So Close
 

When is the DVD planned? The VCD has been available for preorder for awhile now... I saw a trailer for it in US theaters months ago.

March

On an unrelated note...
Saw the VCD couple nights ago, it was horrible (well...at least the first 20 mins is, I turned it off after 20 mins). Bad effects, bad acting and fake-ish martial arts.

The VCD has been available for a few weeks now. The DVD is due March 3rd, at least according to Sensasian.com.

It's a guilty pleasure type of movie. In other words, it's silly and over-the-top and yet vastly entertaining. There are some killer action scenes which you'd expect to see in a Corey Yuen flick, in particular a 3-way sword fight which, while completely outrageous, had me grinning ear to ear. The writing's atrocious, the story is absurd. But if you doubted its camp intentions, look no further than the lesbian subtext between...well, everyone (Shu Qi and Vicky Zhao, as sisters, have a hilariously perverse scene involving a bathtub and a towel).

Basically, if you liked Corey Yuen's last flick, The Transporter, you know what you're in for here. Fantastic action, absolute cheese. With the added Babe Factor.

Besides which, I'd watch Vicky Zhao in just about anything. ;)

nice... thanks Lokise. :)

sounds a lot like NAKED WEAPON. How does it compare to NW?

Now available
 

"So Close" DVD is available now at www.dvdasian.com.

http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvdasian/14783.html

it's odd that this movie is getting its first DVD release in Korea before Hong Kong! Isn't there supposed to be a US region 1 release of this movie too in the future since it's partially bankrolled by Columbia Tristar?

It is also available at www.cd-wow.net on Feb 17th for under $19 shipped. Having the VCD (and knowing that a region 0 release will probably be a lot cheaper), I'm going to pass.

http://www6.cd-wow.net/detail_result...duct_code=4669

There were plans for a So Close 2 before this movie debuted... at least according to the Columbia Films Asia... anyone know when Big Shot's Funeral will be out on DVD? I thought it was pretty hilarious. :)

April 15, 2003
The Region 3 version is available now at www.pokerindustries.com

hmm, according to CDWOW it's still unconfirmed whether the region 3 release is going to be anamorphic or not. The Korean release definitely will be

hmm, according to CDWOW it's still unconfirmed whether the region 3 release is going to be anamorphic or not. The Korean release definitely will be

I never put to much stock into what CD-WOW displays as features. They seem to be a little more out of touch than other retailers. Still, their prices are sometimes way better than other e-tailers. I but from them, but do my purchase homework elsewhere.

I've already ordered it from Yesasia.com...Should be fun. I'm a big Vicki fan...

BTW, DVDAsia lists it as "out of stock"...

HI! I am Vicki fan too. I would like to know what's difference between Korean and Hong Kong version?
Does the Korean version come with Mandarin track and special feature? cuz I really like the cover than the HK one.

SO CLOSE
 

"SO CLOSE" was released today in Hong Kong by COLUMBIA TRISTAR/ERA. It is believed to be animorphic. We are looking forward to comparing it to the Korean release since the Korean release is much cheaper. Our preorder for the HK version is up at:

http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID....qx/details.htm

Regards,
Jeff
HKFLIX

Actually, the best way to get either version of this title "much cheaper" is to order it from an Asian DVD site.

DDDHouse has it now also

http://www.dddhouse.com/cms/dddhouse...productID=2688

Worst news of the week:

Sony is test-screening a (badly) dubbed version of this movie for an eventual US release.

where do you get the news from?
Anyway, the dubbed (English) version was shown in Thailand last month.

Well, the film is badly dubbed in any language... Some people in it are speaking Mandarin and others are speaking Cantonese, so either way you watch it its not gonna sync up all that great. I watched it the other night - it was okay... The action was pretty good and the story was pretty stupid. I don't see American audiences eating this up really. There are much better films they could release upon the US. I first heard about this movie when I saw a trailer before Transporter (I think) and was surprised to see a HK movie being trailerd in the US. Anyway - for a mindless action flick, it's okay. The effects ranged from decent to laughable.

Tnx trigger, you just saved me $15. Might as well pick up a celestial release.

As an English speaking person, bad English dubbing is a lot more noticeable than Chinese dubbing. There was a lot of dubbing on the Chinese audio track in "Naked Weapon" (a movie with a similar theme), and it hardly bothered me.

Awkward pauses and strange phrasing are a lot more noticeable in one's native tongue.

While I agree that some of the effects were not all that great (ie: the CGI breaking glass), so were spectacular. Also... Shu Qi... need I say more!!

Note that I specifically said that an English dub was tested. The questionaires that the audience filled out after the screening asked some specific questions about the dubbing, so maybe a sub-titled version was tested elsewhere.

So do I pick this up or wait for the Sony R1 release (if there is one?) I don't mind fun-no-brainer films with hotties ;)
Yes, I got Naked Weapon.. just thought there would be more naked than weapon :o

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?