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The 88 Films Blu-Ray Thread


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ZenkaigerBat
On 5/16/2021 at 8:56 AM, actionfan93 said:

What about Who Am I and First Strike

They're with Warners.

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ShawAngela

In my opinion, Who am I is a great movie. I became a crazy fan of it after watching it a few months ago. Reading here that there was a 2h version, I search for it and found a Russian language VHS that I bought because I thought that I would never find the 2h version on any other fromat after a lot of searches, and then, a few days right after buying it, I found the Taiwanese 2h dvd version and I bought it too, and after watching it, I became even more a crazy fan of this movie, for both versions of it ! I would say it's worth watching it !

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1 hour ago, ShawAngela said:

In my opinion, Who am I is a great movie. I became a crazy fan of it after watching it a few months ago. Reading here that there was a 2h version, I search for it and found a Russian language VHS that I bought because I thought that I would never find the 2h version on any other fromat after a lot of searches, and then, a few days right after buying it, I found the Taiwanese 2h dvd version and I bought it too, and after watching it, I became even more a crazy fan of this movie, for both versions of it ! I would say it's worth watching it !

 I also think that Who am I is a very good movie. I like it very much. But whats the difference of the 2h version? And what exactly made you "even more a crazy fan"? Can you give some examples?

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I have the japanese DVD of Who Am I which is uncut, if you can get past the opening jungle scenes most of the rest of the movie is in english

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starschwar

I haven't watched it in a long while, but I have the Hong Kong Universe DVD.  As far as I'm aware, that has the full two-hour cut, with subtitles available for the Chinese dialogue.  I don't remember exactly what's different from the international cut, but the biggest difference that comes to mind is:

 

Spoiler

In the HK cut, we are not shown the circumstances of Jackie's memory loss until much later in the movie.  The audience is meant to find out along with the character.  As opposed to watching Jackie solve a mystery we already know the answer to.

 

I think there's also some more bits with the tribe, and maybe some extended action?

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54 minutes ago, starschwar said:

I haven't watched it in a long while, but I have the Hong Kong Universe DVD.  As far as I'm aware, that has the full two-hour cut, with subtitles available for the Chinese dialogue.  I don't remember exactly what's different from the international cut, but the biggest difference that comes to mind is:

 

  Hide contents

In the HK cut, we are not shown the circumstances of Jackie's memory loss until much later in the movie.  The audience is meant to find out along with the character.  As opposed to watching Jackie solve a mystery we already know the answer to.

 

I think there's also some more bits with the tribe, and maybe some extended action?

I saw the movie many times but I really dont know which version I saw. Several times on turkish tv (god knows which version they take), multiple times on german Vhs and DVDs.

I would love to see more of the tribe and action is in any case my main reason for jackiestuff. So I should check out whether I saw the long one or not.

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ShawAngela
On 5/18/2021 at 2:11 PM, AslanBey said:

 I also think that Who am I is a very good movie. I like it very much. But whats the difference of the 2h version? And what exactly made you "even more a crazy fan"? Can you give some examples?

Well; it's difficult to explain why I loved it even more.

In the 2h version, there are some scenes that aren't in the same order than in the 104 mn version.

Also, there are more scenes with Jackie in the tribe, and it also explains more some points of the plot (sorry, I don't remember which ones at this moment, but it seems to me that it deals with what happens at the hospital after Jackie has saved the guy in the desert, there are some explanations in the 2h versions that weren't in the other version.)

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Owen_Johnston
On 5/16/2021 at 9:34 PM, WaverBoy said:

I also said that I was talking about his classic period, which definitely ends with DM2 and if I’m being kind I’ll include RITB...I’m just really not interested in his later stuff except for that nifty revenge thriller he did. This opinion is based on having suffered through the following post-RUMBLE films:

THUNDERBOLT

POLICE STORY IV

MR NICE GUY

THE TUXEDO

And, reading terrible reviews of nearly all the rest. If WHO AM I? is supposed to be really good, I might give that one a whirl. Has he done any other watchable films in the latter part of his career?

Those films you mentioned are far better than some of his more recent stuff I've suffered through. I watch every new movie hoping for something better and they just get worse.  The Foreigner, Shinjuku Incident and New Police Story are easily the best films he's done in the last 15 years. Kung Fu Yoga, Railroad Tigers, The Knight of Shadows - absolutely awful.

He expressed a desire in the past to move onto drama roles. It's a shame he didn't retire on New Police Story and just direct / action direct movies and then have the odd starring role here and there in more serious dramas like Shinjuku Incident. Similar to Clint Eastwood where, rather than ruin his career with a string of crap action movies, he mainly directs / produces.

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Rubber John

You know what would should be great.....
For his final action film, he reteams with Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung for one last Three Dragons movie.
Keep it simple and handle the directing and choreography themselves.
Invite all of the classic stars and stunt teams back to feature also.... much like the Expendables franchise.
 

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starschwar

 

2 hours ago, Rubber John said:

You know what would should be great.....
For his final action film, he reteams with Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung for one last Three Dragons movie.
Keep it simple and handle the directing and choreography themselves.
Invite all of the classic stars and stunt teams back to feature also.... much like the Expendables franchise.
 

 

I'd be the first person to get hyped for that, should it be announced.  But I feel like it might be too late.  Dragons Forever was an absolutely masterful final bow for those three.  Trying again now would almost certainly yield something much less satisfying by comparison.

 

In my mind, the day Jackie stops acting in action movies (he could direct and choreograph forever!), it should be a passing of the torch.  A Snake in Eagle's Shadow style movie where he's the old master, imparting wisdom to a protagonist played by a relatively unknown up and coming action star.  15 years ago, I'd have said Tony Jaa.  Time flies. 

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Any hope of an ARMOUR OF GOD box to include with the first film that would house both films? Hey, it can’t hurt to dream big! :)

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2 hours ago, sifu iron perm said:

didn't arrow release ricky a good 5 years ago? 

it was mediumrare, HD transfer but poor encoding and audio issues

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ZenkaigerBat
On 5/20/2021 at 2:50 PM, starschwar said:

 

 

I'd be the first person to get hyped for that, should it be announced.  But I feel like it might be too late.  Dragons Forever was an absolutely masterful final bow for those three.  Trying again now would almost certainly yield something much less satisfying by comparison.

 

In my mind, the day Jackie stops acting in action movies (he could direct and choreograph forever!), it should be a passing of the torch.  A Snake in Eagle's Shadow style movie where he's the old master, imparting wisdom to a protagonist played by a relatively unknown up and coming action star.  15 years ago, I'd have said Tony Jaa.  Time flies. 

 

 

Although i wouldn't mind Jackie making a flim with his brothers.  I have a feeling Jackie doesn't boring death he prefers to die on the job.  I can't see him passing the torch anyone unless someone empresses him enough to say, hey you're the new Jackie why don't we make movies together.

 

As much as i like Tony Jaa but Jackie's successor needs to be much younger and fresh faced stunt actor. Someone who hasn't got a chance to shine before.  Tony has found himself enough he doesn't have to be the next Jackie as i prefer Tony being the first Tony Jaa making his own flims being the super star he's meant to be till all that drama he went thru ruined things for him no  thanks to certain producer who  screwed him over. 

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actionfan93
4 hours ago, thehangman said:

Im hoping for Righting wrongs

dead and the deadly

in the line of duty films

tiger cage 1 and 2

hopefully Righting wrongs,Tiger cage 1 and 2 and the In the line of duty films are coming soon in the pipeline as well as the other great girls with guns from Cynthia Rothrock,Yukari Oshima and Moon lee are coming soon in the pipeline as well

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I've just pre-ordered the standard edition of Young Master due out 14th June, I wasn't bothered about the poster/booklet etc in the limited edition so I thought i'd save a little cash. I noticed according to the specs there's a cantonese theatrical mix & also a cantonese home video mix as well as a hybrid mix so my question is what's the best soundtrack to choose? I normally just select cantonese mono. 

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starschwar

While I can't speak for the new hybrid version just yet, I think I have more nostalgic attachment to the music that originated in the export dub (which the hybrid track uses).  That was my first exposure to the film.  And while I certainly prefer the longer Hong Kong cut, its more classical music oriented score didn't really do it for me.  I'm usually a purist when it comes to original audio, but having the movie without Jackie singing over the end credits (the first time no less) just felt wrong.  The hybrid track, in theory, might be a best of both worlds approach.

I have no idea what differences exist between the theatrical and home video mixes - I'd welcome the insight of an expert.

 

Edited by starschwar
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13 hours ago, starschwar said:

I have no idea what differences exist between the theatrical and home video mixes - I'd welcome the insight of an expert.

 

Yes, I think that's really my question, as you say the hybrid you'd think would be the best of both.

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KenHashibe
On 6/4/2021 at 6:53 AM, andy338 said:

I've just pre-ordered the standard edition of Young Master due out 14th June, I wasn't bothered about the poster/booklet etc in the limited edition so I thought i'd save a little cash. I noticed according to the specs there's a cantonese theatrical mix & also a cantonese home video mix as well as a hybrid mix so my question is what's the best soundtrack to choose? I normally just select cantonese mono. 

I'm by no means an expert on the differences between the audio tracks, but from my understanding, the "theatrical" is basically what you would hear if you were to see the film in a theater, straight from the 35mm film print. Everything sounds sharp and loud. This is my preferred audio option. The "home video" mix is mixed so that everything is softer and easier on the ears. The audio technically sounds a lot cleaner in the "home video" mix, but I almost feel like I lose a bit of the impact from the loud sound effects and music in the "theatrical" mix.

For the hybrid mix, basically it's the Cantonese dialogue with the music score from the International version, since some prefer the music from the International version but don't like the English dub.

My favorite of all of these is the theatrical mix. If anyone can better describe the differences, please jump in! I'm struggling a bit! :laugh

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Soooooooo...any chance for Billy Chong’s hilarious KUNG FU ZOMBIE from 88? Dying for a decent copy of that. The best I’ve seen is the (not so) legendary kung fu bootleg label Ground Zero’s 2002 DVD, from their (not so) highly regarded Black Belt Theatre series, featuring a (not so) gorgeous non-anamorphic letterboxed transfer, looks like a VHS PAL-to-NTSC conversion — remember those days, lads? Such amazing quality standards...all those cut cropped fuzzy kung fu classics from GZ and Crash Cinema, although sometimes we’d get lucky and they’d actually be from film prints and in widescreen, like FLAG OF IRON and ENTER THE FAT DRAGON; a total grab bag.

Life is like buying an old school kung fu DVD in Suncoast circa 2002: you never know what you’re gonna get.

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I would think the best chance for any Chong movies would be via a German release,they seem to have a lot of german cinema reels of various kung fu flicks knocking about. They seem to be the only country releasing relatively obscure 70's kung fu flicks ( except for maybe Pearl River in the USA and their output is very sporadic)

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