Of course you have nothing against DD right?.......

Sorry to say that I don't trust your screencaps, but more importantly maybe you should have your eyes checked. I don't see ANY evidence of "stretching". Your screencaps do show evidence of cropping, but I'll make my own conclusions.

So according to you, I sat down and did an entire comparison and review of 5 other releases, giving pluses and minuses to all , just so I can somehow achieve a dig specifically at DD??

You know, aside from that not making any sense, the tone of your entire reply, and your petty insinuation that I did something to my screencaps, is just pure flame bait. Of course you have an agenda against me since you started an argument over at the Dragon Dynasty thread about the old English dubs on the Shaw Brother films where you claimed that they were the single most important thing on the US releases of Shaw Brother movies.

As far as my review, it is still incomplete. I still have to do the UK Tartan screencaps, like I wrote so in my review, and when I do I'll further fine tune it as I'll have all the releases I intended to have and will update upon further review.

But as it stands, it is still an inferior picture to the German and French releases, no matter how you slice it or want to wildly accuse me of tampering with the photos.

I dumped my Criterion since i got a wide screen tv since it wasnt anamorphic ..at least the DD is..
I can live with bad subtitles..

Deke, the Mei Ah is anamorphic as well (and the subs are better).

I emailed Gary about the dubtitles. Consequently, he has now altered dvdbeaver's position on this new DVD edition:

"NOTE: the Dragon Dynasty subtitles are really DUB-titles and we therefore dismiss this recommendation." -- dvdbeaver.com

For the record, the DD disc does show signs of stretching, especially in direct comparison to the French TF1 screencaps. It's blatantly obvious. It's not to the point of offensiveness or anything, but it's there. Both Running Man's review and the comparison on DvdBeaver show this.

I think I'm sticking with my Mei Ah....

That being said, I'll still pick up the DD for the new extras and the picture quality which, though slightly stretched, is still easily the best ntsc version yet.

Well, Running Man, I, for one, greatly appreciate all the effort you put into that review. You clearly have a great love of the film (and was as turned off by The Departed as I was ) and simply wish to see the it given proper due on DVD. I personally found your remarks to be fair and more than supported by the screen caps you graciously posted. I'm curious to see the how the UK Tartan stacks up.

One quick question for you: In the "A l'épreuve du temps" doc on the french disc, how long are the Philip Kwock sections? I speak enough french to get by and having it written out in the subtitles will really help, but I'm slightly concern long stretches might toss me out of the doc enough to ruin my enjoyment of it.

Hey Dr. Forrester! Thank you for the kind words. Glad that my review was of some help to you.

In regards to the French doc, I can't say approx. how minutes he speaks for since the interviews are spread out, but Philip is seen the least amongst the four participants in the doc.

I speak a bit of French as well, which is how I got by his segments.

"Some help" nothing - that was one of the best written, most extensive comparison reviews I've ever read. Nice work

Thanks for the into about the HK documentary. I think I may have to spring for that disc now. I'm an absolute sucker when it comes to in-depth docs, and it should compliment the Fox/Lorber commentary nicely.

I think Running Man may be right when he says there is stretching. Using DVDBeaver's shots, let's put the TF1 and DD images side by side:


TF1 (left), Dragon Dynasty (right)

Look at the right side of the TF1. See how much space is in between his knuckles and the edge of the screen? And on the left, how you can see all of his shoulder?

The DD on the other hand, cuts off a small section of the shoulder, and his knuckles are almost touching the edge of the screen. And it could be my eyes, but the man's face really does look slightly stretched out. Both the Fox/Lorber and Tartan discs use the exact same framing as the TF1.

Or, maybe you are right and it is cropping, but either way, there really was no reason for them to do that, unless that was how Woo wanted it. I am so confused, especially when you look at the Criterion, whose framing looks totally different than the above discs:


Now I have no idea which to get.

EDIT: Dammit, forgot about the total width.

Great caps, GreenVulture. While I think I can detect some stretching in the face, the one area of the screencap where it really jumps out at me is the apple.

based on the greenvulture's screencaps and running man's review, the DD release definitely looks stretched out to me as well.

but, lol, what's interesting to me is that the TF1 looks squished compared to the Criterion one. gah... maybe i'm looking too much at this. (beyond the obvious cropping)

Just so we're clear, those aren't my screencaps, but ones I took from DVDBeaver's comparison.

The DD still has the best picture quality following the region 2 TF1 version and since I don't speak French, The DD is still a no brainer. I can't wait for DD to release The Killer too.

Well, not exactly. Looking at dvdbeaver's screen caps (as well as reading the comments), the Dragon Dynasty edition is more or less on par with the Tartan R2 edition in terms of image. However, the Tartan edition wins out since it actually features a subtitled translation of the original Cantonese dialogue. So, if anything, the Tartan edition is still the one to get for those who require English subtitles. The only reason to purchase the Dragon Dynasty edition is if you are a completist and want to own every single extra ever made about the film (e.g., the Bey Logan commentary). Otherwise, it's 20 bucks that can be put back into your pocket.

Has this been anounced?? I think this would be a real no-brainer, as unlike Hard Bolied, there are far fewer alternatives out there right now.

Am I correct to assume that most of you really don't give a shit about the extras on this DVD and the picture quality and sub-titles are the most important factors in purchasing this?

That is correct! (for me, anyway)
Commentaries: never going to listen to them
Interviews: maybe, maybe watch once and then never again
Location guide: yawn
Trailers: snore
Videogame ad: zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Extras, shmextras.

Yea, PQ and sound are my two main drivers. Extras are nice, but not at the expense of quality of the film.

I've got the recent HK disc, so I think I'll stick with that. If the DD release turns up used at my local Moviestop, I'll get it then.

Yes, and if there is any pq issue I really can't stand, it's when the geometry is off and the image is stretched or squeezed.

I didn't say that, merely that you have a history of crapping on DD releases so you're not exactly objective. I do not see stretching. I do see different framing. You didn't give any examples of the differences in the subs from the various releases either. On top of all of that, how do I know that your equipment is providing the best screenshots? People needed to be aware of your bias against DD, that was my reason for this post...sorry to disappoint you.

I'm dissapointed in seeing that the new Hard Boiled release by DD is not up to par. The only version I have is the Winstar/Fox Lorber one so I may end up purchasing this release even with the dubtitles.