criterionforum.org

Posted: **Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:49 pm**

Dragon Dynasty's first release of SPL (retitled Killzone...) looks to be packed with a lot of stuff. Hopefully the tradition will continue

Genius Products and The Weinstein Company are to release an ultimate edition of the 2005 martial arts film Kill Zone (AKA Saat po long or simply SPL) on 12th September 2006. This release is the first title in their definitive martial arts label, Dragon Dynasty, and stars Donnie Yen, Simon Yam and Sammo Hung.

This two disc ultimate edition will feature: an audio commentary with Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan, "Born to be Bad" featurette with martial arts legend Sammo Hung, "First amongst Equals" featurette with legendary leading man and action-director Donnie Yen, "Echoes of Darkness" featurette with prolific co-star Simon Yam, "A Dragon Rising" featurette with explosive lead villain Jacky Wu, "A Man Apart" featurette with visionary director Wilson Yip, Anatomy of a scene featurette "Alleycats" (with optional commentary by action director Donnie Yen and Bey Logan), Anatomy of a scene featurette "Challenge of the Masters" (with optional commentary by action director Donnie Yen and Bey Logan), "Kill Zone" making-of documentary and trailer gallery: containing original trailer, TV spots and a new US trailer.

In terms of audio, there will be an English and Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 track, as well as one for DTS enthusiasts in Cantonese, whilst subtitles will support English and Spanish. This release will retail for around $24.95 and will be unrated, the synopsis follows with the cover artwork below that.

"Detective Chan (Yam) relentlessly pursues vicious crime boss Po (Hung) for the death of his brother. Unable to tie him to the murder, Yam eventually resolves himself to the fact that Po will never pay for his crimes and prepares to retire from the force. His replacement, Ma (Yen) is a principled, committed cop who is a deadly martial arts expert and has no problem using his skills to bring down the bad guys. Ultimately, the two manage to grab Po in what turns out to be one of the bloodiest confrontations ever!"

Posted: **Sat Nov 25, 2006 12:51 am**

1/02/07

Protector
Seven Swords

Btw, Police Story's release date is now 12/19.

2/13

Infernal Affairs 2
Infernal Affairs 3
Police Story 2

3/27

36 Chamber of Shaolin
King Boxer
My Young Auntie
One Armed Swordsman

4/17

Hapkido
Snake & Crane Arts Of Shaolin
Shaolin Wooden Men

Posted: **Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:53 pm**

They'll be releasing the Infernal Affairs trilogy in a box set. DVDActive has the art here. No specs yet, though.

Posted: **Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:50 pm**

New Dragon Dynasty edition of Hard Boiled on May 22. No specs yet.

Posted: **Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:43 pm**

Apparently a 2 disc Hard Boiled DVD is going to be released on 5/22/07.

Posted: **Sun Feb 11, 2007 11:39 pm**

Since the Weinstein Co. is exclusively supporting hd-dvd, I'll stick with the criterion until they get it out in HD.

Posted: **Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:20 pm**

Coming in 2007!

"Check out the list below for your exciting line-up of feature-packed special and ultimate editions from Dragon Dynasty. April Born to Fight: 2 Disc Ultimate Edition May Shanghai Express: Special Collector's Edition Above the Law: Special Collector's Edition June 36th Chamber of Shaolin: Special Collector's Edition King Boxer: Special Collector's Edition The One Armed Swordsman: Special Collector's Edition My Young Auntie: Special Collector's Edition July Hardboiled: 2 Disc Ultimate Edition Last Hurrah for Chivalry: Special Collector's Edition: August Crime Story: Special Collector's Edition Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin: Special Collector's Edition September City of Violence: 2 Disc Ultimate Edition Dragon Heat: Special Collector's Edition October Tai Chi Master: 2 Disc Ultimate Edition Hapkido: Special Collector's Edition November Quentin Tarantino presents The Shaw Brothers' Collection (titles to be confirmed) December Fist of Legend: 2 Disc Ultimate Edition Dreadnaught: Special Collector's Edition"

Posted: **Tue Mar 13, 2007 2:45 am**

Dragon Heat is in the running for the weirdest DVD announcement of the year to date.

Posted: **Sat May 19, 2007 2:10 am**

November

Quentin Tarantino presents The Shaw Brothers' Collection (titles to be confirmed)

I wonder what this is about? The Image Shaw Brothers releases have been pretty excellent so far, hopefully one of the companies will get around to releasing Black Magic 2 this year.

Posted: **Fri May 25, 2007 1:27 am**

How is Shanghai Express?

Posted: **Fri May 25, 2007 4:34 am**

dvdbeaver reviews Shanghai Express & Above the Law. Hooray!

Posted: **Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:48 pm**

Has anyone seen any reviews of the Dragon Dynasty edition of "Hard Boiled" yet? I'm on the fence as to whether I want to pick this up or not.

-BJ

Posted: **Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:19 pm**

I haven't seen any reviews yet but barring Dragon Dynasty really botching the audio/visual aspects (which they haven't done yet) the new set should blow the Criterion out of the water.

Posted: **Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:05 pm**

Word on the street is that the Dragon Dynasty release doesn't have subtitles, just dubtitles. If that is the case, people should hold the Criterion release and put a hit on the Weinsteins.

Posted: **Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:02 pm**

dx23 wrote:Word on the street is that the Dragon Dynasty release doesn't have subtitles, just dubtitles. If that is the case, people should hold the Criterion release and put a hit on the Weinsteins.

Agreed. I was really looking forward to this release. Now I think I'll pass.

Posted: **Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:29 pm**

Dubtitles? Christ. That's cheap even for the Weinsteins.

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 2:39 am**

I doubt that very much, because their releases for The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin and The One Armed Swordsman are benchmark, the ones we've been waiting for, etc.

The Dragon Dynasty site lists Hard Boiled with the following specs:

FORMAT
NTSC Region 1
2 Discs
DVD

PICTURE
Widescreen

SOUND
English/Cantonese 5.1
Cantonese DTS
English Mono

OPTIONAL SUBTITLES
English
Spanish
English SDH

SPECIAL FEATURES
* Feature Length Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan
* A Baptism Of Fire: A Featurette With Iconic Director John Woo
* Hard Boiled Location Guide
* Mad Dog Bites Again: An Interview With Leading Villian Kwok Choi
* Trailer Gallery (Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer & US Promotional Trailer)
* Partner In Crime: An Interview with Producer Terence Chang
* Art Imitates Life: An Interview with co-star Phillip Chan

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:40 am**

soma wrote:I doubt that very much, because their releases for The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin and The One Armed Swordsman are benchmark, the ones we've been waiting for, etc.

I have to agree... The Dragon Dynasty releases have been pure class up to now, I'd highly doubt they'd drop the ball on one of their key releases. Such a move would be a disappointment even coming from the Weinsteins.

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 9:53 am**

dvdbeaver has a comparison up, but sadly only 1 frame capture at the moment. says its on par with the Tartan UK..... kinda disappointing. Nothing mentioned about subtitles, but it does beat the crap out of the old Criterion image-wise

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:30 am**

The review mentions something about subtitles:

For those seeking English subtitles (or even an English DUB) then the Dragon Dynasty is the issue to own. Audio sounded excellent to my ear - it offers the original mono plus 5.1, DTS upgrades and even a 5.1 English DUB. Subs are available in English and English for the hearing impaired.

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:59 pm**

manicsounds wrote:dvdbeaver has a comparison up, but sadly only 1 frame capture at the moment. says its on par with the Tartan UK..... kinda disappointing. Nothing mentioned about subtitles, but it does beat the crap out of the old Criterion image-wise

Gary now mentions the dubtitles and dismisses the recommendation of the DD release.

Wow! Unbelievable that the Weinsteins miss the boat with such a big release like Hard Boiled. Jackasses!

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:17 pm**

I'll get over them. I don't have a Region-Free player, and it's obviously the best R1 release.

Plus, under $20. Hard to pass that up.

Posted: **Thu Jul 19, 2007 10:21 pm**

So the consensus is now on the Tartan? I never even heard of that release, but it sounds like an upgrade on the CC/Lorber editions in image quality while keeping appropriate subtitles. It's incredible that DD fucked this up--where's my outraged, ineffectual internet poll when we need it?

Posted: **Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:47 pm**

I was reading the Hard Boiled thread and noticed the bitching about dubtitles. Would somebody please be so kind as to explain exactly what the difference is between the two?

This is one of my fave John Woo films (along with Once a Thief, although the latter film doesn't hold up so well now that I'm an adult), so I'd love to finally own a copy, but if Dragon Dynasty is going to f#$k up their release, I'll continue to go without.

Posted: **Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:40 pm**

Dubtitles are subtitles that are a transcription of the English dubbing for a film.