88 Films

[Finch]

The green is only really pervasive in those scenes where fluorescent lighting is used and that can vary. The majority of the police office scenes are affected and some shots elsewhere where fluorescent lighting is impacting some areas of the shot but not the entire image. For example, when Biao kills the baddie in his office after he has opened the safe and taken the suitcase out, the two henchmen break the door down. The corridor behind them has fluorescent lighting and that background selection has the "green filter" but the office interior in the foreground has neutral lighting and the colors look fine. Rothrock's yellow top and blue jacket look natural when that's the case, and the yellow is fairly vibrant, as is her lipstick in many if not all scenes. Overall, I found the look of the 88 Films disc not distracting (outside of the police office shots) and it can look fairly colorful on occasion (the red furniture in Biao's apartment really stands out). I have no idea which version is more accurate. The upload on the back channels that I watched with English subs (accurate ones at that) two months ago is not as red as the VS and not as green as the 88, and the colors are pale compared to both. The upload started with the Golden Harvest logo and the user has not provided any info as to their source. I will say I don't recall any other Hongkong film from the same year or late 80s leaning towards the red as much as the VS does, so my inclination would be to say that while the VS may be more aesthetically pleasing to many, I'm not sure it's the correct look either.

[Finch]

When asked by a user about why there were no specs for the original December date for Miami Vice, 88 replied on BR that they are now prepping it for UHD and subsequently deleted the post.

[therewillbeblus]

Has there been any word on if they're going to include both cuts?

[Finch]

No word on the specs for either format yet, I think.

[rapta]

When asked by a user about why there were no specs for the original December date for Miami Vice, 88 replied on BR that they are now prepping it for UHD and subsequently deleted the post.

Hmm weird, wonder why they deleted the post? Been suspiciously quiet on this one since announcement...frustrating as it's literally the only 88 Films title I've ever pre-ordered I think, and now I don't know when it's actually coming out (or even what I've pre-ordered exactly, I just assumed they'd include both cuts and add some extras)!

I suppose they haven't confirmed with Universal (and/or Mann himself, if he's at all involved) that they can do UHD for it, so maybe deleted the post to avoid trouble?

[Ribs]

It has long been documented that dealing with his films is just a ton of effort from any label that has tried with various approvals and things from the filmmaker. They'll let us know when they have figured it out but I feel like his titles are always a bit of a moving target with regards to what the best case scenario would be and what elements they are allowed to touch by the studio and the filmmaker.

[What A Disgrace]

Dragons Forever seems to be delayed once again until January 10.

[Finch]

One scenario that we'll hopefully be spared with the Miami Vice release is that they're going to release it on UHD but that Universal and Michael Mann will only let them issue the inferior Director's Cut in 4k while the theatrical is a dated 1080p on a second disc (Arrow were rumoured to be doing Last of the Mohicans for a long time and it still hasn't happened, presumably due to Mann's insistence that the DC be given preferential or perhaps exclusive treatment, never mind that the title is with Disney now). So fingers crossed that if it is a UHD, we'll get both or at least the theatrical in 2160p. Failing that, I'll take a BD of the theatrical with new material.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Arrow were rumoured to be doing Last of the Mohicans for a long time and it still hasn't happened, presumably due to Mann's insistence that the DC be given preferential or perhaps exclusive treatment, never mind that the title is with Disney now)

Arrow did actually release it, but only in a cheapo bare-bones edition of the theatrical cut. That was assumed to be a holdover until they're able to put together whatever super-deluxo release Mann might be holding up, but given that it's been three years with no reissue in sight, I wonder if Mann vetoed Arrow's plans and they just did a stripped-down edition so the license wouldn't go to waste. Disney isn't the issue because it was never a Fox title in the UK (Revolution Studios has it now after their acquisition of Morgan Creek's international rights).

[yoloswegmaster]

Miami Vice is now confirmed to be getting a UHD release with new extras:

[yoloswegmaster]

33% off sale on any order over £25 using the code 88NIGHTSIN. It also works on preorders, so you can use it on the Dragons Forever UHD.

[swo17]

I couldn't get the international shipping to be free for an order over £100 until I realized that you can't have both discounts active at the same time. Shipping for a small order is at least £12 but it's still probably a good deal, with the discount mostly covering the shipping charge

[swo17]

Dragons Forever seems to be delayed once again until January 10.

And yet my preorder just shipped

[What A Disgrace]

I believe it's just the US version, but for all I know that's shipping early anyway.

[yoloswegmaster]

Preorder is available on Diabolik and it will be out in either February or March despite it saying May. It's also confirmed to contain a 100 page book.

[yoloswegmaster]

Screengrabs for the VinSyn and 88 Films releases of The Iceman Cometh (VinSyn on top and 88 on the bottom):

SpoilerShow

No idea which one is "correct" but I prefer the look on the 88 release since the colors make the image look more stylish.

[therewillbeblus]

Holy shit, that last screengrab literally looks like I'm watching the movie filtered through an icicle

[yoloswegmaster]

Holy shit, that last screengrab literally looks like I'm watching the movie filtered through an icicle

That would make sense since the scene takes place within a cold and frozen environment.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah, but I can tell that from the VS still as well

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

I popped in my Media Asia laserdisc of it on my Sony PVM-20M4U. The 88 Films version seems far more representative of that version. I can confirm that the last shot is as blue on the laserdisc, which is no surprise seeing how much Hong Kong films of this era love lighting their scenes in blue! I personally trust HK laserdiscs for checking color timing on these films as they’re taken straight from a release print and usually look pretty good, but someone here gave me grief once about my love of them. Plus Fortune Star is known to tinker with color timing in their releases, like all their day-for-night stuff being timed to just being a day shot.

[yoloswegmaster]

The same guy who uploaded the images decided to check the Taiwanese cut on the VS release and discovered that it had a similar color scheme to the 88 release and not the HK cut found on the same release.

[yoloswegmaster]

88 have posted hints for upcoming releases on their website. The hints are for American Pie 2, Witchfinder General, and Project A.

[Finch]

88 lineup for Q2

Burial Ground 4K (29th May)
Code of Silence (29th May)
The Bloody Judge (29th May)
The Untold Story - Deluxe Collector's Edition (29th May)
Zombie Holocaust 4K (26th June)
Twin Dragons - Deluxe Collector's Edition (26th June)
Fight Back to School Trilogy (26th June)
Magic Cop (June 12th)
Taxi Hunter (June 12th)

For our resident HK experts: are Twin Dragons (both Lam and Hark are listed as directors!) and the Fight Back to School films good?

[xxnomad]

The Fight Back to School films are hilarious. Very wacky and surreal. It's been 10 plus years since I saw them but I remember absolutely loving the first two. Marx Brothers meets the Police Story films.

[Mr Sausage]

Twin Dragons is fun, but minor Chan. My writeup from the Tsui Hark thread:

Co-directed with Ringo Lam. Apparently Lam was tasked with the action scenes (which makes sense, as they resemble his heroic bloodshed style) and Tsui with the special effects scenes with the two Jackie Chans. Yes, Chan plays twins separated at birth who meet up again as adults for some kung fu antics. The twins come from different countries and economic backgrounds but have some mystical connection to each other. When one plays the piano, the other’s fingers start twitching in kind; when one’s nose itches, the other sneezes. Aside for 30 seconds at the end, this fact is mostly forgotten during the fight scenes even tho’ you’d think that’s precisely what the film was saving them for. Allegedly Chan was unhappy with the finished film, mainly due to the shoddy FX. They are pretty bad; this is no Dead Ringers. Despite his reputation following Zu for being a big special effects guy, I’ve never seen a Tsui movie with VFX I’d call good, even for the time. The film has a bevy of director cameos, from Tsui and Lam to John Woo, Ann Hui, Wong Jing, Eric Tsang, Ching Siu-Tung and Lau Kar-Leung. The movie’s a mid-range Chan film, with all that entails. If you like Chan’s schtick, and I mostly do, this’ll work for you.