joelgee

I see that "All for the Winner" is available on VHS for 19.95 from Tai Seng and as a VCD. EVen though the videotape is about four times the cost of the VCD, does it represent a better value or is the VCD roughly equivalent in quality?
Thanks.
Joel

princessducky

I am waiting for this to come out on DVD and I must say I don't think I am the only one either. Though I don't know if this will ever be released on DVD, but I have a feeling it will. Anyone have info on this would be great. I love this movie!

I would get the VHS because I think the quality would be better than the VCD and you won't have to go through the hassle of switching disc. Besides, VCD is just basically bootleg.

joelgee

I certainly will not support bootleg products, but how do we know this particular VCD is bootleg?
Also, I'd prefer to see this on DVD, but as you say no one has any idea if or when. It makes one curious as to why companies decide to put one film on DVD and not another, especially when something like "All for the Winner" is a recognized quality Stephen Chow vehicle.
Joel
p.s.
Thanks.

princessducky

I don't know that it's bootleg, but I'm trying to say the quality of VCDs are like bootleg. All in all VCDs SUCK!

I have the God of Gamblers 2 with Stephen Chow on VCD because it was not availabe on DVD when I ordered it then so I opted for that. Now I am going to get the DVD version. The quality was bad and it was choppy at cetain points. Another thing I hate switching the languages and especially the disc in between.

I just don't think VCDs are worth it at all!!!

joelgee

I keep hearing about the quality of better VCDs but I've yet to actually see one that matches quality VHS output. I guess if I want to see this, my best choice for the moment is VHS.
Thanks.
Joel

princessducky

I would wait it out. Maybe go rent it on VHS and watch it for now. I think it'll come out on DVD soon. At least that is what I hope for.

joelgee

Yeah. If I could rent it that would be my first choice, seeing that I only know what I read but finding rental Asian films is not so easy here in the metro Detroit area. Even the one independent place in the area -- the one that started my, uh, fascination with Asian films -- hasn't expanded their offerings to meet my demands. The noive of dese guys!
Joel

princessducky

So sorry for you on that! Good luck then!

I guess it's just going to be you and me replying back and forth to each other.

I know this is wayyyyyyyyyy off topic:

BTW is GEE your last name because that is my last name.

dleedlee

A lot of people complain about vcds, but they should be complaining about their
players. A lot of DVD players will not play vcds at all, some play marginally and
others play with no problem. The early Toshibas didn't play them, Sonys and Pioneers
seem to play them effortlessly and the bulk of others seem to play them marginally.

I have 3 players, not counting my LD player, an Aiwa portable vcd player, a Pioneer
525 DVD player and a Sampo 620. Before I bought the DVD players, I checked the
specs and forums to be sure they could handle vcds well. I suspect that a lot of people,
understandably, didn't consider vcds when purchasing their DVD player.
I have a couple hundred vcds (mainly because I owned a vcd player before I jumped
in to DVDs 2 years ago) and less than a handful have given me serious problems. And a good number of the two hundred are of questionable (Malaysian) origin.

Besides which, titles such as School on Fire, All For The Winner, Chicken and Duck Talk, Bullet in the Head (boardroom ending), Durian, Durian, Brigitte Lin's
Taiwan weepies, etc are not available on DVD, not to mention two years ago. Add
music videos, documentaries, travelogues, Chinese operas, TV series, and a few Wang Yu titles and you have a clear argument in favor of vcds as an option. Consider it a tool in your movie viewing kit bag and don't dismiss it out of hand.

Furious

Given that the VHS would be a poor multi generation reproduction from either the vcd or ld, it isn't a great choice either. The best choice is to pick it up used on LD.

Yellow Hammer

yeah I happen to have this on LD, but places that sell LDs are getting somewhat rare. Anyone know of any online places that sell HK movie LDs, new or used?

joelgee

After seeing all the opinions I guess VCD might be my best compromise. I guess I'm not looking for DVD quality. I just want to see if I'd enjoy the movie. Shelling out 20 bucks when the DVD still might be released seems a waste of dough, although if I got the videotape that would probably speed along the announcement that the DVD was being released. Anamorphically. Tomorrow.

Unfortunately I don't have an LD player so that option is unavailable.

Sensasian carries the VCD. I don't know who else does.

Joel

dleedlee

Besides e-bay? Except for some B titles, I haven't seen any HK LDs online for
a long time. I have a spare copy of Touch of Evil if anyone is interested.

Sad e-bay story: In May, I happened to see Shanghai Blues up for auction.
The seller in HK wanted 50.00 starting bid, plus another 10.00 or so for s/h. I passed,
and eventually, the auction closed with no bidders. A few weeks later, I saw it
had been re-posted and sold for around 20.00. Still kicking myself for missing one
of the holy grails of HK films.

I don't miss the storage problems though.

Joel, out of curiosity, what model player do you have?

joelgee

It seems to play VCDs okay but the ones I've tried have been blocky. Some of the subs are the poor quality invisible when white-on-white, etc.

princessducky

VCDs are so choppy and the subtitles are all cut off. I have to admit some of the DVD qualities are not all that either. Don't really have too many problems with DVDs though.