Hard Boiled - Uncut (1 Viewer)

[Guy Martin]

Hello All!

HKFlix is hyping a limited number of an "uncut" version of John Woo's Hard Boiled on DVD. They claim it has an additional five minutes of footage not seen on any other DVD, including the Criterion.

Here's the details:
http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID....qx/details.htm

Does anyone have a good idea what the additional five minutes contains? Are these additions approved of by Woo or are they scenes that he cut out that some shady distributor is adding back in to make a quick buck?

Hard Boiled is one of my favorite action films so I am most interested to learn more about this limited release. However $30 for a nonanamorphic release with a break in the middle seems pretty steep (especially since you can get the older version anamorphic and with DTS for just $16) so I'd like to know if the additions are really worth it.

- Guy

 

[Ian_H]

It would be interesting to see but this part scares me as to the quality of this disc:



The Hong Kong companies used (still do?)to gouge the hell out of retailers by taking a 90 minute flick and splitting them to two tapes and charging twice as much. Since its non-anamorphic and has burned in subs ....ugh...


-Ian

 

[Chris_Morris]

Check out the post on the Asian Cinema on DVD thread.



Chris

 

[Damin J Toell]

That post is referring to the longer version of The Killer, not Hard Boiled.

DJ

 

[Chas_Michael]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please note that due to the distributor using a master that came in two parts, there is a gap on the DVD containing a black screen. All you have to do is fast forward through it.


Why the Black Screen?

It mastered from a VHS copy!!!

 

[Chris_Morris]

That post is referring to the longer version of The Killer, not Hard Boiled.



That's right. I got confused by Matt stating earlier that he was going to review the new Hard Boiled.

Chris

 

[Matthew Brown]

I should have this DVD any day. I will post a link when I review it. I am going to mention the HKFLIX that this isn't really "uncut", just a different version.

Matt

 

[Guy Martin]

Matthew-

I look forward to your thoughts on this one!

- Guy

 

[Mark_Wilson]

A black gap sounds like a side change from a laserdisc copy.

 

[Matthew Brown]

Just watched the Taiwanese cut. I can say one thing, if you have only seen the movie once, you won't notice that much of a difference if any. The translation for the subtitles is slightly different so some scenes have a different feel to them.

There are scenes that are slightly different than the version that is already available. When Tequila and Tony are in the underground arsenal a reference is made to the gas that comes through the vents. I don't recall this in the other version. I also noticed that in the scene where Tequila does his one man attack in the garage, the subtitles actually mention that one of the vehicles are from the hospital.

I am going to try to watch both again before I write my full review. So far, I would only reccamend this for diehard fans of the movie. On the plus side, the video quality is pretty good for not being anamorphic. The break is a couple of minutes but I will time it. It starts off with color bars and goes to black.

I will probably have the ful review tomorrow.

Matt

 

[Matthew Brown]

There are definitely differences in the Taiwanese print from the one we all have seen before. Since I wanted to be thorough, I actually played the Taiwanese cut once all the way through and then along side the Criterion DVD so I could really spot any differences.

During the teahouse scene, there are a couple of extra seconds. Some shots are just a little bit longer. It's edited almost exactly the same as the Criterion version.

The two versions match just about identically up until the raid in the garage. Again, a few extra seconds here and there. There is a shot in both versions that features an ambulance from the hospital. The Taiwanese version shows subtitles while the other versions don't. This gives a little foreshadowing that isn't obvious to those who don't read Cantonese in the other versions.

Right after the garage raid, there is color bars and then a black screen for about 5 minutes. This is due to two different sources being used by the manufacturer. The movie again picks up and is just about identical to the Criterion up until the climax in the hospital. There are some scene in a slightly different order. For the most part, it's the intercutting of the SWAT teams doing there thing with the scenes with the main characters.

One noticeable change is a little added voice over from Johnny when Tequila and Tony are trapped in weapons storage area of the hospital. He refers to the gas that is released and says they will die in ten minutes. It may have been one of the commentaries either on the Criterion or Winstar DVD's where Woo mentions that this was the original idea but it was thought to be a little out of context because there really wouldn't really be a reason why a hospital would be built that would have an area where poison gas is released on queue. I think he said it could be freon or something for refrigeration. Again, a few seconds are picked here and there with some slightly different editing.
All in all, much like the Taiwanese print of THE KILLER, most may not see a difference. This is only recommended for die hard fans.

Matt

 

[Guy Martin]

Matthew-

Very thorough! Thanks. So basically it seems like this is some kind of rough cut that really wasn't meant for wide distribution. Sounds like a pass to me.
- Guy

 

[Matthew Brown]

Guy -

Thanks!

I can't say I was really disappointed. After seeing the Tawanese cut of THE KILLER, I was able to keep things in perspective.

It's an interesting watch. It's like getting your favorite dinner at a different restaurant. Sometimes there's just subtle differences.

Matt