shadokitty

Here's a movie to avoid if you have the MC Warriors 50 movie set, The Ten Gladiators. The sound is so muffled, I could barely hear anything, even with my TV turned up. Therefore I can't make a recommendation on if the story is any good or not.

Ash Ketchum

Agreed. I was lucky to see the first three OUaTIC films on the big screen. I bought the three-pack some 12-13 years ago and, yeah, it looked bad. My entire history of tracking down HK films on home video has been a steady stream of seeking upgrades, first on VHS and then on DVD and, in rare cases, Blu-ray (I think I have about five HK films on Blu-ray). I remember thinking back in 1993-94 how lucky I was to find a dealer who sold VHS copies of films made from Laserdisc. At least they were subtitled and, usually, LBX.

The main problem, of course, as I alluded to in my post above on SHANGHAI EXPRESS, is that there are so many different versions of some of these films. I have a perfectly good legit VHS copy of CHINATOWN KID, English-dubbed and LBX, and it turns out to be 25 min. longer than the Celestial R3 "restored and remastered" DVD release. Not only that, but the short version was entirely recut with characters missing and a completely different ending. Evidently, two versions were shot for two different markets. I'm holding onto that VHS, which has the better cut and the better, bleaker ending.

Trevor

Thoughts and prayers with you two Shado. Maybe you can keep her company with her favorite crime/mystery series.

BobO'Link

I have the 3 film Sony(?) set (link to Amazon - I'm at work so don't know for sure but the box is identical). They are supposedly WS, original language, good subtitles, each film on its own disc.

LorenzoL

I have a feeling that any company (Asian or Western) faces tremendous challenge in bringing Chinese/HK movies to the home market because of the very practice that you indicated above (having different cuts for different markets) along with having to deal with Mandarin/Cantonese tracks, English Dubs and the proper subtitles. Also nobody truly knows if the original prints are in good conditions or if in some cases they exists. I truly believe that when a company such as Criterion cannot properly bring classics such as "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer" to North America, what hope other companies have. The now OOP DVD Criterion versions of "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer" are not even the definite versions since there were non-anamorphic and the PQ were very poor even with the extensive supplements. Whether they were poor sellers or they had difficulty obtaining proper masters, they never bothered renewing the licenses. Also out of their extensive collection, the only other HK movies in their library were "Chungking Express" (which is OOP) and "In The Mood For Love" if I remember correctly. Then for comparison, look how well represented is the Japanese cinema, including the Chanbara genre, in the Criterion Collection. I love Japanese cinema but you are telling me, that HK cinema doesn't have classics comparable to what Criterion have offered so far in Japanese movies. I doubt it. So it leads me to conclude that the owners of the HK movies are difficult to deal with or that the original prints are in very poor condition. Maybe someday during my lifetime, I'll have a proper HD remastered version of some of the HK classic movies. One can dream...

It looks like they just packaged the individual movies into the set. The Amazon links are my version for the first two as I never bought the 3rd one.
Prepare to be disappointed on the quality of the transfer as even upscaled on my Blu-ray player, is a very poor quality. Very "fuzzy" look.

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Time...+time+in+china

http://www.amazon.com/Once-Upon-Time...+time+in+china

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OothhfMaElU

I don't think it's that bad. It's from the Mill Creek set as indicated by the watermark.

I watched American Empire from their Western Classics set last night. It was decent at most. A guy gets the idea to buy land in Texas and get into cattle with his buddy. They buy up a bunch of land and piss off the neighbors when they don't want them driving their cattle through their land. Then there's the criminal guy with the french accent from Louisiana causing trouble, instead of the more typical bandito character. The only real difference is the accent.

shadokitty

Thank you.
I didn't mean it was a bad movie, I just couldn't hear what was going on.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

I know, I meant the audio. Is it worse than that link? I had headphones on, so maybe it's worse on a tv. I had a similar issue with Alien Zone from one of their sets. Had to turn it up to even halfway hear it and there wasn't a single alien in the entire movie.

shadokitty

It could have been the headphones. I just checked the link, and to hear it average volume, had to have my comp turned up to 90 %

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

When I watched clips of that film, I could have sworn I'd seen it before. On the other hand, how many swords and sandal films look exactly like that with the same dubbed voices?

shadokitty

I've seen so much peplum this month, it all blends together.

BobO'Link

OK... that link I posted *is* what I have. It's from Sony with all films at 2.35:1 which pretty much matches what people say about those individual releases. As I still watch on a 32" CRT I don't expect them to look *too* bad. At least the set only cost $4 at BL.

LorenzoL

7 Grandmasters (1977)
I watched it on Hulu Plus as they have the English Dubbed version. It was better than watching it on Youtube. Not a great PQ on this one.

The movie is about a Kung Fu master planning to retire as the best martial artist in the world and appoint his successor but he receives a note indicating that he's not and thus embark on a quest to defeat the "7 Grandmasters" of Martial Arts and to prove once and for all, he's the best. Along his travel with his group, they pick up another person, who's father was killed on a Kung Fu duel, and eventually, he becomes the Kung Fu Master student. The student eventually figures out who killed his father after some twists and turns which leads to the final duel. Yes, that is the convoluted plot of this movie with a few details left out not to ruin the "twist".

This film is always talked about as one of the better Kung Fu movie that is not a Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest production. I believe this one was made in Taiwan. I'm aware that they probably didn't have the big budget as the other movie studios but I wasn't impressed with this movie with the exception of the fighting sequences. The plot was average and the leads were not very charismatic.

Invincible Armour (1977)
Another Taiwanese production but this one is much better with Hwang Jang Lee, John Liu and Phillip Ko. I watched this movie on Youtube since it's not available anywhere.

Plot is much better with a Minister, who's skilled in the ways of the Iron Armour, framing a diplomat of murder. This diplomat is trying to find the real killer while on the run but along the way, a brother and sister teach him about the iron armour and the iron finger. Eventually, the minister's plot is revealed and the big showdown happens in his place.

This one deserves to be ranked as one of the best Martial Arts movies as the plot is above average and contains some great fighting sequences. Loses points on originality as the villain and the Martial Arts techniques are "borrowed" from Executioners from Shaolin even though is not Pai Mei.

The Victim (1980)
Another Sammo Hung movie that I can't find "legally" here in North America. I watched this movie on Youtube. Leung Kar Yan (Beardy) stars with Sammo Hung.

This movie is about "adopted" siblings rivalry and their love for the same woman. Sammo plays Fatty, trying to become the student of Leung Kar Yan's character. However, he refuses to accept him as he and his wife are hiding from his "brother".

This movie is great. It starts off as a comedy and then gets melodramatic from the middle part until the end. Fighting sequences are great on this. I like the fact that Sammo lets others take the spotlight and play secondary roles in his movies. I'm noticing a pattern in Sammo's movies. He always uses the mixture of comedy and drama, some with more success than others. This one is a good example of his better efforts.

The Prodigal Son (1981)
Another Sammo movie and this one is a classic. Yuen Biao stars as the spoiled son of a rich nobleman who half heartily studying Kung Fu and his father pays his opponents to lose against him. Once he finds out the truth, he ask a Kung Fu master to be his teacher.

I have the Fox DVD which unfortunately only contains a 5.1 track with additional FX sounds. At least it doesn't contain dubtitles.

This movie is highly regarded because of its realistic depiction of Wing Chun via Lam Ching-ying character in this movie. Sammo has another great minor role as the brother of Lam Ching-ying character and the actress playing his daughter is great too. This one skips the "heavy" drama present in Sammo other movies.

Once Upon a Time in China I (1991)
The movie that made Jet Li a superstar. Jet Li's portrayal of Wong Fei Hong is exceptional even with the use of wires. He's joined by Yuen Biao and Rosamund Kwan.

The thing with this movie is that is very nationalistic in nature to an almost preachy nature. The movie portray an era where foreign forces where in China and the conflict that it arise with their presence.

As I said before, the Columbia/Tri-Star DVD has bad PQ even with their supplements.

sleepyhead55

Finally watched Kill Bill Vol 2 today and had real trouble just getting through it. Some parts I found interesting (like the Gordon Liu part) but for most of the film I just kept on wondering why the first one was so much more interesting and focused. I will say that I enjoyed the ending a lot more than the first time I saw this.

Ash Ketchum

I have all these films on either VHS or DVD, sometimes in multiple editions. I'm wondering what the source of Hulu's version of 7 GRANDMASTERS is. Tokyo Shock put out a great-looking DVD of it some eleven years ago, in both English-dubbed and Mandarin-language versions. That's the one I rave-reviewed on Amazon (and you might be quoting from that review). I'm hoping Hulu had that version and not the full-frame English dubbed VHS bootleg that had been circulating for years before that. I have the HK import DVD of THE PRODIGAL SON and remember liking that version a lot. It was one of the very first DVDs I bought after first buying a DVD player in January 2001.

BobO'Link

I opened my copy of The Rockford Files S2 a few days ago to check the packaging (another forum indicated it was pretty bad but other than being digipak it wasn't) so I decided to watch the season since it was open. It's a old favorite. My grandson came in while a episode was playing and asked what it was. I tell him and mention Rockford is a PI. He asked "Like Monk?" and I had to explain "kind of but not really." He was exhausted (time change, testing, ball practice all caught up at once) and fell asleep quickly so I'll have to try that one on him another time.

shadokitty

I've begun watching some real life crime shows when I catch a good one on. One show I've grown to like is North Woods Law on Animal Planet, about the jobs of game wardens in Maine.

Ash Ketchum

What kind of crime, I wonder. I have this image of forest rangers arresting bears for stealing picnic baskets. "Come along, Yogi, you know the routine."

davidh777

It was also my understanding that there are a lot of movies with the same title and same cast, making them pretty hard to sort through and tell apart. Granted this is based on limited knowledge I gathered for a one-time research project so that might be offbase.

shadokitty

Poaching, speeding, drunk driving, drugs, exotic animal possession, etc. Basically it's like Cops, only with game wardens.

LJG765

Hmm, I just picked up Vol. 2 at the library myself so I could watch it for the first time. (Just watched Vol. 1 earlier this challenge). Hope I can make it through this one...

MysterioMan007

As much as I love James Bond, I will be so glad to complete this box set by the end of the week and move on to wherever my whim takes me. I'm a little burned out on him.

Ash Ketchum

I watched the two-hour season finale of "Empire" on Fox tonight. I'd say it's got enough crime to fit this challenge. One attempted murder, a brutal fight, one killing, one arrest for murder, a catfight, and an aspiring white hiphopper who murders rap music with his lame rhymes.

LJG765

Two years ago I made that my challenge and I agree, by the end, I just wanted to move on to something else!

Just finished watching Kill Bill Vol. 2. I have to say, I enjoyed it more than Vol. 1. I really enjoyed the first chapter-the wedding-the most out of both movies. Thought that the



Overall, glad to have gotten these off my to watch list, now I don't have to watch them again. I can see why people enjoyed them, but not so much why they've become classics other than Tarantino was the director.

When I picked Vol. 2 up from the library, I grabbed a few others randomly. I saw that they had The Day the Earth Stood Still, G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra and The Green Hornet, so rented those as well. I see that The Day the Earth Stood Still is only Sci-Fi in IMDb, but I think I'll watch it anyway as I haven't seen it yet. They also had the Keanu Reeves remake which I should have picked up too for the check list, but oh well. Maybe if I enjoy the first one, I'll see if it's still there.

sleepyhead55

I've realized that I have to be really alert to watch Tarentino films. The last two times I've watched his films while I've felt a little tired, I've generally hated the experience.

Another part I liked from Vol II was the black and white intro and the music. It seemed very film noir like. I'm debating whether or not to watch Jackie Brown. It's more of a crime film which is right up my alley.

Anyway watched The Last Kiss Goodnight yesterday and enjoyed that one a lot. It has some great comedic bits (mostly from Samuel L. Jackson) and some nice action sequences. Brian Cox has a small role in this and I realized it's very similar to his role in Red. This one comes highly recommended.