No Hong Kong Movies On BD In The UK

[drees5761]

When Cine Asia went bust that seemed to be the end of any Hong Kong classic movies being released on Blu ray in the UK.
This situation seems crazy to me as surely there is still are market for these films in this country even if it is a small niche.
What is the reason for this?
Is it distributors are asking too much or are there no decent HD masters available? Arrow Video have released some stunning BD's of some Japanese movies but surely these are even more obscure than a lot of Hong Kong classics such as Johnnie To's The Mission, A Chinese Ghost Story, A Better Tomorrow by John Woo or the Shaw Brothers classics, i could go on.
The only light at the end of the tunnel is Eureka who are releasing the King Hu classic Dragon Inn on BD later this year. With releases by Well Go in the USA and a number of titles in Germany surely the UK should not be missing out.

[rapta]

Was hoping some Johnnie To and John Woo stuff would get picked up at some point. Pretty sure A Better Tomorrow is up for grabs as StudioCanal license must have run out by now.

I think Eureka are our best hope with releasing anything - as you said, Dragon Inn is coming. I hope somebody (either StudioCanal or Eureka) release A Touch of Zen too, as it was apparently restored recently.

I'd also love for Artificial Eye to upgrade some of their remaining Wong Kar-wai titles, and the remaining ones (that were licensed to Tartan originally) see the light of day too. But other than that, Woo should be a priority. I'm surprised Arrow are taking a bias with Japanese action films and ignoring a wealth of HK/Chinese stuff...unless the materials are difficult to get hold of? I think I read something at some point that said the rightsholders in Hong Kong are reluctant to let go of these films.

[Naiera]

As always, if you're into niche stuff, it's better to just get a region switchable player and start importin'.

[rapta]

Hong Kong cinema is far from niche...

[drees5761]

I have a region free player and import a lot of Hong Kong stuff, but a lot of it is not English friendly, stuff from Japan or Germany for instance. Just like to see it supported more in the UK. I don't think they are reluctant to license them just asking for too much money i think i read somewhere. I know A Better Tomorrow is getting a new 4K scan soon so hopefully someone will pick it up.

[Sky_Captain]

Hong Kong cinema is far from niche...

It's very definition of 'niche', in the UK, let's not kid ourselves.

As much as we like to pretend that Crouching Tiger and the like opened people's minds to sampling more Asian cinema, that doesn't make it so.

[Naiera]

Originally Posted by rapta

Hong Kong cinema is far from niche...

Maybe not in Hong Kong.

[samdvd1]

I think it is a mixture of high licensing prices (Third Window often state this can be a problem with Eastern companies) and poor sources being available.

HKL and Cine Asia both went tits up remember, so as much as I've got the majority of HKL releases, and a bunch of Cine Asia releases personally, perhaps they just aren't profitable enough?

[Ste7en]

While on the topic is this a complete list of all Cine Asia releases:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=168609

[Buzz201]

I don't think it's quite the genre you were after, but Network will be releasing the 2010 Hong Kong slasher Dream Home on 20th April.

[rapta]

Originally Posted by Buzz201

I don't think it's quite the genre you were after, but Network will be releasing the 2010 Hong Kong slasher Dream Home on 20th April.

Forgot about that one. So that's one down...

[Mansinthe]

and this time its in the correct aspect ratio as well (and uncut)

[logboy]

Originally Posted by samdvd1

I think it is a mixture of high licensing prices (Third Window often state this can be a problem with Eastern companies) and poor sources being available.

HKL and Cine Asia both went tits up remember, so as much as I've got the majority of HKL releases, and a bunch of Cine Asia releases personally, perhaps they just aren't profitable enough?

... let's not confuse "eastern companies" with what third window largely licenses - japanese films. companies there are notorious for over-estimating their prices with a concept of potential audiences over-and-above actual ones.

the problems we've had is that HK subtitles it's releases as a result of having been british territory until '97. in the west, there's been a long-held habit of trying to market small / cheap films for an imaginary huge crossover audience that existed for one or two films many years ago, usually attempting to look like far more expensive films in how they're repackaged. great way to set yourselves up for a disappointed crowd, i'd say.

i personally think that there's a relatively big market for (decent) HK films in the UK, with a certain generation (at least) that has been raised with HK as a british territory, with many having been partly raised and educated over there. for a long time, many years, i used to think of HK as the only really active british film industry - i started watching HK films in the late 80's, so ... maybe i'm just of that age.

also, there's not a huge appetite in HK for regarding films as financially viable in restored or HD-scanned forms, so maybe companies in the west often don't consider factoring that extra element of cost over simply subbing and distributing. never been entirely convinced prints of older HK films are well cared for, either.

[navydavey]

I miss HKL

I would be behind any company releasing classic Hong Kong Cinema - especially any Jackie Chan movies. I have fired an email to Arrow as I think it would fit nicely alongside their current Japanese range but they have stated that the market for these movies is too small.

Also I want to know when A bittersweet life is going to get a Blu ray release over here, Tartan released the Infernal Affairs and Vengeance trilogies and I assume they still own the rights over here for this too?

Looks like my DVDs wont be leaving my collection anytime soon.

[CrockettandTubbs]

I bought the Cine Asia releases of Shaolin and Woochi the Demon Slayer (fun film, by the way) as they had some exclusive featurettes, and most of their blu ray collection is under £8 on Amazon. And Shaolin has a Bey Logan commentary

My collection of HKL dvds is pretty extensive (60+, I think), even if there are some less well known films in there: Ninja in the Dragon's Den and Outlaw Brothers, for example. I also have over 30 Dragon Dynasty titles: all of these prior to me collecting blu-rays.

[Tech-UK]

I thought I read somewhere (on this site perhaps?) that another distribution company had got the rights to Cine-Asia's (Showbox) catalogue and are going to be releasing them. Some with SteelBook's.

I cannot remember the company's name though.

[chueee]

Originally Posted by Tech-UK

I thought I read somewhere (on this site perhaps?) that another distribution company had got the rights to Cine-Asia's (Showbox) catalogue and are going to be releasing them. Some with SteelBook's.

I cannot remember the company's name though.

Just checked, looks like this company are re releasing some of the old titles on dvd, might just be excess stock though?

http://www.trinityfilm.co.uk/cine_asia
https://www.facebook.com/cineasiauk

[drees5761]

I read that somewhere as well, also cant remember the company, but i think its DVD only.

[Tech-UK]

Ah, ok. Thanks.

[Markgway]

Looks like Trinity are re-releasing only the Cine Asia titles that were already on Blu Ray. So you can forget about the HKL classics. I'm sure they don't have HD prints for those anyways.