http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/03/dra...7-schedule.html

I just find it so charming that I already own:

But I knew that this would happen and have made peace with the double-dipping. I find it curious/interesting that MY YOUNG AUNTIE is in this list; I like it and it's a good movie, but I don't think it's in the same rank as the other three (or am I letting the fact that it's a bit of a musical comedy affect my judgement)?

Definitely looking forward to HAPKIDO (Angela Mao!) and couldn't hurt to upgrade from my Universe Laser TAI CHI MASTER.

Given the shaw special editions already listed it'll be interesting to see what's in the 'Quentin Tarantino presents The Shaw Brothers’ Collection' (FIVE VENONS anyone)? I don't suppose we're actually talking box set here. Most of the other offering appear to be 'must buys' too, assuming they're not some English dub only abomination (that doesn't look likely, thankfully).

I'll give My Young Auntie some props - the fighting is great and the comedy is actually pretty good, unlike The Lady is the Boss, which was inferior in every way. It's one of the best Shaw kung fu comedies - many of which make me want to claw my eyes out.

I'm particularly happy to see good releases of Dreadnaught and Fist of Legend finally coming to these shores, and Hapkido will be a treat too.

Overall, a pretty good lineup.

Let's hope they'll be good releases...their DVD of POLICE STORY left much to be desired, especially since the all-important Cantonese mono track was annoyingly out of sync during the two most crucial action scenes, the shantytown apocalypse and the shopping mall massacre. Also, the only English dub option is a horrible new remix with rotten added foley effects, when they should have used the far superior original international English dub from the '80s, which does exist in complete form. The only really good thing about that disc is that the extended opening and closing from the Japanese LD are included with subtitles as extras, as well as other little extra bits from that version.

I'm fine with my extended-version Ritek DVD of FIST OF LEGEND and my Megastar DVD of DREADNAUGHT, though I'll upgrade if the quality of the new versions warrants it; the one I'm really hoping they'll get right is HARD-BOILED, as there's not a quality DVD release of that to be found anywhere. The subs of the Criterion and Winstar editions are lame dubtitles (no subs for Tequila's fabulous "Baby Rap"!), and the video quality ain't so hot either, though it's miles ahead of the awful "remastered" Mei Ah release, which has more faithful subtitles but is riddled with authoring errors that cause the already lousy quality video to skip and strobe at certain points. The mono soundtrack of the Mei Ah also sounds like hell. If Dragon Dynasty messes up John Woo's Hong Kong swan song, I'll be very sad indeed.

I always say "You don't really own a Hong Kong movie until you've bought it twice" :-p

There's plenty on the list to look forward to, as long as their Shaw Brothers discs manage to fix at least some of the problems with the IVLs (primarily, original audio with no new sound effects or music) and don't introduce any new ones like the Image discs (PAL->NTSC->Stupid conversions).

They'd better not mess up Tai Chi Master or Fist Of Legend, after screwing everyone over on those films for so long!

DREADNAUGHT and HAPKIDO already have perfectly good discs from HKL (and hopefully the same is true for LAST HURRAH), so no need for me to get those. I don't feel any real need for another version of HARD BOILED either (the Tartan special edition is fine for me).

I really can't believe they're releasing Eric Kot's DRAGON HEAT, unless it's just to prove that they have a sense of humour. Maybe a retitling of something else?

This is so true

I'm already excited for

HARD BOILED
FIST OF LEGEND

I too may shell out for CITY OF VIOLENCE and TAI CHI MASTER depending on the price.

I like showing DRAGON HEAT to film students because it makes them suddenly realize that, compared to Eric Kot, they have absolutely no imagination, unable to even conceive of a film like that before seeing it.

I would love to upgrade my VCD of this work of art.

But really, it's got to be some retitling of something else, don't you think?

Great minds Peter. ;)

Thought I'd remind everyone that the first wave of DD Shaw Bros dvds streets tomorrow. These include:


MY YOUNG AUNTIE
KING BOXER
36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN
ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN

Special Collector’s Editions all (whatever that means). Haven't seen any reviews of the dics yet, but the previous DD releases bode well. If not the Bros. W should be used to the sounds of the mob by now.

Terry,
My understanding is the Shaw releases got pushed back to June.

Yep

They also have Shaolin Temple

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/04/sha...rom-dragon.html

Dvdtalk and Amazon still have them listed as tomorrow, d'oh!

Well I think we can all say that we would all rather be wrong on this one :)

Well these titles are finally coming out in June.

So here are some of the first covers

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/05/fir...w-brothers.html

With covers now we get the features on all these discs

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/05/dra...shaw-specs.html

Well, the extras are definitely an improvement over the IVL/Celestial releases. Let's hope the quality of the movies are equally impressive.

Specs for Above the Law and Shanghai Express

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/05/fin...xpress-and.html

Cover for Hard Boiled and the other two Shaws

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/05/cov...hard-boild.html

Update on the disc specs

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/05/upd...d-shanghai.html

Dragon Dynasty Shanghai Express DVD Review

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/05/dra...xpress-dvd.html

Lasst Hurrah Special Features

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/06/las...on-dynasty.html

Hard-Boiled Special Features

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/06/har...ty-special.html

I did about 33 Screencaps for King Boxer. A lot more then I normally do!


http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/06/kin...screencaps.html

I wasn't able to locate any of these on Netflix and then remembered the Weinstein/Blockbuster deal. I'm guessing that applies to these as well. Netflix does list a two-disc Born to Fight (2004) but the cover image isn't the Dragon Dynasty. I do hope they pick up these titles as they have regular Weinstein releases.

That is the release of the original 1980s BORN TO FIGHT from BCI.

King Boxer and 36th Chamber of Shaolin DVD Reviews

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/06/kin...of-shaolin.html

I was wondering if these were really PAL conversions as the review claims and one comment asks the same question. Any ideas?

Don't think they were HD masters. Celestial didn't start doing those for release till a few months ago, but HD tapes do exist. When these were originally being done for Disney/Merryaxe, they were using original prints to do the masters. I don't know if those were used or not for these releases though.

I found these Dragon Dynasty titles, KING BOXER, MY YOUNG AUNTIE, ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN, and 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, at of all places, Sam's Club for $12.88. I had a brief THE THING moment, then went ahead and got all of them. My mind boggles at the machinations that it must of took to get these titles into Sam's. There is one possible caveat: the discs were made in Mexico.

If anyone has contacts to the higher-up's at DD, i would appreciate it if anyone can supply it over to me. it would be nice if i could revise some of my old translations which seems to have been bought over by Dragon Dynasty.

My copy of KING BOXER arrived yesterday and I wasted no time in tossing that baby into the DVD Player. I hadn't seen the film (then titled FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH) since, maybe, 1972 OR 73' when my cousins took me to see it on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York. I was four or five at the time!

Let me say right off that I'm glad I didn't see this in the years since because previous available prints might have turned me off. The print on the Dragon Dynasty editio, however, is absolutely beautiful to behold! To be honest, there are only certain scenes that I partially remember (the glowing hands!), but that only added to the feeling of re-discovery. I didn't even recall Bolo Yeung was in this.

The commentary track is quite entertaining, with David Chute tending to focus on specific moments, while Quentin Tarantino and Elvis Mitchell comment heavily on the particulars of actors, how the film feels influenced by old Warner Bros. films, the influence of the film on the entire martial arts genre, etc. As they mention throughout the film, KING BOXER has plenty of characters, each with their own backstory and motivations that gives it a unique sense of depth within the frequently limited martial arts drama. It actually can be appreciated for the quality of storytelling (and its visuals), along with the expected marial arts mayhem. If you dig old school kung-fu action, you cannot pass these new releases up.

I haven't seen the Dragon Dynasty disc yet, but the restored 35mm print of KING BOXER I saw several years ago was somewhat better than acceptable. B)

It would have been 1973, since it opened in March 1973. I should know--I was at the second of two free screenings of it on the night of March 20, 1973 at the old Loew's State Theater on 45th Street and Broadway the night before it opened. A historic occasion to be sure.

Two titles I ponied up for in the wake of becoming Region Free were 36th Chamber and Hard-Boiled, both now coming out in affordable/better editions from DD. Do they have any plans for Bullet In The Head? All this talk about "best action films ever" makes me think I should snap this up, or that box set with BITH, The Killer, and Once A Thief. But I'll hold off if a better version is on the way.

I caught up with the 36th Chamber of Shaolin release today and devoured the release. I'm accustomed to the Shaolin Master Killer releases over the years and the video and audio quality of the release is indeed excellent.

I hope the RZA does some more commentaries on these Dragon Dynasty releases, truly great enthusiasm (as well as knowledge) for this film and the genre. I'd love to hear him expand on his discussion on the influence of kung fu films on hip hop (e.g. Grand Master Flash, some dance moves of Kid N' Play) as well as the Wu Tang Clan's foray into distributing these films on home video...

The inclusion of the "Gravel Pit" clip also puzzled me–I assume it was included to enlighten those unfamiliar with hip-hop on the line up of Wu Tang Clan. I have heard that Tarantino has joined the Clan onstage on several occasions, so maybe a sharper eyed viewer with a bigger television can tell us if he is indeed in the clip...

I do have one caveat about the release:

I just watched the film in Cantonese for the first time and was disappointed with the subtitles - lots of typos, missing numerical figures in measurements (especially during dialogue dealing with time and weight). Is this a product of my "el cheapo" Philips dvd player or has anybody else noticed this?

This is one of the complaints lodged against the dvds. They used the old IVL subtitle tracks, which were not the best, their Five Venoms one is pretty infamous. Also, as far as I'm aware, they always translated the MANDARIN versions of the films. DD should make an effort to fix this on future releases, as it is a problem IMO. The only other issues with the DVDs are that My Young Auntie is presented with it's Mandarin soundtrack, it's a Cantonese comedy. Also, the commentary/review tracks, which are lackluster in comparison to most of Bey Logan's work. For example, there's all kinds of things going on on the One Armed Swordsman disc among others. I enjoyed the extras as a different, more American way of looking at the films, but were suprised at the info that was left out, also at the info given as correct ie that One Armed Swordsman was the first one armed film, etc.

Nearly 40 HIGH RES 36th CHamber of Shaolin Caps

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/06/dra...of-shaolin.html

I've seen some copies of Hard-Boiled streeting early here in NYC. Has anyone picked up a copy anywhere? How does it stack up to the Tartan UK disc?

Here's DVDBeaver's comparison for HARDBOILED:

HARDBOILED

Apparently, image is not as nice as the TF1 French release and subs are actually dubtitles but soundtrack does feature DTS, 5.1, and mono Cantonese as well as English 5.1.

The image also is reportedly a bit cropped and squeezed. HARD-BOILED has been botched yet again, by all accounts. Would it have killed them to get the aspect ratio correct? Would it have killed them to actually translate the Cantonese dialogue into actual subtitles?

One-Armed Swordsman and My Young Auntie Dragon Dynasty DVD Reviews

http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/07/one...ung-auntie.html

My Young Auntie Screencaps
http://hkfilmnews.blogspot.com/2007/07/my-...screencaps.html