Apologies if this has been covered; I couldn''t find anything by searching.

Does anyone know if uncut versions of John Woo's the Killer and Hard Boiled are in print in the U.S.? I know the Criterions are out of print; ar ethe Fox Lorber/Winstar versions OOP as well? Did Disney actually edit their versions as they were rumored to be planning?

I heard that the Fox Lorber editions have now gone out of print as well (but I think they're relatively easy to find)...HK Region 0 versions are everywhere too, so if you want to see an uncut version of the film it's not hard at all....Disney now owns the rights to it, and I'm not sure what the status is on those releases.

Must be OOP--I heard they were going to be.

It looks like they've gotten fairly hard to get, other than through Half.com and ebay. When I do a price search, most of the other vendors show them as out of stock, even if the search engine (the DVD Talk one, and DVD Price Search) comes up with any results. CD Universe claims to have the Killer, I have never shopped from them so I don't know if they're at all reliable.

didnt realize these were getting tuff to find. I have the Fox/L 2-pak box and saw one on the shelf at Borders a few weeks back. wish I had the Criterions.

Yeah, I wish I had the criterions also. I just have teh fox labor version, which is fine for my needs though. I actually just got around to watching Hard Boiled a couple nights ago after having it for 4 months. It was good, not nearly as good as The Killer

I know I'm in the minority, but I like Hard Boiled a little bit more than the Killer. I guess the cafe scene and the hospital action are too influential to me.

I have the Hard Boiled CC, and the Winstar Killer - and hopefully sometime I can get the Killer CC - I expect to pay quite a bit, but bootleggers can often fuzzy the market :-(

It was my impression, based on reviews, that the Criterion edition didn't have much over the Fox/Lorber release. e.g.

http://www.loveandbullets.com/killer.htm

states that they used the same print (but different subtitles)

Chris

P.S. Scott, I'm in the same camp as you.

I've owned the Fox Lorber editions of Hard Boiled and the Killer for a while now, and I can attest to the fact that the transfer is pretty bad for both of them. The Criterion versions used the same transfer as the Fox Lorber versions, so they are both bad. In fact, if you have trouble finding the OOP Fox Lorber versions, I doubt the video quality could be much worse if you bought an (uncut) asian import of the movie.

However, just the other day I got my R2 HKL version of the Killer in the mail from CDwow.net (It was only about $13 USD shipped BTW), and after watching it yesterday, I can say that the picture quality is excellent (it also has a 5.1 Cantonese track). If you have a multi-region PAL-anamorphic capable DVD player and have to pick 1 version of the killer, I'd definitely go with the HKL version. However, since the Fox Lorber version has a John Woo commentary track, which the HKL version doesn't have (it does have a Bey Logan commentary though), I will hang on to both versions for now. I just wish that HKL would release Hard Boiled in the future, since I actually liked it a little bit better than the Killer.

Edit:Oh yeah, you can find a comparison of different versions here.

spyzdope, how do you play a PAL disc on a NTSC system (TV)?

You have to have a player that converts it correctly. I use the Malata 520 and love it.

You can find a lot of information about this and other players like it in the International DVD Talk forum, or e-mail me if you have any specific questions.

If you're looking for the FL/W copy, you might try FYE stores. I've seen the 2-disc set in every FYE I've been to in three different states even though it won't show up on their website. I actually bought it about a month ago and then returned it last week. And since you're in Chicago, I saw a copy at the FYE in Michigan City, IN which is about 30 miles outside of the city.

If you're looking for the Fox versions.. check Circuit City.. I got the 2 pack there around Christmas, and they also had several indivudal copies of each movie that are still there now.

Yes, try Circuit City...I finally decided to pick up The Killer and Hard Boiled there last month. There all under "Woo" in Action, not the name of there titles.

even on ebay they are hard to find.
it's toough to figure out the scam versions from the real versions.

Also check out the nerd-out forums, which contain info on players that are or can be hacked to be region free. You will need a player that can convert both PAL to NTSC and convert anamorphic to fit on a 4:3 screen at the same time (unless, you're lucky enough to own an anamorphic capable TV). Personally, I use a Cyberhome 500 because I got it cheap (about $50 after rebate), but there are models from Malata, Sampo, and other brands that have this capability.