Hero R2 Japanese release on 2005/01/28, info? (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

Are the extras on the 2-disc set in Cantonese or Mandarin?

"Furigana" is the collective term for the Hiragana and Katakana phonetic alphabets when used to spell out the pronunciation of words written in Kanji.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

Whoops - partial sending. Please ignore!:b

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

Thanks for the Furigana feedback folks! I just tried to place the order again, and this time also picked a lengthier password in case the all japanese page I hit was telling me that I needed a longer one!

It worked without incident. Billing went like this-
DVD 1905Y
Shipping 900Y

Total 2805Y... which according to Currency Converter is right now $26.81.

I've heard a lot about the quality of this release, so I hope I can see a nice improvement on my 53" screen.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

I did actually receive this yesterday - it only took 5 days from Japan, which surprised me!

I have taken a look at it and compared it with the EDKO. I will say that the comparison shots at DVDbeaver really match what I'm seeing on my 53" projection set. The first thing that you really notice with the Japanese release is the different colors, and then(comparing the first conversation with Nameless and the Emperor) a slightly sharper look. I found that I preferred the Japanese colors in several instances, but still found the EDKO to be a very satisfying disc.

For lovers of this film (like myself!) this is a cheap way to get the best version, but if you're a bit less enthusiastic, the EDKO is a fine release.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Wow, Bleddyn... your's already arrived?!?

I ordered from amazon.jp probably a few days after you did, selecting the standard delivery... supposedly taking up to 3 weeks to deliver, as I recall! The disc was dispatched the following day, and seeing as you and I live in about the same part of the world (yay Pats! yay Sox! keep it up BC, and congrats to the men and women's hoop teams at UCONN!), perhaps I'll have mine by the weekend!

And I'm especially glad to hear that this transfer is the same as the previous J-R2 disc. The color timing, as you noted, is a dead giveaway.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

Fingers crossed for a quick delivery for you too, Rich. My estimated delivery date from amazon was 2/24 to 3/3! I was very pleased to see that their delivery estimates are so pessimistic.

As someone who really became a Sox fan on arrival here in '88, the last year has had a real touch of fantasy to it compared to those far-away days of Boggs n' Clemens!

Now to see if the Starmax "House of Flying Daggers" outperforms the EDKO. Good chance, because even EDKO's new 2-disc isn't as good as their "Hero" disc to my eyes.

 

[Citizen87645]

Do you have info about the Starmax release of Daggers? Last I heard the listing for it on dvdasian.com was replaced by the Columbia/Tri-Star release (which BTW is officially April 19).

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

Cameron, a fellow over at DVD talk has a friend who has the disc, and reviewed it for another site. He claims that the source print is the same as that used for Australia, and that it is better than that used by EDKO. However, he was unaware that there were two pressings from EDKO, and so may be comparing it with the older, poorer 1-disc version. Until someone has both discs for a proper comparison, who knows?

DVDasian aren't listing the title probably because of the fuss Miramax made over imported copies of Hero - although Columbia have HOFD, retailers in the US may be toeing the line right now.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Yes, the Starmax release is still somewhat of an unknown quantity... and unfortunately it seems to be disappearing fast (limited edition and all that). I held off... wondering now if that was a bad move.

On the other hand, Starmax certainly isn't averse to re-releasing titles under the mantle of "Ultimate" or "Final" or "Really this time we mean it when we say it's the last one" versions.

(But if this one really is as good as we suspect, maybe I will try to track a copy down somewhere.)

 

[Citizen87645]

Thanks Bleddyn. I located the thread you mentioned, but again I wonder what my limit is on the number of times I buy this film

Rich, if you're interested there appears to be a couple copies of the Starmax on eBay. There is also a link to a place that sells it in the DVDTalk thread, but the price is about 29.00. I can't vouch for the retailer though as I've never heard of it before.

 

[Runar_R]

If you want the Starmax-edition of HOFD, you can still get the 'plain' version from any korean web-retailer (koreandvds.com dvdheaven.com dvdfromkorea.com.......). Expect to pay about 20$.



Incidently, my 'limited edition' is on it's way to me now......

 

[Citizen87645]

Hey Runar, would you be interested in taking some screen caps and doing a comparison with the Edko 2 disc version? I have the Edko...

 

[Runar_R]

Cameron_Y,
I'll most likely do that. I have the 1-disc and the 2-disc limited Edko already. And from the specs presented, it looks like I'll get the R1-version as well.
:b

 

[Dan Hitchman]

So, I'm confused, is the Edko DTS-ES track a totally different remix with 7 discrete channels, or is it ES matrix (basically the same track as the 5.1 mix, but flagged to put your decoder into ES matrix mode)?

On DVD Beaver they said although the transfer was crappy (thanks a lot Miramax!) the DTS 5.1 track was the best of the lot.

I have the Miramax DVD and the video is indeed crap, but the DTS track is superb and very involved (and I forced it into ES matrix mode).

Which version gives the best audio with the best video?

Dan

 

[Les Fowler]

My reciever tells me if a DTS track is discrete 6.1 or matrixed 6.1 and my Edko 2 disc is 6.1 discrete and sounds terrific.