time for the weekend, then I'll try to watch at least some of it and have some comments. But you'd appreciate that with Euro 2004 on right now, sleep is likely to be a bigger priority over the weekend...

 

[Jon Martin]

Do you mean Fox Lorber or Criterion?

The Fox Lorber set shouldn't be that rare. I still see copies in stores. Finally bought my own copy a few months ago. It may be out of print, but there were plenty of them out there.

But the Criterion are quite rare.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

They're referring to the Fortune Star Hong Kong box set that's coming out soon:

http://us.yesasia.com/en/SrAllDept.a...n+Woo&x=19&y=5

This set, however, does NOT include HARD BOILED, but it will be nice to see THE KILLER given the treatment its deserved since 1989.

The Fox Lorber editions are still available in some stores, but the picture quality on them is pretty feeble. The audio commentaries are OK, though nothing overly enlightening.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

They're referring to the Fortune Star Hong Kong box set that's coming out soon:

http://us.yesasia.com/en/SrAllDept.a...n+Woo&x=19&y=5

This set, however, does NOT include HARD BOILED, but it will be nice to see THE KILLER given the treatment its deserved since 1989.

The Fox Lorber editions are still available in some stores, but the picture quality on them is pretty feeble. The audio commentaries are OK, though nothing overly enlightening.

 

[Nick T Robot]

I once sold both Criterions DVDs and the Paul Champagne DVD case on eBay for $350



The DVD's themselves cost me about 50 each on eBay and I needed money about a year later. Otherwise I wouldn't have sold them. Great DVDs!

 

[Nick T Robot]

I once sold both Criterions DVDs and the Paul Champagne DVD case on eBay for $350



The DVD's themselves cost me about 50 each on eBay and I needed money about a year later. Otherwise I wouldn't have sold them. Great DVDs!

 

[Jeff(R)]

Has anyone seen the following version of The Killer yet? What's the quality like?

http://www.lasersedge.com/item_detai...39581&tMedia=1

Studio: Universe Laser
Region Coding: All
Video:Non-Anamorphic 1.85:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[jason:g]

The problem with all Hong Kong movies, even the new ones, is that the film has white/coloured specks and streaks throughout the movie! I suppose they would have to spend a very long time going through and colouring in those white specks.

 

[Brian Thibodeau]

That's not the best version available. Print quality is on par with pretty much every release so far. Tolerable, but in need of a clean-up. The 5.1 is pretty feeble. I still find it difficult to believe this movie wasn't at least released in stereo, considering other big HK flicks from the time at least had that. I know mono prevailed in most cases, but a film like this could have at least benefited from even two-channel sound. Nonetheless, this version frequently turns up in the Weekly Cheap Sale over at www.DDDhouse.com for under $4 US (about $25HK), so if you want it, get it there.

 

[Devin_C]

Yeah, that's the one I have. It's ok, but not great by any means. The other problem I have with it are the poor chapter stops and incorrect spellings in the text bonus materials - but you get what you pay for, of course.