Living Deadpan

http://www.dvdaf.com/price-one.html?dvd=0160563

I haven't been able to find any info about the tech specs or bonus features for this release slated for 5/17. Including an inquiry to Eastern Star, which they never replied to.

Sooo, my question is: does anyone know how this will compare to the OOP Kino edition? Do they remaster the transfer & add new bonus features? The image on the Kino edition is a bit soft, and I'd like to know if this is worth upgrading.

If that's unanswerable, here's another question: How have the Eastern Star/Discotek reissues of Miike's Gozu (previously Pathfinder) and The Happiness of the Katakuris (previously Chimera) been? How does their newer edition of Uzumaki compare to the Elite Entertainment release?

To pare the question down to the basics: does Eastern Star improve upon the DVDs of their predecessors, or are they more like Lionsgate & Blue Underground in reissuing same transfer with new artwork?

Jigen75

Katakuris is way better than the previous release. Its got removable subs and really good picture quality plus a bunch of extras.

Some other company released Gozu.

Uzumaki is basically the same except it has the directors narration track which is subtitled. It actually explains a lot of the movie and is worth having.

Have you tried the Discotek Facebook? They answer questions on there.

Living Deadpan

Thanks for your feedback on Katakuris & Uzumaki. Would you say the Eastern Star upgrade of Katakuris is as good as the Shout Factory AUDITION upgrade from Lionsgate & Chimera?

RE: Gozu. Ahh. Just looked it up, it's Cinema Epoch. My mistake.

I don't use Facebook. I mainly subscribe to DVD news on Blogger. (Code Red, Mondo Macabro & some others use it at least!)

Thanks again!

manicsounds

Review, finally
Looks to be pretty much the same as the old Kino release.

Living Deadpan

Thanks for the link. It's hard to judge by the tiny freeze-frames, but it looks like the video might be an improvement over the Kino transfer. Looks slightly less fuzzy & washed out, though I'll only be able to tell for sure when I see it on my TV screen. I don't remember the fecal matter looking as crisp. *shudder*