slop101

And throw out whatever version of Chungking Express & Fallen Angels you may have. This new NTSC region3 2-pack edition has an amazing new transfer (these films didn't even look this good in the theater) AND, they both have DTS along with really good English subs and great menus. If you know Chinese, they both have commentaries - but apart from that the only extras are trailers. But still, this is the best dvd of these movies ever, and outside of HD, I don't know how they can look or sound better.

http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvdasian/22206.html

You can find it a lot cheaper than in the above link - I only posted it because it has nice shots of the package.

Dan Average

Any chance of some screencaps?

Vendetta-AKK

Cool...If anyone finds some good retailers carring this please post links here. Thanks

Cosmic Bus

Looks like Yesasia has it for $29.99 and their usual free shipping. Consider this puppy ordered!

http://us.yesasia.com/assocred.asp?C...id-1004485955/

I just wish the remastered Happy Together would hurry up and become available outside of that expensive 10th Anniversary set... It's my favorite of his films!

dlew308

Wow, very tempting.
Thanks for the heads up!

wennma01

sweet...i'll have to get this. is $30 looking like the cheapest?

(is there an international/other-region site like dvdpricesearch to compare prices?)

also, what are the best current versions of some of his other films?

tsetse27

Who did the commentaries?

Thanks!

chente

I wonder how the transfer of Fallen Angels compares to the stunning R4 Accent disc which I own? I'll upgrade Chungking Express in a heartbeat as I don't like the transfer on the Rolling Thunder disc. I wish someone would get around to remastering Days of Being Wild and Happy Together as I would like to pick those up too.

Richard Malloy

I ordered this set on the basis of slop101's info alone - and I can't wait to get it!

If anyone needs confirmation as to the quality of this release, DVD Times posted a glowing review yesterday: http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62749

Frenzy

BTW do other Firefox users here have also problems with the Yesasia site? Seems always to be crashing my browser.

JayHM

So it seems these are available separately:

http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.asp...id-1004485957/
http://us.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept.asp...id-1004485956/

I've been hoping for a better transfer of Chungking Express ever since I first saw it on IFC all those years ago. I'm so used to the shoddy Miramax print, that I almost wonder if a cleaner transfer will be distracting... :-)

Cosmic Bus

Was just about to post those links, JayHM.

Never got around to ordering the two-pack earlier in the week, and may not now. I'll probably go for the individual Chungking disc and Accent's R4 Fallen Angels disc, which I've heard from several sources is still superior to this R3 remaster.

JayHM

I have the Accent disc, so as soon as I get this new one, I'll post my thoughts on how the two compare. The Accent transfer is beautiful, but this new disc has 5.1, and this review claims the image looks better even than the Accent:

http://twitchfilm.net/forum/index.ph...11370#msg11370

Richard Malloy

I received the "Chungking Express" and "Fallen Angels" R3-Korea 2-pack on Saturday, and viewed all of "FA" and the first story of "CE". I posted some thoughts over on the criterion forum, and I thought I'd copy them here.

Having only seen the Kino discs previously, both of the new transfers represent exceptional improvements, as noted in the DVD TIMES review. Unfortunately, I don't have the Accent R4 "Fallen Angels" to compare. The screen-grabs from the Accent disc on the Beaver do not appear obviously superior or inferior to the new Korean release, but that's hardly a worthwhile comparison. The Korean release is not PAL-sourced and runs longer than even the other NTSC version (1:38:33, as I recall). Both transfers appear to be straight NTSC masters, without PAL speedup or any ghosting effect from improper conversion.

The audio is a complete and total "WOW!". Even given DVD TIMES' positive assessment, I was as skeptical as I generally am regarding remixed HK/Korean tracks, which often represent the very worst tendencies in sound mixing with overactive and overloud effects, volume-boosting that reduces dynamic range and introduces distortion, and that typical hollow "echoey" effect like a bad DSP (think "HALL" or "STADIUM"). None of that is present here. I have no idea if these are "approved" remixes from the 2.0 surround tracks, but they are impressively done, without any fake-sounding matrixing, hollowness, or echo-ey effects. Just lush, rich, gorgeousness. I'm not merely impressed; I'm blown away.

The DTS track is superior to the DD-5.1 (which is also quite good), ang again without any volume- or bass-boosting. Sounds emerge from a dark quiet background that's even blacker on the DTS track, with an impressively immersive soundtrack. Even given all the background noise and music, dialog comes through very clearly without any crackle or sibilance, as do discrete sound effects.

As noted in the DVD Times review, the subtitles are far from perfect. On the plus side, however, they are white and non-obtrusive, without any jarring syntactical errors. I counted at least 4 typos/misspellings in "Fallen Angels" ("diffiicult", "frinds"). The biggest error I found on "FA" - unless this part is not generally translated (and it may not be for any of the usual reasons) - is that the lyrics to the song "no. 1818" (I think) on the jukebox ("my lucky number") are not translated. I'm not sure if these are translated on the Kino disc (it's been awhile since my Netflix rental), but I seem to recall that they are. It's still clear from the tone of the music and the reaction (and, of course, the setup) what's meant by the song, but I suspect the lyrics should have been translated.

The subtitles in the first half of "CE" (haven't viewed the second story yet) also sport a few errors, including the frickin' title page ("Chunking Express"!). After that extraordinary lapse, the worst I can recall is a typo for "sacrifce" and the lack of an apostrophe in "chef s salad" -- in fact, everytime "chef s salad" is mentioned. There's also one "syntactical" error that appears to be of the sloppy editing variety ("I Knowing someone is not the same as...").

There's also an authoring glitch that effects both discs - if, while watching, you return to the menu page, when you return to the film, it will default to the DD-5.1 track (the no. 1 track) instead of either the DTS or commentary track. It will also default to the Korean subtitles instead of English or none. So, if you stop the disc or return to the menu, and you're not viewing with the DD-5.1 track engaged and Korean subs, you'll have to change it back. Both audio and subs can be changed on-the-fly.

Lastly, there's an unusual effect on the subtitles that I guess may be related to my player as these are player generated subs, but I doubt it. On both discs, whenever there is a very light background, one can see a faint red "shadow" on the edge of the letters, sorta like red fringing on a poorly focused/calibrated RPTV. It is only occasionally distracting, and not visible at all on my set in the darker scenes. But, along with the possible error of not translating the song lyrics in "FA", I considered this to be the most notable defect of these discs.

I've made a good many criticisms of these discs, but I should also point out that I had nothing short of a Kar-Wai-Wonderful weekend. I simply could not stop watching "Fallen Angels", even after watching nearly every scene twice that first time through, and wondering how I could ever have considered it to be a lesser film than "Chungking Express". I think now it's my favorite WKW. Tonight, I'll be watching the second half of "Chungking Express" (up till now, my favorite WKW)... and then I suspect that "Fallen Angels" disc will be queued up again!

Heliosphann

Mine should arrive any day now... I'm pumped!!!

Cardiac161

Just got this one YesAsia.

Will agree on Malloy's review and would further emphasize the video/audio quality of this set...absolutely gorgeous!!!!

slop101

I always liked FA a little better than CE too. That FA came out after CE is what may have lessened it in most other people's eyes.

nitin77

much better than accent disc, both video and audio wise.

chente

That's pretty impressive. The accent disc is nice.

dleedlee

My .02:

I can't remember if the Ocean Shores vcd or LD versions of Fallen Angels has the 1818 song translated or not, I can check this weekend. My first impression was that picture was a bit on the dark side, I had to boost the brightness higher than normal to get any shadow detail (I'm not typically a picky person in the audio/video department, btw.) On the sound, with my sub currently disabled, I thought the DTS track was just okay and not distinctive versus the DD when I toggled the two briefly. I don't have the Kino disc or R4 disc so this one will do for me.

Richard Malloy

It is translated on the Kino disc (which of course is otherwise not a very good disc):

Forget him
And it's like forgetting everything
It's like losing all direction
Losing oneself
Forget him
And it's like forgetting the joy of life
It's like a knife in the heart
Bleeding in pain...

I didn't find this to be true. In fact, it's the first time I've seen this much detail and this depth of black level.
Again, I toggled back and forth, and while the DD-5.1 track is better than any other Dolby track I've ever heard for this film (er, the Kino disc!), it's not as good as the DTS track. I know it sounds like I'm quibbling with your impressions, but I'm extraordinarily picky about this stuff and find many HK/Korean DTS tracks to be nothing more than their DD-5.1 counterparts with a volume and bass boost. That's definitely not the case here. Both tracks are mastered at appropriate volume levels, such that dynamic range isn't limited nor any distortion introduced. This is not one of those crappy HK discs that requires you to turn your reference level down 10 dbs and still suffer the harsh sizzle of poor mastering. And the DTS track is notably better, with better separation among the foley, a much quieter/darker background, and a warmer midrange for the many music tracks. The DD-5.1 track sounds somewhat anemic in comparison (though still exceedingly better than the Kino disc), with a hashiness that arises whenever your equipment is asked to resolve many sound effects (particularly in those moments with gunfire, glass flying, peoples' voices, music, and narration all at once).

I also want to point out that though it's fairly clear that the original elements were used to create this remixed 5.1 track, that it sounds to me all in keeping with the original character of the mix. For example, "California Dreamin'" sounds better than it did on the Kino "Chungking Express" disc, but they didn't "perfect" it. It still sounds like it's coming from Faye's boombox, changing in character and quality depending on how close one is to it (save later in the film when it appears as part of the "soundtrack").

Also on the "Chungking Express" disc, check out the subtle but entirely encompassing soundfield whenever Faye meets 663 in the markets (is that Stanley Market?), while he's eating or as they stroll about the stalls and bodegas. The soundfield is unbelievably realistic, with tiny snatches of sounds and conversations - close your eyes, and you could be there. Very subtle. Very effective.

wennma01

is this still available any where?

roseart

dvdfromkorea says "usually ships in 1-2 days". It seems other places, like yesasia only have the individual discs.

wennma01

thanks...i saw the individuals at a few places but i didn't check dvdfromkorea