not available at several sites that i looked up. has this hk r0 dvd gone out of print? anyone know why and if there's a chance of it coming back out?

I don't think it is out of print, but Ocean Shores releases in general are usually in short supply. From what I've seen they only do periodic repressings of their titles so there is large lags between availability. I still see it popping in with the new stock at local import stores here.

You can find it at pokerindustries.com . that have a great selection of asian dvd's. the best i've found so far. i would like to see a nice region 1 dvd come out for this title though.

Just as a note the Chungking Express DVD is suck.
I have the Rolling Thunder Laserdisc and it kicks the DVD's ass.

Yes, it is suck, but it's a great movie. What is it with Wong Kar-Wei and crappy DVDs. If we can get a 3 disc set of a crappy movie like Cleopatra, why can't a Cannes winner like Wong get a halfway decent DVD of at least 1 of his movies? Just venting...

Man, did you guys ever play the dvd to the end?
I just did and it turns out that there are trailers to half a dozen movies!

I've always stopped the movie when the credits came up, but it sure was a surprise to see the trailers.

supposed to be a new R1 DVD of Chungking Express comnig out by Miramax...


J.T.

http://psc.video.go.com/bvhe/videova...s/2565203.html


bvhe = Buena Vista Home Entertainment, the Disney subsidiary which handles all the DVDs for the parent company and the other subsidiaries.

No sireeee. They sure as hell will have to pry my credit card out of my cold dead fingers for me to buy an English dub-only CE.

I hope that the release will have the original languages.
I don't know if it was a fluke, but a girl I was watching the movie with was telling me that the narration by the plain-clothes cop was in Mandarin, but his dialogue was mostly in Cantonese. He also speaks a few lines of Japanese, too.

The Miramax DVD won't be English-dubbed. No English dub was ever created for this film. Let me put it this way: I'm so confident it won't be English dubbed I'll eat a mile of barbed wire if it is.

Dan, I understand that a little roughage in the diet is good for you. Ouch!


[Note: edited for typo]

They also list Christopher Doyle as the film's co-director. I don't care if it's direct from Buena Vista, if they can't even get the basic credits right then the specs are not reliable.

But even putting that aside, think about it. Again, no English dub has ever been created for this film. The VHS is subtitled -- no dubbed VHS has ever been released, not even for the rental market. The Criterion LD had no English-dub track. Any English-dub track would have to be created especially for this DVD. Considering Miramax was too lazy to even do a new transfer for Belle de jour, logic would seem to dictate that this is as likely as Laura Bush joining the Hell's Angels.

As Castro said, "History will absolve me." Wait until the disc comes out and we'll see who gets the roughage.

Considering Buena Vista/Miramax's track record, I'll put my money on KC Woman.

The Jet Li stuff didn't have English dubs on anything prior to the Buena Vista releases AFAIK. I could see your point if Miramax was the size of Ocean Shores, but considering that they are backed by Disney, I think that they could afford to do a dub if they wanted to (and they have before).

They'll probably replace the musical score and add rap music as well

Maybe they will cut half an hour out of it as well, ya know to "tighten up the pace"

Miramax has proven many times that they arent as "cultured" as they have made themselves out to be.

Web Alliance for the Respectful Treatment of Hong Kong Films

List of 30+ films that Disney, et al, have purchased the rights to, but haven't yet released*:


http://www.hkfilm.net/disney/movies.html





*That means that there is still time to do something to stop Disney, et al, from not including an original language track along with their dubbed version.

Sherry

There is an R2 PAL disc published by ICA (UK) - has anyone seen that disc?

I have the ICA Region 2 PAL disc. It is just a bare bones release:

Widescreen of course.

From the cover:

"Cantonese and Mandarin with English Subtitles.
Running time: 100 mins
DVD Features:Motion Menus & Scene Selection."

As much as I hate what Disney has done to H.K. films in America, I have been looking foward to Miramax releasing this DVD for quite some time (years).

They released Chungking Express under Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder imprint a few years ago (which is how I was first introduced to the films of Wong Kar-Wai) on VHS, and that had the original Cantonese track with English subtitles. In fact, this was the version that they carried in Blockbuster video stores, and is the only version Miramax released, to the best of my knowledge. I don't see why the DVD would be any different.

That's why I'm fairly confident that this will end up being a Cantonese-language release. Here's hoping....

Even with all the headaches that Disney/BV/Miramax give us, I don't see how the listing of an English soundtrack can be seen as anything other than a typo.

Here are the specs from DVDPlanet.com:

Original Language: Cantonese
Subtitle: English
Widescreen: 1.85:1
16x9: Yes
Quentin Tarantino introduction and wrap-up; Original Hong Kong trailer.Here

Can you verify the aspect ratio of the version you have? Is it 1.85 or 1.66:1?
thanks.

Donald, DVD Planet has made a couple of mistakes on the listing for City on Fire:

1) The DVD was released by Dimension, not Buena Vista

2) While techinically correct, the "Original language" is Cantonese, but the DVD is English-dubbed - notice that there is a blank space following the "English Dubbed?:" line

3) "English subtitles" must mean the CC (closed caption) subtitles for the hearing impaired



It still seems more likely that the Disney site (bvhe = Buena Vista Home Entertainment) would have the correct information.

Nope. All Dimension, Miramax, Disney and Touchstone titles are released through Buena Vista.

Quote:

It still seems more likely that the Disney site (bvhe = Buena Vista Home Entertainment) would have the correct information.

But they don't. They claim Christopher Doyle co-directed the film. If he did, that's the first I ever heard of it.

DVDFile lists the exact same specs as DVD Planet, so they must be wrong too.

Does anyone actually believe for a second that Miramax would actually cut and dubbed Chungking Express? Miramax has already released CKE uncut and in original language in US theatres, VHS, and laserdisc. Even on cable it was shown subtitled. So why after all these years would Miramax spend $$$ to cut, dub and rescore a movie that they've already released. The real worry is; are they going to foist an old laserdisc transfer upon us and charge $29.95+ for the privledge of owning this movie on DVD?

dleedlee,

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can you verify the aspect ratio of the version you have? Is it 1.85 or 1.66:1?
thanks.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a comparison between the ICA PAL and the Hong Kong NTSC discs(they are both 1.66:1):

http://www.dvdcompare.org.uk/compari...e.php?fid=1695

JohnN

I noticed that. Did you notice that that same space is also left blank for nearly every other DVD on their site? I guess they're all dubbed.
No, English subtitles mean English subtitles, and listed under Product Features is this...

Closed Caption?: No

...which would seem to be a pretty explicit announcement indicating a lack of CC. It's certainly more explicit than an empty space after "English Dubbed?:," which, again, can be found on 99.9% of DVDPlanet's other listings.

DVDPlanet receives the info it lists straight from the studios, in this instance Buena Vista/Miramax, so any errors wouldn't be DVDPlanet's fault. This means Buena Vista itself has released contradictory specs regarding Chungking Express: an indication of dubbing on their own site (along with the dubious listing of C. Doyle as co-director), and a notice of subtitling sent out to retailers. It's rather obvious which is correct; I don't understand the stubborness in accepting it.

The BHVE site also fails to mention the 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, so I guess it must really be pan and scan. They also fail to mention the trailer and Tarantino's introduction, so I guess it must be featureless.

This whole debate is petty and moronic, so I must be petty and moronic for participating, and for that I apologize.