Try some loaded DVD releases like Tokyo Raiders, Purple Storm, StormRiders, and A Man Called Hero. I don't know of any with chinese commentary.

Since I've been watching mostly HK movies recently, I went back and read the v.1 of this thread:

This is entirely false - your player must have problems, or the VCDs you buy are not very good. I bought Fist of Legend on VCD, since that is the only way to get it with original language and English subtitles. I found this particular VCD to be at least as good as many of the lesser quality DVDs out there and probably better than Madacy DVDs, for example.

While we are on the subject of VCDs, I should point out that One-Armed Swordsman - the 1967 film that many people consider the start of modern HK action/kung fu films, is available on VCD at http://www.sensasian.com . I received my copy from them, but have yet to get around to viewing it, past the first couple of minutes, which enabled me to notice that it made from a TV broadcast, which was probably the only copy available - so don't expect anything in terms of picture quality. Also, sometimes the end of the burned-in subtitles are cut off.

This poster may or may not be still reading this thread, but I have to totally disagree with this. Just for starters, it seems to me to be insulting to Chinese people, as if they cannot write, act, or direct well, so you can't have high expectations.

Furthermore, personally I don't consider "Citizen Kane", "Cool Hand Luke", or "Giant" to be amongst the best films ever made, so that in itself is an example of how subjective art and entertainment can be.

Essentially, with any film, if you expect it to be one of the 10 best films ever made, then you will only like 10 films in your life, which would be very sad for you. So, one can like a film for having one excellent quality, even if the film is lacking in other aspects. For example, one can like Shaolin Master Killer for being one of the very best depictions on film of training the body and mind - and this one excellent quality can cause one to overlook production values, acting, dialogue and so on.

However, remember that every person's reaction to films is different. I too think that Chinese Ghost Story is overrated. I also think that Titanic is overrated. I can understand the appeal of Titanic to a large audience of people, but I don't have to agree that it is an excellent film (although it is certainly one of the best in terms of production values).

I think the problem that I have with Chinese Ghost Story, Dragon Inn, and most especially Stormriders is that I can't identify with anyone in the film - they're all slimes. If I could drop a nuke on the entire population of Stormriders, I wouldn't hesitate to do so, and good riddance.

In great contrast are the valiant and noble characters Fong Sai-Yuk, and Wong Fei Hong, not to mention those of Zu. I find I care what happens to them, and hope they succeed. It's one thing to have complex characters that have both good and bad attributes, but it is another thing when you take to the extreme of Stormriders, where no one has any moral or ethical fibre at all, let alone any intelligence!

As far as The Heroic Trio goes, I was also less than enthusiastic about it. But, I think that mostly had to do with the editing. A lot of major underlying issues were dealt with in 90 second scenes, and many times, unrelated scenes were just stiched together. It's possible that the versions that Trigger and I have viewed were cut from the original theatrical release, which perhaps flowed better.

[Edited by HepDude on 06-18-01 at 08:19 PM]

I totally don't remember writing those things... but I'll respond as if I did anyway because I'm sure it's me.


It was my first VCD - I kinda assumed that all VCDs sucked, but what I meant to say (and kinda did say) was that this particular VCD was choppy and bad. The Blade is what I was referring to. Also - my DVD player won't play VCDs, so I have to use my computer which is more than adequete. I bought the Tai Seng VHS of it so I could watch it on my TV. I just wish the Blade would come to DVD. It makes me sad. I know R2 has it, but I can't view PAL.

As for the other thing - I don't know what I was responding to or ranting about (The Blade again maybe?), but I didn't mean to say that I hold them up to less a standard - actually, I hold all movies up to the same standard... whether or not I like them. Budget doesn't make a film good or bad - 99% of my favorite films are low budget indie films. It seems as though we have similar taste in HK cinema. I've seen Chinese Ghost Story 2 and liked it much better than the first. A few last things (trying to keep this as short as possible) - Out of the US films that I mentioned only for a point of statistical reference, I only really cared for Cool Hand Luke and Giant (Paul Newman fan). They aren't like my favorite films or anything... just staples. Art is very subjective - I agree. Basically - I wasn't trying to insult anyone - I don't care what country the talent comes from, talent is talent. Perhaps I was just really really excited about The Blade and got carried away.

I hear that you would like Blade on DVD but it is only available in R2 PAL. Since you have a computer, get yourself a Hollywood Plus card and you can start to enjoy R2 PAL DVD's. The Hong Kong Legend DVD's are especially good! THe card is not that expensive either.

I think you took my comments slightly wrong. I was replying to a poster who was unfamilair with HK cinema and was moaning over the quality being subpar, in his view, in the look and feel of the story. I was simply pointing out that you do have to look at HK cinema differently since its culture provides its own distinct feel to storytelling (combining genres, like humor and drama, mo lei tau comedy, and so forth, larger suspension of disbelief, ect)) and does most often have less production values alloted for their films. And, it is a society where more serious subjects and art films have a harder time at the box office, look at poor Wong Kar Wai, Zhang Yimou, and Ann Hui, but that doesnt mean they dont spawn great film makers or are a limited race creatively. Since those types of film rarely see a profit, they dont exactly encourage that kind of film making so you see less art films. Its just the way it is, same way the French dont make many pure action films. Asian culture has been a big passion of mine, and is something I would never insult. As for the movies mentioned, I was using films the poster used in his original tirade.

I don't recall any off hand coming from HK that have commentaries. However TaiSeng and CTHV have done a pretty good job of releasing R1 versions w/ commentaries of some popular HK movies. Some that come to mind off hand:

- Running Out Of Time
- Dragon Inn
- Once Upon a Time in China

hongkongdvd - I have a hollywood plus decoder, but it's not the same watching it on my computer monitor (19") and if I port the signal over to the tv, I still have to contend with subpar sound. I tried watching The Blade VCD that way and it was a pain in the arse. I have Drive on Region 2. I'm sure that The Blade will get a R1 or R0 release sometime soon.

iaido - I thought he was referring to me.

nemein - I think he was looking for ones in which the commentary is in cantonese. I have all those titles though and the commentary is very interesting - especially on the latter 2... the same guy is doing a commentary for the upcoming Tai Seng release of Deadly Melody... should be a hoot.

Trigger,

The Hollywood plus card has a digital coaxial out which when connected to my receiver I can get Dolby Digital and DTS. I don't understand why you have subpar sound unless your computer is too far away from your HT setup.

Bingo.

That - and it's a pain in the arse.

By the way... I recieved Meltdown today, the US version of High Risk with Jet Li. As someone who was disappointed with the available release of High Risk (due to the burned-in subs that you couldn't see and the fact that some of it was cut), I purchased the US release... After watching some of it and certain scenes in particular - I noticed that some of the US cut is removed, but at the same time they restored some scenes that were removed from the HK Universe Laser release. The penis scene: the shot of the penis is gone and it changes the whole dynamic of the scene and all the humor is gone - I kinda expected this. In one of the final fights - they seem to have restored the gruesome death by track lighting electrocution that was cut from the Universe disc. There are other examples, but I'll have to go through both of them some other time... lots of small subtle things like Jet doesn't spit in the reporters face when he confronts her about the video tape before flipping her upside down... changes the dynamic of his character. They're out to make this a family Jet Li action movie, so they took out all the things that made Jet Li's character a hard-ass by trimming scenes and changing dialogue and they removed alot of the raunchy humor and they added back in all the gore and violence ... It's rated R, but I guess that doesn't stop parents from letting their kids watch it - as long as there's no nudity.

The sound is suck - lots of bass, but the 5.1 makes almost no use of the surrounds and the only difference is that it's a bit louder than the 2.0 track. Aside from that, the English dub is godawful. The dialogue is also altered ALOT in a bad way. The musical score is totally different as well which is too bad because the original score was very effective. The new one is typical action movie score. They changed the opening credits and title screen to some CG credits which look nice, but after going back to look at the original I think the original were much better. The only thing impressive about this disc is the transfer which is beautiful. It's nearly spotless and speckle free. The colors are deep and rich. There are no extras worth mentioning (although they act like they included 100 extras and list them on the back of the case). There is an English track 5.1 and 2.0 and a French Track 2.0. There are subtitles, but they say exactly what the new US dub says - which isn't accurate at all.

Only reason to get this would be if you're a completeist and want to see the missing scenes that were omitted (by way of really akward cuts I might add) from the Universe version. Don't get it just because you can't see a few lines of dialogue with the burned-in subs of the other version. If you don't have either - I'd suggest seeking out the Universe version unless subtitles don't appeal to you.

[Edited by Trigger on 06-19-01 at 06:00 PM]

The high level of interest for HK DVDs is not going unnoticed by DVD Talk!

First off we've signed up for at least one HK DVD affiliate program:

HKflix.com

I've also sent in a request to Tai Seng for them to send us a number of their titles (and several mentioned in this thread) for us to post reviews up.

I also plan to send requests to other HK DVD co's and ask to get DVDs in to review. If any of you have contact info for some of the companies we should contact - Let me know.

With an increase in coverage of HK titles I AM looking for someone who watches a lot of these movies to write reviews for us. If you are interested please send me an e-mail at [email protected]

Finally, I've got scheduled a giveaway for THE DUEL on DVD Talk in 2 Weeks!!!

Geoff

YAHOOEY!

Double YAHOOEY!

=)

Does this mean we'll be getting our own forum section?

Also - what about Anime?

Actually here's what I am thinking:

I've gotten a strong message that people want the International DVD Forum and the HK DVDs really are international (and so is Anime).

So right now I am thinking of expanding the International DVD area to INCLUDE HK DVDs and Anime.

How does that sound??

- Geoff

I guess that's ok - I'd prefer seperate sections only because International sections tend to be all about UK stuff... but I won't bitch about it if you do this.

Also - I'm pretty opinionated so if you want me to do some reviews, that would be allright with me.


[edit]added smiley face

[Edited by Trigger on 06-20-01 at 04:24 AM]

Wrong. Universe released two different DVDs of High Risk. The original Universe DVD has this scene (I own it). The new Universe DVD has the scene cut. You must have the new version.

I'd like to see a separate Asian and European Section similar to MHVF. But then again you'd have so many sections... But I am biased..

Oh yeah - this is true... You don't have chapter stops either or something. The Universe version that's available now has those scenes cut, but the older release that I was unable to find has these scenes intact. Thanks for pointing that out - I forgot since the asiandvdguide is gone.

Bad. What is the real point of the International forum? I think it should be to discuss non-R1 or R0 discs - not to contain discussions on movies soley because they were made in other countries.

Taiseng's titles as in their own line of domestic releases or the titles they import and resell? I think it's worth looking at their newer domestic titles, but by the time they import other titles (ie: The Duel) you've allready had a huge sales window in between making a review a bit more pointless as most fans would have gotten ahold of the title long ago (well unless they've added their own material to the prior release, which happens on occasion).

Well you are most likely going to find it like drawing blood from stone, but you will most likely find the following three companies semi-cooperative: Mei Ah (Ask for Sam, sorry don't have last name), Universe, and Deltamac. Your best bet is to go through the respective companies public email's and give them your spiel. As for getting review copies, well I wish you the best of luck on that one and will leave it at that. You should have reasonable sucess obtaining cover scans of their latest releases. If you want to expand your coverage to PAL, and look at the revolutionary work Hong Kong Legends (to ignore their work would be a mistake, even with the PAL issue) are doing you may find them more forthcoming with review copies.

Well that raises the question of what you are looking for in reviews. If your looking at primarily a very technical background I'm at a bit of loss, but beyond that myself and others are pretty hardcore into the HK/Japanese/Korean film scene (it's probably an injustice to ignore Japanese and Korean cinema as their is just as much, arguably more, quality films coming from those two countries). But please, don't get ahold of someone who is technically minded but knows nothing about the films, there are enough major US sites out there embarassing themselves on a regular basis

Anybody know anything about the Fists of Fury (Bruce Lee)
DTS verson?

You know, like extras, picture quality, sound quality, etc.

Basically, is it worth @30 US dollars?

BTW, I'm a big Bruce Lee (and DTS) fan, who already has the Goddtimes version of Chinese Connection. Is it an upgrade?

Same Megastar video transfer. Commentary in Cantonese by Donnie Yen and english with Bey Logan. Comes in a cool box with a set of neat mini metal nunchakus. DTS sound is included.. nice collector's item. Make sure you get the free VCD and poster with it.

Thanks,


axolotls return

man..it's been a while since i posted but anyways....most of the movies that i got were pretty cool except for Woman Soccer Player #9...it sucked cuz it had no subtitles...not much soccer in it either..damn..gotta leave...i'll have some better reviews later...hey trigun...let me know what you think of the korean flick...forgot what it's called..but you know what i'm talking about....

hey lb,

that's too bad about Women Soccer Player #9, I forgot to warn you about the no subtitles, but it didn't quite occur to me that that was a major problem until right now. Sun Wen is a fabulous player, plays for the San Diego women's team I think now. I'm still mad at Nike and their commercial during the Women's World Cup a couple of years ago for portraying her family as the 'Wen' family rather than the Sun family.

OK on to a topic that someone actually cares about - who's going to come up with the first DVD review of China Strike Force?