I remember this little tidbit hit just before the old Mobius went phffft....that Celestial was going to be releasing some titles only on VCD due to some perceived lack of marketability.
Anyone know if this has come to pass and what titles so far are VCD exclusives?
Once we get a few, I'd like to keep adding to it as new titles come out as a valid FYI for the dedicated Shaw shopper! ;)
Yes, there are a few VCD-only titles now out and more are to come. I recommend a look at the Shaw Brothers release schedule published at The Asian DVD Guide. Both current and future VCD-only titles are listed:
http://www.asiandvdguide.com/shaw_brothers.htmlLooking at the Asian DVD Guide list, it looks like THE ANGEL STRIKES AGAIN will be the first Shaw VCD I pick up.
Tim.
I've seen this topic hotly debated on other boards and am curious: do any of you who have close ties to the industry and perhaps contacts at Celestial feel that they are receptive to the pleas from the fans outside of Asia? In other words, would it really help to send e-mails requesting that they reconsider this marketing strategy? I've been happy with the quality of the few VCDs that I have picked up, but I much prefer the DVD format and would like to see these classics released that way. I understand that their main market is Asian countries, and that VCD is still very popular there - I guess I'm just looking for a little hope.....
Thanks Tim...!
I don't believe Celestial would give much consideration to letters from the US since officially, they are not distributed there....I suppose we do have some hope if the ones Miramax has licensed include some of these VCD only titles....
| QUOTE (Marla J Hill @ Oct 18 2004, 10:10 PM) |
| I've seen this topic hotly debated on other boards and am curious: do any of you who have close ties to the industry and perhaps contacts at Celestial feel that they are receptive to the pleas from the fans outside of Asia? In other words, would it really help to send e-mails requesting that they reconsider this marketing strategy? |
No contacts at Celestial, Marla, so I'll only make assumptions. I'm not sure how much help letter writing about formats would do if the IVL discs are supposed to be for HK and Macau only. I assume the main thing that would ensure dual format releases would be a boost in sales of the Hong Kong DVDs.
| QUOTE (Marla J Hill @ Oct 18 2004, 10:10 PM) |
| I've been happy with the quality of the few VCDs that I have picked up, but I much prefer the DVD format and would like to see these classics released that way. I understand that their main market is Asian countries, and that VCD is still very popular there - I guess I'm just looking for a little hope..... |
I'm not keen on them taking the VCD-only route for certain titles either but you're right that VCDs are popular here. Few shops in Hong Kong stock a complete range of Shaw Brothers DVDs and VCDs, the prices tend not to drop over time and a lot of shops lean towards the VCDs if they do stock the movies. Could the DVDs be doing better on online sales?
One new development that doesn't look good is seeing THE ANGEL STRIKES AGAIN due as a November VCD-only release a couple of months after ANGEL WITH THE IRON FISTS came out on both DVD and VCD. Isn't TASA a follow-up to AWTIF? If so, that'd make the format choices inconsistent.