Dragon Dynasty's DVD of "My Father Is A Hero" and "Police Story 3"

[blue_skies]

Not really, surround sound has been around since the 1950s. However, Hong Kong movies only switched to it in the mid 90s. And I've never seen a 5.1 track improve on the mono original

5.1 wasn't around then, Star Wars was one the earliest to use Dolby stereo(surround) iirc & that was 1977-ish. anyway the 5.1 mix of Star wars was an improvement, so was the 5.1 mix of another 70s film Alien. Clearly old films can be brought upto date with 5.1 extremely successfully.

[Killer Meteor]

5.1 has its origins in six track stereo which predates Star Wars and has been around since the 50s

[DeathShrike]

It only offers the English dub, and is cut as was the release Dimension put out years prior. The only thing new here is the special features.

I'm pretty chill about this kind of thing usually... But this is totally outrageous!! I cannot BELIEVE they've resorted back to this crap. Makes me want to weep.

[chen lung]

chen lung:

Can you provide more details on this "Austrian uncut edition" you mentioned below? Do you really mean Austrian or Australian? Australia's Eastern Eye distributor has released some uncut versions of films previously. When is this going to be released?

There's no date, but it might be out in a few months. I so want it out!

A comparison of the subtitles:

(Before Yu Rong Gwang chops Blackie Ko in the throat)

Original: Bullshit!

New: I was talking about the bombs, you're asking me to rob?!

Saying "bullshit" is an accurate description of how poor they are...

(A villain to Kung Wei before trying to kill him)

Original: How are you?

New: Just go, you!

How considerate of this villain to ask how his victim is...

And yeah, "Austrian":).

[Doubleh]

Is it possible they only own the rights to the dubbed Dimension version?

[Killer Meteor]

Is it possible they only own the rights to the dubbed Dimension version?

Then they should have got the rights to the Cantonese track

[Doubleh]

Well then I got nothing

[Nakadai]

It's a matter of maximizing profits and minimizing costs i'm afraid. I won't pretend to understand the cost involved with acquiring the rights to an audio track, but apparently DD finds it to be more cost effective to produce supplementary material as opposed to reinstating the original audio. This release was more about marketing the Jet Li name than producing a definitive version of said release.

[thelastweaponmaster]

Well, I have always been a strong supporter of the Dragon Dynasty label and own many of their releases. Even though not every Dynasty's release is a classic, the extras such as Bey's audio commentary or interviews usually provide insight into the movie and HK industry and value for the money. However with Dragon Dynasty releasing The Enforcer without even a Chinese language soundtrack is shocking and smacks of laziness. Think about it. You bought rights to a Chinese movie but can't even provide the original Chinese soundtrack. Why even release the movie?

I hope this is not a sign of things to come. From now on, I will be reviewing future Dragon Dynasty releases with a more critical eye. I just hope that we haven't seen the last quality release from Dragon Dynasty. I am still waiting/hoping for the release of A Better Tomorrow trilogy and The Killer from them.

For now, I will now be cancelling my pre-order for The Enforcer. Maybe I will pick it up in the future if I see it in the bargin bin for under $5.

[HAZ]

Hi Folks,

I did some sniffing around to see more about the particulars of the DD release of The Enforcer & to find out why the Chinese lang track was left off the dvd. Someone I know connected to the company explained to me some of the circumstances & challenges that came up with putting out The Enforcer. From what I understand, legal issues & red tape held back this release from being all that it could be. It's safe to say that there are people at DD who are just as dissapointed with this as the fans here. If at all possible, the company will try to release a special edition of The Enforcer with the Cantonese track. My impression is that Dragon Dynasty is still committed to putting out a quality product, to improving on their releases & absoultely want the original language tracks to be featured on their upcoming DVD's. In regards to The Enforcer, I do believe this is going to be an isolated case & that we won't be seeing the OG language track & subs left off of other releases planned for 09'.

[Mark Pollard]

Hopefully, the online reaction to this release will be noticed by the people in power. If this was a one-time deal, they should have canned the release altogether. As I suggested in my review, this has done damage to the brand and what ever money Genius and TWC will make from rushing out this release will be negated by the backlash from their core consumer base.

[Guest WuxiaFan]

Agree 100% with Mark. It's a very simple formula to please this consumer base: uncut, remastered edition, original audio track, optional English dub, and loads of special features. I was hoping that was to be the MO of DD, but I was very wrong.

[Guest WuxiaFan]

There's no date, but it might be out in a few months. I so want it out!

A comparison of the subtitles:

(Before Yu Rong Gwang chops Blackie Ko in the throat)

Original: Bullshit!

New: I was talking about the bombs, you're asking me to rob?!

Saying "bullshit" is an accurate description of how poor they are...

(A villain to Kung Wei before trying to kill him)

Original: How are you?

New: Just go, you!

How considerate of this villain to ask how his victim is...

And yeah, "Austrian":).

Who's the Austrian distributor? I've never heard of any distributor from Austria, let alone an Asian film distributor from there.

[DeathShrike]

Hopefully, the online reaction to this release will be noticed by the people in power. If this was a one-time deal, they should have canned the release altogether. As I suggested in my review, this has done damage to the brand and what ever money Genius and TWC will make from rushing out this release will be negated by the backlash from their core consumer base.

I find it hard to believe The Man wouldn't have known in advance this would be the reaction. The Powers That Be would HAVE to expect this kind of reaction. I agree with the notion that they should have shit-canned this release if they couldn't get what they needed to do it properly. I am also not going to buy Dragon Dynasty releases sight-unseen anymore. Those days are definitely gone, with two movies in a row edited, and one without original audio. Awful. I was still pre-ordering even after The Tai Chi Master arrived in the mail with it's bizarre video hiccuping. But I've canceled ALL my Dragon Dynasty pre-orders until I see evidence that future releases will be unmolested.

[DeathShrike]

Thanks Dragon Dynasty for that non-response.

[Doubleh]

I wonder if the rushed release of this film is a sign that Dragon Dynasty is going to no longer exist. Thus they are rushing out what they have so they can stop work on anything new.

[chen lung]

Who's the Austrian distributor? I've never heard of any distributor from Austria, let alone an Asian film distributor from there.

It's coming out there, but I don't know of any other details:).

But I've canceled ALL my Dragon Dynasty pre-orders until I see evidence that future releases will be unmolested.

I don't know why people pre-order anyway, because in the words of Forrest Gump: "You never know what you're gonna get."

Unless it's a case of first-come, first-served basis with a limited edition, it's hassle if you want to try returning it.

Thanks Dragon Dynasty for that non-response.

As much as they work hard, I'm not a fan of the result that comes out - something's always wrong.

I'm sure they wouldn't have excluded it deliberately (or even risked it), but an official statement from them to KFC or something would have been better to calm people and properly explain the circumstances.

Hopefully, the online reaction to this release will be noticed by the people in power. If this was a one-time deal, they should have canned the release altogether. As I suggested in my review, this has done damage to the brand and what ever money Genius and TWC will make from rushing out this release will be negated by the backlash from their core consumer base.

Canning it would have been a better idea if it was possible. However, it's likely they were forced to get the product out after committing to it and didn't realise the deal hadn't come with a Cantonese soundtrack.

All this probably wouldn't have happened if it was done properly in the first place. Whilst people say that Harvey is a big Kung Fu fan, I haven't seen evidence to suggest so. Miramax had access to the materials they claimed not to (evidenced by TV broadcastings, Iron Monkey, etc) and if they were that bothered, they would simply add the option as a secondary one to their English-dub effort (providing they didn't make up translations in their subtitles like other releases), or even seamlessly branch the uncut version.

Even if you were to get the original, there would be 2 problems:

1) It might not be available elsewhere (with English options or whatever) as only Miramax would hold that key, but they'd throw it away.

2) Fellow sites like KFC and Monkey Peaches would end up threatened for something they weren't doing. Also retailers like HK Flix couldn't stock the imports.

Thankfully, for this film, alternative options are available. Mei Ah isn't a great one, hence why I recommend waiting for the Austrian version.

[chen lung]

I'm sure they wouldn't have excluded it deliberately (or even risked it), but an official statement from them to KFC or something would have been better to calm people and properly explain the circumstances.

Ah-ha, just as I thought (on the front page of course).

However, it sort-of conflicts with what HAZ has here. Legal issues would be a more accurate statement than not being able to source a "useable version" which suggests only inferior sources were available to them.

[Killer Meteor]

Ah-ha, just as I thought (on the front page of course).

However, it sort-of conflicts with what HAZ has here. Legal issues would be a more accurate statement than not being able to source a "useable version" which suggests only inferior sources were available to them.

Did someone not read the paperwork properly?

[Guest WuxiaFan]

It's coming out there, but I don't know of any other details:).

That doesn't make a lot of sense to me...who is reporting that this new version it coming out?

[chen lung]

On the contrary, it does make sense:).

I just know it'll be coming out;).

[Nakadai]

Here's the Infini review:

http://infini-tropolis.com/reviews/jet_li_the_enforcer.html

[Guest Markgway]

New: Just go, you!

Lol... does that make sense?

[chen lung]

Lol... does that make sense?

Yes.