Trigger

Let me start by saying that I am not an expert in Asian cinema. It's something that I've seen alot of and that I enjoy. I own hundreds of Asian movies on DVD. I have bought so many because they are inexpensive and because it's the only way I'll get to see them since I live in the US. I also don't buy very many American movies anymore because I either see them on cable or in the theater. I have too many DVDs that I haven't seen and I started this thread initially so I could know what to watch next (by fulfilling a review request). I try to keep my reviews free from spoilers.

This is part 3 of this thread. Benedict doesn't like it to go over 2 pages I guess. Here's a link to part 1 and part 2.

I've reviewed many of these already, but below you will find an alphabetized list of my Asian DVDs. This list isn't entirely complete, but it's the best I could do. I'll try to spend some more time and go through to put links to those that I've already reviewed. Anyway - now you see my problem. Too many movies, not enough time. Those indicated with an "*" are ones that I've seen (and maybe even reviewed already) (actually, I got sick of marking them around "h" so I'll come back and do it later) This also includes a few small orders that I haven't received yet. Future versions of this thread (if there are to be any) will only list the DVDs I haven't seen yet, so this is the last time you'll see the complete list. Sorry it's so long.

<small>2000 A.D.*
2002*
Accidental Spy*
Address Unknown
AFRIKA*
All For The Winner*
All Man Are Brothers - Blood of The Leopard*
All's Well End's Well *
All's Well End's Well 97*
Amour of God *
And I Hate You So...*
Anna Magdalena *
Another Heaven
April Story*
Art Museum by the Zoo*
As Tears Go By
Attack the Gas Station*
Audition *
Avalon
Bad Guy
Bakery Amour*
Bare-Footed Kid, The
Barking Dogs Never Bite
Battle Royale *
Bayside Shakedown*
Beastcops *
Beat
Beauty And The Breast*
Beijing Rocks*
Big Bullet
Bio Cops
Bio Zombie*
Black Panther Warriors, The
Blacksheep Afair, The
Blade, The*
Body Weapon
Bride With White Hair *
Bride With White Hair 2 *
Brother *
Buddy Friends
Bullets Of Love
Bungee Jumping of Their Own *
Butterfly & Sword *
Calla*
C'est La Vie, Mon Cherie *
Chaos
China Strike Force (DTS) *
Chinese Erotic Ghost Story
Chinese Feast, The
Chinese Odyssey 2002 *
Chinese Odyssey I: Pandora Box, A*
Chinese Odyssey II: Cinderella, A *
Chivalrous Legend
Christmas In August
City Hunter *
City of Glass
City of Lost Souls, The
City on Fire (MegaStar Version)
Clean My Name, Mr Corner
Color of Pain*
Comeuppance
Comrades - Almost a Love Story*
Conman in Tokyo *
Conman, The *
Conmen in Vegas, The*
Cop on a Mission
Crash Landing (DTS) *
Cross Fire
Curry and Pepper
Dangan Runner*
Dark Tales, The
Days of Being Dumb*
Dead and the Deadly, The
Deadly Melody *
Devil Face, Angel Heart
Devil Touch
Die Bad
Ditto *
Double Tap (DTS Version)
Downtown Torpedoes *
Dr. Lamb
Dragon family, The
Dragon Forever
Dragon Heat *
Drunken Master*
Drunken Master II*
Drunken Master III *
Dry Wood Fierce Fire*
Duel to the Death *
Duel, The *
Dummy Mommy, Without a Baby*
Ebola Syndrome*
EeL, The
Electrical Girl *
Eternal Evil Of Asia, The
Every Dog Has His Date*
Evil Dead Trap *
Evil Dead Trap 2
Exam, The
Executioners *
Expect A Miracle*
Expect the Unexpected
Extreme Challenge*
F***/Off *
Failan*
Faithfully Yours*
Fallen Angels
Fat Choi Spirit *
Feel 100%
Fight Back to School*
Fight Back to School II*
Fight Back to School III *
Fighter's Blues, A (DTS Version)
Fighting For Love *
Fighting To Learn
Fighting To Survive*
Final Justice
Final Winner, The
Fire Dragon Kid *
First of Fury 1991 *
First Option (MegaStar Version)
Fist Of Legend *
Fist Power
Flirting Scholar *
Fly Me To Polaris*
Flying Dagger *
Fong Sai Yuk *
Fong Sai Yuk II*
For Badboys Only*
Forbidden City Cop*
Foul King, The (DTS) *
Freeze Me
Friend *
From Beijing With Love *
Full Alert
Full Throttle
Full Time Killer *
Funeral March
Future Cop *
Gemini
Gen-X Cops *
Gen-Y Cops *
Ghost In Love
Gingko Bed, The *
Glass Tears
God of Cookery, The*
God of Gamblers *
God of Gamblers II
God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai
God of Gamblers Return
Gohatto
Gonin
Green Fish
Guns & Talks
Hail The Judge *
Hana-Bi
Handsome Siblings
Happy Bigamist
Happy End
Happy Family
Harmonium In My Memory, The
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father *
Help!!! *
Hero
Hero Never Die, A
Heroes Among Heroes
Heroes In Love
He's A Woman, She's A Man *
Hit Team
Hitman *
Holiday In Seoul
Horoscope 1 The Voice from Hell
Horror Hotline...Big Head Monster *
Human Pork Chop
Humanist, The
Hypnotist, The
I Am Your Birthday Cake
I Love You
I Will Wait For You
I Wish I Had A Wife *
Ichi The Killer
Il Mare *
In the Mood for Love *
Inner Senses (dts) *
Inugami *
Isle, The *
Jacky Chan My Stunts *
Jakarta
Jiang Hu-The Triad Zone
JSA (DTS) *
Juliet in Love
July Rhapsody
Junk *
Justice my foot *
Juvenile *
Kakashi
Kick the Moon *
Kids Return
Killing End
King of Beggars (MegaStar) *
King of comedy *
Kingdom, The (Complete 3-Disc Set)
Kung Fu Colt Master, The *
Kung Fu Scholar, The *
La Brassiere *
Last Hero in China *
Last Witness
Lavender *
Lawyer, Lawyer *
Legend of Gingko, The
Legend of Speed *
Legend of the Dragon
Legend of the Flying Swordsman
Legend of the Wolf *
Legend Of Zu, The *
Lethal Contact
Libera Me
Lie Lie Lie
Lifeline
Longest Nite, The
Longest Summer, The *
Look Out Officer *
Losers' Club, The *
Lost And Found *
Love is Love
Love Letter
Love Me, Love Me Money *
Love On A Diet *
Love on Delivery *
Love Undercover
Love Wind Love Song
Lover, The
Lucky Guy, The
Lung Fung Restaurant *
Madadayo
Magnificent Butcher *
Magnificent Scoundrels *
Mahjong Dragon
Man Called Hero, A *
Marriage Certificate, The
Marry A Rich Man *
Martial Angels *
Merry Go Round *
Midnight Fly
Millennium Mambo
Mirror, The *
Mission, The *
Mist In Judge
Moment of Romance, A *
Money Suckers
Moon Warriors, The *
Moonnight Express
Musa *
My Boss, My Hero *
My Father Is A Hero *
My Hero
My Life as McDull *
My Sassy Girl *
My School Mate, The Barbarian *
My Wife is a Gangster
Nameless, The (DTS)
Needing You *
New Legend of Shaolin, The *
Nightmare
No. 3
Nowhere to Hide
Old One Dies, The
Once Upon a Time in China *
Once Upon a Time In China & America *
Once Upon a Time in China II *
Once Upon a Time in China III *
Once Upon A Time In China V
One Fine Spring Day
Only Fool Fall in Love
Open Your Eyes *
Option Zero
Out Of The Dark *
Owl's Castle
Para Para Sakura *
Partners (dts) *
Peking Opera Blues *
Policy Story *
Policy Story II *
Poppoya
Postman Blues
Princess-D (dts) *
Prison on Fire
Pulse (Kairo) *
Purple Storm *
Quiet Family, The *
Record, The *
Ring *
Ring 0 *
Ring 2 *
Ring Virus, The *
Royal Tramp (MegaStar) *
Royal Tramp II (MegaStar) *
Rules of the Game
Running Out of Time *
Running Out of Time 2 (DTS) *
Saint Of Gamblers
Sakuya-Slayer Of Demons *
Salon Beauty *
Samurai Fiction
Saving Hands, The
Savior of the Soul
Say Yes *
Second Time Around (DTS) *
Secret Tears
Sex and Zen *
Sex And Zen II (PAL / Region 2 only)
Sex and Zen III *
Sex Phone Girl *
Shadow
Shaolin Soccer *
Sharp Guns
Shiri *
Sino-Dutch War 1661
Sixty Million Dollar Man *
Skyline Crulsers *
Sleazy Dizzy
Sleepless Town
Snaker *
Sorum
Soul Guardians, The
Sound From The Dark *
Space Travelers *
Space Travelers (Animation)
Spacked Out *
Spirited Away
St. John's Wort *
Stewardess, The *
Stormriders, The *
Story of Ricky *
Stowaway
Summer Holiday *
Suzhou *
Sword Stained With Royal Blood
Swordsman *
Tai Chi Master, The *
Tai Chi 2 *
Take Care of My Cat *
Tale of The Unusual *
Task Force
Taxi *
Taxi 2 (DTS Version) *
Tell Me Something
Tempting Heart
There is a Secret in My Soup *
Thunder Cops
Thunder Cops II
Thunderbolt - VCD
Tiger On Beat
Till Death Do Us Part
Time 4 Hope
Time and Tide *
Tiramisu *
Tokyo Eyes
Tokyo Raiders (DTS Version) *
Tom, Dick & Hairy
Tomie
Too Many Ways To Be No. 1
Top Bet, The *
Traveling with Ghost
Tri Star
Tricky Brains *
Tricky master, The *
Troublesome Night 3
True Love
Twelve Nights
Twilight Zone Cops Ghost Driven
Twilight Zone Cops My Spirted Wife
Twin Dragon
Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star
Ultimatum
U-Man
Unmatchable Match
Uprising, The
Uzumaki *
Versus *
Victim
Vidocq *
Violent Cop (Patrick Tam)
Visible Secret *
Walk In
War Named Desire, A
Warm Water Under The Red Bridge
Waterboys
Wesley's My Sterious File, The (dts) *
Wheels on Meals (MegaStar Version) *
When Fortune Smiles *
Whiteout
Who's The Woman, Who's The Man *
Wicked Ghost II: The Fear, A
Wicked Ghost, A
Wild Zero *
Wu Yen *
Yamakasi *
Your Place or Mine *
Zu : Warriors from the Magic Mountain *
</small>

This list is up-to-date as of 7/5/2002.

benedict

<small>The 2-3 page thing is primarily to do with "usability": by all accounts, a fair number of people seem to tune out when threads get longer....</small>

d2cheer

I'll give you a recommendation from your own list. YOU NEED to watch the Nameless! Very cool, and not what you would normally expect. I noticed it didn't have a * next to it so I assumed that you have not watched it yet.

But I do have a request for you. You could review Dr. Lamb for me.

Trigger

I'll check out Nameless (spanish horror) and Dr. Lamb. I stopped putting *'s next to titles after the H's out of laziness. I'll finish marking them another time. It just so happens though that I haven't watched Nameless yet.

Trigger

Still need to watch The Nameless...

I watched My Wife is a Gangster tonight... 8.5/10 Anyone want a review? Big or small?

Yellow Hammer

Trigger, which My Wife Is A Gangster DVD do you have, the HK one or the Korean one? I'd like a review...

Trigger

I have the Korean one. I haven't checked out the second disc, but it's certainly a nice presentation of the film.

Trigger

Here's reviews of My Wife is a Gangster and The Nameless.

I'll have to watch Dr. Lamb next I guess... Any other requests?

Trigger

Still haven't watched Dr. Lamb... sorry - I'll get to it soon.

Anyway - watched Guns and Talks, half of Owl's Castle, and a few others... Anyone still reading this thread can let me know if you want to hear my thoughts on any of these. Also I'm still accepting review requests. Dr. Lamb will be soon, promise.

dleedlee

I'll take one order of I Wish I Had A Wife, please, to go.

This one is full screen isn't it?

roseart

I would love a review of Owl's Castle when you are done.

gabegarwick

Trigger, what did you think of Guns and Talks? Worth $23?

I'll put in a request for Hana-Bi...
Thanks, Gabe.

Trigger

I reviewed I Wish I Had a Wife awhile back, but I can't find it for the life of me. I really liked it actually... The case was a snapper, the video was a nice looking NTSC non-anamorphic widescreen transfer. If you don't have a Malata, it will look almost full screen... you have to zoom out a little to get it in widescreen. The movie itself is a really cute little love story. Nothing entirely new really, but the characters are likeable even though you'd almost rather feel sorry for them (or kick them in the head) than like them. I think I gave it a 7.5/10 or something... surely a

I'll get back to Owl's Castle - indeed. So far, it's kinda silly.

Guns & Talks... I thought it was worth the money. I could give a review if you like, but basically I give it a and a 7.8/10 (just shy of an 8). The DVD is outstanding.

On my list - Hana Bi, Dr. Lamb, 2nd half of Owl's Castle.

gabegarwick

Cool, I'll pick up Guns&Talks, I've heard nothing but good things about it...

Trigger

Dr. Lamb

It's crap. It's craptacular in fact. Total piece of crap. It's craperiffic even. The only saving grace for this crap is that someone might find it "so bad it's funny" - but even then, it's still crap. Avoid like the bloody plague. Terrible acting, terrible voice looping, terrible effects, just terrible. The subtitles are crappy and while the picture is widescreen non-anamorphic, it's still a crappy film. The most peculiar thing about this DVD is that they bleep out dirty words spoken in Cantonese and they won't show what was said in the subtitle. Then, they'll allow words like "Fu**face" to be said in English unbleeped, but then show "Damn" in the subtitle. If I wasn't alone I might have laughed once, but the crap was just so damn boring and uninteresting... basically, this is another one of those Secret In My Soup movies based on a true story where someone was murdering people and he got caught so they made a movie of the week about it. It's really really dumb. 2/10 (2 points for potential comedic value if you're stoned with your buddies)

Hana-Bi

This one I watched earlier... it's a mildly depressing story about an ex-cop who takes his dying wife on a field trip. Actually it's not really all about that - it's about other stuff, but it's so hard to pinpoint what it's really about. I found it to be overlong and boring and while the characters were mildly interesting, where they ended up wasn't worth the journey to get there. The film had some good moments in it and it was quite artfully done (maybe too much so), but I just didn't feel all that compelled to watch it all in one sitting. It's certainly attempting to be an artsy drama. There is some violence here and there of course (well, guess who's starring in it - Takeshi Kitano) and it's nothing really outrageous if that's what you're after. The acting is competent as would be expected. The story is probably the biggest problem here. The movie ends on a downer which may or may not cause viewer questions to rise and go unanswered.

The DVD kicks ass presentation-wise. The amaray style case is inside a cardboard sleeve along with a thin paperback book type thing. I can't read Korean, so the book and the unsubbed extras are a waste on me, but I guess the way I felt about this film I don't suppose I would've been interested in the extras anyway.

In the end I guess I give this a 6/10 and an for artistic merit. The artsy fartsy crowd will probably spend hours dissecting a movie like this... for me it's not worth my time to watch again, but I didn't hate or even dislike it.

dleedlee

Just double checking, this is the Edko R3 disk right? Interesting about the zooming out. Maybe that explains why Darcy's page lists it as full screen? So is this is disc mastering issue? Are there other disks like this, I wonder?
Thanks.

Trigger

I've found a quite a few discs that end up looking much better after messing with the zoom feature and the pan feature on my malata. I think it's a mastering issue. It's probably that they intentionally set the focus a little closer leaving info on the sides cut off because the person is unfamiliar with how DVD players actually display the image and they think that if the go to the edge, the viewer at home will be able to see it. Anyway, it doesn't seem to be an exact science over there in HK. The Edko R3 is what I was talking about. God of Gamblers - the one where you can barely read the subtitles because they are half cut off most of the time, looks fine when you zoom out.

RichDB10

Just wondering what your verdict was on Joint Security Area (JSA) as i'm looking to pick this one up in the near future.....and would be interested to hear about Address Unknown when you get round to watching it....thanks

Trigger

JSA was uber-excellent. I really enjoyed it. Phenomenal acting and the story was superb. I have the Modern DVD from HK and it's quite good actually. The film's only drawback is that there is a woman who speaks English thru the entire movie and her English is crap. I think I gave it a 9/10 maybe? Totally worth grabbing!

I'll watch Address Unknown sometime soon.

RichDB10

Thanks for that Trigger good to get a review from a 'fan' of Asian movies as opposed to so called 'critics' and you have helped sway me into ordering it.

I'll look forward to hearing your comments on Address Unknown sometime in the future.

Trigger

Still haven't gotten to Address Unknown, but I've been watching some movies that I just got shipped to me secretly (ie, I haven't told you all yet what I got)... Anyway - nothing in the shipment looks all that great. Impulse buying at its finest.

Women From Mars

Crap. 2/10

The Irresistible Piggies

Blah - some good, some disjointed. 5/10

Asako In Ruby Shoes

Eh - decent, but not great. 6/10

Let me know if any of you want me to elaborate or give full reviews of any of these... I'll be happy to trash on Women From Mars...

roseart

I want to hear your thoughts on Volcano High. I watched it last night, and really enjoyed it. It reminded me of an Anime.. The special effects were awesome, and the acting was good. The transfer could of been better, but the DTS rocked!!

I also watched Hi, Darma. It was very funny at times, and I am glad I saw it, but don't think it has much replay value IMO...

Trigger

Ahh you bastard... I don't even have my copy yet... Something was holding up my order. Argh. Glad to hear it's good. I'm anxious to watch it.

jtkv

I thought Hana-Bi was pretty good... it is slow at times, but the few action and very violent scenes are nice.

Sonatine and Brother falls into the same type of movie as Hana-Bi.

If you're a Beat Takashi fan, and know the movies he's directed, you'll like it...

If not, then you'll have the same reaction as Trigger....



hmmm... his name is Takashi "Beat" Kitano
I guess I should have called him Beat Kitano, instead of Beat Takashi


J.T.

gabegarwick

Well, I'd better get it!
Thanks Trigger for the warning on Dr. Lamb, I had wondered about that title in the past.