http://www.dvdutopia.com/forums/inde...showtopic=1299

In his review, he discloses

. Limited Edition : Acryl Case with Zhang ZiYi as cover (2 disc)
. Standard Edition : Box Case with Bamboo Forest as cover (2 disc)

Same discs, different packaging. The LE comes with a photo album.

Has anyone used that site (asiandb.com) before? Are they reputable?

I ordered from KoreaPop, and a billing confirmation email came from asiandb. Its my first order from KoreaPop though...I know, not too helpful.

As others have already commented, the video is a little sharper on the Starmax. But the 6.1 DTS on the EDKO really is outstanding. For myself, the audio more than makes up for the difference in the video. If showing the movie to someone who hasn't yet seen it, the EDKO version is the one I would pick.
Will be interesting to see the R1 version, though I'm not over-joyed with the (amittiedly minor) cuts that were made with it.

Have you compared both versions directly? I'm trying to decide today what version to get. My setup doesn't have a rear center, so would I notice much difference?

Yes, I've got both versions and have played through them both a couple of times.
Since I have a 6.1 setup, the sound difference is quite noticeable.I'm sorry that I don't know how much (if any) better it would sound on a different audio setup.

Though the video difference is noticeable, I wouldn't call either one unsatisfactory. So maybe your best bet is to go with the cheapest of the two?

I decided to order the LE since I can always get the regular Edko 2-disc later if I change my mind. For anyone who's still looking for the LE, I ordered it from axelmusic.com last night and it shipped today. It was $40 including shipping, although it looks like the price was just raised to $52.

I've got the Edko 2-disc and am wondering whether to get the Starmax version (particularly as it now seems the US release will be cut and the Japanese release has no English subs)...

Can any of you with the Starmax version determine whether there are any (and I hope I'm using the correct terminology here) motion artifacts and such defects? On the Edko disc, this is apparent in some wide shots with lots of fine detail (leaves, branches, etc.), and is possibly only noticeable on larger displays. I'm wondering if anyone with, say, a 50-inch or larger, progressive-capable widescreen TV is seeing any such problems on the Starmax transfer?

Is what you're seeing a sort of afterimage? If so, it may be what I saw and, at first, thought was a flaw with the transfer. It's actually a motion blur that's caused by the exposure speed when the film was shot. Earlier in this thread I mentioned three instances of what I saw. If this is similar to what you're seeing, I'm sure the Starmax release will have it too as it's part of the film itself.

re: Starmax LE. Finally received this the other day and have had a chance to watch it once. It's beautiful. Looks great, sounds great. I almost jumped outta my chair during one "flying dagger" scene as it sounded and felt like something was flying directly over my shoulder by my ear.

I was trying really hard to spot the differences in this uncut version to the one that played in the theatres here in the US. All I can say with some certainty is that there was additional spilling blood is some scenes. I didn't really spot any other differences. Overall I don't think it's that big of a deal that there's less blood. I don't think it should've been cut out, but at the same time I don't think it adds or takes away from the scene.

I might still pick up the R1 if there's good extras. Unfortunately, this edition extras are in Chinese and only comes with Korean subs.

Received my Korean LE today (thank you, hanbooks.com). Have not had a chance to do a proper comparison on my big screen yet, but I did play around with both this disc and the HK LE on my computer. Transfers look similar, with the Korean disc perhaps a little sharper and exhibiting fewer compression flaws. I've only watched on a 17" screen so far, so take that for what it's worth. Will do more comprehensive tests when I find the time.

An interesting note: The English subtitles are different on the two discs. Unlike the HK copy, the subs on the Korean disc fit entirely within the movie portion of the image (projector owners like myself who mask for 2.35:1 will appreciate that). Unfortunately, during the very first scene the Korean disc's subs have a massive grammatical error that makes part of the dialogue exchange unintelligible. Not sure yet if that's an isolated incident or if it happens throughout the disc.

At what point does this occur? I'd like to check it out for myself...

massive grammatical error?

Where at? I also have the Starmax LE and I don't recall any grammatical errors in the English sub.

In the opening scene, instead of saying:

"The Provincial Office has given us ten days to catch the new leader of the Flying Daggers."

In the Korean disc, Leo just says:

"The Provicial Office of the Flying Daggers."

That's it. That's his whole line. Jin's following comment "Ten days? Impossible" comes from out of nowhere and makes no sense now.

I sure hope you got a defective copy, Josh Z, although I doubt that would be the case. Those kinds of mistakes in foreign film subtitles annoy the hell out of me.

Can anyone confirm this?

Yup, it's correct. I didn't find it that bothersome, but maybe that's because I'd already read the correct subtitle on the Edko disc (not to mention in the movie theater). Also, the subtitles are less legible on the Starmax version than on the Edko. Now that I do find bothersome.

I can also confirm what Josh reports on the differences in the opening scene subtitles between the Edko and Starmax versions. The Starmax's missing "10 days" really jumped out for me both because the line didn't make any sense without it as well as because I knew the Edko included it. I even asked my wife whether "10 days" was in the spoken dialogue, and she confirmed it is (she's from Beijing).

While minor, I noticed two subtitle differences that favor the Starmax: The Edko scenes introducing the "local deputies" and "Peony Pavilion" have Chinese subtitles without English counterparts -- while in the Starmax, the English subtitles appear with the Chinese subtitles.

While I immediately caught these discrepancies, I noticed no other such instances -- either on the grounds of making sense or differences with what I read in the Edko. While I can't attest that they're aren't any other subtitle discrepancies, I can say none other jumped out at me.

Also of note: I found the Starmax subtitles much easier to read than the Edko due to the pace at which the subtitles appear. The Edko subs are fragments of sentences that change very quickly from one fragment to another. The Starmax subs are fuller if not complete sentences that linger longer. This does mean that the Starmax subs can be multiple lines long covering more of the picture area than the one-line Edko subs.

Good find, Josh.

But, I wouldn't call that massive grammatical error from my point of view.

My 2 cents.

Good point. I'd forgotten about that. When I first watched the Edko version I thought that somehow my subtitles had gotten turned off and I was quickly trying in the dark to find the subtitle button on my remote.

Interestingly I found the Starmax subtitles more difficult to read because of the letter font used. And you're right that they cover up more of the picture.

Me either... rather, it's a massive substantive error that would likely leave anyone who's not previously seen the film mightily confused.

I'm thinking maybe it's not such a good idea to pick this disc up, even if the video transfer is slightly improved. I prefer the quick fragment subs that follow the conversation as it progresses (I glance down quickly) to the long, full sentence subs. And I can't stand when they have more than a single line of dialog on the screen at once, that is, one character's line and another character's response simultaneously.

This is good news. I haven't watched the whole disc yet, but the fact that this happens in the very first scene of the movie was disconcerting.

Random additional trivia: The HVD 720p edition of the movie also has English subtitles, but does not translate the opening prologue text.

holy crap, I didn't even realize this. Mine has the same error. I guess since I had already seen the movie I just filled in the line myself. My first viewing of the movie I read every word of the subtitles. When I watched the Starmax, I pretty much knew all the lines so only glanced down each time to remember what they were saying. damn.

Other that the substantive error, as pointed out by Josh, the subtitle for the whole movie was done quite well.

Yes but it is a very ,very irritating error.

I didn't even notice the first time around and I won't be selling my LE anytime soon.