Update on To Kill A Mastermind

[greenfan]

The US company didn't even know it was remastered. That doesn't fill me with confidence in their knowledge of this particular release, at least our version will have proper subs, and I will be working heavilly on the video to improve it as much as possible. And should a DVD source come available out of China or Hong Kong, we upgrade to it.

You might as well see if the guy from Panmedia wants to go into business with you.

[Guest Markgway]

Okay guys, announcement time, my group Fusubs will begin translating TKAM today, we will also be working on I'll Finally Knock You Down Dad and will probably release them as a double-bill. We hope no one here has any objections to our working on this? We may very well do more of these too, if no one else does. We hope to have it released soon, perhaps as early as next week. Stay tuned for updates. Also, this will be a complete re-translation of the film - we're not using any previous subbed versions for this.

That's great news. I'd definitely be up for a copy of TKAM.

But not IFKYDD which I've seen (and didn't care for). You could save time and copy the subs from the Ocean Shores tape.

Curse of Evil and Na Cha and the Seven Devils are extremely rare. Would be awesome if you guys could translate those.

Hong Kong Cinema needs you!!

[Gaijin84]

I haven't been able to find any unreleased films on that channel yet. They have a schedule, but not To Kill A Mastermind. The channel these films are from is Mainland or Taiwanese for sure. Does the watermark mean anything to anyone?

Yup, I couldn't find any rares (that I know of) on that November lineup. December isn't up yet. Maybe they have two versions of the channel, mainland and Hong Kong, that have different schedules? btw, I think the characters on the watermark are 伐酷, but I have no idea what they mean...

[Guest Markgway]

You might as well see if the guy from Panmedia wants to go into business with you.

That's rubbish. Kaleyboy and co are doing us a huge favour. They're not in it to make money. They're true fans. This won't affect a legit deal one iota unless someone sticks it on a torrent (which I certainly won't be doing). If and when a legit version hits stores I'm sure we'll all upgrade. Panmedia are bandits. BIG difference, my friend.

[greenfan]

You seem to misunderstand. If there is any sign of a legit release of these, we'll kill our versions ASAP. We don not rip-off anyone's movies, but Celestial HAS NEVER RELEASED THESE. I simply meant, that if the person who uploaded the files to youku, has DVD-quality versions, we would upgrade to the better versions. WE WILL NEVER BOOT LEGIT RELEASES!!!!

The thing is when people work on rare, old school stuff that has no chance of a legit release, i think thats fine. These Shaws havent been released but that doesnt mean they wont. All you are doing is making it more likely that these will not see a legit release. Do you really think these wont hit torrents as soon as they're subbed? Do you really think the Panmedia turd (or some other turd) won't steal your work and sell it on?

[odioustrident]

So this framerate is perfectly watchable right? I have a very slow connection online but it looked ok to me.

How bad is this artifacting? Just here and there?

[greenfan]

To be fair, it's not likely anyone would want to steal work that you've done before. There's money to be made in Shaw boots though.

It's not like there is zero chance of TKAM being released. We already know that a US company is interested in releasing it and has been in contact with Celestial.

A boot going into circulation is only ever going to damage the chances of a legit release.

[Iron Boat]

Okay guys, announcement time, my group Fusubs will begin translating TKAM today, we will also be working on I'll Finally Knock You Down Dad and will probably release them as a double-bill. We hope no one here has any objections to our working on this? We may very well do more of these too, if no one else does. We hope to have it released soon, perhaps as early as next week. Stay tuned for updates. Also, this will be a complete re-translation of the film - we're not using any previous subbed versions for this.

great, that's what I need, I'm not bothering with the unsubbed version, I want to know what's going on!

[Iron Boat]

To be fair, it's not likely anyone would want to steal work that you've done before. There's money to be made in Shaw boots though.

It's not like there is zero chance of TKAM being released. We already know that a US company is interested in releasing it and has been in contact with Celestial.

A boot going into circulation is only ever going to damage the chances of a legit release.

Who cares

Must say I disagree with you, these films are released and re released repeatedly and forever. Some on this forum have multiple versions of the same film from a boatload of companies.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Booters will boot, it's what they do. It hasn't stopped companies putting out legit releases of 5 Deadly Venoms or other recent US shaw releases. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

True. My friends and I all bought the booted VHS of FIVE VENOMS, then the (I think it was Crash Cinema) DVD bootleg release, and then the recent legitimate Dragon Dynasty release too. The fans will support a legitimate release of TKAM if it's released.

Greenfan, what if you had feared that putting out NINJA IN ANCIENT CHINA would have stopped production of a "legit" release? In my opinion, none of us would have EVER seen that film. I'm kinda surprised at your reaction, as I thought you'd be totally onboard with this bro. I DO get what you're saying, respect your POV, but disagree.

[Mastameta]

The English subs on R1 and R3 editions of SB, even when not dubtitles, are often somewhere between mediocre to laughable. SB has not had the benefit of good translations into English. As far as I'm concerned, a fansub that retranslates everything is a significant contribution even if TKAM ends up getting an actual retail release later.

[SadShawFan]

In March/April 2009, the fan site SBR (Shaw-Brothers-Reloaded) and I got valid information about the fact, that the work process of re-mastering some 80 more titles of the Shaw Brothers Movie Library was completed and DVD/VCD/BluRay releases to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the SB movie studio in HK, TW and Singapore were planned and pending. Information from within the Celestial Pictures organization itself stated that the home entertainment release of those 80 titles would start in Autumn/Winter 2009 (probably latest in December 2009 to start with a business bang at Xmas) and a close friend and former CP employee even handed me 5-10 minute video clips of each and every of those 80 re-mastered titles for SBR promo and ads for the weeks before the discs would hit the shelves of the shops.

Therefore, in Spring 2009 SBR and I distributed the news and the list of the 80 titles on both SBR sites and in various forums like this one. As usual, here and there we were greeted with disbelief and ridicule. Aside of some respected forum members and pals-in-the-know like Tantao, Daigoro etc. here at KFCF we were called liars, cheats and fan-boy idiots who do not know what they are talking about. Nevertheless, we were prepared to put our reputation and money where our mouths are and proceeded with spreading the news about the releases.

What happened then was a kick in the groin and sheer agony for SBR, myself and the few fellow fans who trusted us. A new CEO at CP was appointed, almost 70 percent of the CP staff was laid off and the deals with all three distribution partners (2 x Kadokawa Enterprises represented by IVL and Kam&Ronson as well as a third large Asian distribution partner who does not want his name being mentioned) were called off by CP as no agreement about two major business issues could be reached. The home entertainment releases were dead and buried and our well intended early announcement was slapped in our faces and exposed SBR and me to another truckload of ridicule.

Now, more than a year later those 80 SB movies re-mastered by CP finally have turned up (albeit in a very different context) and we can finally proudly shout out: “BOW YOUR HEADS… WE TOLD YA SO, AND WE SAID IT FIRST!”

Btw… for your info: The movies now displayed at this well known Chinese site are not nabbed from Chinese television (Mind you… television programs in Mainland China and Taiwan always feature Chinese subtitles to be sufficient for Mandarin and Cantonese speakers alike. Also: Each Channel would have his logo in the top or bottom corner of the screen and CP did not license those titles for television use so far)! Those are original master transfers from the re-mastering facility SB Movie Town which should have been transferred to discs. A wild guess is that the one who downloaded them has/had access to original material at CP in Hong Kong. Bless him and perhaps this slip of security and the noble action by a true fan and former employee might provoke CP to act and release those titles in a legit way.

PS: For those hoping to get their hands on titles like “Shadow Girl”, “Champion of Champions” or “Deadly Angels” – SADLY THOSE TITLES WERE NOT REMASTERED IN 2009 AND WILL NOT SEE THE LIGHT OF A RELEASE ON THIS CHINESE SITE. SORRY!

PPS: I personally, can't wait for the guy/gal to put the videos of "The Killer", "Temperament of Life", "Operation Lipstick", "The Brain Stealers" and "The Last Judgement" (all on the remaster- list) up on the site...;O)))))))))))))))))))

[Gaijin84]

btw, I think the characters on the watermark are 伐酷, but I have no idea what they mean...

duh... they're the Chinese characters for Youku

[Jesse Smooth]

I've downloaded all 14 parts, but seems like part 10-14 its the same scenes. I'm trying to use VOB converter to put it into one file.

[Jesse Smooth]

great, that's what I need, I'm not bothering with the unsubbed version, I want to know what's going on!

I agree, I'll wait until they're subbed.

[Gaijin84]

Can someone post a link for the download of Iku 2.1?

[Jesse Smooth]

And another thing, a lot of this stuff isn't Mac friendly, LOL.

[Gaijin84]

HERE YOU GO

thanks, i appreciate it

[loempiavreter]

Anyone found Sun Chung's Revenge of the Corpse aka Bloodthirsty Dead on Youku? That one looks pretty wicked.

[venom10463]

Okay guys, announcement time, my group Fusubs will begin translating TKAM today, we will also be working on I'll Finally Knock You Down Dad and will probably release them as a double-bill. We hope no one here has any objections to our working on this? We may very well do more of these too, if no one else does. We hope to have it released soon, perhaps as early as next week. Stay tuned for updates. Also, this will be a complete re-translation of the film - we're not using any previous subbed versions for this.

As soon as kaleboy announced his group will be translating TKAM. Majority of the forum members responds to his announcement. If fusubs is going to translate TKAM than I have no objection, but my friend has been working on translating TKAM before this thread ever appear and all of a sudden someone wants to finally translate it. Those on adc who have downloaded my custom subbed DVDs already know my work. However, like I said, I have no objection to fusubs translating TKAM and I'll tell my friend to halt and discard the translation.

[greenfan]

True. My friends and I all bought the booted VHS of FIVE VENOMS, then the (I think it was Crash Cinema) DVD bootleg release, and then the recent legitimate Dragon Dynasty release too. The fans will support a legitimate release of TKAM if it's released.

Greenfan, what if you had feared that putting out NINJA IN ANCIENT CHINA would have stopped production of a "legit" release? In my opinion, none of us would have EVER seen that film. I'm kinda surprised at your reaction, as I thought you'd be totally onboard with this bro. I DO get what you're saying, respect your POV, but disagree.

Errr....My release of 'Ninja in Ancient China' WAS the legit release. I paid for the distribution rights, the DVD production and distribution costs and the advertising.

[bobo]

TKAM played perfectly fine on my MAC.

[prinnysquad]

No idea if this has been posted before, or rare or whatever, but there's an English subbed Black Butterfly:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDUzNDEwNjA=.html

[Gaijin84]

Just to consolidate the links:

The Midnight Murder (1967) (not remastered, english subs)

Purple Darts (1969)

The Black Enforcer (1972)

Na Cha and the 7 Devils (1973)

The Big Fellow (1973)

To Kill a Mastermind (1979)

Curse of Evil (1982)

Thunderclap (1984)

I Will Finally Knock You Down, Dad (1984)

The Little Cute Fellow (1984) Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

This Man Is Dangerous (1985) Part 1, Part 2

[peringaten]

Oh my word, Curse Of Evil! I've been chomping at the bit for that one.

I understand where GreenFan is coming from for sure, but Kaleyboy, I think I love you man. I bought a copy of Carry On from you guys; one of the best viewing experiences I've had in ages! Can't wait for a subbed TKAM! I'm right in that queue for sure! I would still buy legit releases of any of these even with a decent copy of any of these. Man, I can't put into words how excited I am about all this...