Member OldPangYau Posted January 15, 2010 Member Share Posted January 15, 2010 That may be a mistake (shocking right?) as DD's facebook page clearly says Return to 36th Chamber and The Killer will be #40 & #41. Maybe the BDs will begin from #1. No, that's correct. The DVDs will keep their current numbering "schedule", while the blu-rays will start over, with 36th Chamber being #1 for blu-ray. This sums it up: -36th Chamber of Shaolin: #11 for DVD and #1 for blu-ray -Return to the 36th Chamber: #40 for DVD (no blu-ray yet ) -The Killer: #41 for DVD and #2 for blu-ray Like I mentioned before, The Protector (Tom-Yum-Goong) may be #3 for blu-ray... which is the only one that would match it's DVD number, also #3. I guess it would make sense for The Protector/TYG to get a blu-ray release since it was Dragon Dynasty's only mainstream theatrical release. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted February 9, 2010 Author Member Share Posted February 9, 2010 I just picked up the DD "5 Deadly Venom's" and I see that all the Languages are only in mono and not Dolby Digital that kinda sucks. You woulda thought they would've enhanced that feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Neil Koch Posted February 9, 2010 Member Share Posted February 9, 2010 Eh, the original soundtrack was in mono, so it's not that big of a deal to me. As long as the mono track is good quality (not hissy/tinny) I'll take it. Doing a full Dolby digital remastering can cost a lot of time and money, so I'd rather not they half-ass things and we get crap like early Mei Ah/Media Asia DVDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted February 10, 2010 Member Share Posted February 10, 2010 Eh, the original soundtrack was in mono, so it's not that big of a deal to me. As long as the mono track is good quality (not hissy/tinny) I'll take it. Doing a full Dolby digital remastering can cost a lot of time and money, so I'd rather not they half-ass things and we get crap like early Mei Ah/Media Asia DVDs. Dolby 5.1 remixes of mono films are uneceassry, and in the frequent cases of old HK films, they are bloody terrible, completely changing how the film sounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I just picked up the DD "5 Deadly Venom's" and I see that all the Languages are only in mono and not Dolby Digital that kinda sucks. You woulda thought they would've enhanced that feature. Unfortunately it's comments like that that wrongly lead distributors to believe fans prefer remixes. Leave the bloody soundtracks alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted February 10, 2010 Author Member Share Posted February 10, 2010 Unfortunately it's comments like that that wrongly lead distributors to believe fans prefer remixes. Leave the bloody soundtracks alone. Well I figured with state of the art systems today it would only enhance the sound of a remastered movie. Not that I want the sound butchered at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Macho King Posted February 10, 2010 Member Share Posted February 10, 2010 Fist of Legend blu-ray (4/20/10) up for preorder on Amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Well I figured with state of the art systems today it would only enhance the sound of a remastered movie. Not that I want the sound butchered at all. Trust me. It doesn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OldPangYau Posted February 10, 2010 Member Share Posted February 10, 2010 Fist of Legend blu-ray (4/20/10) up for preorder on Amazon. I was just going to post about that It's also at Asian Blu-ray Guide: http://www.asianblurayguide.com/detail/1685/fist_of_legend_hong_kong_china_usa/ Although rather than saying "Vivendi" as the other four posted did, it says "Dragon Dynasty". Same difference, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OldPangYau Posted February 10, 2010 Member Share Posted February 10, 2010 Well I figured with state of the art systems today it would only enhance the sound of a remastered movie. Not that I want the sound butchered at all. Only if Dolby Digital meant Dolby Digital Mono Seriously, 95% of 5.1 mixes of older films have been disasterous, with new sounds layered on top of old ones, improper music placement, and just a general clusterf**k in general. I've only seen a handful of 5.1 remixes that actually sounded good. One is the old Universe Laser DVD of The Young Master, in which the dialogue track sounded like it was just recorded! I had to watch an old Cantonese mono print to make sure it was indeed the same track There were only minor instances of new sounds, mainly subtle background bird chirping for the surround sound effect. In short, it was an example of how to do a 5.1 remix of an older Hong Kong film right... but a mono track still needs to be mandatory as one of the options! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Neil Koch Posted February 11, 2010 Member Share Posted February 11, 2010 Yeah, those early Universe/Mega Star/Mei Ah DVDs almost universally had absolutely awful Dolby 5.1 mixes. The first Hong Kong DVD I bought was the Mega Star version of A Better Tomorrow that not only had a mushy sound mix, they actually spliced in music from movies like Terminator 2. I was especially pissed since I paid $50 for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Neil Koch Posted February 14, 2010 Member Share Posted February 14, 2010 I got a screener for "Return to the 36th Chamber". No extras besides a couple of trailers. One for "The Killer" is included, and has a Hong Kong Legends logo at the end, so maybe that's the version DD is using. The print is from the Celestial Pictures version and looks very good. The soundtrack is available in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English (Dolby mono) and the subtitles are well-done. The disc is nothing amazing, but if you don't already have the movie, it's worth picking up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OldPangYau Posted February 15, 2010 Member Share Posted February 15, 2010 I got a screener for "Return to the 36th Chamber". No extras besides a couple of trailers. One for "The Killer" is included, and has a Hong Kong Legends logo at the end, so maybe that's the version DD is using. The print is from the Celestial Pictures version and looks very good. The soundtrack is available in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English (Dolby mono) and the subtitles are well-done. The disc is nothing amazing, but if you don't already have the movie, it's worth picking up. Well, I don't have the movie, so... that speaks for itself But an HKL logo at the end of the trailer for The Killer? That's just a tad lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Its up for pre-order at amazon, but kinda pricey at $20. The product description lists 2 discs, but there's no details for what's on disc 2. Would like to have it for the English dub, though: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B002ZPIBRC/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance HKFlix lists it as a 2-Disc version, but has it under the aka title of RETURN OF MASTER KILLER, which is lame since the cover has the proper title: They don't have any details about special features (or anything else) either: http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.552263/qx/details.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Neil Koch Posted February 17, 2010 Member Share Posted February 17, 2010 Return to the 36th Chamber is one disc. The review copy I got was in the full packaging, complete with the cardboard slipcover, so it's not a case where a company sends out just the "main" disc for reviews. I emailed the owner of HK Flix a couple of days ago to correct their listing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Return to the 36th Chamber is one disc. The review copy I got was in the full packaging, complete with the cardboard slipcover, so it's not a case where a company sends out just the "main" disc for reviews. I emailed the owner of HK Flix a couple of days ago to correct their listing. Did you email amazon, too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 $20 is silly money for a DVD. I'm getting Blu Rays from Amazon for under $10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member gfanikf Posted February 18, 2010 Member Share Posted February 18, 2010 Return to the 36th Chamber is one disc. The review copy I got was in the full packaging, complete with the cardboard slipcover, so it's not a case where a company sends out just the "main" disc for reviews. I emailed the owner of HK Flix a couple of days ago to correct their listing. Yeah my reviewer said the same thing when I asked him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Member Share Posted February 19, 2010 Has anyone ever noticed in the 5 Five Deadly Venom's near the end when the Lizard is training with the Young Pupil that there discussing how to Kill the others, then there showing them on the wall fighting # 1&2 and just as they are talking about #3 the scene cuts. I noticed it in the DD release as well and in the Celestial one also. Was there ever a scene? I cannot remember. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OldPangYau Posted February 19, 2010 Member Share Posted February 19, 2010 Is Return to the 36th Chamber progressive scan? Can't trust their video transfers anymore after reading about the 36th Chamber blu-ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member chen lung Posted February 22, 2010 Member Share Posted February 22, 2010 DD's comments about 'The Killer's PAL>NTSC conversion may have been partly incorrect, or they're doing something wrong. It's likely they will be using the same export version master (supplied by Atlas International) as EMS in Germany - hailed to be the best release visually (perhaps the 5.1 mix is good as well - they should secure mono as well). That will need to be converted from PAL>NTSC, which I don't have a problem with (if it's unavoidable), as long as its done correctly (hopefully from a master as opposed to the DVD - also due to a 'Needs Processing' moment that briefly appears during the film). Hopefully, it won't end up like 'Hard Boiled' though which was apparently done correctly in terms of flagging (no frame issues), but didn't look great (stretched/cropped and lower quality). A Blu-Ray for it does raise concerns however - there's only been mention of this PAL>NTSC conversion and nothing about a HD master. A number of Blu-Rays have shockingly been upconverts from standard definition (Kam & Ronson titles sub-licensed from Fortune Star that don't feature Bruce Lee, Jet Li films in Germany, and seemingly DD's first Blu-Ray '36th Chamber'), so I hope this doesn't go down the same road. EMS DVDs hail the use of HD masters, but we'll have to see if DD will source those. An HKL trailer for it is odd (on the 'Return' disc)! One of the best things about that release was its re-translation (no other version does that), but hopefully, it won't be using its A/V as it's inferior to other versions and apparently contains a botched score. It does have nice extras, but hopefully they'll sort the Taiwanese scenes as they were squished - there's an anamorphic DVD with that version which they could source, but it's obviously not high quality and I'd want it de-interlaced (it would naturally have to be re-encoded as well). I am curious about everything else on 'Return' - it's likely be the best version available for English speakers (mono, improved transfer, English dub, better subs?). Maybe the French set has a better transfer though. I do wonder if it's re-translated (or the subtitles touched at all), but it could be a correction job. So far, the only known dampner is there's no extras (when you think about other editions) - they may have filmed exclusive interviews, or used content from Celestial (including archival content or perhaps their interviews). People have been longing for the films to be just put out, even in a basic state, so perhaps they took heed of that with 'Five Venoms' firstly, and/or it was economical issues. Can someone confirm whether the upscaled '36th Chamber' Blu-Ray is PAL>NTSC, or just interlaced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member chen lung Posted February 23, 2010 Member Share Posted February 23, 2010 It would appear DD's statement was indeed incorrect and they'll be using a HD master. Whether it's the one by EMS or elsewhere (a previous US print or Atlas), we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member OldPangYau Posted February 23, 2010 Member Share Posted February 23, 2010 It would appear DD's statement was indeed incorrect and they'll be using a HD master. Whether it's the one by EMS or elsewhere (a previous US print or Atlas), we'll see. To directly quote their status update: "Correction - the KILLER master is HD, not PAL. This is the last time the social media guy gets to answer a technical question..." So right now there's a 50/50 chance of this being proper 1080p... well, maybe 70/30... or 90/10... I dunno... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Macho King Posted February 23, 2010 Member Share Posted February 23, 2010 In any case, its a huge relief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Rhythm-X Posted February 24, 2010 Member Share Posted February 24, 2010 1080i@50Hz is still HD. If the 36TH CHAMBER Blu-ray were a format conversion from 1080i@50Hz to 1080i@60Hz, that could technically be "taken from a HD master" and yet still demonstrate the visual artifacts and speed-up that we associate with PAL and PAL to NTSC conversions. The same is most definitely true of THE KILLER. You can mislead someone without technically lying to them. No statement that's come out of Dragon Dynasty on this subject is contradicted by the above scenario, but the above scenario would certainly explain the confusion of the "social media guy" who answered the question in a little bit too much detail for what he said to be dismissed out of hand. That, of course, is clearly what Dragon Dynasty would like us to do. Trust Dragon Dynasty at your own risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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