Jet Li's "Hero" Any word? (1 Viewer)

[Guy Martin]

Poker Industries has an R0 NTSC version with English subs that it claims is anamorphic. The runtime is listed as 98 minutes and includes a making-of featurette. Anyone have this? How's the quality?

Here's a link to the Poker Industries page:

http://www.pokerindustries.com/poker...HEROCH2002-DVD

- Guy

 

[MichaelPe]

Actually, there's an even better release which is (legally) available. It's a DVD-9 with DTS 5.1 and DD 5.1, anamorphic 1.85:1, Region 0 NTSC, English & Chinese (simplified/traditional) subtitles, and it's the 98 min cut. It's all over eBay...

 

[Guy Martin]

Michael -

Sounds good. Is there anywhere besides ebay where I can get that DVD? I've checked both Poker Industries and Hkflix and they don't carry it.
- Guy

 

[Guy_K]

I thought the visuals were beautiful, the fight scenes were amazing, and the themes the story presented were intriguing enough. However, I can't say it's without it's faults. I thought the acting was adequate (didn't really like Jet Li), the characterization was very poor, and I didn't really care about any characters. Overall I really enjoyed it though.. Definately worth a watch.

Comparing Hero to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, I definately prefer the latter, primarily because of the better characterization and (IMO) epic story structure.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Sounds good. Is there anywhere besides ebay where I can get that DVD? I've checked both Poker Industries and Hkflix and they don't carry it.

That's because it's owned by Miramax in the US, and they have threatened lawsuit against any domestic etailer that carries the HK versions of titles they own

try

http://www.dddhouse.com

 

[John Thomas]

You have to face the Earth Ninja's, Sun Ninja's (no fire), Water Ninja's, and some other one's

Reminds me of Invincible with Billy Zane and Dominic Purcell, of John Doe fame.

 

[Guy Martin]

Jeff-
Thanks for the link, but DDDHouse only lists an R3 DVD. I guess I'll just have to go to Ebay.

Funny that Miramax has no objection to the plain DD version, only the DTS version.
- Guy

 

[MichaelPe]

Michael -

Sounds good. Is there anywhere besides ebay where I can get that DVD? I've checked both Poker Industries and Hkflix and they don't carry it.

I'd say eBay is your best bet for now, but keep in mind that a special edition is in the works, as Matthew mentioned earlier. It should be available next month, and will contain the extended version of the film (an extra 18 minutes).

 

[Matthew Brown]

HKFLIX will be carrying the extended version when it is officially released. Basically, Miramax has to tell them specifically to stop carrying a title before they pull it and they haven't said anything yet. This is why they carried THE TOUCH for a little while.

Matt

 

[Guy Martin]

Good news! HK Flix now has the DTS version up for pre-order. They also have the two disc set available, but it's only R3. Not being multi-region equipped, looks like I'll be getting the DTS release.

A direct link:
http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID....qx/details.htm
- Guy

 

[Guy Martin]

Just got the DTS version. I only have a DD setup for now, but the DD track is amazing so I can only hope the DTS is even better (upgrading my receiver at the end of the month). As for the movie, I don't think I can come up with enough superlatives to describe it. Gorgeous cinematography. Really one of the most beautiful in recent years and should cement Chris Doyle as one of the master DPs of all time. Great performances, although I thought Tony Leung was the standout. Jet seems much more comfortable and expressive in Chinese than in English where he comes off a bit colorless. The fight between Tony and Jet at the Lake has become a real favorite of mine. And the story is very interesting; a sort of period-epic Rashomon. In short one of the best films this year, period, and well worth the $20 for the DVD (I ended up ordering from Poker Industries) especially when you consider that Miramax has the US rights and Harvey Scissorhands is probably going to work on it now.

Quick question does anyone have a translation for the opening crawl and the words which appear over the Great Wall at the end? I assume that they're some sort of historical background, a little bit of which I remember from the Asian history course I took in college.
- Guy

 

[MichaelPe]

Quick question does anyone have a translation for the opening crawl and the words which appear over the Great Wall at the end? I assume that they're some sort of historical background, a little bit of which I remember from the Asian history course I took in college.

I'm surprised the DVD didn't have this subtitled, but luckily, I grabbed the VCD screenshots:

 

[Guy Martin]

Michael-
Thanks!
- Guy

 

[MichaelPe]

No problem. I haven't yet seen the film, but I'll grab the screenshot of the "great wall" when I do.

 

[nate n]

Has anyone seen the extended version yet? Is it worth buying if you already have the regular version?

 

[Scott L]

I grabbed the DTS RSDL version too (pretty cheap on ebay!) and I love the fight scenes. As for the quality you can tell the DTS sounds better than the DD track if you listen close enough so holding out for the DTS is a good idea.

Video quality could definitely improve. Colors seem washed out and either the film grain or lousy compression is really annoying me. If the North American pressing is noticeably better on the video side (which it probably will be) AND it has the Mandarin track I'll pick it up too.

I'm pretty sure the extended version is just more story and drama which is already flooding the movie. If there's a fight scene in it though let us know!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Well Scott, I think you can count out the Mandarin track, and 5-20min of the movie :frowning:

 

[James_Kiang]

I thought it was just a difference of about 8 minutes?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

We have no idea how badly Miramax will destroy the film. But you can count on dub-only and cut

 

[Phil Florian]

Did they cut "Iron Monkey?" I didn't see the wide release as I own the import but I hear from a friend who saw both that if there were cuts, he missed them. The missing Mandarin/Cantonese track was more annoying. Why release them as dub only when Crouching Tiger (the real reason mainstream audiences will see HK/Chinese film today) did so well with subs. Grr...


Phil