this year.

Are these new HKL 2-Disc sets region 2 only?

I'm pretty sure everything HKL does is R2... which means it's a good idea to get a regionless player

Yup, they will be Regon 2.

Does the set have any extras?
How are they?

They are negligible; trailers, phot galleries, and very short interviews on the first three discs, Game of Death outtakes on the last two. Nothing special. The HKL discs remain the gold standard in the extras department.

What does the HKL have that this set does not have?

HKL set has audio commentary on each Bruce Lee film by HK film expert Bey Logan. Bey is very knowledgable of the HK film industry since he actually lives and works in HK. I find him very entertaining to listen to. The Bruce Lee HKL Set is quite abundant on interviews and to top it off, Game of Death also includes the 40 minute "original" pagoda sequence that aired on AMC 2 years ago.

I didn't get to see the previous Bruce Lee collection from Fox. But will this new collection have the added scenes that the HKLs have?

Big Boss-Fingertip kill
Fist/Fury-The Japanese car
Way of the Dragon-Nude scene

The 40 minute pagoda sequence is not from "A Warrior's Journey" which aired on AMC. It is from the Japanese Artport DVD entitled "Bruce Lee in G.o.D.". It was a cleaner copy than the washed out version on AWJ. Too bad it wasn't anamorphic which the Artport disc was.

http://www.bruceleereview.co.uk/god.html

^Different dub too.

Even though the Japanese version had a better pic. quality; the editing on WJ was a lot better. On the other hand; Bey Logan sounded more like Bruce in G.o.D. than the guy who did the voice for WJ. He sounded like he had a nasal problem.

Has anybody been able to find this set in Canada? I went everywhere yesterday looking for it with no luck.

I picked it up at Best buy in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada for $39.99.

There were lots of copies at futureshop and HMV.

Too bad that only the english track is in 5.1

Don't get too bent out of shape. The 5.1 tracks are "ok" but the 2.0 tracks sound alot more clearer. When I played the 5.1 dts track the dialogue sounded washed out by the surrounding speakers. But I will say that the punches and kicks have more of a snap sound effect to them. The mandarin and cantonese tracks sound just fine for a movie that was originally shot in mono.

I know that the movies were originally dubbed again back in the day. Does anyone know if Way of the Dragon was filmed with the actors speaking mandarin or cantonese?

Probably both. Chinese films almost never use the original audio. They don't even have mikes on the scenes.

DVDTalk review is up

I apologize for bumping this old thread but can you give me some more information on these new double disc releases from HKL? Are all of them out now? Where can I grab it? Is the picture quality better or worse than the "Ultimate Collection" ?

By the way, I'm watching the Ultimate Collection for the first time now. Which track has the original Chinese voice dub?

Way of the Dragon's original language is Mandarin, though Bruce spoke Cantonese The same applies to Fist of Fury and The Big Boss.

The double disc sets of "Big Boss" and "Fist of Fury" from HKL use the same HD masters from Fortune Star as the Fox discs, but they look different AFAIK, HKL changed the colour so the skin tone looks more red on "Fist" for example, but I can't say I noticed that much, I found it an excellent transfer.

LOL man they sure did cut a whole shitload of footage out of the US version of WotD

dub is hilarious too!

That's the best part. I always crack up; especially when Bruce does the voice of the black guy in the red tank top. The bit about Chinese spareribs is classic.

http://www3.cd-wow.us/index.php?affid=14275&pp_nr=1

A necro bump from hell, but I wanted to revive this due to having just completed watching the set again and want to share some thoughts:

The transfer of these films is starting to show its age IMO and I really hope there are blu ray versions in the works. Way of the Dragon in particular has a sub-par transfer and could really benefit from a hi-def remaster.

But what really grated on my nerves watching these this time around, was the 5.1 "enhanced" soundtrack. I HATE IT! I mean , I love the english dub because of nostalgia, but why did the studio deem it necessary to modify certain the sound effects in the first three films, and add unnecessary "kicks and punches"? It makes the audio sound even more fake and it comes off as corny. Plus, on WotD, they removed Bruce's original fighting voice effect from the original English track. I love hearing his original cat-like "Waaa waaar" cry on the English dub and it's sorely missed here. Plus they added some stupid "whooshing" sound to the nun-chaku effects.

AND to top it off, in Fists of Fury(Chinese Connection), they changed the song in the opening credits to an English version(W...T....F...????) and it sounds super cheesy!

Man, I hope they redo these films on Bluray with a better remastered transfer and their original English language tracks unaltered and without all the added dumb effects.