Tai seng and "special edition" should not even be mention in the same line. The print of dragonn inn(along with green snake) looks like (s)vhs! I shouldn't have expected much but I decided to give them a chance since nether films where available on dvd from any importers. Its a shame that these two great films got such a sh*tty treatment.

Actually - I just watched it again and I have to go back on what I said earlier and disagree with you... Tai Seng did a remarkable treatment on this film... The film was remastered from the original negative. Now, if they had the kind of funds that George Lucas has, they could've done a frame-by-frame restoration of the original negative in order to get this looking perfect - but they don't have that kind of money and this film won't sell nearly as well as the Star Wars DVDs when they come out. I agree that the image looks dirty, but negatives are like that - they are very flawed - do you have any idea how much they are handled? Also, once the film is copied into prints, the negative is usually stored carelessly in the trunk of someone's subaru or something. It's really really expensive to restore and remaster film like that. I'd be willing to bet that this is the best this film has looked (but I could be wrong). I agree that the term "special edition" is used too liberally by all studios... but I'm not offended by the presence of it here. I think this disc had a great deal more care and effort put into it than most MGM DVDs. I don't know what else could've been added to make this DVD more complete. I'm very pleased with it.

I listened to the commentary this time and found it very informative... this guy (Ric Meyers) is kinda a tool, but he knows alot more about this stuff that I do so I like to gain insight from him. I didn't know this film was so politically charged. I know politics are present in alot of these films, but I'm so busy being amazed by the kung-fu or the cinematography or the story that it slips right by me. What is obvious to those intrenched in it is very subtle to me... I don't know enough about the history to pick up on these things right away.

Also - I watched the trailers that were included, and I want to get opinions of Armageddon, The Duel, and Running Out of Time. The Duel looks absolutely brilliant - I can't wait for that one... I've put off getting the HK version of Armageddon a few times - just passed by it. It's been in my shopping cart a few times even. I just never went through with it. It would be a blind purchase based solely on the title, premise, and an actor. Any opinions or reviews of these films? I want opinions and reviews from you guys - not links to review sites.

Also - I watched Bride With White Hair tonight for the first time. I liked it. It moved a little slow at first for me, but the end came too soon and left me wanting more - good thing there is a part 2 (tomorrow). One thing I notice with alot of HK films is that they get so wrapped up in expository set-up that it takes awhile for them to get the ball rolling. Instead of saying "Don't do that", they give a stern look, put their hands on their hips, shake their finger and grit their teeth at us... we know what "Don't do that" means, but they have to really go over-the-top with it. I'm speaking figuratively, not literally. In many ways it's part of what makes HK cinema so great, but in other ways it can become tiresome and distracting. Still - it's a film that I certainly enjoyed and will watch again. Thanks for suggesting it.

Brigitte Lin is such a hottie - why is she playing a man so often. What's she look like now (10 years later)? Does she look old? Cuz she looked pretty sweet in this film. I have to shamefully admit that my girlfriend made me watch it Dubbed because she has bad vision and has trouble with subtitles , but I fully intend to watch it again subbed. I went back and watched a bit of it subtitled and noticed a lot of stuff missing or changed in the dub.

I gotta say that this Tai Seng DVD is packed. Commentary, making-of featurette, 3 language tracks, and another great transfer. I don't understand why everyone bashes Tai Seng so much - I think they love this stuff as much as we all do and treat it as such. They didn't even call it "Special Edition" and it had more stuff than most major hollywood studio DVDs. The way I look at the Dragon Inn "Special Edition" is that if the words "Special Edition" help sell this DVD to people who otherwise wouldn't buy it, then it's a good thing because it means that if the demand for HK DVDs increases, the supply will also increase and we'll get more of it and they will get better treatment as well. I just don't see it as a bad thing. I wish my Green Snake DVD would hurry up and get here... I've had it on order for months.

Boy - this was a long post... I wonder if you guys actually read my posts or if I'm just too long-winded or if I've burned all my bridges here by not liking films like Five Element Ninja or Heroic Trio all that much.

FYI: For those of you expecting Killer Army
this month, Ground Zero has pushed the release
back, but I'm not sure when.

Hey Tigger,

You mention in your opening post that Seven Blows of the Dragon is on DVD? Please provide more info. thanks.

Well, i had a copy on vhs, and it certainly does not. The Tai Seng DVD of Dragon Inn is more than acceptable, an improvement over the previously available copies, and in the same league as most HK DVDs. They actually, suprisingly did a fairly good job with this release.

Nobody answered my questions or responded to my post... Oh well. I guess that was the answer - you all must hate me (cry)... anyway - I just wanted to say that I've been reading the reviews over at HKMDB.com and most of them are garbage... most of the reviews sound like something that would be printed on the back of the box...

That was the entire review!!! Most of the reviews on this site are like this. Ack!

Ok - I'm about to make another purchase... I know I said I was done, but I was thinking about the following titles and I have a question about it as well:

Storm Riders - Seen it, but don't own it
Armageddon - haven't seen it.
A Man Called Hero - haven't seen it.
Mr. Nice Guy - cheapie title and I dug the flick.
City Hunter - Haven't seen. Jackie Chan's Live Action Anime.
The Duel - Looks good from the preview.
Running Out of Time - looks good also.
Zu: Warriors... - haven't seen... must I?

Would someone tell me which titles I should get the less expensive Universe version (or HK equivalent) or the more expensive Tai Seng version? Asiandvdguide doesn't have info on all of these - they aren't up-to-date on the Tai Seng releases and no place really has that good of info on them. If anybody knows which Tai Seng versions also contain a dub (for my girlfriend), please point it out for me. Basically - I figure I'd save about $40 - 50 going with DDDHouse, but would I be missing some features or getting a bad transfer or one of lesser quality or what? I need answers! If you hate Tai Seng for whatever reason, please try to be unbiased and objective about your recommends because I've always been happy with them myself...

I haven't posted on this thread before, but I've been lurking for a while and figured I should butt in sometime.

I haven't seen The Duel, but I've read a lot of bad reviews of it so I've been holding off getting it. I've seen A Man Called Hero, however, and I thought it was total crap. The fight scenes were few and far between (and what came between was rarely interesting), and only one of them (with the ninjas in the middle of the movie) was even halfway decent. Don't even get me started on the final scene. I really enjoyed Storm Riders, but this was quite a let down.

Sorry I don't have anything nice to say, but I haven't seen the other movies you listed.

Storm Riders - Seen it, but don't own it
I enjoy this movie. It's cheesy at times but over all I think it was a well done fantasy movie (more so than a kung-fu movie).

Armageddon - haven't seen it.
I didn't care for this one at all. It's been awhile since I've seen it so I don't recall exactly what I didn't like about it. I just remember I took it off my to buy list after seeing it...

A Man Called Hero - haven't seen it.
Between the two I think Storm Riders was better. There are some good FX in this one, but over all the story/acting is weak, and I agree the final fight sequence is one of the cheesiest I've ever seen

Mr. Nice Guy - cheapie title and I dug the flick.
I enjoyed it... Is this one different than the R1 release?

City Hunter - Haven't seen. Jackie Chan's Live Action Anime.
It has one or two scenes that make it worth while (the fight in the theater and the one in the arcade), overall though it's one of my least fav JC movies.

The Duel - Looks good from the preview.
Same comment as Armageddon, although I remember one of the things I didn't like about this was all the wire-fu.

Running Out of Time - looks good also.
Really enjoyed this movie. If you can get around the lack of a 5.1 soundtrack I also recommend the R1 release. The commentary is pretty good (if a bit difficult to understand at times ). See http://pub5.ezboard.com/fhongkongdvd...icID=437.topic for more info.

Zu: Warriors... - haven't seen... must I?
Haven't seen, been holding off due to my dislike of wire-fu but it's in my netflix queue so I'll see it eventually.

Hey Trigger,

You didn't answer my inquiry about 7BOTD.

Thanks, guy.

Crap I'm sorry - brain fart... I kept meaning to, but kept forgetting. Anyway - I didn't come up with that list for Old-School titles. You can check the first thread to see who did. I asked someone to give me a list of titles that are on DVD that are "must-see" material because I don't watch old-school kung-fu movies anymore and don't know what's good. I suppose I should've checked to see whether or not the suggestions were on DVD, but I didn't. Perhaps the Wu-Tang Clan put it out on DVD - check your local Best Buy in the under 10 buck section.

Oh man... I just placed a huge order with dddhouse. My wallet is sweating. Here's what I ordered...

Shiri (DTS Version) - DVD $135.00
City Hunter - DVD $130.00
Jacky Chan My Stunts - DVD $130.00
Policy Story - DVD $175.00
Policy Story II - DVD $175.00
Wheels on Meals (MegaStar Version) - DVD $122.00
Tai Chi Master, The - DVD $63.00
Last hero in China - DVD $63.00
Gen-Y Cops - DVD $112.00
Duel, The - DVD $122.00
Gen-X cops(DVD-9) - DVD $63.00
God of cookery, The - DVD $63.00
Man Called Hero, A (DVD-9) - DVD $63.00
Moon Warriors, The - DVD $63.00
Purple storm(DVD-9) - DVD $63.00
Stormriders, The (DVD-9) - DVD $210.00
Zu : Warriors from the magic mountain - DVD $63.00
Sex and Zen - DVD $63.00
Time And Tide - DVD $180.00
Tokyo Raiders (DTS Version) - DVD $83.00

It ended up being roughly $300 USD - for 20 DVDs - that's 15 bucks a piece. Would've been much cheaper, but I had a few more expensive titles in there like Storm Riders and Time and Tide.

I also picked up the Tai Seng version of Running Out of Time and I got the dubbed US release of Mr. Nice Guy from bestprices.com.

I'm thinking about picking up the Thakaral version of Drunken Master 2, but it's like 27 bucks. I don't think it's worth it. I also wanted Armageddon, but I have been hearing nothing but how bad it is... anyone think it was good?


[Edited by Trigger on 05-12-01 at 08:07 AM]

The U.S. version of Jackie Chan's Mr. Nice Guy is cut pretty heavily to get that pablum PG-13 rating. I've got both here, and the Mei-Ah HK release says 96 minute running time on the back, and the New-Line U.S. version is 87 minutes. I had the US release on order when I heard that the HK version was longer and uncut, so I ordered that and watched it, and really enjoyed it. I haven't even opened the US version because I plan on returning it.
Thanks for the useful info in this thread.

On the other hand the HK Mr Nice Guy is dubbed, no really, it was shot in english. I believe the Japanese dvd is both uncut and offers the orginal english audio track.

Do you have a region free player or did they finally release the R0 version again?

Furious, Thanks for the info about the English language track on Mr. Nice Guy. I'd certainly love to have the uncut version with the English audio, but from what you've said that's only available in Japan. Well, maybe someday we'll get that available in a region 1 or all-region version. I'd buy it. But of the 2 choices available to me (without a region-free player), I'd much rather watch the uncut version with subtitles.

I do have a regionless player - it's a chipped Toshiba 2109. So I can watch Shiri and Time and Tide which are both Region 3. I didn't care to go for the 2 disc Shiri because 1: DDDHouse didn't have it on their site and 2: I haven't even seen the film yet, so paying alot more from another site like pokerindustries is silly. I'm sure it's good though.

As for Mr. Nice Guy - I did some research and found that the New Line disc is the one to get and at 13 bucks, it was hard to pass up. The HK Mei Ah version would've been cheaper, but I hear the print is not as good and the sound is dubbed in cantonese and mandarin - not the original english. The New Line version has a polished up print and a remastered 5.1 soundtrack and from what I hear, the cuts made on the New Line version were for the better... the story in this film is hokum anyway, so having some expository bad guy talking scenes removed isn't such a bad thing - that way I can get straight to the action. I don't regret my decision to go with the US version - I paid a few bucks more to do so.

Anybody care to comment on Legend of Flying Swordman and Liquid Sword? I would like to know if either of these are worth getting.

added more info to the first post - if anyone cares.

Also thought this might be interesting to somebody... Here's the specs for the upcoming Once Upon a Time in China 3 pack Trilogy as reported on dvdfile:

[Edited by Trigger on 05-12-01 at 11:53 PM]

Liquid Sword is more of a comedy than anything else. Some decent scenes, probably worth a watch with it's low price. Legend of the Liquid Sword, well you figure a movie with a title like that and Sonny Chiba might be half decent, but there is actually really no fighting going on. More of some weird pseudo comedy-drama mix with cantopop sprinkled into a period piece. A curious movie to be sure, but not worth the time really.

Which is worth it and which is not? Liquid or Flying?

Well, maybe I can take advantage of some of the expertise around here. I have the following JC discs:

Spiritual Kung Fu (Simitar)
Half a Loaf of Kung Fu (Simitar)
The Young Master (Diamond)
Project A (Dimension)
Dragons Forever (Universe L&V - Region 0)
The Prisoner (Island of Fire) (Columbia TriStar)
Legend of Drunken Master (Dimension)
Rumble in the Bronx (New Line)
Mr. Nice Guy (New Line)
Who Am I? (Universe L&V - Region 0)
Rush Hour (New Line)
Shanghai Noon (Touchstone)

Any of these worth replacing with different releases? If so, what are the differences?

Now on to my want list:

Gorgeous (Universe Laser & Video)
Police Story IV: First Strike (Mei Ah)
City Hunter (Mega Star Media)
Miracles (Mega Star Media)
Police Story II (Mega Star Media)
Project A Part 2 (Mega Star Media)
Wheels on Meals (Universe Laser & Video)
Dragon Lord (Universe Laser & Video)
Armour of God (Mega Star Media)
Armour of God 2: Operation Condor (Mega Star Media)
Police Story (Mega Star Media)
Police Story 3 (Mega Star Media)

Are these the right releases to look for, or are there better ones? And also, what other titles would you recommend?

And one more question: where should I buy from? I've priced them at HiVi Zone, any one know a better place?

want list:
Gorgeous (Universe Laser & Video)
Police Story IV: First Strike (Mei Ah)
City Hunter (Mega Star Media)
Miracles (Mega Star Media)
Police Story II (Mega Star Media)
Project A Part 2 (Mega Star Media)
Wheels on Meals (Universe Laser & Video)
Dragon Lord (Universe Laser & Video)
Armour of God (Mega Star Media)
Armour of God 2: Operation Condor (Mega Star Media)
Police Story (Mega Star Media)
Police Story 3 (Mega Star Media)

The US versions of his discs seem to be the ones to get mostly... As for this list - I would say that the MegaStar version of Wheels on Meals is going to be better. Gorgeous got a nice US DVD release. The rest of that looks fine to me - If you're unsure - check http://www.asiandvdguide.com and they'll tell you which versions to get and what they include. It's not complete, but it's helpful. Also missing from your list there seems to be Accidental Spy and Jackie Chan: My Stunts.

As for where to go - if you look at the first post in this thread - you'll see a list of online etailers that have HK discs. http://www.dddhouse.com will be cheaper than hivizone. If you are looking for US releases of HK films (like Tai Seng stuff), then go to http://www.bestprices.com or http://www.reellove.com.

Not complete? Which DVDs is it missing? It seems pretty complete to me.

If you don't mind your movies being butchered that is: http://www.asiandvdguide.com/hk.cfm?ID=7 over 20 mins cut from the HK release Personally though this is one of the movies I own both versions of

Asiandvdguide has a huge list of cuts made to the U.S. version of Gorgeous.

My Stunts is a documentary, right? Can you tell me a little more about it?

That about sums it up. It's Jackie talking for an hour and half or so about how he and his stunt team do there sunts. Some of the tricks of the trade wrt camera work, props and what the actors do. Really enjoyable IMHO although I'm not sure how much replay value it'll have for most people.