Member spannick Posted November 22, 2008 Member Share Posted November 22, 2008 yesasia changed the Release Date for GIRL FIGHTER and GRANT PASSION to Nov 30... they cancelled those two and sent out the rest. oh well, gotta order again. btw, you can use this link and just klick it every two weeks to see what's newly out from Union Film/Hoker DVDs http://www.yesasia.com/global/search/union-film-taiwan/0-0-0-bpt.48_q.%22union+film+%28taiwan%29%22-en/list.html#&cid=82&s=7&sb=138&l=1&vn=37&sea=1&bpt=48&bt=48&vm=32&ss=100&q=%22union%20film%20(taiwan)%22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Winfred Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 I've ordered The Ghost Hill and The Decisive Battle both starring Roc Tien. Are all the Hokers released in 1.33 : 1? Burnt-in subs will be cut off then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 As noted above, for all the ones I have, the subs are removable and from what I can tell they are all wide screen (non-anamorphic) even if the case says 4:3. I plugged in two at random (Fly Dragon Mountain & Iron Petticoat) and they were wide screen. So, I think it's not unreasonable to imagine that The Ghost Hill and The Decisive Battle will also (probably) be wide screen with removable subs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JustinB Posted November 23, 2008 Member Share Posted November 23, 2008 I've ordered The Ghost Hill and The Decisive Battle both starring Roc Tien. Are all the Hokers released in 1.33 : 1? Burnt-in subs will be cut off then. All of Hoker's Union releases appear to be 4:3 (1.33:1) letterbox (ie. non-anamorphic widescreen). The subtitles are removable, but they're in the black border at the bottom, meaning they may get cut off if you zoom the picture on widescreen TV to get the proper ratio (unless your TV allows the vertical position to be adjusted when zoomed). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member spannick Posted November 26, 2008 Member Share Posted November 26, 2008 Contrast is a bit off due to my Power DVD Settings, but as a Fan can see, it's enough seeing it in 2.35 and with remastered subs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member spannick Posted November 26, 2008 Member Share Posted November 26, 2008 GHOST HILL Some Shots (looks like a very fun Fantasy Trash Movie) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member spannick Posted November 26, 2008 Member Share Posted November 26, 2008 SWORDSMAN OF ALL SWORDSMEN: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted November 26, 2008 Member Share Posted November 26, 2008 I watched Swordsman of all Swordsmen a couple of weeks ago or so. Enjoyable wu xia movie. I think it compares favorably with the wu xia coming out of HK at the same time (1968). Can't wait to get my hands on The Ghost Hill (I like the fantasy wu xia). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JustinB Posted December 14, 2008 Member Share Posted December 14, 2008 I noticed that YesAsia has a 3 disc set from Hoker containing Touch of Zen, Dragon Inn and Painted Skin. Anyone know if the DVDs in the set are the same as the individual Hoker releases? Also, are there regular sized DVD cases inside the box or are they packaged some other way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member spannick Posted December 15, 2008 Member Share Posted December 15, 2008 i ordered that set a few weeks ago and yesasia cancelled it as "not available"... but seeing what crap DVD there is for TOUCH OF ZEN (a DVD-5 for 190 Minutes!!) in Taiwan, i doubt the set has a different one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JustinB Posted December 15, 2008 Member Share Posted December 15, 2008 i ordered that set a few weeks ago and yesasia cancelled it as "not available"... but seeing what crap DVD there is for TOUCH OF ZEN (a DVD-5 for 190 Minutes!!) in Taiwan, i doubt the set has a different one. Thanks for the info. I've been happy with the other Hoker releases, but Touch of Zen deserves better than a 190 minute DVD-5. It would be interesting to see some screen shots comparing this release with the Tai Seng version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JustinB Posted December 31, 2008 Member Share Posted December 31, 2008 For those interested - 'Rider of Revenge' with Polly Kuan and Tien Peng has just been released by Hoker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted January 20, 2009 Member Share Posted January 20, 2009 Just saw three more titles available from yesasia: She`d Hate Pather Love (??? father maybe? Panther?) The Bravest Revenge Blood Revenge Mmmmm, just noticed that even though these are listed with the Hoker discs, Yesasia lists the publisher as Taisheng Multimedia. The stats look the same as the Hoker discs too (1.33 : 1, which means it is 4:3 letterbox like the Hoker discs, hopefully). The covers are similar too. I wonder if this means we're going to see more of these movies if there are more publishers (well, two)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PGW Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I think "She'd Hate Pather Love" might mean "She'd Hate Rather (than) Love"... then again, knowing Chinese movies, it might just be "panther" . By the way, I've reviewed three of the Hoker DVDs (with screencaps) over at my fledgling Polly page (pollyshangkuan.com). The latest one I've seen, "The Grand Passion" looked really nice. Except for some minor print wear (which doesn't bother me), the only real problem I have with the Hoker discs is that they're not anamorphic - well, that and I don't know anywhere to get them cheap (if JSDVD has them, I couldn't find them on their webpage). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Winfred Posted January 29, 2009 Member Share Posted January 29, 2009 The Hokers are about US$9.50 each in the shops here and US$7 in Taiwan. These are the prices of the new releases with English subtitles. The older titles are much less. I was holding the new releases and while the original posters look good and tempting, the small photos at the back reveal bad production values including cheap-looking costumes and shoddy sets. I am more used to the Shaw classics I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted January 29, 2009 Member Share Posted January 29, 2009 I watched The Fly Dragon Mountain about a week ago. The director/cinematographer/director of photography must have been having delusions of grandeur because the way it's shot is just odd. Most of the fights had too much editing. The story was alright, a variation of one of the common plots, but with a couple of nice twists. The subtitles were terrible. I would have a hard time recommending it, except for it's rarity. I've liked the other Union titles I've seen much more. It might have played better with better subs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Winfred Posted January 29, 2009 Member Share Posted January 29, 2009 Can anyone recommend Black Invitation, Prosperous Of Family or Iron Petticoat? These 3 titles sold fast and now there's only 1 copy each in the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted January 29, 2009 Member Share Posted January 29, 2009 I'll vouch for Iron Petticoat; I haven't watched Black Invitation or Prosperous Of Family yet. Iron Petticoat is a good, if somewhat predictable movie with what I thought was a slight subversive touch (from a wu xia standpoint). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JustinB Posted January 31, 2009 Member Share Posted January 31, 2009 Just saw three more titles available from yesasia: She`d Hate Pather Love (??? father maybe? Panther?) The Bravest Revenge Blood Revenge Mmmmm, just noticed that even though these are listed with the Hoker discs, Yesasia lists the publisher as Taisheng Multimedia. The stats look the same as the Hoker discs too (1.33 : 1, which means it is 4:3 letterbox like the Hoker discs, hopefully). The covers are similar too. I wonder if this means we're going to see more of these movies if there are more publishers (well, two)? I just received She'd Hate Rather Love and The Bravest Revenge from YesAsia. They're actually Hoker DVDs - I'm not sure why YesAsia lists a different publisher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted February 5, 2009 Member Share Posted February 5, 2009 Just got through with BLACK INVITATION. This is definitely not wu xia, it's kung fu. It's worthwhile, with caveats. The subs are decent, the colors good, maybe a little faded. Whatever source they used had a fair amount of dirt and damage, but nothing that makes it unwatchable. It might be slightly cut; some of the scene changes were abrupt. The music was interesting, not distracting, but you notice it (sometimes). It's another town in peril story, with a prodigal son returning to save the day. I found the story engaging all the way through, which is good, because there's no fight to speak of until the last fifteen minutes or so of the movie. 'Pillow' was one of those heroes where the body count must be 'this high' before he cracks the can of whupass. Mostly he used his wits (kind of Yojimbo-ish). When it did finally get to the fight, I was thrown off until I realized what that there was no hyper-stylized fighting sound effects. It was naturalistic -- cool. The fight choreography was nothing flashy, but it did the job. A solid oater (in a manner of speaking). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member zakato Posted February 17, 2009 Member Share Posted February 17, 2009 Yesterday coming BLOOD REVENGE from Hooker to me.Is a good Basher with Nonstop Fighting and a young Philip Ko.The Hooker DVD has a great Quality-Nice Widescreen in 2:35 and uncut. Forgott the old vhs. Hooker-I say THAAAANKS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted February 25, 2009 Member Share Posted February 25, 2009 A Girl Fighter (1972) - Polly Shang-Kwan This was a good one. Polly Kwan stars as Suma, a young woman who rides into a town and volunteers to bring in Kim, the thuggish son (his hobbies include indiscriminate rape and murder) of a local warlord, to justice. Once she's captured Kim she has to get him out of the warlord's territory to the capitol for trial. She's helped by the last survivor (Tien Peng) of a family butchered by the warlord's son. One of the highlights is when they ride into the town and people find out who the prisoner is, five minutes later it's a ghost town. Suma, her prisoner and the guards hole up in a inn for the night, which is then besieged in various ways by Kim's father. The source, some old print, is beat up, but still plenty watchable. The color and sound are ok. The subs are adequate. It's 4:3 letterbox. The fighting is hand and sword, weighted toward hand, with some primitive wire work and lots of trampolines. Some edits during fights, but not too bad. The martial heroes/villains are all fairly evenly matched. You see Polly kicking ass plenty. I couldn't help but notice some similarities to Rio Bravo/El Dorado , which probably is no coincidence. It would definitely make an interesting double feature with one of them. One of the better Union films that Hoker has released. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JustinB Posted March 10, 2009 Member Share Posted March 10, 2009 YesAsia has two new Hoker releases available: Dragon Fist (an AKA for The Fury of King Boxer or possibly Knight Errant?) and Ghost of the Mirror. These are both from First Films, not Union as the other releases have been. They are both listed as not having English subtitles - I'm hoping they actually do have subtitles, like the Union films. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member tdb Posted March 29, 2009 Member Share Posted March 29, 2009 Both YesAsia and jsdvd.mall both list no English subs for Dragon Fist and Ghost of the Mirror, either. So I'd say we're out of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Knetan Posted March 29, 2009 Member Share Posted March 29, 2009 hey, Fury Of King Boxer would be very welcome in wide and subbed. Ghost Of The Mirror still has a Winson dvd release in Hong Kong. Cropped print (about 1.90-2.00 perhaps), optional English subtitles. Not a pretty print but very watchable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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