Protector and Crime Story coming to Blu Ray

[Guest Markgway]

I don't care what equipment you watch them on, these suck!

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/5639/prot2.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8461/prot1e.jpg

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8704/crime2.jpg

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4461/crime1a.jpg

[spannick]

you don't need good Audio Equipment for MONO movies like CRIME STORY. and added 7.1 idiocy is NOT better on a 3000$ Audio setup, it's STILL not the original Audio and plastered with crap made on a Computer and plastered via copy & paste into a Wave-File. and for the authists who need the 7.1 Crap, very well. but include the Original Audio as "Bonus". so every fool can enjoy what he prefers. and PROTECTOR was already mentioned how idiotic the "new" Audio is. whoever can enjoy that crap is beyond me.

and these PROTECTOR Shots looks awful, yes. whoever praises that it's perfect on a 54" TV is blind or WANTS it to be looking good. Yes, the alternatives are as shite, but this is still not acceptable. Guess what? I can just pass these movies and watch something else.

[tenebre]

I always watch old movies with their original soundtracks (usually mono x2 to left and right channel) I never understood the point in created a fake surround track since it sounds strange ... AND every receiver i have owned could fake that if i wanted it...

Biggest problem here is .... Protector has a better transfer in japan.. and they didnt get a decent transfer of the HK cut.. so the release is pointless. MOST fans already bought the HK version of crime story and this provides no reason to upgrade. Hardcore fans the same thing for Protector. Causal fans have the DVDs and these are barely worth that upgrade. I think they should have spent more money on these releases .. releases them separately and given the fans what they really wanted.

[HAZ]

Its better than any DVD of the films! Its 14 bucks! If I have to settle for this, I will. Its not perfect, but these are much better than the DVDs I have. Flat out, it kills the DVD and its way easier than lugging around a 50 pound print. If you're that particular, you have to get into film.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Just picked the disc up from Best Buy. I took advantage of their deal where you can trade in any DVD and get $5 off any blu ray over $10. The disc was priced at $15.99 so I paid $10.99

Going to watch it tonight.

Really???? Why didn't I know about this??? This works at all Best Buy across the United States of AMerica???

[Jay Stone]

It's in their circular, and signs are posted around the store. I've heard that they aren't very particular with what DVD you trade in either.

[Sheng]

and these PROTECTOR Shots looks awful, yes. whoever praises that it's perfect on a 54" TV is blind or WANTS it to be looking good. Yes, the alternatives are as shite, but this is still not acceptable. Guess what? I can just pass these movies and watch something else.

Dunno who you’re addressing this to. I don’t own this PROTECTOR / CRIME STORY BD, didn’t intend to buy it either, so I’ve never seen how it comes across on a 54 inch screen. Mine were general remarks about false claims and unqualified comparisons some people never get tired to make. Maybe next time you read properly before you rant.

[David Rees]

Some people do tend to moan about anything these days, i agree..BUT...i cannot afford to buy every Blu ray release i want and just hope that its a good and proper HD transfer, i look for reviews from people i trust and tend to agree with. The review on Bluray.com convinced me finally not to buy this disc, i have the HK Legends dvd of Crime Story and the HK dvd of the Jackie cut of The Protector so i don't need to buy these and would only do so if it was an acceptable upgrade, not some half arsed SD upscale provided by Fortune Star.

I had my suspicions when they stated they were putting 2 films on 1 BD. Same goes for there next release of Police Story 1 + 2, i suspect these will be the same crap Fortune Star upscales that were released in Hong Kong.

Unless a company does there own transfer, which would probably be too expensive , then it looks like were stuck with these Fortune Star releases.

I would rather spend my money on proper HD releases elsewhere.

[John]

I had my suspicions when they stated they were putting 2 films on 1 BD.

This in and of itself is not so bad; BCI's tragically cut-short BD double features were real-deal HD, albeit older masters that might have existed for something like broadcast? It's not showroom material, but for what it is one BD should be okay.

Personally, I would be just fine with studios just churning out budget double features with old HD masters, at least for the time being, but maybe none exist for Chan's output?

[Jay Stone]

According to this review, it's a BD 50 disc, 50 gigs so that's not an issue for two movies of this length on one disc.

http://www.doblu.com/2013/01/21/crime-story-bluray-review/

[newgen2005]

Its better than any DVD of the films! Its 14 bucks! If I have to settle for this, I will. Its not perfect, but these are much better than the DVDs I have. Flat out, it kills the DVD and its way easier than lugging around a 50 pound print. If you're that particular, you have to get into film.

Agree, I preordered this weeks ago, and have yet to receive it! To be honest didn't think it would be fantastic, but I thought I would take a chance. I don't think these films will get better treatment, a real shame! Its either these or nothing!

[KUNG FU BOB]

Agree, I preordered this weeks ago, and have yet to receive it! To be honest didn't think it would be fantastic, but I thought I would take a chance. I don't think these films will get better treatment, a real shame! Its either these or nothing!

The release date was January 15th (you must have pre-ordered it), so it hasn't even had a week yet to reach you in the UK bro. No doubt you'll have it any day.

[Guest Markgway]

Its better than any DVD of the films! Its 14 bucks! If I have to settle for this, I will. Its not perfect, but these are much better than the DVDs I have. Flat out, it kills the DVD and its way easier than lugging around a 50 pound print. If you're that particular, you have to get into film.

It would be interesting to see a comparison between the Shout Factory BD and the Warner/Joy Sales DVDs. I would imagine any difference to be minimal. Regardless, dubtitles and crappy audio remixes would've put me off. Shout Factory have been told in no uncertain terms... if this situation is replicated for their Police Story set all hope is lost. Every company deserves to be forgiven for ONE fuck-up.

[reason108]

I just got the SF Crime Story/Protector blu. Couldn`t tell the difference between DD Crime Story on dvd and SF Crime Story on blu. I watched both at the same time. (I watched the dvd on the mac and the blu on the PS3 with Asus VW246H monitor.)

The menu is a very cheesy retro 90`s looking menu. You have a brick wall with a dumpster with rain falling - all digital creation with some weird electronic music playing. Very bad. You click on one poster or the other to watch whichever movie you choose.

The extras are alright. The deleted scenes are the same ones that are on the DD version. Not sure that the interview with Kirk Wong is a new one or not because it seems that I have seen it somewhere before.

I bought it for The Protector since that is one of the few movies that I didn`t own of Jackie`s. I would agree with what everyone else is saying about not buying it for Crime Story. I think the DD version would be the better choice.

The coolest thing about the blu is the reversible cover. It is almost worth it for that. (haha)

[reason108]

A view of the reversible cover for observation.

[tenebre]

that cover is nice!!!!! i wish they would have just released these individually. I hate double features.. i mean where does it go in the collection? :-P

[HAZ]

I don't have the DD Crime Story. I will see if I can find it for a copy of it!

[KUNG FU BOB]

The coolest thing about the blu is the reversible cover. It is almost worth it for that. (haha)

I love that they did this with the cover. Very cool!

that cover is nice!!!!! i wish they would have just released these individually. I hate double features.. i mean where does it go in the collection? :-P

Whenever I have double features like this, I alphabetize them by the first letter of the actor's name. So this goes in my Jackie Chan collection under "JACKIE CHAN: DOUBLE FEATURE", like so...

ISLAND OF FIRE

JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES

JACKIE CHAN: BIOGRAPHY

JACKIE CHAN: DOUBLE FEATURE

JACKIE CHAN hosts SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

JACKIE CHAN: INVINCIBLE FIGHTER

I don't have the DD Crime Story. I will see if I can find it for a copy of it!

I've seen this at F.Y.E. for $5.00. Next time I'm there, if they have it I'll call you to see if you want me to pick it up.

I do understand everyone's complaints about this Blu-Ray release, but I decided to get it anyway. I'll let you guys know what I think after I take a peek.

[tenebre]

haha but i cant do that! I have a Jackie chan section ordered by release date already! :-P

[Guest Markgway]

I would list it under C for CRIME as Crime Story is the first title listed.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Okay, I took a look at Shout Factory's CRIME STORY/THE PROTECTOR Blu-Ray. Here's some thoughts on it...

I just got the SF Crime Story/Protector blu. Couldn`t tell the difference between DD Crime Story on dvd and SF Crime Story on blu. I watched both at the same time. (I watched the dvd on the mac and the blu on the PS3 with Asus VW246H monitor.)

For CRIME STORY I compared my Dragon Dynasty DVD to the Shout Factory Blu-Ray. I used two different shots, one a tight close-up of Jackie's face, the other a long shot of buildings, to check the picture quality. There's not a huge difference, but the BD does show fine detail a little better, the colors seem more vivid, and I noticed that there is a little more image showing on all four sides (less cropped than the DD DVD). The subtitles look good, presented in an easy-to-read font, and the timing seemed perfect. It is a shame that they are dubtitles, but the dialogue didn't seem too dumbed down. For fans that don't own CRIME STORY already, this seems like a decent release to me. Though I am not as big an audiophile as some members here, so I can't really comment on that either way. I'm not saying that the ridiculous added chirping birds on the IVL Shaw Brothers' DVDs didn't annoy me though. It did! But for me, the fact that the BD includes both the original language, and an English dubbed track (for my friends that prefer that) is a plus (DD's DVD includes both as well). If releases don't include the original language, then I get pissed off.

The menu is a very cheesy retro 90`s looking menu. You have a brick wall with a dumpster with rain falling - all digital creation with some weird electronic music playing. Very bad. You click on one poster or the other to watch whichever movie you choose.

I thought the menus were okay. Though this is something that's never been a big issue for me. As long as the menus on DVDs and BDs are clearly marked and easily navigated I'm happy.

The extras are alright. The deleted scenes are the same ones that are on the DD version. Not sure that the interview with Kirk Wong is a new one or not because it seems that I have seen it somewhere before.

Personally, I enjoyed the extras. The SF BD Kirk Wong interview is subtitled, and is not the same as the one on the DD version where he speaks in English. I've never seen this interview footage before, but as Reason108 states, that doesn't mean it hasn't been out there before. It was short but good. The DD DVD extras one-up the SF BD with an interview with writer Teddy Chen and an audio commentary by Bey Logan and Kirk Wong.

I bought it for The Protector since that is one of the few movies that I didn`t own of Jackie`s. I would agree with what everyone else is saying about not buying it for Crime Story. I think the DD version would be the better choice.

I own THE PROTECTOR DVD release from Universe Laser & Video Co, Ltd. But I figured it would be worth the upgrade to BD for this and CRIME STORY. Not sure it was.

Regarding the Jackie Chan edit of THE PROTECTOR... I was shocked that the Universe DVD looks considerably better than SF's BD. The Universe edition has a pretty decent picture, bright colors, and limited damage. In comparison, the SF BD looks very faded, with muted colors, and a grainy, scratched up image. The only upside to the BD is that it's anamorphic and once again, there's more image showing on all four sides, especially at the top where the Universe DVD seems to have cropped off about 10% of the vertical image.

The US version of THE PROTECTOR looks decent, but not great. The only version of this that I own is the pan and scan VHS tape, so this was a huge upgrade for me. LOL

haha but i cant do that! I have a Jackie chan section ordered by release date already! :-P

Oh. Then that sucks.

Hope this helps others.

[Sheng]

KFB, kudos for taking the time to compare the BD with existing DVD editions and trying to come to a fair assessment. Instead of chiming in with the pointless ranting, denouncing and slagging off routines that others here indulge in... (the screeching, insolently cynical response to a member’s pertinent remarks about viewing equipment and how much this can impact on one’s judgement of a disc was truly the low-point in this thread!)

And as for your "hope this helps others"... For me the dealbreaker would be the poor quality of the HK cut of PROTECTOR – a film I’ve never seen - , so I’ma look for the supposedly better Japanese BD or try to snatch up the old Universe DVD.

[KUNG FU BOB]

KFB, kudos for taking the time to compare the BD with existing DVD editions and trying to come to a fair assessment. Instead of chiming in with the pointless ranting, denouncing and slagging off routines that others here indulge in... (the screeching, insolently cynical response to a member’s pertinent remarks about viewing equipment and how much this can impact on one’s judgement of a disc was truly the low-point in this thread!)

And as for your "hope this helps others"... For me the dealbreaker would be the poor quality of the HK cut of PROTECTOR – a film I’ve never seen - , so I’ma look for the supposedly better Japanese BD or try to snatch up the old Universe DVD.

Glad I could help.

[John]

KFB, kudos for taking the time to compare the BD with existing DVD editions and trying to come to a fair assessment. Instead of chiming in with the pointless ranting, denouncing and slagging off routines that others here indulge in... (the screeching, insolently cynical response to a member’s pertinent remarks about viewing equipment and how much this can impact on one’s judgement of a disc was truly the low-point in this thread!)

And as for your "hope this helps others"... For me the dealbreaker would be the poor quality of the HK cut of PROTECTOR – a film I’ve never seen - , so I’ma look for the supposedly better Japanese BD or try to snatch up the old Universe DVD.

Glad I could help.

[Sheng]

Glad I could help.

Yes, you certainly “helped” this thread to reach rock bottom… :cry: