I saw Naked Weapon on VCD before buying the DVD, so I knew what I was getting. I agree, the title and the packaging lead you to beileve that the movie is a lot different than it turned out to be.

As for "So Close", Sony was testing it the same waythat they test a domestic release (which means that significant cuts may end up being made in the final product). If so, and if the movie does poorly at the Box Office, I wouldn't expect the DVD to include the original cut. It would be a shame if more studios started jumping on the "mad hacker" bandwagon that Miramax is leading.

Re: Naked Weapon, I was very happy with that fact actually. I was hoping it wasn't going to be as extreme as Naked Killer, which it wasn't. I enjoyed it much more, in fact.

Well, Sony's done a very good job with their R1 DVDs (like OUATIC, Time & Tide, Gen-X Cops) IMO. But we'll see if it get's an R1 release since this isn't a true Sony movie. Sure it was made by Columbia Films Distribution Asia, but its domestic release is being controlled by Screen Gems (Sony's low budget division). And CFDA had So Close 2 on their slate before they released So Close.

As for Naked Weapon.. well, for something touted as a re-make of Naked Killer, I was a little bit disappointed.

Yup, that's what it appears from what everybody else is saying on other forums...

You can get the HK version shipped for $19 at CDWOW right now... Just ordered a copy for myself.

Caught another screening of "So Close" in LA on Wednesday.

This version (which is the version that will be playing the art house circuit this summer) looks like the original HK version. While I was glad to see the removal of the horrible English dub track, the subtitles on this version were horrible.

There were of the usual burnt-in variety (underneath a line of Chinese subtitles) and were white and impossible to read when white images were shown beneath them. I was really hoping for a cleaned up picture and new subs for this US release. Now I'm kind of worried about what the US DVD release will look like.

As I seem to have misplayed my VCD, can anybody comment on the quality of the picture and the subtitles on the various DVD versions. Are they burnt in subs?

Thanx.

PS. The director and one of the stars (not Shu Qui, sigh...) were at the screening and did a meet-and-greet after.

I have been watching it in Cantonese, except when Shu Qi and Vicki Zhao are on screen talking to each other, then I siwtch to Mandarin. I don't speak either, but I'd rather hear the actual actor's voice when they speak, and I guess with this DVD, sitting by it and manually switching is the only way.

Interesting. Some of the actors speak one dialect and some the other...

I guess this is normal, but I didn't notice it during the (2nd) screening I saw. I wonder which audio track they're using for the limited US theatrical release.

I watched the trailer on the DVD and everyone was speaking Cantonese, so I guess that'll be it. The narrator was in english, but there is no narrator in the movie, so I wouldn't worry about that.

I wonder why they couldn't be like Shaolin Soccer's DVD and just have one track as it actually was, with everyone speaking Cantonese except when Steven Chow was talking to Vicki Zhao, which was in Mandarin.

I think Vicki Zhao only acts in Mandarin, though I certainly haven't seen everything she's done.

Shu Qi does both I think, Mandarin in "So Close" and "The Transporter" and Cantonese in "Gorgeous", "Love Me, Love my Money".

I wonder what they'll do with the (eventual) U.S. DVD release. I haven't seen alot of Columbia releases with both Mandarin and Cantonese.

Were the subtitles burnt-in (and always present) or player generated (and able to be turned off)?

Cantonese and Mandarin 5.1 Dolby Digital audio, 16X9 animorphic video, soft subtitles (yes, they can be turned off) in English, Korean and Thai.

Cool. Thanks for the info.

One last question (which I should have asked before). Which of the 2 "So Close" releases do you own? The region 3?