kstublen

I still don't follow though. If Dragon Dynasty released titles on DVD and Blu-ray, you wouldn't buy the DVDs?

chris_sc77

I consider it an extra incentive when I can purchase/support titles that are only released on DVD. Titles like the Dragon Dynasty line, Outlander, Fanboys, etc. I will sometimes be more inclined to blind-buy a dvd if it is a DVD only release so i will just leave it at that /

Brian T

I doubt they're refusing to put titles on Blu-Ray. They probably can't afford to.

riotinmyskull

i think its hilarious that you support the weinsteins so much considering they're notorious for shortening run times and cutting films to appeal to larger audiences.

Brian T

What's worse, they do it almost exclusively on Hong Kong films, further marginalizing them in comparison to films from other regions.

chris_sc77

True and they have pissed me off numerous times. But they are still no where near as bad as Fox or many other studios and the Weinstein's tend to release more adult fare compared to other Studios and I think overall Dragon Dynasty have delivered consistently great titles.

wm lopez

Can they afford to put THE KILLER on dvd like they said they would a long time ago?

smurr05

ditto, ditto, ditto!!!

Dragon Lee

Got an email from Bey literally days ago that The Killer is ready and is awaiting a release date.

riotinmyskull

wish they'd release THE GOOD THE BAD THE WEIRD...seems like the perfect title for them.

manicsounds

IFC has the rights to that one

zombeaner

Not anymore.

wm lopez

Hope for Christmas time!

asianxcore

Did anyone pick up Five Deadly Venoms?

Thoughts?

LorenzoL

I finally received my copy yesterday. I watched it this morning and I have to tell you that I'm pleased with the PQ and AQ of the disc. I don't have the Celestial R3 version but the talk from other Message Boards is that this is the exact same transfer used on the Celestial. I didn't encounter any of the transfer issues that plagued the Image discs. I also didn't notice any spelling or grammatical errors on the subtitles either.

However, this is a bare minimum effort disc by DD. The commentary by Bey is the only extra. There's not even a trailer for the movie which is very disappointing.

After owning that horrible Steeplechase dubbed version of this movie, I'm glad I bought the DD version however my advice would be that if you own the R3 disc, not to bother with this version unless you really want Bey's commentary.

asianxcore

Thanks for the heads up LorenzoL. I went ahead and picked it up on release day since I've been wanting the film for a long time, but never picked up the Celestial R3.

Not to crap on DD, but I'm guessing the reason this release is decent is because they really didn't have to do much to it (assuming they used the same Celestial transfer)

LorenzoL

I also agree with your assumption however, to give DD a little credit, they at least have the decency to do a proper PAL to NTSC conversion unlike Image...

Dragon Lee

Its a shame that not even a trailer was included. I don't know about you guys but I love those old school Shaw Bros. trailers!

comanche_doyle

I agree. I remember those first four shaw brothers releases, and they had some awesome trailers. I assumed that they were included because those were films that dragon dynasty had acquired the rights to distribute. I just wish that if they do have the rights to those films, that they would release them more frequently. It has been about three years and they have only released 7 by my count.

LorenzoL

I was added by Bey Logan in Facebook and in his profile wall, he indicated that the earlier Shaw Brothers movies were not big sellers here in North America thus the reason why they have cut the number of releases and their working budget for them. Bey stated that this is the reason why his commentary is the only extra and there's no interviews for the "5 Venoms" release.

However, he indicated that "Crippled Avengers" and "Return to the 36th Chamber" are being worked on, so hopefully if "5 Venoms" is able to sell well, they will release these titles quickly.

I think the reality is that all of the upcoming Shaw Brothers movies will be barebones.

DD does not have the rights to all of the movies for the trailers that they included on those discs.

hanshotfirst1138

In-sync mono original Cantonese and Mandarin audio tracks, good picture quality, well-translated subtitles, the uncut versions of the films. These are the only criteria necessary for me. If they have those, then I'll considered them worth buying.

tonyro19

it's kind of weird how a lot of the discussion on here is directed in a negative way towards Bey Logan and the Dragon Dynasty line of dvds

sure there have been quite a few missteps in the DD lineup, but overall I know that I'm not the only one whose love for and knowledge of Asian cinema beyond Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan can be greatly attributed to these dvds.....

sure, 5 deadly venoms had only a commentary on it, but what do you expect? making of documentaries or deleted scenes from a 1978 martial arts flick that was financed and distributed by a studio that didn't do much to preserve or archive them after their theatrical releases?

if you don't like the label, don't watch them...it's that simple

DJariya

I agree with most of what you are saying and I really appreciate the fact that DD and Bey are trying to get North Americans an opportunity to purchase HK and Asian action movies without importing them with great bonus features. Most of the negative talk here has been directed at the video & audio mastering of the movies and the subtitles. Believe it or not, there are alot of fans who are major video and audio philes and this is the most important factor in purchasing a DVD. I'm still a fan of the line, but I respect their right to criticize these elements.

asianxcore

It's more than just having lack of extras, which I honestly don't care about.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/9250820-post848.html

As I've mentioned so many times before in this thread, I own many of the good DD releases and was very excited about this division of the Weinsteins (even though I am Region-Free).

I've always felt that genre fans deserve better. Horror, Exploitation/Cult and Martial Arts film fans have always gotten the shaft, whether it be on VHS or DVD. We suffered through wrong audio tracks, incorrect soundtracks, wrong OAR, dubs, missing footage. Many of us went Region Free because other countries offered us full uncut status, OAR, or whichever (Martial Arts fans remember the HKL DVD line in the UK).

As with genre companies such as Blue Underground, Dark Sky Films, Unearthed Films, Cult Epics, Synapse Films and so on, DD could have been another savior to genre fans to keep churning out great/consistent products on DVD.

We are too far into the DVD age where companies would still be lazy in putting out the best product. By the best product we are talking about (if possible) gathering all the materials for the film which shows it the way it was meant to be.

I don't think you'll find anyone in here that hates DD, more so we are disappointed with their inconsistent releases. Again, if you check the post link I put up, it's more than just extras with them.

Brian T

Much of the criticism is deserved. As is much of the praise. They do their best, I guess, but many of us know they could have done better (whether you know it or not ), especially back when the did have the funding. Instead, they blew it on "celebrity" endorsements from the likes of Brett Ratner, Elvis Mitchell, RZA and Quentin Tarantino. That may have been lucrative for Bey Logan's rolodex, but it didn't exactly enrich the experience for the rest of us. The interviews and travelogues, on the other hand, were usually quite interesting. Those will be missed, especially in this age where it seems no one in the English speaking world is seeking out Hong Kong industry veterans for print or online interviews, let alone DVD supplements. So much history going unchronicled.



Hopefully that means you've started to move beyond what "these DVDs" have offered you. If the love for and knowledge of Asian cinema is there, you have to go region-free and import, otherwise you're barely scratching the surface. It's just that simple.