The Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray Thread

[Katakuri]

Absolutely killer features from Vinegar Syndrome. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many posts lately on Facebook and Twitter from 88 Films’ collaborators encouraging people to ignore VS’s edition in favor of 88’s edition, why? because they “worked too hard on 88’s” and they feel “protective”, despite the fact the two releases serving two different markets. I call that label tribalism.

[Asmo]

Room for both IMO. The more distributors doing justice to these classics, the better.

[KUNG FU BOB]

10 hours ago, Katakuri said:

Absolutely killer features from Vinegar Syndrome. Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many posts lately on Facebook and Twitter from 88 Films’ collaborators encouraging people to ignore VS’s edition in favor of 88’s edition, why? because they “worked too hard on 88’s” and they feel “protective”, despite the fact the two releases serving two different markets. I call that label tribalism.

I think that's just human nature. We've always broken off into groups and longed for "ours" to be the strongest, smartest, most righteous, etc. Everything from geography, religion, skin color, musical tastes, sports teams... humans have a knack for divisiveness. The people that worked on both the 88 and VS versions of RIGHTING WRONGS each spent countless hours over many months giving it their all. Now one is announced before the other, to great effect, so it only stands to reason that the guys who haven't finished yet would encourage people to wait and see what they've accomplished.

I understand your point, and if it pleases you to name it, then you should be good. But I don't understand how it's hurting anybody. People will buy whichever version they want to buy regardless of what anyone else says. I've worked for 88 for years, and not only feel close to them, I feel real love for those guys. They're really wonderful people. But I'll still be buying both versions of RIGHTING WRONGS, and I know they'll understand because they are fans too.

 

9 hours ago, Asmo said:

Room for both IMO. The more distributors doing justice to these classics, the better.

Exactly.

Countless times I've heard or read comments from fans that don't own multi-region players saying "Why does region _______ get this great release of _________ instead of us?" And I've heard this from people in or referring to the UK, Germany, Japan, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, etc. Lately the UK has dominated the scene. Awesome. Now more companies in the US are stepping up their Asian cinema game. More awesomeness.

[bickle14]

New pics of the inner artwork:

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by bickle14

[Drunken Monk]

Mine came in. I have some small issues with the booklet but that’s about it. It has hideous cover art and to me, some of the pages are near unreadable due to light ink and page colour. But I’m still really happy to have this release.

[ShawAngela]

I'll get mine at the post office on tomorrow. 

[MobFu1972]

Hopefully next week this will be mine 😁😁😁❗❗❗

[KUNG FU BOB]

Mine just arrived.

[Yihetuan]

11 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Mine just arrived.

Is the supplement The Deadliest Art - The Best of Martial Arts Films in full HD? I have the old Mediumrare  UK dvd and this would be a nice upgrade if it's 1080 and not an upscale.

[saltysam]

Apparently Best Of Martial Arts is in SD.However Irongod has confirmed elsewhere it's going to appear as an extra  on a future UK release in full restored HD

[sifu iron perm]

Finally got mine after UPS came to my home yesterday at 8.35 am where as I already sailed off to work! 

[MobFu1972]

Disc 3 is Amazing! I haven't watched the Deadliest Art since VHS in the 90's. A lot of the clips other than Bruce were my introduction to Golden Harvest back in the day. It is wonderful to watch in HD!!!! Bravo to Vinegar Syndrome for putting so much effort in the amazing release!!!! Bring em on😁❗

[Irongod2112]

On 7/29/2022 at 1:54 PM, Yihetuan said:

Is the supplement The Deadliest Art - The Best of Martial Arts Films in full HD? I have the old Mediumrare  UK dvd and this would be a nice upgrade if it's 1080 and not an upscale.

I don't have the Vinegar Syndrome release but from what I've seen posted online is that portions of The Deadliest Art documentary is in HD but other segments are upscaled.

Also certain scenes are in the wrong aspect ratio.

I was also told the audio is not very good and not running at the correct speed, but maintaining a PAL pitch, resulting in a subtle stammering effect.

All this will be fixed to the best of our ability and will be included as an extra on a future UK release!

[sifu iron perm]

24 minutes ago, Irongod2112 said:

I don't have the Vinegar Syndrome release but from what I've seen posted online is that portions of The Deadliest Art documentary is in HD but other segments are upscaled.

Also certain scenes are in the wrong aspect ratio.

I was also told the audio is not very good and not running at the correct speed, but maintaining a PAL pitch, resulting in a subtle stammering effect.

All this will be fixed to the best of our ability and will be included as an extra on a future UK release!

Shots Fired!! Haha 

[Scottfu]

I've soured on 88 because of immature banter like that. Act like a professional 

[Katakuri]

17 hours ago, Irongod2112 said:

I don't have the Vinegar Syndrome release but from what I've seen posted online is that portions of The Deadliest Art documentary is in HD but other segments are upscaled.

Also certain scenes are in the wrong aspect ratio.

I was also told the audio is not very good and not running at the correct speed, but maintaining a PAL pitch, resulting in a subtle stammering effect.

All this will be fixed to the best of our ability and will be included as an extra on a future UK release!

Again with this bullshit!? You don’t even have the release, despite being an American, but you immediately jumped at the chance to post someone else’s negative review of it, all in a futile attempt to discourage people on the fence from buying it? pathetic!

Do 88 collaborators have a grudge against Vinegar Syndrome releasing Righting Wrongs in the US? did they want to work on it but were spurned by VS!?

I only speak for myself, but this is beginning to sour me on 88; I will have to try real hard to not let it affect my upcoming purchases from them over the next few months, as I actually love how 88 basically opened the floodgates to Hong Kong cinema on Blu-ray and made it popular again.

[De Ming Li]

40 minutes ago, Katakuri said:

Again with this bullshit!? You don’t even have the release, despite being an American, but you immediately jumped at the chance to post someone else’s negative review of it, all in a futile attempt to discourage people on the fence from buying it? pathetic!

Do 88 collaborators have a grudge against Vinegar Syndrome releasing Righting Wrongs in the US? did they want to work on it but were spurned by VS!?

I only speak for myself, but this is beginning to sour me on 88; I will have to try real hard to not let it affect my upcoming purchases from them over the next few months, as I actually love how 88 basically opened the floodgates to Hong Kong cinema on Blu-ray and made it popular again.

Can you comment on his comments instead of ranting off? Is what he is saying true or not? Maybe focus on the points being made rather than going off on a tangent?

[dionbrother]

Re: Righting Wrongs.  I'm buying the VS version.  God bless 88 Films for all they've done but they didn't get RW for Stateside release, VS did. So 88 can pound sand on the one that got away.  Who needs another Frank Djeng commentary?  "Oh, I like this scene.  It's a good scene.  He pick up a hammer! I like this fight.  See, she throw good kicks."  

[Yihetuan]

2 hours ago, dionbrother said:

Re: Righting Wrongs.  I'm buying the VS version.  God bless 88 Films for all they've done but they didn't get RW for Stateside release, VS did. So 88 can pound sand on the one that got away.  Who needs another Frank Djeng commentary?  "Oh, I like this scene.  It's a good scene.  He pick up a hammer! I like this fight.  See, she throw good kicks."  

Definitely selling Frank Djeng short here. He does more than just play by play commentary of the action onscreen. One of his strong suits is that he's wonderful at deciphering the intricacies of the Cantonese language for the casual viewer. i learned quite a bit listening to his commentaries regarding the frequent use of double entendres & clever word play that would be completely lost on me as someone who is not familiar with the native language spoken in these films & the English subs cannot portray the subtleties of the joke or reference that Frank provides.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Yihetuan

[dionbrother]

5 minutes ago, Yihetuan said:

Definitely selling Frank Djeng short here. He does more than just play by play commentary of the action onscreen. One of his strong suits is that he's wonderful at deciphering the intricacies of the Cantonese language for the casual viewer. i learned quite a bit listening to his commentaries regarding the frequent use of double entendres & clever word play that would be completely lost on me as someone who is not familiar with the native language spoken in these films & the English subs cannot portray the subtleties of the joke or reference that Frank provides.

I've only listened to one of his solo commentaries on Mandarin movies, and could only take about 15 minutes of it before I shut it off.  He gets the gig because he's a special features producer.  Too bad Bey Logan is a complete creep, because he did a better job, despite his drooling arrogance and lack of Shaw Bros. knowledge.

[nahnahnah]

I fail to see how the VS release is being attacked when it's been said that the documentary provided isn't being correctly shown as it should. There is nothing wrong with someone pointing this out, even if they have done work on an alternate release (as long as they aren't actually trashing the release, which Irongod clearly hasn't done). 

It feels like some people here are just trying to create drama due to brand loyalty. 

[panzer]

I'm happy with what Vinegar Syndrome has put together. 88 Films have a bunch of exclusive features, but so does Vinegar Syndrome with its Karen Shepard and Melvin Wong interviews, and a different Cynthia Rothrock Commentary. The picture and audio quality here are very good, and I'm equally excited to see 88's work.

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by panzer

[Master with OK Fingers]

15 hours ago, Yihetuan said:

Definitely selling Frank Djeng short here. He does more than just play by play commentary of the action onscreen. One of his strong suits is that he's wonderful at deciphering the intricacies of the Cantonese language for the casual viewer. i learned quite a bit listening to his commentaries regarding the frequent use of double entendres & clever word play that would be completely lost on me as someone who is not familiar with the native language spoken in these films & the English subs cannot portray the subtleties of the joke or reference that Frank provides.

It could also be worth noting that the Frank Djeng commentary is also on the HK cut of the 88films version. So I would have thought it was more an inside joke/banter rather than actually putting down his work.

[Katakuri]

20 hours ago, nahnahnah said:

I fail to see how the VS release is being attacked when it's been said that the documentary provided isn't being correctly shown as it should. There is nothing wrong with someone pointing this out, even if they have done work on an alternate release (as long as they aren't actually trashing the release, which Irongod clearly hasn't done). 

It feels like some people here are just trying to create drama due to brand loyalty.

The ones who created drama are the ones(read: Brandon AKA Oldpangyau) who started bitching and moaning on Twitter and Facebook the very second VS announced their version, and being excused by 88 sycophants as “passionate” and “they worked so hard”.

The fact Irongod gave an opinion about a direct competitor’s release, without having the decency to actually have the VS release in hand, tells all you want to know about how 88 collaborators have taken every opportunity to undermine VS and their Blu-ray.

I repeat, this will start to sour people on 88 Films, which is a shame, since it’s a great company.

 

[Yihetuan]

10 hours ago, Katakuri said:

The ones who created drama are the ones(read: Brandon AKA Oldpangyau) who started bitching and moaning on Twitter and Facebook the very second VS announced their version, and being excused by 88 sycophants as “passionate” and “they worked so hard”.

The fact Irongod gave an opinion about a direct competitor’s release, without having the decency to actually have the VS release in hand, tells all you want to know about how 88 collaborators have taken every opportunity to undermine VS and their Blu-ray.

I repeat, this will start to sour people on 88 Films, which is a shame, since it’s a great company.

 

You still haven't answered if @Irongod2112 was right about the Best of Martial Arts supplemental feature being an upscale, in the wrong aspect ratio, & the audio being out of pitch? That's all I'm concerned about and the basis of my initial inquiry. If he's correct then I fail to see it as an "opinion" & more of him stating a fact. Now, if he's pulling all of these errors on the VS release out of his ass and fabricating or embellishing then that's a different matter entirely.