sonny chiba's "street fighter" films..............

[Guest monk sante]

Hi, I was searching the web for the " street fighter" films on dvd and notice theres more than 1 label carrying these titles. Can anyone tell me which label has the best available print on dvd?8o

Thanks!

[Guest Jet Set]

I would like to knwo that too.

[Linn1]

Diamond is still the best overall IMO. Some of the other labels didn't master their versions very well. Having said that, the entire series is coming next year in remastered versions from the original masters that will smoke any earlier releases. This should include uncut Streetfighter's Last Revenge and Sister Streetfighter that will make an appearance in the US for the first time.

[Guest Yocke]

Has anyone seen the new UK releases of these films? They are restored and anamorphic. Here are some pics:

www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DV...ighter.htm

[Linn1]

the Streetfighter's Last Revenge in that set is the uncut one. I'm waiting to see the U.S. releases, as they are using different elements. Maybe their version of the Streetfighter won't be as dark/green.

[Guest kungfusamurai]

I just want the films with their original language. Linn1 - I don't recall if you named the company rumored to be putting them out. Is it Adness? I doubt it's New Line.

KFS

[Linn1]

and the U.S. disc will have the original soundtrack AND the English dub.

[Guest kungfusamurai]

Coolness. What about that Aikido film that Chiba did. Have you heard of anyone putting that out?

KFS

[Guest mike robert]

I bought the region 2 Street Fighter collection and it looks amazing. Well worth the price I paid and I will also be buying these forever rumored region 1 Street Fighter releases when they finally get released. Tell then I will be watching my excellent region 2 box set while I wait.

[Guest theblackroom]

Any word yet on these coming to region 1? Should I just break down and buy the region 2 set?

[Linn1]

and with Sister Streetfighter.

[Guest Bentley2005]

Seems like I've read about the rumored R1 DVDs on every forum that has anything remotely related to Asian cinema... but no one will say what company it is! Is there some sort of legal/copyright issue as to why no one can say who it is? Well, either way, it's good to know that both the Japanese and dubbed tracks will be on there... I also hope that if the Japanese prints are used that the US title sequences will be on as extras for the hell of it. Plus, it would be a treat if both the Japanese AND American trailers were included for each film. As for the company releasing them... maybe it's Criterion :lol

[Guest mike robert]

New Line Cinema will be releasing the Street Fighter films in region 1 on DVD.

[Guest Bentley2005]

Dunno if you're joking or not, but I thought New Line lost the rights to the films after all of the public domain releases. I mean, it would be great if New Line did in fact pick the rights back up for special editions and put some effort into it. Hell, their laserdisc of the first Street Fighter had the Japanese mono track!

[Guest mike robert]

I will give you a hint every label that specializes in Japanese/Asian cinema told me flat out that they would like to do a legit release of the Street Fighter films and that the budget releases is why they are hesitant to buy the rights to the Street Fighter films which leads me to believe that it has to be New Line Cinema releasing these films and another clue that points obviously towards New Line the fact that this upcoming release will include Sister Street Fighter which is not part of the same series. It has its own trilogy of films and back in the day New Line just happened to also release Sister Street Fighter. Does anyone has any concrete info that they would like to share about these releases or will you go on teasing people with half clues about this supposed release.

[Guest Bentley2005]

Hmm... well, I guess it's kinda like the whole copyright issue with the original Night of the Living Dead... sure there are a bunch of unofficial releases, but that didn't stop official companies such as Anchor Bay or Fox from releasing their own versions. I still say that each film MUST be uncut, have both the Japanese mono and original New Line English dubs from the theatrical releases (doubt any dialogue was cut, just gore), and the alternate US credits for each film should be on as well as both Japanese and American trailers for each film. I personally have the American trailer for all four of these, plus the Japanese trailer for the original Street Fighter. And let's get interviews from Chiba and Sue Shiomi!

[Guest mike robert]

I agree, these region 1 Street Fighter DVD’s better be the end all definitive versions of these films and if they are released like many Chiba films are without extras I will be extremely disappointed. Hopefully an announcement on the region 1 release date will surface soon since the rumors have been floating around for about four months.

[Linn1]

anytime a company is working on a release, until THEY release info on it coming, people (working on the release, review sites, etc) are not supposed to even mention it. I often break that because enough people know me, companies and fans, that I kinda like to let fans know and not to buy inferior products if something better is coming. If someone tells me "don't breath a word of this," then I don't.

In this case, because it has been bootlegged so much, it's not much of an issue. In other cases, it's so bootleggers can't come out with their version and undercut a release. JUST like Groundzero did to Crash a number of times, causing releases to make no money or to be cancelled. Just one release like that, can sour a company to making martial arts dvds in legit ways. When bootleggers put out stuff at Wal Mart, they often destroy the chance of a dvd getting released.

As for rumors, I've been talking about this for quite some time on this site. The company releasing them is NOT New Line, but they did get the rights from New Line. They asked for my copy of the uncut Sister Streetfighter to compare the negs they had. The release should be coming this year. Until the company comes out and says something, that's all the info you can get right now.

[Guest Bentley2005]

Even though we don't know the company, we at least know a little bit of the efforts this company is into the series, looking over rare old VHS versions of Sister Street Fighter just to make sure it's uncut. Figured New Line would still own some rights to the film, just not sure in what sense. But at least we know New Line isn't releasing it, nor Adness. Something inside me wants to say Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock as Media Blasters' Shriek Show division used a similar method to remaster Zombi 2 by looking over various DVD and Laserdisc releases before releasing their own edition. But this is just a wild guess, and since Media Blasters has become infamous for delaying its films (Zombi 2 and Lizard in a Woman's Skin are the top two), I would understand if they didn't want anyone to know until they knew for certain when they could release it... that is, IF it's Media Blasters :b

[Guest mike robert]

Linn's right New Line isn't releasing the Street Fighter Trilogy. I hope this company finally gets going with this set and it truly better be the definitive verisons of these films or else.

[Linn1]

But Mike you wrote above:

"New Line Cinema will be releasing the Street Fighter films in region 1 on DVD."

So what made you change your tune so quickly? LOL

[Guest mike robert]

Linn, a little bird told me who is releasing this series in region 1. They also confirmed that New Line has sold the rights.

[Guest Bentley2005]

Great, now I'M out of the loop... and where's that damn little bird! :b

[Linn1]

this is the reason why companies don't announce this stuff until it's ready to go. I talked to the U.S. company just a few days ago about this project, as I was waiting to hear from them too It turns out that New Line didn't know what they were signing away. New Line made a deal to sell the rights for a group of films. The contract was signed and the company started going through the films getting them ready for dvd release. This on average takes at LEAST a year, the idea was the Streetfighter would be done at the end of the cycle since it would take more work. Well, New Line had been giving them the run around on the elements for the films for quite some time now. So they finally sat down with New Line to talk about it. They told them New Line didn't realize the Streetfighter films were in the lot they sold the rights for. In a nutshell, they wanted the series back. But they DID sign it away, so it's going to come out, as it's a binding contract.

In a nutshell, it won't be coming this year. Sorry to have to tell everyone that, but that's what happens sometimes. It will be coming out, but in the meantime, pick up the UK set for cheap. That's what I'm going to do now.

[Guest mike robert]

Thanks for the update Linn, I don’t mind waiting as long as when these get released they are done right and are the definitive versions of the Street Fighters films on DVD.