Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 Hi everyone, I'm currently working on an improved blu ray custom of Rebellious Reign. This project started when I found out from NoKungFuForYou on here informed me that a webrip of Rebellious Reign remastered by Fortune Star had surfaced, by which time he'd already done a custom with timed subtitles. Upon watching it, I found several issues with the webrip in particular and took the opportunity, given the low likelihood of an official blu ray coming out any time soon, to start work on putting together the best edition of the film possible, to end all the others out at the moment. The first issue with the webrip was the audio, which was badly muffled as a result of automated noise reduction methods used on the audio track, and so I sourced a Mandarin VHS and created a rip, adding the audio from said VHS. The resulting version is much clearer, albeit rather loud and quite hissy. It is normal for HK film sountracks to be rather loud in general, especially of the age in which Rebellious Reign was made and I think it sounds as good as it ever has. The English audio came from the Vengeance Video DVD, as kindly provided to me to use on the project. I then synced up the audio to the film properly (the original track on the webrip was out of sync). The next issue with the webrip is that in the dialogue scenes, there are hardcoded subtitles which get intrusive. So to mitigate this, a compromise had to be made and I decided for the dialogue scenes to slightly reframe the shots scene by scene, with a global ratio of 2.35:1. This only happens in scenes with subtitles and is not noticable. The webrip, as a result of the lower bitrate encoding intended for streaming, was rather blocky and had a lot of compression artifacts. These have been completely removed using Topaz Video Enhance AI, and the film has been colour graded and regrained using DVO Pheonix, restoring the 35mm look and improving percived overall sharpness. While the source file used in normal circumstancess of course far from optimal, the result is the sharpest the film has ever looked, far exceeding the picture quality of the original compressed source. Special features are yet to be confirmed, but the film will have English subtitles and Mandarin and English mono audio tracks as expected. I am still doing quality checks on the sync, and also working on getting the songs translated on the film (if anyone wishes to help with this please don't hesitate to get in contact) and doing some checks on the spelling and grammar, deadlines aren't fixed and if anyone wants to help in any kind of way with artwork then PLEASE don't hesitate. I won't be able to pay you but I can send some blu rays to you for your help. The project will be availible to buy on physical media on my store and in a few weeks on will be provided free of charge for anyone to download and watch on the Internet Archive. This is a fan project and orders made on my store are donations to help me be able to continue working on these projects. If you like these projects please support me on Patreon or subscribe to my new YouTube channel for more project updates, your support is what makes everything possible. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCremWYI4JbLyxpYYlH-8rwQ https://www.patreon.com/thekungfurobberfilms 14 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ninja Sinai Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 Jaw officially dropped!! Been waiting for a proper quality release of this for over 25 years ever since I first watched it. The end fight scene is absolute ballistic!!! Big up to the KungFu Robber for his fantastic work! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 10, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 8 minutes ago, Ninja Sinai said: Jaw officially dropped!! Been waiting for a proper quality release of this for over 25 years ever since I first watched it. The end fight scene is absolute ballistic!!! Big up to the KungFu Robber for his fantastic work! I agree it's an absolutely brill movie and criminally underrated. BTW were you serious about that Dean Shek promo? I mean if he could do one for Snake in the Monkey's Shadow that would be frickin sweet. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ninja Sinai Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 I can ask but it might be a bit weird him doing an intro for a movie he’s not in 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 10, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 2 minutes ago, Ninja Sinai said: I can ask but it might be a bit weird him doing an intro for a movie he’s not in 😁 True... Hmm. Maybe will have to wait for something that he's in thats a bit more prominent but heck it would be a bloody honour. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 You guys want to do a Dean Shek intro, fix Black Tavern up to blu ray. I recall some of the sound being mixed up or off in some versions. Black Tavern is a rare classic. There is a nice DVD out there, but I am sure KFR can make it better. Plus some bios. Tung Li was said to have had real life fighting experience, as a karate competitor or a boxer, so while he was not the handsome leading man type, he was more of a Lee Van Cleef type, which was a thing then, he fights with a rare authority for most actors in the early 70's. Instead of Charles Bronson types, now you have a bunch of prissy theater majors or Australian fitness model types in leads. Anyway, it would be interesting. Both Tung and the Director did a limited amount of films so it would be interesting to hear what Shek might say. Was the script made up as they went along, or did they really pull it from an old French film and story? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 10, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 (edited) 8 minutes ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said: You guys want to do a Dean Shek intro, fix Black Tavern up to blu ray. I recall some of the sound being mixed up or off in some versions. Black Tavern is a rare classic. There is a nice DVD out there, but I am sure KFR can make it better. Plus some bios. Tung Li was said to have had real life fighting experience, as a karate competitor or a boxer, so while he was not the handsome leading man type, he was more of a Lee Van Cleef type, which was a thing then, he fights with a rare authority for most actors in the early 70's. Instead of Charles Bronson types, now you have a bunch of prissy theater majors or Australian fitness model types in leads. Anyway, it would be interesting. Both Tung and the Director did a limited amount of films so it would be interesting to hear what Shek might say. Was the script made up as they went along, or did they really pull it from an old French film and story? Some day lol, I've got so many projects to get through. Quite frankly I would be doing Mantis Fosts and Tiger Claws before Black Tavern, it's not my cup of tea. If the DVD is already good then there isn't really much point either. And I'm not going to mess with Celestial/Shaw movies. That's touchy stuff. Edited April 10, 2021 by TheKungFuRobber 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ninja Sinai Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 1 hour ago, TheKungFuRobber said: Some day lol, I've got so many projects to get through. Quite frankly I would be doing Mantis Fosts and Tiger Claws before Black Tavern, it's not my cup of tea. If the DVD is already good then there isn't really much point either. And I'm not going to mess with Celestial/Shaw movies. That's touchy stuff. The KungFu Robber release that we’re all looking forward to the most is Snake In The Monkeys Shadow.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member NoKUNGFUforYU Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 You never know, that could pop up remastered on a Chinese site. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 10, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said: You never know, that could pop up remastered on a Chinese site. Or I could finish my custom. I have the Cantonese audio right here and all the necessary files to put it together, the only thing is that the Cantonese version is awaiting a translation... A Chinese VOD would be the new Mandarin voiceover dub as the original is lost, and the film would have massive cuts throughout, and I doubt that Goldigs catalogue would have new masters created in any case. The Cantonese was rediscovered in 2019 by FansFilms on here so I am building from that audio. I know a lot of you would be happy if I put out a custom now with just the English dub... in which case I'd tell you to just order the German DVD, I would even rip it for you but I'd rather Asia Line in Germany got the support they deserve if you can cos their DVD is fantastic, if you can. It's what I'm using for most of my custom for the video. I'd hate to see another label fall into bankruptcy. I have good high bitrate sources to work from which would look better than a low bitrate 720p webrip from China with hardsubs anyway and considering that the film has no original Mandarin dub anymore and the obscurity of the Cantonese dub until collectors found it on an obscure Korean TV recording I don't think it would happen. Sorry I can be painfully blunt. It's not intentional just how I communicate. Edited April 10, 2021 by TheKungFuRobber 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thundered mantis Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 Oh my!!!! This is awesome!!! Counting the days... BTW, another vote for Mantis Fists and Tiger Claws here 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member ShawAngela Posted April 10, 2021 Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 2 hours ago, TheKungFuRobber said: The Cantonese was rediscovered in 2019 by FansFilms on here so I am building from that audio. I know a lot of you would be happy if I put out a custom now with just the English dub... in which case I'd tell you to just order the German DVD, I would even rip it for you but I'd rather Asia Line in Germany got the support they deserve if you can cos their DVD is fantastic Asia Line did a dvd of Rebellious Reign ?! I missed this one, then ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 10, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 10, 2021 32 minutes ago, ShawAngela said: Asia Line did a dvd of Rebellious Reign ?! I missed this one, then ! No snake in the monkeys shadow 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 11, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B074QVZJ73/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=deuce-21&linkId=ac02cd9a76f2a8a62940b8863a8fe5c3 If you want to get the Asia Line disc of Snake in the Monkey's Shadow, if you only care about the English dub, it's a really good deal at the moment and can be had for just 9 Euros. It's definitely worth picking up. It's produced from a HD scan of 35mm print which has been restored, and presents the film with English and German audio options. So if you don't have it it's worth picking up before supply begins to dwindle and it becomes expensive. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thundered mantis Posted April 11, 2021 Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 (edited) Yup, I have this one (SITMS) and is very good. @TheKungFuRobber, excuse my ignorance, but, how do you know that it's from an HD scan? For the overall sharpness and colors? That would mean that their July incoming Blu Ray will be real HD. And it will be a double release with 4 Invincibles,which had also a previous quality DVD release, so it surely will be HD as well. This release is very, very important for us fans, not only for being SITMS one fan favourite independent film, but for it may be a key one testing the waters for more real HD Blu Ray releases for this company. They do have a big catalog of independent classics. As @TheKungFuRobber said, we should all go support this Blu release. Edited April 11, 2021 by thundered mantis 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 11, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 4 hours ago, thundered mantis said: Yup, I have this one (SITMS) and is very good. @TheKungFuRobber, excuse my ignorance, but, how do you know that it's from an HD scan? For the overall sharpness and colors? That would mean that their July incoming Blu Ray will be real HD. And it will be a double release with 4 Invincibles,which had also a previous quality DVD release, so it surely will be HD as well. This release is very, very important for us fans, not only for being SITMS one fan favourite independent film, but for it may be a key one testing the waters for more real HD Blu Ray releases for this company. They do have a big catalog of independent classics. As @TheKungFuRobber said, we should all go support this Blu release. Oh. I didn't know about the blu ray coming out, but I will order it when it does, then I will be able to make an even better custom. Do now it looks like Snake in the Monkey's Shadow is delayed until July. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thundered mantis Posted April 11, 2021 Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 46 minutes ago, TheKungFuRobber said: Oh. I didn't know about the blu ray coming out, but I will order it when it does, then I will be able to make an even better custom. Do now it looks like Snake in the Monkey's Shadow is delayed until July. Oh boy, Ninja Sinai is gonna hunt me and take my head off . Just joking, it will be for the best, and he still has got the Rebellious Reign custom to enjoy. About the Mantis Fist & Tiger Claws, may it be you have access to some good video source? The only wide print I know of is quite bad 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 11, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 1 hour ago, thundered mantis said: Oh boy, Ninja Sinai is gonna hunt me and take my head off . Just joking, it will be for the best, and he still has got the Rebellious Reign custom to enjoy. About the Mantis Fist & Tiger Claws, may it be you have access to some good video source? The only wide print I know of is quite bad No quite frankly I was just going to make a DVD which was at best an improvement on what's around. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 11, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 The subtitles for Rebellious Reign are going to need some extensive rewrites in addition to having the signs and titles translated. In the subtitles, which are in fact dubtitles there are many grammatical errors and translation flaws, including the conflict being mistranslated. The subtitles are mistranslated to indicate a conflict between the Mongols and the Chinese, becuase Manchu is mistranslated as Mongol for instance, and the Chinese in the Mandarin speech is really more specifically referring to Han people. This is a glaring flaw. Please give me time to get these properly retranslated because it will really annoy me. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ninja Sinai Posted April 11, 2021 Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 5 hours ago, thundered mantis said: Oh boy, Ninja Sinai is gonna hunt me and take my head off . Just joking, it will be for the best, and he still has got the Rebellious Reign custom to enjoy. About the Mantis Fist & Tiger Claws, may it be you have access to some good video source? The only wide print I know of is quite bad I’m actually already on my way to find you with my fatal flying guillotine in my hand! 🥷 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Ninja Sinai Posted April 11, 2021 Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 20 hours ago, TheKungFuRobber said: Or I could finish my custom. I have the Cantonese audio right here and all the necessary files to put it together, the only thing is that the Cantonese version is awaiting a translation... A Chinese VOD would be the new Mandarin voiceover dub as the original is lost, and the film would have massive cuts throughout, and I doubt that Goldigs catalogue would have new masters created in any case. The Cantonese was rediscovered in 2019 by FansFilms on here so I am building from that audio. I know a lot of you would be happy if I put out a custom now with just the English dub... in which case I'd tell you to just order the German DVD, I would even rip it for you but I'd rather Asia Line in Germany got the support they deserve if you can cos their DVD is fantastic, if you can. It's what I'm using for most of my custom for the video. I'd hate to see another label fall into bankruptcy. I have good high bitrate sources to work from which would look better than a low bitrate 720p webrip from China with hardsubs anyway and considering that the film has no original Mandarin dub anymore and the obscurity of the Cantonese dub until collectors found it on an obscure Korean TV recording I don't think it would happen. Sorry I can be painfully blunt. It's not intentional just how I communicate. Personally I would rather wait for the KungFu Robber version of SITMS as I know all the extra love you put in will make it the best version to have. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kuenfist Posted April 11, 2021 Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 Some years ago when i made a custom DVD of Mantis Fist & Tiger Claws. I only had the french secam VHS for the picture. It was a pain in the ass to get it ripped. I was working 2 weeks on the picture with all kind of Avi Synth filter and Neatvideo but in the end i was so frustrated with the result i don't want to share it. But the guy who send me the tape from france wanted the custom DVD so bad that i upped it. Hope the custom from KungFuRobber will be bad ass as always and i can throw my DVD in the gutter. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheKungFuRobber Posted April 11, 2021 Author Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 I liked your custom actually but lost my copy of it. It might even be the best one for now and maybe I can't improve on it. All the sources are shit and I don't know if I'll do it. I never promised anything it was just a suggestion. I don't really have time to work on it right now anyway. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thundered mantis Posted April 11, 2021 Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 I've only seen the French secam version on YouTube videos and the problem to properly judge that French print is they are low res. Seems those SECAM tapes did not have as good colour rendering as the Betamax or VHS ones. @kuenfist would you say your custom, flawed the source as it may be, is better than the Ground Zero double feature? That I think is the version to beat? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member thundered mantis Posted April 11, 2021 Member Share Posted April 11, 2021 7 hours ago, TheKungFuRobber said: The subtitles for Rebellious Reign are going to need some extensive rewrites in addition to having the signs and titles translated. In the subtitles, which are in fact dubtitles there are many grammatical errors and translation flaws, including the conflict being mistranslated. The subtitles are mistranslated to indicate a conflict between the Mongols and the Chinese, becuase Manchu is mistranslated as Mongol for instance, and the Chinese in the Mandarin speech is really more specifically referring to Han people. This is a glaring flaw. Please give me time to get these properly retranslated because it will really annoy me. That is really a glaring flaw, yes. Moreover on this movie that presents a more serious tone. Hope you manage to nail them subs! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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