The Criterion Collection Blu-ray Thread

[De Ming Li]

On 7/16/2024 at 11:16 AM, Yihetuan said:

Coming from in October is Masahiro Shinoda's DEMON POND in 4K UHD + blu ray.

4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• 4K digital restoration, supervised by director Masahiro Shinoda and actor Tamasaburo Bando, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• New interview with film scholar Dudley Andrew
• Program on the film’s special effects
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson
  
  New illustration by Yuko Shimizu

 

This one doens't have much action in it does it?

[whitesnake]

4 hours ago, De Ming Li said:

This one doens't have much action in it does it?

If you want samurai sword action, no, it doesn't. It's an art house film. Check out online movie reviews to see if it would appeal to you.

[bickle14]

https://www.criterion.com/films/30736-eastern-condors

 

    2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
    New audio commentary featuring film critic Tony Rayns
    2K digital restoration of the English-dubbed “export cut” of the film
    Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Sammo Hung
    Interviews from 2001 with Hung and actor Yuen Wah
    Eastern Condors Live!, an onstage performance from the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Pageant
    Teaser and trailers
    New English subtitle translation
    PLUS: An essay by film critic Sean Gilman

    New illustration by Sam Hadley

Edited Monday at 05:21 PM by bickle14

[nahnahnah]

Tony Rayns commentary! New Sammo interview! An essay by Sean Gilman!

[theendofcinema]

I'm very happy to have written the essay for one of my favorite Sammo Hung movies.

[nahnahnah]

23 minutes ago, theendofcinema said:

I'm very happy to have written the essay for one of my favorite Sammo Hung movies.

Can't wait to read it! Hoping you get hired for more work from other labels.

[Pandaman]

Looks like ill be double dipping on Eastern Condors.

[KUNG FU BOB]

19 hours ago, bickle14 said:

https://www.criterion.com/films/30736-eastern-condors

 

    2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
    New audio commentary featuring film critic Tony Rayns
    2K digital restoration of the English-dubbed “export cut” of the film
    Meet the Filmmakers, a new interview with director Sammo Hung
    Interviews from 2001 with Hung and actor Yuen Wah
    Eastern Condors Live!, an onstage performance from the 1987 Miss Hong Kong Pageant
    Teaser and trailers
    New English subtitle translation
    PLUS: An essay by film critic Sean Gilman

    New illustration by Sam Hadley

Beautiful!

I love the cover art by Sam Hadley. Excellent!

19 hours ago, nahnahnah said:

Tony Rayns commentary! New Sammo interview! An essay by Sean Gilman!

Yes, please.

 

18 hours ago, theendofcinema said:

I'm very happy to have written the essay for one of my favorite Sammo Hung movies.

Congrats @theendofcinema, that's great.

[Irongod2112]

Hey guys, just repeating what I have already posted at bluray.com forum...

Having worked on both the Eureka and this new Criterion release. It always bugged me how dark & blue the night scenes were on the Eureka.

Criterion worked with me to correct this and I'm happy to report all the action is bright & clear for those scenes now. 

I also worked hand in hand with the great Brandon Bentley on the new audio (Criterion provided original audio stems) and I have to say this new Cantonese track is absolutely amazing!!

Subtitles have also been improved by Markgway and Ken Zhang and the Eastern Condors LIVE SHOW Extra will finaly have subtitles now for we missed the deadline on the Eureka release.

Eastern Condors is my absolute favorite HK film of all time and ALOT of love went into this.

I'm so happy that Criterion let me correct and improve everything to bring the fans the ultimate version of Sammo's greatest achievement!

Trust me, even If you own the great Eureka release this will be well worth the double dip!! 

Hopefully if this sells well perhaps Criterion will release a few more Sammo films.

Edited 12 hours ago by Irongod2112

[nahnahnah]

23 minutes ago, Irongod2112 said:

Hey guys, just repeating what I have already posted at bluray.com forum...

Having worked on both the Eureka and this new Criterion release. It always bugged me with the how dark & blue the night scenes were on the Eureka.

Criterion worked with me to correct this and I'm happy to report all the action is bright & clear for those scenes now. 

I also worked hand in hand with the great Brandon Bentley on the new audio (Criterion provided original audio stems) and I have to say this new Cantonese track is absolutely amazing!!

Subtitles have also been improved by Markgway and Ken Zhang and the Eastern Condors LIVE SHOW Extra will finaly have subtitles now for we missed the deadline on the Eureka release.

Eastern Condors is my absolute favorite HK film of all time and ALOT of love went into this.

I'm so happy that Criterion let me correct and improve everything to bring the fans the ultimate version of Sammo's greatest achievement!

Trust me, even If you own the great Eureka release this will be well worth the double dip!! 

Hopefully if this sells well perhaps Criterion will release a few more Sammo films.

We know they have Encounters of the Spooky Kind but would it be possible for them to license the second film from Warner?

[Irongod2112]

20 minutes ago, nahnahnah said:

We know they have Encounters of the Spooky Kind but would it be possible for them to license the second film from Warner?

It's being looked into but no promises yet lol

[Niklaus Vogel]

1 hour ago, Irongod2112 said:

Hey guys, just repeating what I have already posted at bluray.com forum...

Having worked on both the Eureka and this new Criterion release. It always bugged me with the how dark & blue the night scenes were on the Eureka.

Criterion worked with me to correct this and I'm happy to report all the action is bright & clear for those scenes now. 

I also worked hand in hand with the great Brandon Bentley on the new audio (Criterion provided original audio stems) and I have to say this new Cantonese track is absolutely amazing!!

Subtitles have also been improved by Markgway and Ken Zhang and the Eastern Condors LIVE SHOW Extra will finaly have subtitles now for we missed the deadline on the Eureka release.

Eastern Condors is my absolute favorite HK film of all time and ALOT of love went into this.

I'm so happy that Criterion let me correct and improve everything to bring the fans the ultimate version of Sammo's greatest achievement!

Trust me, even If you own the great Eureka release this will be well worth the double dip!! 

Hopefully if this sells well perhaps Criterion will release a few more Sammo films.

All these improvements and yet it's not being released in 4K.  A wasted opportunity. 

Edited Tuesday at 03:29 PM by Niklaus Vogel

[nahnahnah]

people will complain about anything...

[Niklaus Vogel]

2 minutes ago, nahnahnah said:

people will complain about anything...

It's a legitimate complain though, isn't it? I mean Criterion could release THE HEROIC TRIO and EXECUTIONERS on 4K but not this masterpiece? Spending all this money on "improvements" but not even a 4K scan?

Edited Tuesday at 03:35 PM by Niklaus Vogel

[nahnahnah]

1 minute ago, Niklaus Vogel said:

It's a legitimate complain though, isn't it? I mean Criterion could release THE HEROIC TRIO and EXECUTIONERS on 4K but not this masterpiece? Spending all this money on "improvements" but not even a 4K scan?

you do realize that a 4K restoration and a UHD release cost a lot of money, correct? it could simply not have been in their budget. 

[Niklaus Vogel]

13 hours ago, nahnahnah said:

you do realize that a 4K restoration and a UHD release cost a lot of money, correct? it could simply not have been in their budget. 

Yes of course, but again, they have the budget to do this to HEROIC TRIO and EXECUTIONERS (TWO films there too), but not this film which in many ways is much more important in the history of HK cinema? I mean they clearly have the budget to pay Brandon and @Irongod2112 for the improvements so why not go all the way once and for all? Critierion better not regret it when Eureka gets to it in 4K. If Eureka can release a much more obscure film like THE VALIANT ONES in 4K, then they can release EASTERN CONDORS in 4K.

[nahnahnah]

1 minute ago, Niklaus Vogel said:

Yes of course, but again, they have the budget to do this to HEROIC TRIO and EXECUTIONERS (TWO films there too), but not this film which in many ways is much more important in the history of HK cinema?  Critierion better not regret it when Eureka gets to it in 4K. If Eureka can release VALIANT ONES in 4K, then they can release EASTERN CONDORS in 4K.

You do realize that the restorations for Heroic Trio/Executioners were paid for by Media Asia and not Criterion? Thus making it easier to release it on 4K since they didn't have to spend money on the restorations. Also your point about Eureka releasing Valiant Ones on 4K is moot one since the 4K restoration wasn't paid for by Eureka, which made it an easier decision for Eureka to release on 4K. If Valiant Ones was restored in 2K, then it's highly likely that Eureka would have just released it on a regular blu. 

[nahnahnah]

46 minutes ago, Irongod2112 said:

It's being looked into but no promises yet lol

great to hear! i think i recall someone saying that WB weren't licensing their GH titles, so hopefully this means they had a change of heart.  maybe you can also convince Criterion to acquire Pedicab Driver as well

Edited Tuesday at 03:52 PM by nahnahnah

[Niklaus Vogel]

7 minutes ago, nahnahnah said:

You do realize that the restorations for Heroic Trio/Executioners were paid for by Media Asia and not Criterion? Thus making it easier to release it on 4K since they didn't have to spend money on the restorations. Also your point about Eureka releasing Valiant Ones on 4K is moot one since the 4K restoration wasn't paid for by Eureka, which made it an easier decision for Eureka to release on 4K. If Valiant Ones was restored in 2K, then it's highly likely that Eureka would have just released it on a regular blu. 

Point taken.  Still, it's a shame they put all these efforts in making CONDORS the best version and yet didn't go for a 4K restoration.  You would think that projected sales from these titles would've justified the additional cost.  And if 88 Films can release all these Jackie and Jet Li films on 4K (and restore the masters themselves), then that indicates costs probably weren't THAT prohibitive? So how come 88 Films can do it (do the 4K restoration themselves) but not Criterion? Oh right they fired their restoration team.

Edited Tuesday at 03:54 PM by Niklaus Vogel

[Yihetuan]

I'll be double dipping for sure. Always nice to have a Sean Gilman essay in addition to the improvements @Irongod2112 listed. One of the better writers on Asian cinema.

[nahnahnah]

11 minutes ago, Niklaus Vogel said:

Point taken.  Still, it's a shame they put all these efforts in making CONDORS the best version and yet didn't go for a 4K restoration.  You would think that projected sales from these titles would've justified the additional cost.  And if 88 Films can release all these Jackie and Jet Li films on 4K (and restore the masters themselves), then that indicates costs probably weren't THAT prohibitive? So how come 88 Films can do it (do the 4K restoration themselves) but not Criterion? Oh right they fired their restoration team.

you can keep arguing that 4K restorations and UHDs aren't expensive but there are people who are involved in the home video business who say otherwise, and I think I would trust their word for it. is there an actual source on that last sentence? i know they laid off 20% of their staff a couple years ago but hired most of them back recently. plus they just did the restorations for recently released titles like Real Life, Mother, Happiness, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Risky Business, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and quite a few others.

Edit: anyways I'm gonna stop here and prevent this thread from derailing any further. just glad we're getting a standalone release since I didn't really need to own the other 2 films that were on the Eureka release.

Edited Tuesday at 04:06 PM by nahnahnah

[FJ DeSanto]

5 hours ago, Niklaus Vogel said:

It's a legitimate complain though, isn't it? I mean Criterion could release THE HEROIC TRIO and EXECUTIONERS on 4K but not this masterpiece? Spending all this money on "improvements" but not even a 4K scan?

absolute legit complaint 

[Niklaus Vogel]

9 hours ago, nahnahnah said:

you can keep arguing that 4K restorations and UHDs aren't expensive but there are people who are involved in the home video business who say otherwise, and I think I would trust their word for it. is there an actual source on that last sentence? i know they laid off 20% of their staff a couple years ago but hired most of them back recently. plus they just did the restorations for recently released titles like Real Life, Mother, Happiness, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Risky Business, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and quite a few others.

Edit: anyways I'm gonna stop here and prevent this thread from derailing any further. just glad we're getting a standalone release since I didn't really need to own the other 2 films that were on the Eureka release.

This will be my last post on the topic too. 

"You can keep arguing that 4K restorations and UHDs aren't expensive but there are people who are involved in the home video business who say otherwise"--Doesn't appear to be that expensive to 88 Films with their releases of Jackie Chan and Jet Li films on 4K, and themselves doing their own restoration. And Severin Films in the US is also churning out horror titles on 4K and also paying for their own restorations. If boutique labels can do it then why can't a major one like Criterion? 

"i know they laid off 20% of their staff a couple years ago but hired most of them back recently. plus they just did the restorations for recently released titles like Real Life, Mother, Happiness, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Risky Business, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and quite a few others."--If they can do restorations for those films you listed then surely they can do the same for Condors if the hiring back of the staff is indeed true.

The thing that irks me the most is that a label that prize itself on preserving and presenting milestone films on physical media all these years seems to be sending a message to us HK film lovers that, to them, EASTERN CONDORS is not important enough in HK cinema history--or not as important as THE HEROIC TRIO and EXECUTIONERS--for them to go the extra mile to justify, deserve, or warrant a 4K release.  We all love this film and many--myself included--feel this is Sammo's masterpiece and it's almost an insult to have all these new improvements done to it, yet forfeit the chance at the same time to do a 4K restoration.

 

Edited yesterday at 01:21 AM by Niklaus Vogel

[PandaPawPaw]

4K spoilt my side hustle! Makes thug life harder,

Edited yesterday at 12:58 AM by PandaPawPaw

[nahnahnah]

13 hours ago, Niklaus Vogel said:

This will be my last post on the topic too. 

"You can keep arguing that 4K restorations and UHDs aren't expensive but there are people who are involved in the home video business who say otherwise"--Doesn't appear to be that expensive to 88 Films with their releases of Jackie Chan and Jet Li films on 4K, and themselves doing their own restoration. And Severin Films in the US is also churning out horror titles on 4K and also paying for their own restorations. If boutique labels can do it then why can't a major one like Criterion? 

"i know they laid off 20% of their staff a couple years ago but hired most of them back recently. plus they just did the restorations for recently released titles like Real Life, Mother, Happiness, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Risky Business, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and quite a few others."--If they can do restorations for those films you listed then surely they can do the same for Condors if the hiring back of the staff is indeed true.

The thing that irks me the most is that a label that prize itself on preserving and presenting milestone films on physical media all these years seems to be sending a message to us HK film lovers that, to them, EASTERN CONDORS is not important enough in HK cinema history--or not as important as THE HEROIC TRIO and EXECUTIONERS--for them to go the extra mile to justify, deserve, or warrant a 4K release.  We all love this film and many--myself included--feel this is Sammo's masterpiece and it's almost an insult to have all these new improvements done to it, yet forfeit the chance at the same time to do a 4K restoration.

 

I know that I said my previous post was going to be my last one but there is just so much said here that it needs to be addressed. 

Let's dead this idea that 4K releases aren't expensive to produce, as people who are involved with the industry have confirmed that they are very expensive to produce. 

You mention 88 and Severin as companies doing 4K releases but they aren't doing 4K releases of every title. In fact they are still releasing films on Blu-ray only. Since 88 released Ebola Syndrome and The Untold Story on BD only, does it mean that they think less of the films, especially when Vinegar Syndrome release Ebola Syndrome on 4K? Or does Arrow think that 36th Chamber of Shaolin or One Armed Swordsman are lesser films since they didn't release it on UHD despite both titles having a 4K restoration? No, it obviously doesn't. The simple explanation for all these titles not being released on 4K is simply due to budget and time constraints.

You seem to have this idea that every release has the same budget or time allocation, when this is simply not the case. I'm certain that someone like @Irongod2112 and @OldPangYau can attest to this. In fact, I can recall both of them stating that releases like the OUATIC boxset didn't have much time allocated to it. In a perfect world, each release would have the same amount of money and time put on it and ensure that it comes out perfect, but we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world where sacrifices and concessions have to be made, and this release appears to be one of them.

The only person who is really receiving that message that this film isn't being lauded as being important because it's being only released on Blu is you (and maybe a very small amount of people). It's not the format of the film that makes the stature of the film, but the quality of the film itself. 

Edited 11 hours ago by nahnahnah