Member Linn1 Posted March 11, 2007 Member Share Posted March 11, 2007 and it's all I had hoped. The quality of the video is very good, better than the previous Crash releases IMO. But I think the print they had here was in better shape. There's some speckles and a splice or two, some smallish subs, but nothing earth shattering. I DID have to adjust my contrast just a bit because it was a little bright, but to be honest I have my TV set bright to watch crappy kung fu video tapes and DVD-Rs. This is one of my all time fave wuxia films, forget the studio. And this release will blow you away if you're a fan of the film, as the old full screen tape is now retired. This IMO is right up there with some of the best of Jimmy Wang Yu's Shaw Brothers work. And Jimmy, in the snow, with three o'clock shadow...that's magic. The only thing that sucks is they don't have a trailer for the film on the disc. They MAY have it on the other two in this batch, I haven't looked. As for the film, I don't want to ruin anything, but a few bits to think on: -What's a Jimmy film without a tournament? Don't get too excited. It's short, but it's there. - There's a reason why the HK Film Archive picked this as one of the best wuxias for their swordplay film festival a few years back. Imagine Shaw Brothers period wuxia circa 1970 with a 'touch' of indy, and that's what you have here. The look is certainly Shaw-like, but with some grit and outdoor locations. And I think the sets and costumes are better than the Shaws IMO. Much closer to a look between early 70s SB wuxia and Li Han Hsiang's work in the mid-70s. -The swords and costumes depicted in the film are authentic for the period and look less "fake" IMO then most films. The writer/director Pan Lei, reportedly spent nearly a year in pre-production to get the look of the film just right. -Kung fu music fans, listen closely to the music in the credits sequence and throughout the film. -And finally, after you've seen the movie, see if you can guess what film was a remake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ironfistedmonk2003 Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 I'm looking forward to this, I've never seen it before and now my interest is piqued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest limubai2000 Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 OMG, thanks Linn. Already on pre-order just counting the days now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VonHumboldtFleischer Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Hey, it's nice that this one is getting a decent release. I thought it was a terrific film, although it may disappoint fans of Wang Yu-related carnage. It's a slow-burning movie with a story to tell, and it's a little stilted and studio-bound until Jimmy hits the road about 30m into the movie. Once it gets going, though - and once you resign yourself to the fact that it isn't a film about Jimmy Wang Yu butchering dozens of Japanese goons every five minutes - it's a real pleasure to watch. Jimmy's performance is excellent - his character is young, spoiled, vain (even a little prissy), and becomes increasingly, dangerously obsessed with a sword that carries a kind of tragic past with it. Actually, come to think of it, it's kind of like watching him go from proud, naive, baby-faced Jimmy in TEMPLE OF THE RED LOTUS to the dark, brooding Silver Roc character in GOLDEN SWALLOW. It's fairly unusual to see this kind of patient, gradual, incremental character development in a martial arts movie. Of course, the FS version I've got crops the effing subtitles, so you have to do a certain amount of thinkin' and figgerin' to get things clear, and there are times - particularly when the old sword collector's daughter and her portly friend are introduced about 40m into the movie - when you're likely to find yourself a little lost, so thank goodness for a WS version. If the subs are the same as the burnt-in ones in the FS version, you might want to lean close to the screen and get ready to squint, though. As for the music, I watched this movie about a month ago and only managed to get the god-damned theme out of my head last week. There's an awesome ambush scene, and I swear it plays the same track about four times throughout it. I don't think I've ever heard it in another kung fu movie, although my memory for this kind of thing is notoriously bad. I have NO idea what movie was a remake of this one. Or do you mean which movie was this a remake of? It actually reminded me of Anthony Mann's western WINCHESTER 73 at times. Any chance of some screen caps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gfanikf Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 Damn Linn got it first . I should be getting mine hopefully on Monday. I'll take caps as soon as I get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest saltysam Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 doesn't like the movie or the transfer much www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/r...p?ID=26974 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gfanikf Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Honestly I thought it was a piss-poor review from someone who didn't seem to get the genre, but thats just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VonHumboldtFleischer Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 That guy's a moron. I can't comment on how sparkly clean the new DVD is, but as far as wuxia movies are concerned, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. "The rest is typical genre stuff of this era." What a maroon. This is easily Jimmy's most atypical, least predictable movie ever (erm, except for FANTASY MISSION FORCE which is beyond bonkers, and that mainland movie he did a cameo as an ox-herder in), and is about as far removed from the usual wuxia formula as you could get. If I were going to compare it to another movie it would be something like BELLS OF DEATH or a King Hu movie - it's that different. This half-baked poultroon even goes so far as to recommend fast-forwarding the "between bits" (ugh), despite the fact that, in this movie, the "between bits" are really where the story happens. I don't know who this reviewer is, but I hope he falls down and gets scabby knees. Besides, who are you going to believe, Linn or some ignatz on a website who called the vomitous Matthew McConaughey bucket of schmaltz HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN TEN DAYS "a delight"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Linn1 Posted March 14, 2007 Author Member Share Posted March 14, 2007 to writing an angry response in their review forum about that review when I saw it earlier today. I held back only because it's so typical that I figured fans would not take it seriously. First off, considering we're dealing with a film that even the original production company doesn't have a copy of, I would cut it a bit of slack look-wise considering this is most likely the only release you'll ever see of the movie. That said, the dvd looks fine, and better than the last few Crash releases IMO. The idea that you can compare these releases with the best of the best video and audio-wise is a bit much. As for the film itself, everything the writer cites as an issue is what makes the film unique as Von said. The only thing I can agree with the writer on is the subs which are smaller than usual. But to cite the fact that ,"The print used still contains the same burned-in subtitles (in both Chinese and English) that likely accompanied the film on its original release.", as if it's something to count against it is over the top. Edit-I changed my mind: Sword response Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Running Man Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Edit-I changed my mind: Go get'em Linn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ironfistedmonk2003 Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Touche Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Knetan Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 hey, isn't there a press release in circulation where Crash ARE claiming that they've basically done what they can given the source? Read something somewhere....but can't remember where now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest th33 lightning fists Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Here's info on the process as done to Iron Mistress aka Iron Petticoat. Crash's myspace has a more detailed technical entry. I'm sure these press releases went out to DVD Talk as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gfanikf Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 I've been talking with James at Crash. An actual review (excluding the ones on this board) should be up by the end of the week as my copies should arrive soon . EDIT: Nice one Linn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VonHumboldtFleischer Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Thanks for the links to the technical info, lightning. I'm one of those ignorant people who tend to think that you just have to take an old 35mm and "run it through a machine", press the 'remaster' button, and voila! A remastered DVD. I think that this is part of the problem, though, with DVD reviews that complain about speckles, low contrast, etc. The people who write them are just as ignorant as I am about the amount of work involved in getting a watchable DVD out of a worn, speckled, washed-out 35mm print (or 1" video tape, or U-Matic, or what-have-you), so they expect that new releases on DVD have been "run through the machine" that magically makes them as crisp and 5.1-friendly as the latest Disney Pixar piece of crap. All the same, it does make Celestial's efforts seem all the more impressive. Picture-wise, at least. The audio content is another, slightly more controversial, story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tosh Posted March 14, 2007 Share Posted March 14, 2007 Edit-I changed my mind: :rollin I love how this guy starts talking about how the plot didn't work for him, man he didn't even watch it. At least he gave you props Linn, he knew better:evil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Linn1 Posted March 15, 2007 Author Member Share Posted March 15, 2007 I've never talked to David Cornelius, but he added a classy post-script to his review: Note: For an interesting rebuttal, please visit this forum. The reader, unhappy with my opinion on the film, offers a portrait of the movie as an important work in the history of the genre. It's good stuff. Got to say, that was a nice thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest limubai2000 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Now maybe David would be so nice as to re-review the disk in light of your added information Linn? I read your comment and his also, very classy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lei Kung Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Way to go Linn. You put the smack down. Can't say enough good things about your knowledge of the genre. Linn (and kung fu fans): 1 Ignorance: 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest saltysam Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Hi All....got the dvd today and psted some caps over at bulletsnbabes if you want a look www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/...6559#76559 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Running Man Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 You know, I have to agree with one thing that the DVD Talk reviewer commented on, and that was about the subtitles. He makes a very good point that Crash should have included an optional sub track to watch the film with seeing as how the subtitles on the print itself were largely illegible thanks to how the white font blended in with the scenery most of the time. And another criticism I do have with the transfer is why it wasn't encoded as progressive video? Seems to me to be a waste of a high def remastered transfer to just do the video as interlaced really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest chen lung Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 Seems to me to be a waste of a high def remastered transfer to just do the video as interlaced really. Windowboxing does my nut in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Running Man Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 :lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest morgoth Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 I can't wait to watch this movie this weekend. I skimmed through for a minute or 2 to see how the picture is. It looks pretty specked at the start, but it looks good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VonHumboldtFleischer Posted March 16, 2007 Share Posted March 16, 2007 You know, I have to agree with one thing that the DVD Talk reviewer commented on, and that was about the subtitles. He makes a very good point that Crash should have included an optional sub track to watch the film with seeing as how the subtitles on the print itself were largely illegible thanks to how the white font blended in with the scenery most of the time. Have you ever seen subtitles superimposed over subtitles? It's a one-way ticket to a throbbing migraine and temporary insanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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