Dragon Inn (King Hu) MOC release - Blu-ray Forum

riderontherain · 11-02-2015, 11:28 AM

I'm surprised that there isn't a thread yet for this release, so I'll start one.

Hu's Dragon Inn (1967), together with his earlier Come Drink With Me (1966), were the 2 films mostly responsible for conferring artistic respectability to the wuxia genre, which until that time was largely comprised of shoddy low-budget productions out of Hong Kong. Though far from being Hu's best work (in my view A Touch of Zen would take the nod), Dragon Inn nevertheless opened up fertile grounds for a whole host of later well-known directors, such as Cheh Chang, Hark Tsui, and Ang Lee.

Until this MOC release, Dragon Inn had only been available on DVD either in a 4x3 pan-and-scan transfer out of Taiwan or a 4x3 letter-boxed transfer out of Japan (the latter was boot-legged in a number of other countries). It goes without saying that these transfers completely butchered the majestic 2.35:1 scope photography of the film. So I was super excited to learn last year that Dragon Inn was given a 4k restoration in Taiwan and MOC was to release it in Blu-ray.

Now that I've seen the release, I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed. Of course it is head and shoulders above previous DVDs, but that is a very low bar to cross. I find a slight waxiness to the overall picture quality, as well as a lack of vibrancy to the color palette. For a 4k restoration, this is quite underwhelming.

Special features to this MOC release are limited to a short newsreel footage (in very poor picture quality) of the film's premiere in Taiwan, and a so-called video essay (only sporadically amusing) by critic David Cairns on Hu's cinematic style. Particularly regrettable is the absence of a documentary on the restoration process. A booklet containing essays by Hark Tsui, Tony Rayns, and Edmond Wong is, however, included. As is usual with MOC releases, the disc is region B locked.

11-02-2015, 11:28 AM	#1
riderontherain Member Member since:Feb 2012	Dragon Inn (King Hu) MOC release I'm surprised that there isn't a thread yet for this release, so I'll start one. Hu's Dragon Inn (1967), together with his earlier Come Drink With Me (1966), were the 2 films mostly responsible for conferring artistic respectability to the wuxia genre, which until that time was largely comprised of shoddy low-budget productions out of Hong Kong. Though far from being Hu's best work (in my view A Touch of Zen would take the nod), Dragon Inn nevertheless opened up fertile grounds for a whole host of later well-known directors, such as Cheh Chang, Hark Tsui, and Ang Lee. Until this MOC release, Dragon Inn had only been available on DVD either in a 4x3 pan-and-scan transfer out of Taiwan or a 4x3 letter-boxed transfer out of Japan (the latter was boot-legged in a number of other countries). It goes without saying that these transfers completely butchered the majestic 2.35:1 scope photography of the film. So I was super excited to learn last year that Dragon Inn was given a 4k restoration in Taiwan and MOC was to release it in Blu-ray. Now that I've seen the release, I have to say I'm somewhat disappointed. Of course it is head and shoulders above previous DVDs, but that is a very low bar to cross. I find a slight waxiness to the overall picture quality, as well as a lack of vibrancy to the color palette. For a 4k restoration, this is quite underwhelming. Special features to this MOC release are limited to a short newsreel footage (in very poor picture quality) of the film's premiere in Taiwan, and a so-called video essay (only sporadically amusing) by critic David Cairns on Hu's cinematic style. Particularly regrettable is the absence of a documentary on the restoration process. A booklet containing essays by Hark Tsui, Tony Rayns, and Edmond Wong is, however, included. As is usual with MOC releases, the disc is region B locked.

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