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therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Jul 17, 2022 6:45 pm

My only complaint is that in the first few minutes of 88's blu-ray release, the sound and picture quality is atrocious - like almost unwatchable/listenable, and I'm usually not very sensitive to this kind of thing. Thankfully it's resigned to the initiation of the story, which has no bearing or value on anything, and once we actually transition to the first flashback where the narrative takes place, the A/V levels become digestible.

Is that the Ni Kuang intro? If so, that was shot quickly with sync-sound (very much a rarity back then in HK).

Yeah I figured it was either that or exclusive to the extended HK edition, but either way it wasn't a big deal. I wouldn't even flag it for the forum if it didn't scare me into wondering if the whole film would be this way before quickly breathing easy that it wasn't, so it's more as a head's up that Don't Worry, You'll Have A Good Time With This Release!

From 88's FB page

We will be announcing our Q4 shortly so make sure you keep up to date by following us! We have so much to get excited for. Uncut Category 3 madness! Italian gore! HK action and classic kung fu re releases! Psycho slashers and British boxsets! Something for everybody.

The poster for Yes, Madam! is in the background of the post that 88 Films made, so I wouldn't be shocked if they were the ones releasing ITLOD films in the States (hopefully in a boxset):

The British boxed sets surely refer to Pete Walker.

Dragons Forever 4k pushed back to Sept 26 according to Zavvi.

Full specs for Righting Wrongs:

Three different feature-length presentations of the film
Original Hong Kong cut [96 mins]
Alternate Singapore cut [100 mins]
English-friendly ABOVE THE LAW cut [92 mins].

PLUS a newly produced ULTIMATE CUT, a version of the film prepared exclusively for this release that combines footage from the Hong Kong and Singapore cuts to present a hypothetical “complete” version with four possible endings.

INCLUDES
Slipcase with brand-new artwork from Sean Longmore
Double-sided foldout Poster
6 Replica Lobby Cards
80-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by Matthew Edwards + selected archive materials
Reversible sleeve with Hong Kong poster artwork

// DISC 1 //
New 2K Remaster of the Hong Kong Cut [96 minutes]
Cantonese-language Hong Kong Theatrical Mix with normal subtitles and SDH
Cantonese-language Japan Theatrical Mix with normal subtitles and SDH [features rare ending Cantonese narration]
Cantonese Home Video Remix with normal subtitles and SDH
English 5.1
Newly-translated English Subtitles
[New] Frank Djeng Commentary [HK cut]
[New] Mike Leeder and Arne Venema Commentary [HK cut]
[Archive] Cynthia Rothrock Tai Seng Commentary [HK cut]
[New] Cynthia Rothrock Interview
[New] Cynthia Rothrock Scene-specific Commentary
[New] Peter Cunningham Interview
[New] Peter Cunningham Scene-specific Commentary
[Archive] The Vigilante: An Interview with Yuen Biao
[Archive] Action Overload: An Interview with Cynthia Rothrock
[Archive] From the Ring to the Silver Screen: An Interview with Peter Cunningham
Rare alternate “Ladies Man” ending
Hong Kong Trailer
English Trailer
Tai Seng Reconstruction Trailer

// DISC 2 //
New 2K Remaster of the English “ABOVE THE LAW” Cut - English with SDH [92 mins]
New 2K Remaster of the Singapore Cut - Mandarin with normal subtitles and SDH [100 mins]
ULTIMATE CUT featuring 4 possible endings [105 mins - 106 mins approx]
Ultimate Cut Ending Randomizer

It looks like it's missing a full-length commentary from Cynthia Rockwell from the VS release (though there is new scene-specific commentary with her here), the Melvin Wong and Karen Sheperd interviews, and THE BEST OF MARTIAL ARTS FILMS documentary (though this will be on a future release from a U.K label with the clips being in proper HD and the correct aspect ratio, as well as improved audio) from the VS release. I'll be grabbing this release instead since it doesn't look like it's missing anything important from the VS release and it has an extra alternative cut with an ending randomizer, not to mention that the artwork on the 88 release is much better than the VS release.

Outside of the VS having extra supplements, is there a benefit to getting that release in addition to this, or does the 88 have all the same cuts/quality restoration, plus an extra one?

therewillbeblus wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:49 pm Outside of the VS having extra supplements, is there a benefit to getting that release in addition to this, or does the 88 have all the same cuts/quality restoration, plus an extra one?

Probably not. The booklet is pretty unreadable due to a poor graphic design decision so you aren't missing anything there. I prefer Tony Stella's cover art but that's subjective. 88 films isn't known for always doing great audio mixing on their releases, but honestly you're probably fine just doing the 88 release. I'm only interested in the HK cut since that's the original and it's ending fits the tone of the film best, otherwise I'd probably double dip for the randomizer cut which is a cool idea.

Brandon mentioned on the other forum that David M/Fidelity in Motion are encoding the 88 Films disc if you needed another reason to go for the UK disc over the VS.

Coming in December:

I still have no idea what UHD capable person would opt for this over the Eureka's trilogy set.

If we already have the Criterion Police Story blu set and don’t want to opt for a standalone blu vs UHD of the third? I will admit that Jackie’s mug here is making me consider running from the 88 tho

Yeah, Jackie's face looks like he's having a hard time on the toilet here.

Jackie Chan's Gorgeous and Fernando Di Leo's Blood and Diamonds are coming in December

US, UK, or both?

swo17 wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:27 pm US, UK, or both?

I don't think they've been officially announced yet by 88 films, and even when they do it's not always clear if it includes a US release.

swo17 wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:27 pm US, UK, or both?

I believe these were spotted via an MVD leak. So US, confirmed, but I would assume both.

The WHIP clue hasn't been confirmed yet (or has it?) and I keep my fingers crossed for it being The Whip and the Body.

PS.: Frank Djeng confirmed The Iceman Cometh on Twitter.

I don't recall WHIP being confirmed.

Kung Fu Bob posted a teaser of a cover he did for 88 that seems to be for a re-release of Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin. No idea if this is a US release or if it will be a UK only disc.

LIMITED EDITION
Rigid slipcase with brand-new artwork by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien
Double-Sided Foldout Poster featuring new artwork and original HK poster
6 Collectable Art Cards
80-page perfect-bound book featuring a brand-new interview with director Alfred Cheung and actor Pat Ha by Matthew Edwards

FEATURES INCLUDE
• Stunning New 2K Transfer from Original Film Elements
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Cantonese Mono
• Newly remastered English subtitles
• Audio Commentary with Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast On Fire Network
• Audio Commentary with Asian Cinema Experts Frank Djeng and FJ DeSanto
• [new] Running Away - An Interview with Alfred Cheung
• [new] Predicting the Future - An Interview with David West
• Alternate Ending
• Hong Kong Trailer
• Reversible sleeve with original Hong Kong poster artwork

Never heard of On the Run. Is it a hidden gem? Worth checking out?

Mr Sausage wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:51 pm Never heard of On the Run. Is it a hidden gem? Worth checking out?

It has its fans (including me) and it's for sure worth checking out if you want to see Yuen Biao try and fight for survival in this neo-noir thriller. Just don't expect him to do any outlandish stunts or crazy acrobatic fight scenes, as this film is more grounded in its relative realism.

dwk wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 9:03 pm Jackie Chan's Gorgeous

That is exciting. I have the 2000 Columbia Tri-star edition of this and it was my introduction to the actress Shu Qi long before she became a muse figure for Hou Hsiao-Hsien in Millennium Mambo (and later The Assassin) and Jason Statham's love interest in the first Transporter film. This is actually a little bit misleading for those going in expecting an action packed Jackie Chan film, since its main character is actually a Taiwanese girl (Shu Qi) who on finding a message in a bottle leaves her idyllic home (replete with pet dolphin!) and goes to Hong Kong to track down the writer of the note (its basically the premise of that Kevin Costner film, only if you wanted it to have martial arts in it!). Who turns out to be Tony Leung, who unfortunately for our main character is rather flamboyantly gay(!) but who becomes a best friend to the girl and helps her when she falls for a rich businessman (Jackie). At around the two-thirds mark some of the trademark action sequences appear, but I think that this was an attempt by Jackie Chan to branch out a bit from that.

That 2000 DVD has a commentary track from Jackie himself (in English) and a 38 minute making of featurette, so hopefully those should be able to be ported over. Although the reason why I am excited for this new release is that the US/UK release of the film was cut down from just over two hours to 95 minutes, presumably to get to what action there is quicker, so I have my fingers crossed that 88 Films might be able to finally release that original version.

(Also this may bode well for a release of the other Columbia Tri-Star DVD from the same era: Who Am I?)