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

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

It only features the Jet Li starring movies Parts 1-3 and China and America.


So I will gladly upgrade to the Criterion set.

Had that one too for a while. As I recall, it was one of many had 'updated' 6.1 or 7.1 audio tracks instead of the original mono (posted earlier that the transfers were upscales, but remembered they weren't, a rare thing from Kam & Ronson). Sold it off before the UK sets were even a thing, but still have a few other K&R releases that I’m probably stuck with. I suppose they’re tolerable depending on the films.

I was only expecting the first 3 OUaTiC films along with the America one like Eureka did but to have IV and V in the set is outstanding.

Day 1 purchase for me.

Once Upon... looks interesting, definitely would need to wait for the sale to get that.

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.

Would be hilarious if someone actually did that. Hopefully they would remember to have some reverse Ks.

Excited about the Once Upon A Time In China Set!

I imagine I might be the only person alive who plans to only pick up Citizen Kane and Menace II Society from this line-up. I'm fine with having the others on Blu-ray.

I still have my DVDs for 1 and 2. I never bought the 3rd one.

Will MIIS get a Blu-ray as well?

https://www.criterion.com/films/31502-menace-ii-society

Two different ways to get a Blu-ray disc, even:

Lately as I've been watching all of the amazing HK sets coming out of the UK, I couldn't help but be a little bummed that the OUATIC set was released before Eureka really started crushing these releases. It was good, but there were some (minor) issues that would have been fixed had it come out later. Needless to say, I'm stoked that criterion is doing this. The inclusion of parts 4 & 5 are enough to get me to double dip, but word on the other forum is that the minor issues with the Eureka set are being addressed. These include a less than stellar mono track for the first movie and a couple of missing effects shots for the first and third. So excited. 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.

Also, that Citizen Kane set has two discs of extras and 3 commentaries?! Well done Criterion, well done.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Good to know, thanks. I'll put this on my "maybe" list, but definitely waiting for the 50% sale.

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.

Mira Nair’s Mississippi Masala is playing as part of the Revivals portion of the NYFF.
Expect a disc at some point.

While those Tsui films might not be Criterion-grade in terms of their overall importance (although I think the case could be made for ZU as the optimistic political subtext of that one feels somewhat delusional now in light of how things have unfolded in HK), I suspect that a different boutique label could do well with most of his catalog. In fact, based on the stellar UK editions of ZU, THE MASTER and (to a lesser extent) TIME AND TIDE, I'm hopeful that we'll see more of his movies get the treatment (for example, I'd love to see THE BLADE liberated from the Warner Archive, but I doubt that'll happen). It would be even better to see Eureka and 88 release some of those existing UK editions stateside now that they've officially entered the market (well, 88 at least?), or at least share their scans and supplements with a willing US distributor. I'm happily region-free, and have been breaking the bank buying all of the UK releases, but given the choice I'd prefer R1 editions.