If we're being really honest here, Brian T does complain if all they do is port over previous extras. If he can find one person listed on a movie's IMDB who is still alive, he'll wonder why there weren't new extras. "The fifth lead in this 1960s titty feature is 95 years old. Why didn't they interview her for this release?!"

Would it be nice to get some extras? Meh, I guess so, but I'm sure there are all kinds of reasons why some things work out and others don't. Maybe Kino had better contacts for the films mentioned. Maybe it was more affordable for Kino to get Hyams since he did more than one commentary for them. Maybe Shout figured there was no reason to bother making new ones since no extras had been included in previous editions. Maybe Shout just doesn't like the movie.

I just don't think special features are the selling point they once were. There are certainly exceptions, but I have a feeling Timecop was not going to be the outlier.

Producing a new feature length documentary about Timecop would be absolutely pointless if Van Damme and or Hyams didn't participate.

We will probably never know if Shout even asked them if they were available or not.

Boutique labels like Shout, KL, Vinegar Syndrome make these movies for collectors. And they aren't exactly cheap either. So my point was that IMO you gotta do something more than just give us the movie with an upgraded picture and sound. Like I said, they could have tried to get the rights to the original EPK, trailer or gotten those action movie pundits that I mentioned earlier to record a new commentary. Otherwise, if all you cared about is the movie, you might as well buy a $5 to $10 digital copy rather than spending $30+ for a barebones release. Especially a high cost 4K release? If it wasn't feasible to do anything, might as well just release a more affordable Blu-Ray then.

So we shouldn't have the option of UHD because there aren't any extras?

If you're willing to cough up $35 for a barebones 4K disc, sure enjoy!

If all you care about is the movie, then why would you settle for a digital copy when you can get a UHD with better video and audio? One can look at it either way. I get where you're coming from and think it's great people like you still make use of the special features, especially since I rarely do now.

I have no horse in this race because I already have the BD and I don't like the movie enough to upgrade (and the audio is gimped). But I like movies more than extras, and if I loved the movie, you're darn right I'd pay $35 to own it in the best quality. That's the actual point of the format. And even if I didn't want to pay $35, the good good news is I'm under no obligation to buy it.

That’s not what I said at all, nor does it jibe with the potential people I listed in regards to this film, but it is pretty funny!

Sometimes the 95-year-old titty actresses have the best stories!

And if I’m being honest here, I rarely complain if all they do is port over old extras. At the very least, I hope that’s what they’ll do and I’m grateful when they do it because (broken record time) something is better than nothing, even if it would be nice to have new stuff for added upgrade value (such as Shout has done for virtually every new release except this one ). I probably complain more often when they don’t – as in this case – or when they leave interesting stuff behind for whatever reason and cherry pick from the rest. Then I just question the value of the upgrade.

Shout would apparently disagree with you, on virtually every new and upcoming release on their schedule, except this one and TOMMY as far as I can tell.

One does wonder.

In searching for a previous Blu-ray release, all I could find was a Warner single-disc double feature that paired it with BLOODSPORT, so you may be right that nobody (Universal, Warner, Shout) gives a shit about it despite its original success.


This makes sense, although as I said I don’t begrudge anyone spending whatever they want on whatever they choose (although I think the sales are still viable options for those with patience). These are collector labels indeed, known for adding or creating extras for the vast majority of their releases. Just because some people hate supplements, or don’t even watch them once, or think they’re outdated, plenty of us do still appreciate them or else Shout wouldn’t have produced so many on their upcoming releases, and it also doesn’t explain why Shout chose to go barebones on one title (ok, two) and virtually no others. I just can’t help thinking that even a so-so movie like TIMECOP merited something more.

(I’ll respectfully disagree, however, that a documentary or featurette without Hyams or JCVD would be pointless. Granted, they’d absolutely make it better, obviously, but I’ve seen countless featurettes and full-length bonus docs (from Shout and others) that have been quite interesting without the director and/or main star(s) participating, at least for those of us with an interest in the more mundane and technical aspects of a production.)

Porting over all the old extras from prior disc releases only seems important if you assume that fans don't already own some of those previous releases and haven't already watched those features. Or if you expect every new release of a film to be a totally comprehensive package that should eliminate the need to hold onto previous copies. Neither seems like a realistic expectation to me.

We're now almost 30 years into the 6-inch 5-inch videodisc era. Many of these movies we're talking about have been issued and reissued and re-reissued multiple times on DVD and Blu-ray. Collectors today, the type still invested enough to buy movies on physical media rather than just stream them, are mostly those who started collecting with DVD and have already bought "Special Editions" of their favorite movies several times over. If they care about bonus content, they've already watched those featurettes, documentaries, etc. Is there really a need to carry over a 25-year-old EPK making-of doc when you've still got the old DVD or Blu-ray at hand? Sure, including it again would allow you to get rid of that old disc, but in today's market, what are you going to do with it anyway? Sell it for $0.30? Most likely, it will wind up donated to a library or thrift store, or just thrown away. If you really want to watch that old featurette, you might as well just hold onto it.

Personally, I don't see much value in porting over old legacy features on movies that have already been around the block a bunch of times. The only content I might care about are newly-produced interviews or documentaries, but even those are often redundant as the participants just retell the same old stories they've told a hundred times before, usually with less clarity in their memory as time has passed.

My copy finally shipped

Pedantic nitpick: You're about an inch off. CD/DVD/BD are 120mm, or 4.7 inches, in diameter. I've heard them referred to as 5" for regular size, and 3" for the mini-CD/DVD variants (I've never seen a mini-BD).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc

Also, technically, there were 5" LaserDisc varients.

There was "CD Video," which was a 5" hybrid CD/LaserDisc, release in 1987:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_Video
https://obsoletemedia.org/cd-video/


And the slightly more obscure Video Single Disc in 1990:
https://obsoletemedia.org/video-single-disc/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Single_Disc

And, of course, Video CD, which crammed MPEG video onto a regular CD, released in 1993:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_CD


But yes, while 5" video discs existed earlier, the release of DVD in 1996 was the start of the "era" of worldwide mainstream 5" video disc adoption.

I never gave it much thought, always assumed they were 5" or 5.25", probably because I was used to using old 5.25" floppy disks back in the 1980s with the Commodore and they had a similar size.

And, yeah, I whipped out my calipers and verified the size of an old CD-R disc I had in my desk drawer.

Calipers? Dude, how old are you!?!?

"Let me add up the years on my abacus."

Shout has a limited edition Mario Bava box set exclusive to their website:

With no mentions of remasters, I'm assuming these are the same presentations currently available on Blu-ray.

^ The contents remind me a lot of the two DVD boxed sets Anchor Bay put out a hundred years ago around 2007.



I had both of those and eventually upgraded only the ‘keepers’ to Blu-Ray. Pretty much the same mix of movies, so I assume they’re some kind of package deal when it comes to licensing? Also interesting that it’s just Blu-ray and not a forced 4K upgrade to get the Blus, like some of their recent boxes.

But holy shit with the commentaries - enough already! Critics, critics, and more critics - none of whom are known quantities but presumably write for websites and whatnot. One ‘expert’ on each would’ve been enough, although the most logical choice, Tim Lucas, appears to have had his commentaries from earlier editions (including the Anchor Bay boxes) dropped in favour of this big pile-on. The only one I’m curious about here is the track by Tracy Letts on FOUR TIMES, but that film is probably the dullest one in the collection.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Speaking of boxed sets, I noticed Shout’s Blaxploitation boxes on the shelves of a video store here today and while it’s too rich for my pocketbook (for now), I was glad to see that they wisely dropped that amateurish, borderline-AI ‘character’ artwork on the outer case in favour of just the reddish-purple backdrop (which is still kind of incongruous, but bearable).

My guess is that it would've been if more of these films had 4K masters.

Anchor Bay lost the rights after releasing them on DVD, then Kino released them on blu-ray, lost the rights and now Shout Factory has them. We have hit a point where a lot of the same titles are just getting passed around between the different boutique labels with minor differences in extras and maybe a bump in picture quality.

Shout in August:

UHD:








Steelbook reissues:



Blu-ray:



Amazon lists a few other August titles that aren't currently for preorder on shoutfactory.com -- two additional steelbook reissues and Miami Vice:

I'd love to get Miami Vice, but not for the prices that Shout normally charges for 4Ks.

And I have not picked up a single Shaw Brothers set since they 1st came out. Just way too expensive for them.

When they drop to $80 - $90 they’re a solid buy, but I’ve never paid more than that. I bought the first four in Target / Amazon ‘Buy 2 Get 1’ sales with other similarly priced items, and will hold out for the same on Vols. 5 to 7. I feel the same way about the Blaxploitation boxes which, as discussed previously here, force people to take 4K to boot. I wouldn’t mind them for the Blus, but never at nearly $200 CDN for six films.

I was skimming the used rack at the Vinegar Syndrome store on the weekend and noticed they had the Shout SLEEPAWAY CAMP II and III combo editions priced quite high, so presumably those are OOP (and the cheaper Sandpiper Blu-rays only port over the commentaries). I see they’re fetching top dollar on Amazon U.S. as well. I suppose if there’s one upside to all these 4K + Blu combo reissues, it’s that they probably wont decrease the value of earlier editions because not everyone wants or can use 4K and some might just want the DVDs in the older packs.

I’m a wee bit disappointed at the overabundance of ‘experts’ on the CITY ON FIRE edition, and only one interview with a actual participant, screenwriter Tommy Sham (who also appears in the film). But hey, I know I should just be grateful that we have them at all and that they’re including some kind of supplements. Definitely something for down the road.

Frank Djeng said that most of the people who starred in these films no longer want to talk about them - especially Chow Yun Fat. Seems like they had no choice but to get "experts" to do supplements. We are blessed with any actor/director interview that were able to get.

Miami Vice on 4k is surprising as to my understanding it was filmed with early HD cameras and would just be an upscale transfer.

There are hundreds of upscaled 4k titles. That's nothing new.

And he’s right. I do agree that most top HK stars aren’t keen on talking about these old movies, or are too old to remember much. Those folks generally aren’t who I’m referring to anyway. Compared to, say, their U.S. counterparts, Hong Kong stars cranked out so many movies every year that I’d be surprised if they could even remember most of them. They were performing machines, and many of them had huge singing careers to boot, so churning out movie after movie kept their brands humming back then. It’s the production people who often have more interesting backstories on HK filmmaking, which is why I’m grateful they at least tracked down the writer. What’s there is cool, but they probably could’ve done more.

At the end of the day, though, Arrow and Vinegar Syndrome (and 88, though more on their LE boxes) have tended to be more adept at this than Shout, and the cast/crew interviews those companies produce are probably arranged and conducted by the same experts working across most of these labels. The new IRON ANGELS set, which I picked up at the store last Friday, has four interviews with folks who worked on the films (including only one main actress) totalling just over 100 minutes, in addition to the usual scholar commentaries and video essay. Some labels also endeavour to dig into the Frederic Ambroisine archives for relevant interviews as he conducted a ton of them from the 90’s to today, many of which are quite rare. The Arrow Shawscope sets have a number of these, but his subjects weren’t limited to just that studio. I can’t speak for sure about CITY ON FIRE, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his archive has interviews with people who worked on the Golden Princess films discussing specific projects they did for that company, maybe even that one. Guess we’ll see as more of these get released.

But despite what possibly could have been, I’m as grateful as anyone that we’re getting them at all, and with supplements of any kind. I have a feeling Arrow (or whichever UK label sub-licensed the GP films from Shout, wasn’t it?) might surprise us, though, by not relying solely (or mostly) on the usual experts.

In terms of archival material, these interviews with CITY ON FIRE cinematographer Andrew Lau and star Roy Cheung were done for the old Hong Kong Legends DVD, so presumably access to these might be given to a UK boutique rather than Shout (note: subs weren’t included on these uploads):



Ringo Lam and Danny Lee also reunited at some kind of Hong Kong film festival in Shanghai in 2016 to discuss the film (and a couple of others). I’d love to see this picked up and subtitled, but alas it might be too difficult.

Yes, but Miami Vice was not only shot with early 1080p cinema cameras, it was styled with a deliberate "video" appearance that Michael Mann was infatuated with at the time. The photography frequently has a smeary look, as though motion smoothing were turned on in your TV. Upscaling to 4K will probably only exacerbate that.

Where it might benefit is HDR grading and Wide Color Gamut, as the movie has some fairly vivid colors. Even then, honestly, I'm a little skeptical.