veritas878

Yes,I did search for other topics before making this thread just in case you guys are wondering....Anyways i just received my copy i bought off ebay and well it looks fishy even though it has the insert and the cover looks genuine enough but the disk does not have the "white ring" and the transfer is pretty bad. Can any one tell me anything real specific that i could look for to see if its a bootleg or real? Actually a pic of the real disc would be fantastic if anyone could provide one.
Thanks alot

jrobinson

Picture of Hard Boiled and The Killer side by side. I'm pretty sure my Hard Boiled copy is authentic (it doesn't have the white frosty ring), I purchased it in 1999/2000? from an online store. If it's a fake, that sucks... at least my Killer is real.

veritas878

Well, yours looks identical to mine so I guess they are both genuine or just amazing forgeries. Thanks for the pic.

Shagrath

Make sure you look for the NIMBUS logo on the disc ring. That's a pretty good way to tell that yours isn't fake. Also, the black rectangle around "THE CRITERION COLLECTION" on the disc is grey a lot of times on the bootleg ones as well.

Hope that helps!

Quatermass

I'll check it against mine when I get home tonight. I bought it brand new when it came out so I'm sure mine is real. I like the movie, but was always kind of disappointed with the picture quality on this one. I don't know if it's the transfer or a bad print, but there are portions that look like it was mastered from a 16mm print or something (grainy and a little washed out). There were websites in the past comparing the different versions and I think the consensus was the release AFTER the criterion one (Fox Lorber?), also OOP, had a better picture.

canaryfarmer

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

I think that this version looks the best, by far. I own it myself, and love it.

Doug Schiller

I own both versions mentioned in this thread. It is worth it to have both.
The AV quality of the blue cover HK version and the extras of the Criterion one.

dick_grayson

my hard boiled is sealed, so I don't really know. I had to netflix it just to see the movie. mine has the "criterion collection" or "special edition" or whatever it is sticker on the front, by the way

Fielding Mellish

I'll echo what canaryfarmer said. The Mei Ah remaster blows the old Criterion out of the water. Especially if you have a 16x9 display.

I used to have the Criterion but sold it... and used it to fianance the purchase of my projector. The extras were good, but not great. (And hardly worth dropping a couple hundred bucks for.)

natevines

I have the fox lorber/winstar release. I was thinking about getting the criterion, but should I upgrade to the Mei Ah? I'm not really satisfied with the transfer on my disc...

chente

I'm making due with the Criterion LD which has a pretty good transfer and cool extras.

canaryfarmer

Natevines, just look at the transfer comparisons at the link I posted just above. The Mei Ah looks tons better than both the Criterion and Fox (and is also anamorphic, which the C & F releases are not). It's not expensive at all either (for example, hkflix is selling it for just $15).

DrGerbil

The Criterion release is great and all, but the Tartan Re-Re-Release (The CE) is vastly superior. If ya'll have PAL-capable players, it's a must buy.

natevines

Well, I read the Me-ah is slightly cropped. I'll have to check prices on that the Tartan CE that DrGerbil mentioned.
This is one of those DVDs that's a pain in the ass to purchase; one version has the best image, one the best extras, and then the absolutely best version never has english subtitles. You need to import for a decent version. I just wish Criterion would do a re-issue, or Tartan make a 2-disc R1 DVD on the Asian Extreme line.

Josh Z

Aside from being anamorphic, the Mei Ah remaster doesn't look all that much better than the Criterion. They are both mastered from worn and dirty prints, and the audio quality on the Mei Ah ("DTS", ha!) is definitely inferior to the Criterion.

wewantflair

Back to the original topic - the original CC version has the black "Criterion banner" on the disc. The bootleg has a gray banner.

cloudnin

Here's the link to DVDBeaver.com's comparison of 6 different versions:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCom...hardboiled.htm

Based on that I think I'll go with the Tartan release if I ever pick this up.

Quatermass

FYI, The Hard Boiled one looks just like mine.

veritas878

Alright im pretty sure mines the real deal, has the black banner and Nimbus logo. I was just a bit suspicious because I only payed $22 for it...maybe I'll look into the other release as well.

eau

I picked up the Ah Mei version in Singapore for about $5 (legitimate copy) early this year. It had a New HD Remaster or something sticker on the shrinkwrap.