Help me make a decision on a couple dvd's

[Duel to the Death]

I am considering getting the Dragon Dynasty version of 8 Diagram Pole Fighter and the Tokyo Shock version of The Brave Archer. Are they both solid versions? I know they have both been released on Blu-Ray by 88 Films, but they are breaking my wallet with that exchange rate and expensive shipping. I need to save some money but i still want a pretty good quality release. It don't have to be perfect. Spending $23 is better than spending $45. I bet the quality is real good on those 88's though. lol

[Iron_Leopard]

28 minutes ago, Duel to the Death said:

I am considering getting the Dragon Dynasty version of 8 Diagram Pole Fighter and the Tokyo Shock version of The Brave Archer. Are they both solid versions? I know they have both been released on Blu-Ray by 88 Films, but they are breaking my wallet with that exchange rate and expensive shipping. I need to save some money but i still want a pretty good quality release. It don't have to be perfect. Spending $23 is better than spending $45. I bet the quality is real good on those 88's though. lol

I only have the DD 8 Diagram Pole Fighter and it is a great quality release.  Looks gorgeous for a dvd. I'm sure the blu ray looks a little better but not worth spending $20 more. 

[Duel to the Death]

Just now, Iron_Leopard said:

I only have the DD 8 Diagram Pole Fighter and it is a great quality release.  Looks gorgeous for a dvd. I'm sure the blu ray looks a little better but not worth spending $20 more. 

I already went ahead and bought both of them. I have no patience and was afraid someone else would buy them and i'd have to spend more. lol

[Iron_Leopard]

6 minutes ago, Duel to the Death said:

I already went ahead and bought both of them. I have no patience and was afraid someone else would buy them and i'd have to spend more. lol

I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Your collection seems to be growing pretty rapidly these days.

[Duel to the Death]

Yes it is. A fool and his money. I shouldn't be buying any of these really. But i have never been good with money or made good decisions. Why start now. Just gotta try and not go into debt again because of my hobbies. lol

[Iron_Leopard]

1 minute ago, Duel to the Death said:

Yes it is. A fool and his money. I shouldn't be buying any of these really. But i have never been good with money or made good decisions. Why start now. Just gotta try and not go into debt again because of my hobbies. lol

Oh I understand.  Any hobby can be addicting.  Especially this one cause these old kung fu movies are already rare in themselves and then on top of that you have the dvd format starting to go extinct. So its act now or possibly never get another chance at it.

[Duel to the Death]

21 minutes ago, Iron_Leopard said:

Oh I understand.  Any hobby can be addicting.  Especially this one cause these old kung fu movies are already rare in themselves and then on top of that you have the dvd format starting to go extinct. So its act now or possibly never get another chance at it.

Ya i noticed a few of the ones i want are out of print and expensive. There are small complications like disc rot. Not sure how common that is. And i recently learned that Media Blasters (the ones who make the Tokyo Shock dvd's have now started releasing movies in DV-R instead of DVD. I don't like the sound of that. I'd hate to be expecting an actual dvd and get a copy. Ugh

http://media-blasters.com/customer-service/

[Tex Killer]

Dragon Dynasty and Tokyo Shock shaws are so good quality  there is no real need to look out for more expensive blu rays unless you are tech nihilistic. Funimation too but they are quite expensive these days..

 

[Duel to the Death]

10 minutes ago, Tex Killer said:

Dragon Dynasty and Tokyo Shock shaws are so good quality  there is no real need to look out for more expensive blu rays unless you are tech nihilistic. Funimation too but they are quite expensive these days..

 

I notice the IVL releases from Hong Kong and Taiwan are sometimes cheaper to get. But i have also heard they may not always be as good quality as the later remasters. But sometimes you can only find some movies on IVL. It's just too bad you can't always find reviews or comparisons for some of these. From an artwork standpoint the IVL releases are real nice to look at. I'm always drawn to them when i see them on ebay. 

[Tex Killer]

6 minutes ago, Duel to the Death said:

I notice the IVL releases from Hong Kong and Taiwan are sometimes cheaper to get. But i have also heard they may not always be as good quality as the later remasters. But sometimes you can only find some movies on IVL. It's just too bad you can't always find reviews or comparisons for some of these. From an artwork standpoint the IVL releases are real nice to look at. I'm always drawn to them when i see them on ebay. 

Yes, artwork(+slipcases when available) are very nice on IVLs...but sometimes there is "ghosting" issues in movies on ivl. Proper r1 releases(or blurays) do not have that and sharper pic also often. I have recycled IVLs if have upgraded to dragon dynasty, funimation,  etc unless IVL disc is rare..Not really want to keep inferior release as decoration, shelf space is also quite limited..

[Duel to the Death]

24 minutes ago, Tex Killer said:

Yes, artwork(+slipcases when available) are very nice on IVLs...but sometimes there is "ghosting" issues in movies on ivl. Proper r1 releases(or blurays) do not have that and sharper pic also often. I have recycled IVLs if have upgraded to dragon dynasty, funimation,  etc unless IVL disc is rare..Not really want to keep inferior release as decoration, shelf space is also quite limited..

I think I may have made a bad purchase, I ordered Executioners from Shaolin on IVL since it was less than $10 but now I see Dragon Dynasty has released it and it's on this Dragon Dynasty box set that has 2 other movies on it I want. I'm thinking about getting this set and then I'll be stuck with 2 copies. 

[Markgway]

The DD DVD of Pole Fighter misses the original Cantonese. 

The 88 Blu has it in mono with new subtitles. 

You get what you pay for...

[Duel to the Death]

15 minutes ago, Markgway said:

The DD DVD of Pole Fighter misses the original Cantonese. 

The 88 Blu has it in mono with new subtitles. 

You get what you pay for...

I can always upgrade later and sell this one. It's all good

[Graeme Of Death]

If you're willing to hold off long enough 88 Films will have them on sale for £8 each eventually

[Duel to the Death]

4 minutes ago, Graeme Of Death said:

If you're willing to hold off long enough 88 Films will have them on sale for £8 each eventually

A sale would be nice. The only 2 movies i bought from them had free shipping to the US and then a day or 2 later and the free shipping was gone. Not sure if it was a special deal that ended or what. 

[kevenzz]

I think only the tokyo shock dvds are great quality... the dragon dynasty ones are average... the good thing is the low price.

[paimeifist]

You can purchase anything released by either company with peace of mind, have only ever seen quality releases from both.

[KUNG FU BOB]

@Duel to the Death I highly recommend picking up the Dragon Dynasty DVD release of HEROES OF THE EAST. First of all, it's my favorite Shaw Brothers film. Secondly, the DVD is really good, pretty cheap (eBay or Amazon), and has never been released on Blu-ray (a crime against humanity I say!) It's a good, fun story with incredible and varied hand-to-hand and weapons action throughout.

[paimeifist]

58 minutes ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

@Duel to the Death I highly recommend picking up the Dragon Dynasty DVD release of HEROES OF THE EAST. First of all, it's my favorite Shaw Brothers film. Secondly, the DVD is really good, pretty cheap (eBay or Amazon), and has never been released on Blu-ray (a crime against humanity I say!) It's a good, fun story with incredible and varied hand-to-hand and weapons action throughout.

Agreed. One of the very best martial arts films of any era.

[Subaru Driver #1]

What's the best way for those of us in the U.S. to get our hands on the many 88 Films releases that are "Only Available for Sale in the UK & Eire"? There are some great titles that they won't ship to the U.S. like The Flying Guillotine, Masked Avengers, etc.

eBay?

[Duel to the Death]

23 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

@Duel to the Death I highly recommend picking up the Dragon Dynasty DVD release of HEROES OF THE EAST. First of all, it's my favorite Shaw Brothers film. Secondly, the DVD is really good, pretty cheap (eBay or Amazon), and has never been released on Blu-ray (a crime against humanity I say!) It's a good, fun story with incredible and varied hand-to-hand and weapons action throughout.

I have that movie on my watch list. I need to check it out   https://www.imdb.com/list/ls080130202/

[Duel to the Death]

52 minutes ago, Subaru Driver #1 said:

What's the best way for those of us in the U.S. to get our hands on the many 88 Films releases that are "Only Available for Sale in the UK & Eire"? There are some great titles that they won't ship to the U.S. like The Flying Guillotine, Masked Avengers, etc.

eBay?

88 Films own website does ship to the US but it's not cheap. It's currently about $12 for them to ship a single movie. I did get lucky last month and they had free shipping to the US. But i'm not sure if that was just a sale or not. Or if it's Covid related. But i also got three 88 Films movies off Ebay from US sellers selling them a little less.  I just got lucky. 

[Subaru Driver #1]

4 hours ago, Duel to the Death said:

88 Films own website does ship to the US but it's not cheap. It's currently about $12 for them to ship a single movie. I did get lucky last month and they had free shipping to the US. But i'm not sure if that was just a sale or not. Or if it's Covid related. But i also got three 88 Films movies off Ebay from US sellers selling them a little less.  I just got lucky. 

According to the product descriptions, there are certain titles that they will not allow to be purchased from outside of the U.K. or Ireland (Eire). That being said, I've never tested this by attempting to purchase these titles. I guess I should give it a try.

[Duel to the Death]

1 hour ago, Subaru Driver #1 said:

According to the product descriptions, there are certain titles that they will not allow to be purchased from outside of the U.K. or Ireland (Eire). That being said, I've never tested this by attempting to purchase these titles. I guess I should give it a try.

I actually did not know there was titles they would not sell outside the UK

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Bought plenty of the titles on the 88 site listed as "only sold in UK and Eire" and I'm in Denmark..... never had a problem. Don't know why it says that.