Originally Posted by dex14 (Post 13971290)

It is a complete collection.

Originally Posted by Brian T (Post 13971299)

Well, technically it isn't, since it leaves out Part IV – which continues the story from Part III – and Part V, which returns Tsui Hark to the director's chair (in addition to producing and writing as usual) and is one of the best movies of the series. I get that the UK and, now, the Criterion sets are based primarily on Jet Li's interpretation of the character and not Vincent Zhao's take, but keeping IV and V out of circulation for this long really denies newer fans (and even some older ones) the opportunity to see the truly complete series. Its doubly frustrating because all give films were made by the same production companies (Paragon Films and Tsui's Film Workshop) and distributed by Golden Harvest, so you know the elements exist to get them back into circulation, but it's like all involved seem to willfully deny they exist.

On the plus side, there seems to be some differences in supplements between the Criterion set and the UK collections, which means purchases of the latter weren't in vain. Curious to see if that holds true once 88 Films and Eureka start releasing their already-available HK titles in North America. Doubtful.

Originally Posted by Dan (Post 13971270)

interesting cover art choice for Citizen Kane...

Originally Posted by DJariya (Post 13971322)

This is the box set that I currently own of Once Upon a Time in China. I bought it on a trip to Hong Kong about 6-7 years ago for about $40

Originally Posted by stvn1974 (Post 13971320)

Citizen Kane cover art could be used at baseball games to record strikeouts.

Originally Posted by Josh-da-man (Post 13970454)

Citizen Kane
Menace II Society
The Piano
Mulholland Dr.
The Red Shoes
A Hard Day’s Night

That's an interesting spread of titles, but none that really interest me. Mulholland Dr might, but I already have it on blu-ray. It will have to be a huge upgrade over the blu-ray to get me to bite. I've been getting a lot more bearish on my movie purchases, and am generally reluctant to upgrade anything from blu-ray to 4K unless it's an absolute must-have classic like Alien, Blade Runner, LOTR, or 2001 A Space Odyssey.

Originally Posted by DJariya (Post 13971383)

I used to to have the old Sony DVDs of Once Upon a Time in China 1-3 that had commentary tracks from Ric Meyers. I regretfully dumped them years ago.

Meyers is kind of a weirdo, but he is very knowledgeable of Asian cinema and I also have one of his books.

Anyhow, I'll probably get this set from Criterion when it's on sale.

Originally Posted by OldBoy (Post 13971449)

Will MIIS get a Blu-ray as well?

Originally Posted by OldBoy (Post 13971449)

Will MIIS get a Blu-ray as well?

Originally Posted by milo bloom (Post 13971589)

What’s with the last Once Upon… film being listed separately like that, is it not as good?

Originally Posted by rocket1312 (Post 13971488)

And it's amazing to me that it's taken decades, but martial arts films are finally getting the love and attention on home video that so many other genres have over the years. Better late than never I guess.

Originally Posted by milo bloom (Post 13971589)

What’s with the last Once Upon… film being listed separately like that, is it not as good?

Originally Posted by LorenzoL (Post 13971595)

I cannot tell you why both Eureka and Criterion are putting Once Upon a Time in China and America as an extra but the film is the return of Jet Li once again as Wong Fei Hung after his last appearance in the third film. Also it was directed by Sammo Hung. It’s not as good as the first two films (very few Wuxia films are) but it’s not a dog either.

Originally Posted by LorenzoL (Post 13971682)

I would love for a company like Criterion to start putting out Patrick Tam films. It’s criminal that his films have not been released in the West.

Originally Posted by Brian T (Post 13971610)

I would add that it's nice to see Hong Kong films in general getting the love and attention they deserve. HK martial arts and action films have been a staple throughout the home video era – even if the presentations haven't always been stellar, such as with earlier U.S. releases of the OUATIC "trilogy" on DVD (although they did at least include the commentary mentioned above – but the non-HK stuff not so much, which was often kinda buried on arthouse labels that action fans might not bother with. But now with Criterion bundling up (most of) the Wong Kar-Wai films and Film Movement doing justice to Stanley Kwan's CENTRE STAGE, I'm hopeful that the broader spectrum of HK cinema will get more attention in light of the releases of the higher-profile action classics.





The first five films were all made by the production companies Paragon Films and Tsui Hark's own Film Workshop, and distributed by Golden Harvest (as noted earlier). Paragon folded in 1995, so Film Workshop made ONCE...IN AMERICA with Win's Entertainment Ltd., and it was distributed by China Star Entertainment. I'm guessing this has something to do with the film being treated as a 'close cousin' or supplement rather than part of the 'official' series, even though it's basically canon.

Also, ONCE...IN AMERICA was actually the second highest grosser in the series, domestically, after Part II, although unlike the previous five movies, it was a major Chinese New Year release which probably delivered higher grosses than it might have earned at any other time of the year. Regardless, it's a solid picture, and definitely a worthwhile addition to these sets.

Originally Posted by Brian T (Post 13971717)

Completely agree, especially as it would give western viewers a better understanding of Wong Kar-Wai's career. I'm assuming some mention is made of the connection in the Criterion WKW set (?), but a western distributor might do well to give a couple of Tam's films their due. I think most of the key directors from the first and second "New Waves" of the 80's deserve to be revisited now more than ever. Folks like Ann Hui (pre-China sellout), Dennis Yu, Fruit Chan (Eureka's release of MADE IN HONG KONG is a good start), Alex Law & Mabel Cheung, and Peter Chan (likewise pre-China sellout); their importance has long been established in their own industry and among western fans who've ventured beyond the action pictures, and in light of the awful situation that has (probably permanently) befallen Hong Kong now that the CCP has crushed the freedoms that made the city so unique, the films made by this group – many of which explored very real fears of the post-1997 authoritarianism that indeed came to pass – could enjoy compelling new layers of discussion and contextualization.

Originally Posted by LorenzoL (Post 13971773)

I agree Brian. I know that the Criterion Channel has Anne Hui’s Boat People so if they delve into more of the HK New Wave directors, I’ll be okay with that.

I’m wondering if we are going to get more of Tsui Hark films like Green Snake and Zu: Warriors from Magic Mountain. I highly doubt they will be adding films like We’re Going to Eat You, Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind or Butterfly Murders.

Originally Posted by Gizmo (Post 13972045)

Where is Lost in Translation?

Originally Posted by Coral (Post 13972082)

Does anyone know if Criterion has any intentions of licensing John Sayle's Lone Star?
I looked all around and it doesn't appear to have a release anywhere on BD, nevermind in UHD-BD. Lone Star feels like a perfect title for Criterion to handle - or any other boutique label.