emachine12

No, neither does CineAsia in the UK.

hanshotfirst1138

My friend's upscaled Blu-Rays looked mighty pretty on his PS3, back when it worked. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I hadn't heard about that, but it's certainly disappointing, especially when you consider they tend to sell to the collector's market and to a very specific audience who probably have a vested interest in such things. I'm willing to pay more if the product is properly released. I'd pay way too much for something I really wanted.

Well, lets face it, the Weinstein's treatment of Hong Kong cinema is more than a little notorious, but they must have had tons of money to throw at the studios if they've had their 10 year+ death grip. I kept hoping if their rights to stuff ever expired (doubting they ever would), that perhaps a company with the proper respect for the fans and the films might finally get a hold of them after 30+ years, but alas, that looks dashed as well. Though I wonder if DD had any non-Fortune Star titles? Fortune Star looked like they'd be gleaming hopes as well, and so far, no luck.

Their website is still up.

Whom? Were they another Weinstein company? I know HKL have been dead and gone for a good few years now. God, I miss the Asian DVD Guide forums. So much.

mrhan

CineAsia re-released HKL's titles after they folded.

Also, I doubt this new release from Shout is going to be any better than the Jpn releases. A lot of people say their marginally better than the DVD releases and they also contain the same awful sound effects on the soundtracks.

big e

Does anyone know if Fists of Fury, The Big Boss, and Way of the Dragon will be released individually? Those are the only ones I want and I'd rather not buy a huge set to get them (especially a set that includes Game of Death).

hanshotfirst1138

Really?! I didn't know that. HKL's releases were hit and miss, but they did start including mono tracks on the DVDs towards the end, if my memory serves.

Which Japanese release? I didn't know about that either. As far as awful sound effects, I'm assuming that it's more that notoriously hideous downmixing of 5.1 tracks into pseudo-mono that could so easily be avoided?

emachine12

CineAsia started out releasing Asian films in the UK that they obtained the rights for themselves: 71 Into The Fire, The Guardpost, 1911, Woochi: The Demon Slayer, Ip Man to name a few.

CineAsia did have a brief international deal with the Weinstein Company to release a few of the Dragon Dynasty titles in the UK. Of course, CineAsia just simply licensed the brand name and extras, the actual film rights and elements were CineAsia's. Ths is why Rob-B-Hood (aka Robin-B-Hood) is 1.78:1 rather than the original 2.40:1.

CineAsia was able to obtain the rights to the Hong Kong Legends brand as well as the elements in Medusa Communication's archives. So they were able to re-release several HKL titles.

The last known CineAsia title released was The Admiral at the end of 2012. CineAsia releases are 99% region free and they have best presentation of Chocolate (Thai action film) with proper English subtitles. In terms of extras, they are excellent at producing good supplements albeit a lot of them are 576i/p.

71 Into The Fire does have a great featurette with Korean War veterans and is 1080/60hz.

mrhan

I posted this link on the previous page.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=203248

Julie Walker

I haven't watched the Phantasm II blu-ray yet, but did watch the documentaries, and thought the clips from the film looked pretty damn good. And transfer issues are not Shouts fault since they're at the mercy of the studios whom give them the transfers. And Universal is notorious for dvr-ing the hell out of their transfers among other issues. So blame Universal, not Shout.

This box set looks cool in theory. But it's to high priced for my liking, and I certainly wouldn't pre-order it with no information about the transfer quality and the soundtrack options(original mono mixes are a must).

I almost bought the Bruce Lee Ultimate dvd set recently. But reviews about the audio quality really concerned me, since it appears only screwed up new-effects surround tracks were included and I'm not sure if the original sound effects tracks were available in any form on the set.

emachine12

Cliff, of Shout Factory, confirmed on Blu-ray.com that they have done their own color correction (presumably on the masters Fortune Star provided to them) for The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, and Way of the Dragon. These three are sourced from true HD masters. Game of Death looks to be the same as it's Hong Kong counterpart.

Also confirmed is original mono for Big Boss and Fist of Fury, Shout is asking for help in obtaining the mono for the other two.

DJariya

I have a question that doesn't really pertain to this set, but it does pertain to Bruce Lee.

There was a documentary that aired on AMC and then was released on DVD called "Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey" One of the special features if I recall correctly was a re-enacted sequence directed by John Little that was supposed to tell how Game of Death's storyline was supposed to be.

It was missing from the DVD, even though it's listed as a special feature. Does that footage exist anywhere. I tried looking for it on youtube, but nothing turned up. Is it on DVD or BD somewhere?

I have the Enter the Dragon 2 disc SE DVD that has the documentary as a special feature. But, I really want to see that re-enacted footage that Little created.

mrhan

It's on the UK version of WJ. I picked it up in London back in 2005.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bruce-Lee-Wa...rriors+journey

hanshotfirst1138

More downmixes? Damn. I am surprised at an Japanese releases at all though with English subtitles. That policy has never ceased to mystify me. I'd pay the obscene prices from some flicks I'd love to have if I cold actually understand the damn things.

Sort of like how the Empire of Dreams documentary had anamorphic footage of the original version, that they they WON'T FUCKING RELEASE THAT WAY?! Ahem. Sorry. I'm not bitter at all, I promise.

If it has the proper transfers and the mono mixes, I'd happily be willing to pay more for it. I'll pay more for something as long as the quality is high enough.

I almost bought the Bruce Lee Ultimate dvd set recently. But reviews about the audio quality really concerned me, since it appears only screwed up new-effects surround tracks were included and I'm not sure if the original sound effects tracks were available in any form on the set.[/QUOTE]

To think that there's actually a company this willing to interact with the fans, it gives small hope for the future of humanity.

The Fortune Star masters didn't include the original mono tracks? That explains a lot. I swear to God, these remixes were never necessary in the first place, why the mono tracks ever disappeared to begin with is a mystery to me. Didn't the Fox release a few years ago have them? It's so frustrating, this should be the most no-brainier part of all, FS, stop fixing what isn't broken!

mrhan

There was only one mono track before 1979 and it was Mandarin only. A Cantonese track using Bruce's yells was made after and was also incorporated into the Mandarin track. So, the mono tracks you get today aren't even the originals.

hanshotfirst1138

Really? So technically speaking, that original 1979 mono track has never been on any home video release, I'm guessing?

mrhan

I know neither track made it onto the VHS/Beta releases in the U.S. I don't know about Asian releases but I'm assuming since most came out after 1979 they would contain the new mixes.

There's also this...if these scenes were in the Big Boss I wouldn't even give it a second thought about buying this set. There's more on the link.





http://littledragon.builtfree.org/boss.html

Solid Snake

WTF?! How did I not know of this shit? Goddamn. So you're saying we've never even seen original cut here?! Goddamn it. Well now I want that one.

mrhan

Those pics have been circulating around in various BL magazines since the 70's. I always knew about that version but never saw it. I was hoping back in the late 90's that maybe it might find it's way on DVD but obviously it hasn't.

hanshotfirst1138

The famous "saw in the head" scene has been legendary since back in the 70s, but outside of a few stills, I don't think it's ever gotten an official release.

rocket1312

For those who maybe haven't been following this on Blu-ray.com, it appears we've got another compromised release. Shout Factory apparently did everything right except make sure that Fortune Star sent them the real HD transfers and not upscales. Everywhere else in the world the Bruce Lee films have had genuine HD transfers (At least the first 3. GOD has always been an upscale.), thus making them the exception to Fortune Star's rule, but in this instance someone dropped the ball. Of course Shout Factory's only response is to shrug their shoulders and claim that they just used whatever Fortune Star gave them. The sad thing is, if this had been a dvd release, it would have been close to, if not perfect. Shout color corrected the transfers, tracked down all of the appropriate soundtracks, and re-did the subtitles. I'm sure they put a lot of hard work into this release, but it's always something with these movies. It's maddening being a HK movie fan. We're what, 7 years into the life of blu-ray, and I can count the number of classic HK martial arts movies released properly on one hand.

Solid Snake

Which films are they?

kidglov3s

For the prices they charge I'm surprised Shout is not recieved more critically for their poor video transfers. I'm really starting to question how much of an improvement they'll bring to Day of the Dead, which I thought was assured to be an improvement over the messy AB transfer.

rocket1312

Which films have good blu-ray releases? As far as "classic HK" (I'd define that as 70's through mid 90's) releases in the US go, I'd say the good releases are limited to the following:

Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock
Deadly Duo
Heroes Two
Five Element Ninjas (There's an argument amongst some fans that this one should have the Cantonese track instead of Mandarin, but I'm no expert.)

Dragon Dynasty
Five Deadly Venoms (Some people complain about the subtitle translation, but other than the bizarre reference to the "Snake Spirit dude," I don't think they're horrible.)

...and that's about it. Everything else is compromised in some way or another whether it be bad pal conversion, upscales, no original language tracks, crappy remixed soundtracks, cut versions, etc. Some people think the Dragon Dynasty releases of Fist of Legend and Hard Boiled are ok, but both feature "dub-titles" and sub-par transfers. I've heard that the UK Fist of Legend is preferable to the US one at least with regards to the subs. Enter the Dragon also has it's two WB releases, each with their own issues, but I consider that more of an American film anyway.

As far as non-US releases go, there's a French release of 36th Chamber of Shaolin that's supposed to be good (but no English subs), and I think there's a couple of Japanese Jackie Chan releases that might be ok (but crazy expensive and probably not English friendly). There's also a series of Shaw Brothers films being released in Germany that seem good. I don't remember the titles, but I think they've only released one so far. Finally, the HK Bruce Lee releases (BB, FoF, WotD) are at least true HD, but only contain the horrible 5.1 remixed soundtracks. There may be others, but those are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

My Other Self

Shout! titles are pricy, but unfortunately they're one of the few remaining nichle labels that puts out decent SEs nowadays. I read above they they really juiced up this BL collection, but it was always my understanding that Shout! just released what they were able to license from various studios and in no way remastered anything.

kidglov3s

I guess, and I feel the same way about Arrow, it's like when the transfer is disappointing I can't see paying a premium price. I'm surprised that they get a pass the way they do.

mrhan

There is a rumour that Fred Weintraub (producer of ETD) owns this version of the film. Bruce either sent it to him to L.A. or he recieved it when he went to visit Bruce on the set of G.o.D.