anybody seen this japanese movie? i hate how the japanese region 2 version doesn't have the photobook that the korean version has, yet the korean version doesn't have the 2nd disc that the japanese version has. ugh! asian countries should only be allowed to release their own country's movies, otherwise you never know which dvd to get! generally i like to stick to a country's releases of its own movies (korean movie, i buy the korean dvd etc etc). back to the movie, is it any good?

dvdasian.com stated Korean Version as 2 disc set + Photo book .

http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvdasian/18576.html

Yes. I have the single disk HK release. I would recommend you get that before throwing your money on a film you may not enjoy. Shunji Iwai is definitely a 'love him or hate him' kind of filmmaker, so in this case, i'd be even more wary of buying blind.

I'm definitely a fan. For someone looking for a good introduction to his work, I'd start with the incredibly beautiful "All About Lily Chou Chou."

cool, i'll check that movie out (and hana and alice) before i make a buy. thanks guys!

I liked Swallowtail Butterfly better than All About Lily Chou Chou myself, you should check that out as well.

I picked up the 2-disc HK release. I liked the movie alot, but I don't know if it was as good as his other films. I think it went a little too long.

ANybody have the Korean release yet? I am thinking of double-dipping on this just for the photo book and the nicer looking set?

james at our forum told me that the Korean version has 2 disc + photo booklet. he went to technomart today and bought Before Sunrise & Before Sunset box set and while at it, looked at the Hana & Alice set.

He says it's a 5,000 print Limited Edition with 2 disc + booklet. Since he doesn't care much for it, he didn't buy it. You can check out the contents of Before Sunrise double pack at dvdutopia.com if interested. (Under forum Open Case)

However, even though they say it's 5K limited, he doubts the LE would be sold out. (However, HOFD has been sold out atm. Only 3,000 prints have been planned for this and believe me, the LE of HOFD is much cooler than the normal HOFD they have here)

which HOFD, the korean or HK version? i have the HK version on its way to me, should arrive tomorrow or tuesday. along with my Shaolin Soccer UE ^^

HOFD, Korean version.

Hana and Alice
Korean R3 Enterone DVD
1.85:1 Anamorphic
2.0 Jap Stereo Only
135 Mins
Main Feature DVD-9, 2nd Disc DVD-5 (no Eng Subs)

Shunji Iwai returns to nostalgic rose tinted movie making of the magical kind found in Love Letter and April Story. Story of two teenage girls who fall for the same boy so there's no ground breaking story here but what we do have is Shunji's interpretation of the friendship between two young girls its pleasant heart warming stuff with very little to get unhappy about. Its the relationship between the two girls that the whole movie depends which Shunji manages to pull off through this 2 hour movie. All About Lily Chou Chou was too long not because it was boring but because theres only so much depressing acts a person like me can take. The same could be said about Hana and Alice (film being too long) but for the opposite reason, some people will find it too cutesy wootsey but I didn't and is in fact why I am such a big fan of Shunji because not many film makers are willing to risk making movies from a magical era that time has forgot. There is only so much cynical, smartarse, wham bam, plot twisting and just plain showy movie making I can take.

Don't worry too much about the premise of the movie its never really about that and its always about the two leads ... Hana and Alice. If the movie was based on the love triangle alone it would have been over in an hour.

I rate this as another polite unforgettable Shunji masterpiece ...

http://hana-alice.com/