Hong Kong Cinema

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Glowingwabbit
Joined: Wed May 01, 2013 1:27 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#351 Post by Glowingwabbit » Sat Jul 31, 2021 9:19 am

The Pachyderminator wrote:
Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:23 pm
He does offer download-only purchases at half price, if you don't want a burned disc or are okay with burning your own.
Yeah I'm definitely going this route for any future titles.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#352 Post by Finch » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:15 pm

$8 for the digital copies is tempting but Eureka and Arrow have been so prolific with Asian licenses this year especially that I'm hoping one of them, most likely Eureka, gets to Peking Opera Blues and the Woos in 2022.

Glowingwabbit
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Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#353 Post by Glowingwabbit » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:22 pm

Finch wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:15 pm
$8 for the digital copies is tempting but Eureka and Arrow have been so prolific with Asian licenses this year especially that I'm hoping one of them, most likely Eureka, gets to Peking Opera Blues and the Woos in 2022.
Except they won't be as good as the HKRescue editions besides adding a booklet of essays perhaps.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
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Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#354 Post by Finch » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:31 pm

I appreciate it's all conjecture at this point as to whether we see any official releases of the Woos anytime soon (A Better Tomorrow had a 4k restoration release in Hongkong, is that right?) but Woo has such a high profile that it seems unlikely if not impossible that Eureka wouldn't stack a release of, say, The Killer or Hard Boiled. And their Tsui Hark titles weren't barebones either.
Last edited by Finch on Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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tenia
Ask Me About My Bassoon
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Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#355 Post by tenia » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:33 pm

ABT indeed has a Ritrovata 4k restoration, there's a HK BD of it.

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#356 Post by dwk » Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:38 pm

A Better Tomorrow isn't likely as the rights outside of Asia are supposedly controlled by a real estate company that has no interest in dealing with the films they own.

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Maltic
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 am

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#357 Post by Maltic » Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:31 pm

Glowingwabbit wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:22 pm
Finch wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:15 pm
$8 for the digital copies is tempting but Eureka and Arrow have been so prolific with Asian licenses this year especially that I'm hoping one of them, most likely Eureka, gets to Peking Opera Blues and the Woos in 2022.
Except they won't be as good as the HKRescue editions besides adding a booklet of essays perhaps.
Wow, is the PQ/AQ really that good for the HKR releases? (I'm assuming any Eureka/Arrow releases wouldn't just be old masters)

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#358 Post by Finch » Sat Jul 31, 2021 6:35 pm

dwk wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:38 pm
A Better Tomorrow isn't likely as the rights outside of Asia are supposedly controlled by a real estate company that has no interest in dealing with the films they own.
It's annoying when films fall prey to the indifference or greed of their owners (see also the producer who wouldn't license George Romero's Martin for a very long time). Do you know what other films are owned by this company and therefore unlikely to resurface anytime soon?

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#359 Post by dwk » Sat Jul 31, 2021 7:41 pm

I should probably slap an allegedly on this, because I though I had seen this info from a source that I know to be reliable, but I tracked it back to the Blu-ray.com forum and I don't know how reliable the person that posted the info is.

I think it is titles from the Golden Princess catalog. Obviously not all of these are tied up, and, other than A Better Tomorrow and A Better Tomorrow 2, I'm not sure which of these are in rights hell. However, I think the odds are good that any of those that are on Fortune Star's site (who only picked up the Asian rights to the catalog) might not be available.

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#360 Post by feihong » Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:06 pm

Maltic wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:31 pm
Glowingwabbit wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:22 pm
Finch wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:15 pm
$8 for the digital copies is tempting but Eureka and Arrow have been so prolific with Asian licenses this year especially that I'm hoping one of them, most likely Eureka, gets to Peking Opera Blues and the Woos in 2022.
Except they won't be as good as the HKRescue editions besides adding a booklet of essays perhaps.
Wow, is the PQ/AQ really that good for the HKR releases? (I'm assuming any Eureka/Arrow releases wouldn't just be old masters)
The Eureka discs look much better than the HKR releases––but they don't often have the same level of features, different versions of the film, etc.––which is I think what Glowing Rabbit is probably getting at? The picture quality HKR can get is generally-speaking at the level of the material the guy sources from. In the case of Peking Opera Blues, for instance, there was a 1080p blu ray in Hong Kong that was the source, and HKR color-balanced and contrast-balanced it a bit better than the release version. They also fixed a matte shot and restored some title cards that went missing on the blu ray edition. In the case of The Killer, the best available source for a lot of it was the 1080i Dragon Dynasty blu ray, which got de-interlaced and color-corrected to match closer to the Criterion DVD version (which John Woo approved). In some cases the shots were re-grained, I think. It does look a lot better than what is available otherwise, but that's because what's out there is A) real bad quality, and B) somewhat fixable. In terms of Bullet in the Head, it's probably going to look better than anything on the market, because it's scanned in high-definition from a good-looking print of the film, and there's no blu ray with a high-definition source behind it.

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Finch
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
Location: Edinburgh, UK

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#361 Post by Finch » Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:53 pm

That kind of post is invaluable; thank you so much! Hard Boiled (the download option) is the most tempting one for me at this point as it's sourced from the reportedly very strong Japanese BD. Do we know if anyone in official capacity is doing or going to be doing a new restoration of The Killer and Bullet?

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dwk
Joined: Sat Jun 12, 2010 6:10 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#362 Post by dwk » Sat Jul 31, 2021 11:48 pm

Grady Hendrix posted on Reddit that the elements for Woo's preferred cut of Bullet in the Head are missing, so the restoration for that is on hold.

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#363 Post by feihong » Sun Aug 01, 2021 2:54 am

I have the Japanese blu ray of Hard Boiled, which looks great. The HKR disc balances the contrast and colors much better than on the original disc. I believe there are a lot of extra features––to be honest, I don't often look at extra features these days. I really appreciated the Peking Opera Blues disc, since my original HK blu ray succumbed to disc rot, and the blu ray disc is out of print. Add to that all the color/contrast correction work, and it's a far, far better watch than the original disc. The Killer looks a lot better than it has looked before. The Jackie Chan discs were very good, sourced mostly from the Japanese special edition discs, but once Eureka and 88 Films started releasing blu rays of the films their picture and audio quality surpassed those Japanese special edition discs by far. The Bullet in the Head disc looks to be truly exciting––a film I've never dreamed of seeing in a high quality format.

I remember someone on the forum saying that Hard Boiled and The Killer had fallen into some sort of nebulous rights situation. But I don't remember any specifics about who said it or what was said. They are both so conspicuously absent from the world of hi-definition.

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Maltic
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 am

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#364 Post by Maltic » Sun Aug 01, 2021 4:52 pm

feihong wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:06 pm
Maltic wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:31 pm
Glowingwabbit wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 1:22 pm


Except they won't be as good as the HKRescue editions besides adding a booklet of essays perhaps.
Wow, is the PQ/AQ really that good for the HKR releases? (I'm assuming any Eureka/Arrow releases wouldn't just be old masters)
The Eureka discs look much better than the HKR releases––but they don't often have the same level of features, different versions of the film, etc.––which is I think what Glowing Rabbit is probably getting at? The picture quality HKR can get is generally-speaking at the level of the material the guy sources from. In the case of Peking Opera Blues, for instance, there was a 1080p blu ray in Hong Kong that was the source, and HKR color-balanced and contrast-balanced it a bit better than the release version. They also fixed a matte shot and restored some title cards that went missing on the blu ray edition. In the case of The Killer, the best available source for a lot of it was the 1080i Dragon Dynasty blu ray, which got de-interlaced and color-corrected to match closer to the Criterion DVD version (which John Woo approved). In some cases the shots were re-grained, I think. It does look a lot better than what is available otherwise, but that's because what's out there is A) real bad quality, and B) somewhat fixable. In terms of Bullet in the Head, it's probably going to look better than anything on the market, because it's scanned in high-definition from a good-looking print of the film, and there's no blu ray with a high-definition source behind it.

Thanks!

I guess I'll just wait/hope for the official releases, though. Unless someone directs me to a backchannel, I'm usually not very good at finding those myself...

As for the different versions, as long as Bullet in the Head includes the final scene at the harbour, then I'm happy (not familiar with different versions of the other films).

Cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes stuff I can take or leave. Although I do recall a wonderful archival interview with American fighter Keith Vitali from the Wheels on Meals BD.

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Maltic
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:36 am

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#365 Post by Maltic » Sun Aug 01, 2021 5:07 pm

Apparently it was on youtube as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swkZpAxe4SU

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#366 Post by feihong » Sun Aug 01, 2021 6:38 pm

Maltic wrote:
Sun Aug 01, 2021 4:52 pm
feihong wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 10:06 pm
Maltic wrote:
Sat Jul 31, 2021 5:31 pm


Wow, is the PQ/AQ really that good for the HKR releases? (I'm assuming any Eureka/Arrow releases wouldn't just be old masters)
The Eureka discs look much better than the HKR releases––but they don't often have the same level of features, different versions of the film, etc.––which is I think what Glowing Rabbit is probably getting at? The picture quality HKR can get is generally-speaking at the level of the material the guy sources from. In the case of Peking Opera Blues, for instance, there was a 1080p blu ray in Hong Kong that was the source, and HKR color-balanced and contrast-balanced it a bit better than the release version. They also fixed a matte shot and restored some title cards that went missing on the blu ray edition. In the case of The Killer, the best available source for a lot of it was the 1080i Dragon Dynasty blu ray, which got de-interlaced and color-corrected to match closer to the Criterion DVD version (which John Woo approved). In some cases the shots were re-grained, I think. It does look a lot better than what is available otherwise, but that's because what's out there is A) real bad quality, and B) somewhat fixable. In terms of Bullet in the Head, it's probably going to look better than anything on the market, because it's scanned in high-definition from a good-looking print of the film, and there's no blu ray with a high-definition source behind it.

Thanks!

I guess I'll just wait/hope for the official releases, though. Unless someone directs me to a backchannel, I'm usually not very good at finding those myself...

As for the different versions, as long as Bullet in the Head includes the final scene at the harbour, then I'm happy (not familiar with different versions of the other films).

Cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes stuff I can take or leave. Although I do recall a wonderful archival interview with American fighter Keith Vitali from the Wheels on Meals BD.
Well, an official release of Bullet in the Head might not include the harbor scene, as that's not Woo's preferred cut of the film. He wanted the film to end in the board room, and shot it that way. The producers ordered the harbor shootout at the end. Though personally I prefer the harbor shootout ending as well. No specs yet on what HKR's version might include, but likely there will be both cuts, and possibly the extended theatrical cut, too. They tend to be very thorough about these things. I imagine the print he has access to is the theatrical cut rather than Woo's preferred cut, so they may end up getting some shots from other, lower-quality sources. There is a HK DVD that offered branched viewing of the different cuts, though I'm not sure this offers a genuine director's cut of the film. The HK blu ray (upconverted) offers, I believe, a separate clip of the alternative ending.

A few years ago a Youtube channel managed to make a hi-definition scan of a 35mm print of the Moon Lee/Yukari Oshima/Sibelle Hu action film, Dreaming the Reality (great action, loopy plotting, and a surprisingly bleak film all around). The print included several scenes not present in the HK theatrical cut of the movie; scenes which by and large helped the movie narrative run a bit smoother. About 25 minutes of the film was up on Youtube in 1080p, and in spite of pops and scratches and the like, the film looked really great––way, way better than the quality I had ever seen. Unfortunately, the company that owned the film––which has done nothing with the film, not even ever releasing a DVD of the movie––issued a cease and desist warning and the Youtube channel dropped the plan to release the movie in 25-minute hi-def chunks. Later on I saw a standard-def full version of the film I think must have been sourced from this, but it's a real shame. These companies just sit on these movies like they'll be worth something in the future, but really, no one's going to know what these movies are by that time. Especially in terms of these early 90s Moon Lee/Yukari Oshima movies; they're never going to be more spoken-of or in-demand than they are now (not that there is notoriety or demand nowadays for them). It's really cool that Eureka is so all-in on Hong Kong films, and I hope they do get to movies like Peking Opera Blues (Their Millionaire's Express special edition just arrived in the mail yesterday, Wild Search arrived last week), but there are so many Hong Kong movies out there that could use really any kind of higher-quality treatment on home video. But it's kind of incredible that the John Woo movies, which have been the gateway drug for most Hong Kong cinema fans, are in the same ghetto as movies like Dreaming the Reality.

pistolwink
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:07 am

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#367 Post by pistolwink » Tue Aug 24, 2021 5:37 pm

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/pol ... guidelines
Hong Kong filmmakers will have to toe a new line under the national security law, with official censors now authorised to ban movies that breach the Beijing-imposed legislation.

According to amended guidelines gazetted on Friday for censors under the Film Censorship Ordinance, public screening of films will not be allowed if they are found to be “endorsing, supporting, promoting, glorifying or inciting” acts of subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.
Grady Hendrix suggested that this could apply retroactively, meaning older, even pre-handover films might be subject to strict political censorship.

masterofoneinchpunch
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:24 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#368 Post by masterofoneinchpunch » Tue Aug 24, 2021 5:40 pm

pistolwink wrote:
Tue Aug 24, 2021 5:37 pm
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/pol ... guidelines
Hong Kong filmmakers will have to toe a new line under the national security law, with official censors now authorised to ban movies that breach the Beijing-imposed legislation.

According to amended guidelines gazetted on Friday for censors under the Film Censorship Ordinance, public screening of films will not be allowed if they are found to be “endorsing, supporting, promoting, glorifying or inciting” acts of subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.
Grady Hendrix suggested that this could apply retroactively, meaning older, even pre-handover films might be subject to strict political censorship.
It could easily could mean a shredding of past Stephen Chow and Johnnie To films. At its worst it could prevent any cat-III films from releasing again. Makes you want to get as many HK BD/DVDs as possible.

pistolwink
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:07 am

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#369 Post by pistolwink » Tue Aug 24, 2021 5:59 pm

One wonders if folks will run into problems just teaching aspects of pre-handover HK cinema.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
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Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#370 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:58 pm

pistolwink wrote:
Tue Aug 24, 2021 5:37 pm
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/pol ... guidelines
Hong Kong filmmakers will have to toe a new line under the national security law, with official censors now authorised to ban movies that breach the Beijing-imposed legislation.

According to amended guidelines gazetted on Friday for censors under the Film Censorship Ordinance, public screening of films will not be allowed if they are found to be “endorsing, supporting, promoting, glorifying or inciting” acts of subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces.
Grady Hendrix suggested that this could apply retroactively, meaning older, even pre-handover films might be subject to strict political censorship.
It was already applied retroactively in late May when a screening of Emily Tang's Conjugation was canceled after representatives from the censor's office showed up at the venue and posted a notice that the screening might violate the Film Censorship Ordinance. They issued the same warning after the fact over a screening of Wang Guangli's I Have Graduated. Both films deal with the aftermath of Tian'anmen, although neither depicts it directly. Both have also been previously screened in Hong Kong with no issues and a VCD of Conjugation (the only home video release I know of) was released there. The distributor has already lost its municipal arts funding and was informed today by its landlord that the lease will not be renewed.

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Grand Wazoo
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 2:23 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#371 Post by Grand Wazoo » Wed Aug 25, 2021 9:53 am

What does everyone recommend picking up, especially in regard to Johnnie To HK-only discs? I'm also rather ignorant on Pang Ho Cheung.

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The Elegant Dandy Fop
Joined: Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:25 am
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Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#372 Post by The Elegant Dandy Fop » Sat Aug 28, 2021 11:59 am

Does anyone know how Hong King Rescue manages to stay alive? Apparently he was asked twice by Warner Bros. to remove the sale of Drunken Master 2 off his site and now he’s been adding it as a free download to all his e-mails. It seems quite stupid to openly share a film owned by a major studio via e-mail when his personal name is attached to every e-mail. I’m also sick of his schtick at this point where he apologizes for being behind. I’ve been subscribed to him for a year and a half and at first I felt sympathetic seeing as he’s a one man operation, but considering he’s making a healthy profit selling films he has no copyright claim over (he mentions ordering cases by the thousands), it makes me have contempt for the guy.

Also did anyone see there’s a Grady Hendrix book on martial arts films coming out month? I’ve always found him obnoxious, but I’m curious to see if this is any good.

Orlac
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#373 Post by Orlac » Sat Aug 28, 2021 12:32 pm

I thoroughly enjoyed Hendrix's book on horror paperbacks, looking forward to his martial arts movies book.

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feihong
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2004 12:20 pm

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#374 Post by feihong » Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:08 pm

I used to read Hendrix's blog and liked it a lot. More than his Hong Kong movie writing––which was fun––I liked his reviews of old paperback books from the 70s like The Park is Mine.

As far as HK Rescue goes, I haven't found it so terrible. to wait for the discs. The release of The Killer was up for download, and that proved to be a very effective way to get the disc. Since he's doing things none of the studios really seem willing to do, I guess I'm able to give him enormous benefit of the doubt. I think he's keeping up his Drunken Master II disc because he's proud of the package he put together––the WB disc offers nothing really in the way of extras, and the quality of their disc is apparently pretty shoddy, if the mostly negative Amazon reviews are anything to go by.

The irony is that any of these studios could sell their discs if they ponied up and actually released the films––if they did so with a reasonable level of quality the HK Rescue discs wouldn't even be competition for them, regardless of what extra features they have on them. In fact, the same people that bought the HK Rescue disc would buy an official blu ray release if it were of reasonably good picture and audio quality––and HK Rescue's disc wouldn't be able to compete with that, since it came entirely from previous, inferior sources. But instead these companies sit on these films and never release them. Not so long ago Warner Bros. even considered releasing Pedicab Driver, The Blade, and I think Dead End of Besiegers on blu ray, then somehow decided to release them only on DVD instead. What is the matter with these companies? I wouldn't be surprised if some of these companies watch HK Rescue release a disc and gauge reaction and interest for that before they even consider releasing their own version.

pistolwink
Joined: Thu Dec 12, 2013 3:07 am

Re: Hong Kong Cinema: A Guide

#375 Post by pistolwink » Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:25 pm

From the Hollywood Reporter: Hong Kong to Censor, Retroactively Ban Films Due to National Security Law:
The stricter scrutiny of previously licensed films could see a number of political films and documentaries about Hong Kong banned and potentially have repercussions for streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon. Films such as the Netflix doc Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower and the anthology drama Ten Years, also streaming on Netflix, would fall foul of the city’s new censorship rules given their avowedly political and pro-democracy content.

The commerce secretary said there would be no appeal mechanism for films bans due to national security grounds, moreover, the censor can delay the vetting of films for up to 28 days if necessary.
Of course, the bitter irony is that some of the things happening in Ten Years have come to pass (or nearly) much sooner than the film imagined.

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