453 Chungking Express

[Matt]

I'd wait for the Blu-Ray.

Aren't the DVD and Blu-ray coming out on the same day?

[Cold Bishop]

Aha, I just saw that the Blu-Ray page has been updated. So yes.

[nostalghic]

What a beautiful cover. I'd look great in a fold-out pack like the single disc edition of Sansho the Balliff. But whichever way, I can't wait.

[Matt]

Welcome new folks. We discuss Criterion cover art in one thread and one thread only. This one.

[royalton]

ARRR! Why didn't I wait?! Why. didn't. I. WAIT??

Sadly I don't think waiting will be an issue for the film of my namesake.

[Cde.]

Hopefully Criterion complement this disc with Fallen Angels somewhere down the line.

[Mr Sausage]

Hopefully Criterion complement this disc with Fallen Angels somewhere down the line.

Chungking Express comes along and everyone forgets the rules? Random speculation/wishing goes here.

[Darth Lavender]

Hopefully Criterion complement this disc with Fallen Angels somewhere down the line.

That's already been announced (some time ago) as Kino's debut blu-ray release.

[Stefan Andersson]

Will this be one of the Doyle/Wong-approved HD-based transfers already out in Asia?

[funkcisco]

I love the film. But 40 bucks for a single disc with this little extras is overpriced.

[kaujot]

I love the film. But 40 bucks for a single disc with this little extras is overpriced.

All Criterions (with the odd exception here and there, like Clean, Shaven) with a commentary are upper-tier priced.

[mfunk9786]

And if the movie is good enough (like Green for Danger, for example) it's usually worth the upper-tier price despite the fact that it only has one disc.

I'd take only one disc and a scholar's commentary over two discs with no commentary any day.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Well, Wong's certainly made his mark on the tech specs; I haven't heard of the movie being shown in any other ratio than 1.85:1 until now (the recent R3 Alto DVD release, which I thought was a restoration/new transfer straight from Jet Tone, was 1.85:1, not the CC "director's requested" 1.66:1).

The Criterion/Rolling Thunder LD was 1.66:1 (mistakenly labeled as 1.85:1), as was the original UK DVD from ICA. The old Ocean Shores disc had a weird AR of around 1.50:1. Somebody at the WKW forums supposedly asked Wong (or Doyle, can't remember which) about the AR and was told they went for 1.66:1 during shooting, but that it didn't look too bad at 1.85:1 either. Unfortunately that post seems to have been lost to the ages, so you'll have to take my word on that.

The question to ask now: does this mean Fallen Angels and Happy Together (and possibly even the pre-CE films) should be 1.66:1 as well? Like you, I thought the remastered versions were as "official" as we were ever going to get, but evidently that isn't the case.

[godardslave]

I'd take only one disc and a scholar's commentary over two discs with no commentary any day.

Whereas I, on the other hand, dislike commentaries and would rather see a 2nd disc packed full of interesting extras like interviews and documentarys.

[domino harvey]

Guys, star-bellied sneetches are far superior

[Matt]

The Chungking Express transfer is Christopher Doyle-approved.

[Perkins Cobb]

The prospect of producing “yet another disc” of writer/director Wong Kar-wai’s 1994 effervescent pop cinema classic was a little daunting . . . . What else could be done or said with this new presentation?

Exactly what I'm still wondering, Curtis:

Doyle did request some changes . . . . They weren’t anything too major . . .

Although if the "Chris Doyle + A Case of Whiskey + Hidden Camera" featurette had made it on as a special feature, I would concede the necessity of the release.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

The prospect of producing “yet another disc” of writer/director Wong Kar-wai’s 1994 effervescent pop cinema classic was a little daunting . . . . What else could be done or said with this new presentation?

Exactly what I'm still wondering, Curtis.

Who knows, maybe they'll release it in HD!

[Gigi M.]

Beaver

The Criterion looks best to my eyes.

[denti alligator]

Wasn't the Blu-ray supposed to come out the same day? I hope this doesn't mean a delay on the release date.

[Shrew]

Beaver probably just didn't get a review copy of the Blu-Ray yet.

LooKs nice, though it is weird about the lacK of sharpness. As for the green tinge, it looks more like the Miramax has a red tinge, Criterion-Ozu style.

[Napier]

Agreed, the Criterion also seems best to my eyes. Here's hoping the blu-ray will knock our socks off.

[cdnchris]

Chungking Express

[jojo]

You know, it may be a personal taste, but I'm not a big fan of the softer, brightened image of the Criterion. Perhaps the faded feel is more in line with Doyle's vision, but I'd always liked the darkened, lit-by-neon look of the film. And I think the Artificial Eye version seems to capture this best. I didn't even think the Miramax version was that horrible either.

My biggest problem with the Miramax/AE was the aspect ratio/non-anamorphic issues.

[Murdoch]

You know, it may be a personal taste, but I'm not a big fan of the softer, brightened image of the Criterion. Perhaps the faded feel is more in line with Doyle's vision, but I'd always liked the darkened, lit-by-neon look of the film. And I think the Artificial Eye version seems to capture this best. I didn't even think the Miramax version was that horrible either.

My biggest problem with the Miramax/AE was the aspect ratio/non-anamorphic issues.

I'm in this camp as well, but my problem with the Miramax release, outside of the aspect ratio, was that in the last scene of the film some of the subtitles were off so it'll be worth picking this up just to catch a few missed lines of dialogue, it wasn't much but I found it frustrating and with the AE OOP the CC is my best option.