Finding other Takashi Miike international dvds
 

Excluding all the legitimate Region 1 Miike US dvds listed below...

Audition
Black Society Trilogy - Aug 2004
(Shinjuku Triad Society / Rainy Dog / Ley Lines)
City of Lost Souls
Dead or Alive Trilogy
Fudoh: The New Generation
Full Metal Yakuza
Happiness of the Katakuris
Ichi the Killer
Sabu
Visitor Q
Young Thugs Innocent Blood - Oct 2004
Young Thugs Nostalgia - Oct 2004

Could someone please help me list other legitimate region 0/1 Miike international dvds that either are or will be released elsewhere outside of US? Also, where can I find and buy them?


While we're on topic, I'm looking to acquire an original cardboard case for Takashi Miike Collection (Audition/The City of Lost Souls/The Happiness of the Katakuris) that Chimera put out.

Email me if you're willing to part with this case. I can offer a good deal for this case. :)

Audition is available on Region 4

Chakushin Ari (aka "one missed call") is out in HK on october 9th apparently...

Deadly Outlaw Rekka (aka "violent fire") is out in the USA in mid-september 2004...

Agitator: the 150 minute (cinema) version of "agitator" is available here in the UK . the quality of the image is not great but remember : working at pace on low budget and probably with DV its fine... good word-heavy movie too.

Gozu : comes out here in the UK on oct 25th.

Bird People in China : out this week with subtitles, in HK : go to dddhouse.com ... remember its HK dollars not US dollars... should get a USA release from Artsmagic before the end of 04...

both "Blues harp" and "Salaryman Kintaro" and i think "new graveyard of honour" are out in germany but none have english subtitles.

there are numerous factory-produced bootlegs on ebay (which are ripped from japanese disc and have subtitles which originals didnt include) : they are "guys from paradise", "bird people in china", "full metal yakuza", "blue harp"...

theres "cannibal-king" ebay discs of the directors cuts of "agitator", the first 2 parts (so far) of "mpd psyhco" tv series, "andromedia" (very poor), and so on... check the sellers listings by searching seller name as above...

i would stick with official discs now as many are licensed and close to release / announcement...
theres plenty of other great films around also that you could buy whilst waiting for more miike!

Audition - best version is the recent UK "collectors edition"...

Black Society Trilogy - Aug 2004 : are out in the UK but the USA discs are better.

City of Lost Souls : USA disc!
Dead or Alive Trilogy : USA boxset is best...
Fudoh: The New Generation : USA disc is best...
Full Metal Yakuza : USA disc is best...
Happiness of the Katakuris : USA disc...
Ichi the Killer : DUTCH 2 disc is the best : ebay or hkflix.com / diabolikdvd.com etc ...
Sabu : USA disc is best
Visitor Q : German disc is best ... absurd-online.dk or hkflix.com etc...
Young Thugs Innocent Blood - Oct 2004
Young Thugs Nostalgia - Oct 2004 ...both only due in USA with subs as you point out...

Salaryman Kintaro (aka Kintaro The White Collar Worker) should be available on R1 on August 24th.

September 14th should be the date for Media Blasters' R1 Deadly Outlaw Rekka. They also have the rights to One Missed Call.

I think AFN has the US rights to Blues Harp and Bird People In China (not sure about dvd).

Pathfinder has the R1 rights to Yakuza Demon (Kikoku), Andromedia and Gozu.

Wow... really? Exciting news! Can you speak a bit to how they're improved over the R1 discs (which I'd previously thought were considered "best")?

logboy: The japanese fudoh-release seems to be better than the US one. It has subtitles and a DD5.1 audio track. Even some extras (interviews etc).

I think tartans release of "the happines of the katakuris" is better than the chimera/ventura-release (more extras, a DD2.0-option and subs on the commentary track instead of a dub).

Richard Malloy: The CE is pretty neat. An anamorphic transfer, which looks really good and a DTS-track. Not much extras though. Just a short interview + the usual tartan-stuff.
A comparison can be found here: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare3/audition.htm

i saw some grabs and discussion of the reissue and those that bought felt suckered as the pic quality was clearly worse on the japanese disc and the image / frame is cropped. plus its damn expensive buying japanese discs. 5.1 probably is great for many : but my priority is getting the pic and framing right, which surprisingly only the american disc does...

Thanks for the Beaver link, Sycamore! Though it's a close call, I think I prefer the non-anamorphic R1 transfer just from the look of those stills...

Oh, i wasn't aware of that.
Good that you pointed it out because i was just about to buy it :)

Richard Malloy: The R1 has a decent quality, but i think the CE is a big improvement. The colors look more true and the fact that it's anamorphic makes it a worthy purchase.

Look at the first screen capture and the table that the coffee cup is standing on. In the tartan disc, the table is clearly visible, while on the ventura disc, the background is just black.

Another good example is the 4th screen capture, which pretty much speaks for itself. A lot more details and better color on the tartan release. Just look att the stuff behind the bag.

Hmmm... on second look, I do see your point. I'm not sure which is more accurate, but I also prefer the color correction on the Tartan.

How is that DTS track? I find the DD-5.1 on the R1 version to be good, but a tad wonky now and then. Some reviewers have criticized the Tartan CE for lack of surround activity (or something), but I sorta suspect it's a more accurate, pleasing sound mix. Do you have an opinion on this?

the tartan disc (CE) is superb (for a change) ... i get a feeling people are expecting the washed-out quality to be a visual style rather than a poor transfer. the richness of the tartan disc makes the film appear orange / brown in tones instead of beige / light brown as it originally seemed. go for the tartan CE...

Richard Malloy: I have no surround, so i can't comment on the DTS track, but from what i have heard, it's nothing special.

Also forgot to mention that the CE has ha pretty nice package (it's a digipak).

Today, I found five region 0 Miike dvds at a local cd/dvd store:

Andromedia
The Guys From Paradise
Kumamoto Monogatari
Yakuza Demon

The fifth one is Gozu dvd (see image below) which I immediately bought. I'm still debating on whether to buy the four above because I'm not sure if they're legitimate dvds or not...

logboy mentioned that many more miike movies are licensed and close to release / announcement, are any of the four listed above one of these movies???

Edit: removed link/image as I'm having problems trying to upload the file.

Okay, I found some information on official Andromedia and Yakuza Demon (Kikoku) dvds coming soon from Pathfinder Home Entertainment website:

http://www.pathfinderpictures.com/vi...evideo.01.html

Andromedia
-- Sci-Fi/Fantasy
NR/109 minutes/Japanese languages with
English subtitles
Label: Pathfinder Home Entertainment
Dir: Takashi Miike
Cast: Hiroko Shimabukuro, Naoto Takenaka
(Shall We Dance)

Mai and her friends has an unseparable bond since childhood. But as of late, their friendship is questioned when their romantic relationships get in the way of others. But before Mai can make amends, she is unfortunately killed in a traffic accident. Distraught with her death, Mai's father implements his ongoing research of recording a person's memory into a microchip. His years of work finally pay off and Mai is alive again - through a computer.
But trouble soon brews when a large corporation sends some thugs to retrieve Mai and the technology by forcible means. But before they can get to Mai, her father luckily safehavens her into her former boyfriend's laptop. Now the chase is on for the laptop and Mai's boyfriend and former friends have to run to keep her safe.

DVD UPC# 825307-90679-0
CAT# PH 90679 - $19.98

Special Features: 16 x 9 Anamorphic Video
Still Gallery, Biographies, TV spot, Excerpts



Yakuza Demon (Kikoku)
-- Drama
NR/100 min./Japanese languages with
English subtitles
Label: Pathfinder Home Entertainment
Dir: Takashi Miike
Cast: Riki Takeuchi (Dead or Alive), Tetsuro Tamba

Honor, betrayal and mind-blowing action as only acclaimed cult director Takashi Miike can bring! Seiji and Yoshifumi are the only members of the Muto branch of the Date Family. The two respect and love their leader, Mr. Muto, like a father and the three share a firm bond. But their fate is sealed when the Family is involved in a conflict. Muto is unable to pay his share of funds for the oncoming battle but tells executives of the Family that he would fight at the front line instead. In the wish to protect Muto, Seiji has him arrested by the police. Ignoring the Family executives' mocks of "Muto escaped to prison", Seiji prepares for the battle and attacks like a demon on behalf of his boss…

DVD UPC# 825307-91139-8,
CAT# PH-91139 - $19.98

Special features:
16 x 9 Anamorphic Video
Still Gallery, Biographies, Trailer

these are all bootlegs. thing is with bootlegs : theres gonna be more than one person / company making them, so wether theyre any good is difficult. its likely the kumamoto monogatari is gonna be poor - ive neve found a factory produced bootleg of that film. "guys from paradise" on the other hand was made into a great factory bootleg : a rip of the japanese film with english subtitles added. great film too. really great ...

I've purchased bootleg Miike discs on eBay <small><font color=red><i>[....] </small></font></i>for "The Bird People of China" and "Ley Lines", and found both to be <small><font color=red><i>[bootleg-supplier recommendation deleted]</small></i></font>

BTW, I haven't seen "Andromedia", but it has quite the reputation for suckiness, and proclaimed to be the nadir of Miike's career. Can't speak to it personally, but it wouldn't be the first "custom" Miike DVD I'd purchase.

__________
<i><font color=blue>Maybe it's me, but I'd've thought that the regular reminders stating that bootleg discussions/recommendations are <b>verboten</b> here would have deterred folks in this thread from going any further than the original request for help listing "other legitimate region 0/1 Miike international dvds...."</i>[Benedict]</font>

just a quick question about the Visitor Q german disc.

Is there a reason why it is better than the R1 disc?

thanks!

Okay so I've seen Ichi and Audition and thought they were okay. Audition was better overall in my opinion, I didn't care too much for the campiness of Ichi. What are some of the best Miike films out there right now that wouldn't be considered very campy?

Sorry if this is a bit off subject, I just thought it would probably be a good group of people to ask.

ichi is the only one thats overtly campy : those there some homosexuality in brief moments of some of the films. thing is : you cant judge what your gonna get to a large extent with miike - thats what i (and many others) enjoy about his stuff... you have to dive in...

the disc mastering on the usa disc is terrible. the packaging of the USA disc is a poor digipak : the german is a sturdy standard dvd case...

does the Tartan Collectors Edition of Audition come in a keepcase as well?

it comes in a cardboard slipcase thingy... dont like them : but its the best mastering of the film by far...

Thanks for the help. I just asked those questions because other than Full Metal Yakuza I don't own any Miike Films and wanted to know the best possible versions.

I finally got that Ichi 2 disc for 18 bucks on ebay, so I'm happy about that.

My R1 American Cinemateque "Audition" is in an Amaray keepcase. I've mostly seen it in the digipack, but both are out there.

Likewise the Media Blasters "Visitor Q".

As Richard points out, the Ventura/America Cinemateque Audition originally came in a nice cardboard slipcase (I like 'em). When they put out the Takashi Miike Collection and bundled it with City of Lost Souls and Happiness of the Katakuris they switched Audition to an Amaray case (or it would've been one weird looking boxset). I haven't seen the slipcase version around for a while.

I have to get the Tartan CE, though. Too bad it's not NTSC.