Their prices don't seem as good once you add the shipping.

chucky7, as I think you're the only person who's actually got his hands on one of these style sets, could you provide some insight into how sturdy it is, what its made of, etc.

Also, in these pics, it seems like discs and leaflets as in the same slot. Is that right?

I've got a couple copies of the Bruce Lee set. Originally ordered it last November before it got delayed.

The 'book' they come in is BUFF. There are five 'pages' about 1/2" thick that holds each disc and one that hold a book. No chance of 'floaters' during shipping as the book closes tight.

What style of holder is it for the dvd? Wondering about the durability of the cases/pages that hold the dvds as there isn't any real close up shots that I've seen. Thanks.

Each 'page' is thick (.5" or more) and has a plastic dvd tray in it. Kinda like you'd find in a digipak (x-files). The two corners of each 'page' have some type of metal over them to protect them from bending or crushing. Not that that would happen though. I'm sure its just for show. The entire book is extremely durable.

Just got an email from Yesasia saying they wouldn't be able to ship my order till the 17th. I wonder if that means the release date has been pushed back or if it's just something to do with Yesasia.

Better Tomorrow korean set has beeen delayed (release date put back a week or so) :( boo foobin hoo, but hey ho its not gonna kill me

Release date of better tomorrow korean set is 2004-05-07. dvdheaven.com said if we order this dvd before being released, then they give us 'Spectrum DVD Highlights Collection'. It is including theater trailers of "Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King" and "Kill Bill Vol.2".

Sounds good.

Okay, if you want to know what it looks like, just check th first page of this thread, or go here

http://www.madmad.co.kr/detail.html?dvd_id=8366

I have the Bruce Lee set and it's pretty sturdy. It won't break. You could throw it across the room and it would come out the same.

Look, the Bruce Lee set was supposed to orginally come out at the end of September 2003, but was delayed some 6 months until Feb 2004. I'll believe the release when I see it.

To give you an indication of the price, Korean websites are selling it around 44000 won, about $38US. It'll be even less in stores here.

The extra are pretty bare: original trailer, galleries, but there is a deleted scene from part 3. Don't really know what's gonna be on the IVL set, but if the Bruce Lee set is any indication, it's probably gonna be better.

So at the moment none of us know the exact specification of the Korean A Better Tomorrow collector edition. We still don't know the audio video quality, subtitles (as well as for the extras), and completeness of the feature (cut / uncut).

We're also expecting another Better Tomorrow boxset from IVL this May (as reported from asiandvdguide.com), so it would be very interesting.

The Korean set uses the same master as the HK set. Someone speculated that for some re-releases of HK fims that IVL is planning during the year, IVL will be using the same master used for HKL editions. (One upon a time in China Trilogy, John Woo movies, Plan A...)

http://www.asiandvdguide.com/weekly6749/ivl_leaflet.jpg




The known specs for the Korean set are: Anamorphic, Cantonese dts and DD , English and Korean subtitles. As for whether the films are cut or uncut, since it is the same master with the HK set, if the HK set is cut, so is the Korean set.

Here's a link to the Japanese boxset containing the A Better Tomorrow films 1-3 and also The Killer. These will also be released seperately. Sadly, no English subs. http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=PIBF-1560

I doubt the ABT movies are gonna be cut. They're not violent enough for the Korean gov't to be annoyed. They've let worse things go by. I'd guess the print is uncut.

I was gonna buy the Japanese set, subs or no, but when I heard Spectrum was releasing the movies, I cancelled that item. 15000 yen is mighty expensive compared to the 44000 won the set's gonna cost in Korea. Japan's got The Killer, but IVL's gonna have The Killer AND Bullet in the Head. I'm gonna wait for that instead. I will say that if the Japanese set would've had subs, I would've kept my order. I trust Japanese DVD quality more than Korean DVD quality.

(Um... I think you mean Project A, right? Plan A is a whole other kind of classsic...)

As for extras, look at my post a few messages up. (My Korean isn't perfect, though, but I could put the extras up when I get the set.)

Please do ... at least we need to be sure whether the extras are subtitled or not ...

I can tell you now they're not. The only time I've seen English subs on a Korean DVD extra is in the Magnificent Butcher and City Hunter DVDs, and that only happened because they were direct ports from Fox's R1 DVDs (with the added bonus of a DTS track). (Oh, yeah, Heroic Duo had subs on the making-of only. The interviews, which are only on the Korean DVD, are subbed in Korean only.)

Considering the extras there are, subs don't really seem necessary, though.

Oops ... then we should consider first what are the extras ... OK. besides those cool pictures and cards, what are the others ... interview? Filmography? Making? If those are the extras, sub would certainly be necessary. If not, well, maybe gotta see what the IVL box sets will be instead of this one. The main feature is the most determining factor anyway.

Like I said before, the extras are original/new trailers, galleries and a cut scene from the third movie. There's also something about the weapon, but I'm not sure. Probably just info about what the weapons are.

No interviews, no making-ofs, no commentaries, probably no filmographies or biographies.

Here: Part one lasts 113 minutes, part two is 124 and part three is 144. That's no more than 20 minutes extra features for each movie. The three original trailers are probably over 3 minutes each (like many trailers from that era), the new trailers would be about 2 minutes each. That's 15 minutes for the trailers.

In any case, even if these extras come out on the IVL set, they probably won't be subtitled in English. None of the Cantonese/Mandarin-language extras on their Shaw Bros. releases had English subs (at least, not to my knowledge).

So what's this "Code of Bullets" feature? In which disc is it included?

It's something that talks about the weapons of the movies and it's about the guns of all 3 movies, according to the websites.. I don't know if it's a featurette or just some text, but I'll know on Saturday, when I buy the set.

Okay, so I have the set and looked at it very quickly, just to tell you the extras.

It's the same for all parts, the original trailer, the new edited trailer, and the new trailers for the 2 other movies. They also have movie stills, either static or in a slideshow.

The Code of Bullets thing is a featurette, in Cantonese with Korean subs only (don't know if the IVL set will have English ones), where you see the weapons of the movies being used. I guess the guy talks about the guns. You see many action sequences from the movies in these things. Part one is just the action scenes and some guy shooting various guns. Part 2 has more detail, in that it talks about kill shots and where the gunshots are most deadly. It also talks about blast waves because of the restaurant explosion. Part 3 has one guy talking about how to hold a gun and fire it. You also get to learn about machine guns and anti-tank weapons. Throughout these things, you either get a real guy firing the guns (but that only happens for the smaller ones) or you have a CG recreation of what happens. Part 1 is about 9 minutes, 2 is 8 2 3/4 and 3 is about 10 1/4.

Part 3 has 5 deleted scenes. I didn't watch them but they add up to about 5 1/2 minutes. Again, only Korean subs on those.

DTS on all movies is half bitrate (768Kbps) and the running times go as follows: ABT is 1:35:12, ABT2 is 1:43:43 and ABT3 is 1:58:52.
How does that compare to some other versions? My Megastar ABT is 1:31:09, my Anchor Bay ABT2 is 1:44:11 and my Megastar ABT3 is 1:54:52. I have to idea where the extra minutes come from or where the footage goes.

By and large this is the same format as the Bruce Lee set. Even the menus are pretty much the same. I didn't look at the picture or sound quality yet but it wouldn't do much good considering many people want to know the difference between this set and the IVL one. I'm pretty stupid so I'll probably end up getting the IVL set also.

Pat,
How is the sound and video quality in general?

Yes, even if you can't compare them with the IVL, your comments on the picture and sound would be very welcome. Perhaps you can compare them with the Anchor Bays? sounds like you have those...

I didn't listen to all the movies but just a couple of scenes.

Okay, some spoilers, but you've probably seen the movie anyway.
Part one
I saw the scene where Chow Yun-Fat gets his leg shot. You actually hear the bones cracking in Chow Yun-Fat's leg. I also looked at the odd scene here and there. The picture had grain sometimes but it's way better than the Megastar DVD. There are also no specks or anything that I notieced. The surrounds and the sub do get used quite a bit. Everything is else is very clear. The only problem is the song that plays when Chow Yun-Fat is flirting with the girl and planting guns in the plants is a bit distorted because it's very high. I found the Megastar sound to be very tinny and hollow. That's all gone with this DVD. Some gunshots aren't as hefty as later John Woo gunshots, but it's still better than Megastar. Sound and picture look very good, but could still be improved a bit.

Part two
I saw the end shootout (how could I resist?). However, I saw the shootout scene with Dean Shek and Chow Yun-Fat first. Again, the gunshots aren't as canon-like as, say, Mission Impossible 2. The score, though, blasts away through all speakers. Now for the end scene. Holy shit. All I can say is you'll be very happy. The picture is actually so clear that you see a wire pulling one of the stuntmen. During those explosions, your room will shake. The sound is definitely an improvement over the Anchor Bay I have. This time, the score sounds like it comes from inside a small room. Still better than Anchor Bay's stereo track. Picture is the same as the first movie, no specks and good but with a bit of grain here and there. (By the way, the song Leslie Cheung sings in subtitled.) Overall, better than part 1 but if I were picky I'd say the picture could be better.

Part 3
I watched this movie once and so was kind of lost when I watched this. I didn't watch any one particular scene. Flipping through the chapters, I saw the sound was very nice. Score and ambience come through all speakers. When there's action, there's action. Picture can get grainy, but it's generally okay (and again, no specks). Once again, sound and picture could be a bit better, but once again I'm being picky and once again, picture and sound are better than the Megastar DVD.

I hope this helps. Let me put it this way, until the IVL and Japanese sets come out, this is the best version of the movies you can buy. After that, it's anybody's guess.

Here are some screengrabs and menushots:

http://www.hkmania.com/posternews/ex...hp?id_news=507

That sure looks nice...Dodgy translations though I notice! It's a shame that HKL never got their hands on these..They would have done a superb job.

It's a shame that 'Made in Hong Kong' packed up before DVD hit big, as their VHS releases for all 3 films were excellent and fully uncut. The sub job on "ABT1! was very good and nicely knocked off the subtitles when MArk is talking English with the goons during the deal with Ti Lung. #2 may be a very dumb film, but it has some iconic Chow/Woo moments, but #3 is sadly very unjustly maligned. RIP Anita.