Battle Creek Brawl (88 Films)

[Keung]

Battle Creek Brawl (28th Jan)

Jackie Chan arrived on American soil with hopes of becoming a superstar in the West and his first ever Hollywood project as a leading man certainly provided him with a notable director in Robert Clouse, the legendary director who took Bruce Lee to the next level with ENTER THE DRAGON (1973). Whilst BATTLE CREEK BRAWL (1980) was not quite as epoch defining, this is still prime Jackie - as our man successfully takes on the mafia and romances the gorgeous Playboy cover girl Kristine DeBell. A classic bout of chopsocky on Anglicised soil, BATTLE CREEK BRAWL is ready to punch its way into your collection in this gobsmacking 4k HD restoration!

Extras:

Limited Edition O-Card slipcase [First Print Run Only]
Limited Edition Collectors' Postcards Set (4) [First Print Run Only]
2018 4K Scan from the Original Camera Negative
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
DTS Original English Mono Audio
DTS-HD MA English 5.1 Re-Mixed Audio
DTS-HD MA Cantonese Stereo Audio
DTS-HD MA Mandarin Stereo Audio
Archive Interview with Jackie Chan
Interview with Producer Raymond Chow
Interview with Hong Kong Expert Rick Baker
Interview with Film Journalist David West
Reversible Sleeve with New Artwork by The Dude Designs and Original Hong Kong Poster Artwork

Pre-order now on amazon:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07JYQTL...GvNKEidEDvGQdc

[reason108]

I really appreciate that 88 are going all out for these releases. They are turning out better than expected. Though, this is not my favorite JC movie by a long shot, but, overall, I like the movie enough to buy it.

[Magic Monkey]

4K restoration?! That's weird. The FS showreel listed this under 2K. Also in the recent Nordic 8 disc collection, the copyright screen at the end of the movie stated year 2010 (rest of the movies were newer from 2015-2018). Did the crappy Nordic release use some older master and now there's a new one? The Nordic release of BCB was really horrible.

[splintersan]

Can't wait for this

[OldPangYau]

Originally Posted by Magic Monkey

4K restoration?! That's weird. The FS showreel listed this under 2K. Also in the recent Nordic 8 disc collection, the copyright screen at the end of the movie stated year 2010 (rest of the movies were newer from 2015-2018). Did the crappy Nordic release use some older master and now there's a new one? The Nordic release of BCB was really horrible.

I was wondering the same myself... All this time evidence pointed towards Dragon Fist being the 4K master and BCB being 2K... Turned out backwards?

[Markgway]

2K or 4K: I'm happy with either (my first copy of this was a cut P&S VHS).

Original English mono. Tick.

Original poster art on reverse. Tick.

As with most here, it's not my fave Jackie pic by a long chalk, but I'll pick it up for the fun little curio it is.

[OldPangYau]

Originally Posted by Markgway

2K or 4K: I'm happy with either (my first copy of this was a cut P&S VHS).

Original English mono. Tick.

Original poster art on reverse. Tick.

As with most here, it's not my fave Jackie pic by a long chalk, but I'll pick it up for the fun little curio it is.

I think it was more the issue that the Nordic blu-ray looked far from being from a 4K master, lol. Could end up being the same transfer after all, but we'll find out in January.

[DK1979]

The new nordic sets is more then likly old masters.. doubt they would have put much effort into them with that price tag.

[Dr Lenera]

This was the first J Chan film I ever saw and it made me into a fan, therefore it has some nostalgic value for me which may account for me liking it more than many others. In any case, it really is a great time for Chan fans at the moment. We get nothing for years....then a fair bit of stuff in a short period of time. Will be buying all three of these 88 Film releases, even though I don't think much of To Kill With Intrigue, as I feel I should support what the label are doing, and now that there's a chance that we may the likes of The Young Master and Snake and Crane Arts of Shaolin on Blu-ray now!

[OldPangYau]

Originally Posted by DK1979

The new nordic sets is more then likly old masters.. doubt they would have put much effort into them with that price tag.

Nope, has the other new 2K masters such as the Project A ones that Eureka used, plus the Wheels on Meals transfer used in Fortune Star's restored trailer... Plus, the biggest surprise, a new 2K master of Armour of God 2. BCB is in true HD in that set, it just looks the weakest of the 8 films, and *definitely* doesn't look based on a 4K master. Just seems weird that Fortune Star would have an upscale, a 2K master, *and* a 4K master... Then again, that's what happened with some of the Bruce Lee films, lol.

EDIT: Just noticed that the photo at the top even says "new 2K restoration", despite the 4K reference in the press release. Then again, could've just copy and paste that info from either Dragon Fist or TKWI. Eh, still seems early to tell. Also, my guess is Dragon Fist might've been a last second swap out since that one didn't officially reveal the custom artwork until a month out from the release, while we already got the full reveal for BCB over two months in advance. *shrugs* I'm getting them all regardless, lol.

[huntauk]

Remember this was one of many VHS' I picked up for 50p at the local market vault stall in the mid 90's. I was about 11 or 12 and the bloke looked me as I dropped stuff like this, Evil Dead, and all sorts of schlocky titles on the counter, "What's your date of birth?", to which I verified with a little math delay that I was 19. I guess he didn't care as I was buying £10-15 worth of titles every couple of weeks for 3-4 years. Needless to say, the place went bust once DVD's took over. Fun title & glad 88 are giving attention to early Chan.

[The Mole]

2K... 4k... A friend of mine recently bought the French 4K-Blu-rays of the Bruce-Lee-movies and was utterly disappointed: They are upscales from 2k! He compared them to his HK-Blu-rays.

Means: Fortune Star is obviously pulling the same stunt they did with almost all their HD releases: selling SD as 2k and now selling 2k as 4k.

So we can be lucky, that these Blu-rays are at least based on propper 2k scans.

And now they even get entangled in their own lies, messing up which titles they falsly sell as being 4k and which not.

[israels]

Originally Posted by The Mole

2K... 4k... A friend of mine recently bought the French 4K-Blu-rays of the Bruce-Lee-movies and was utterly disappointed: They are upscales from 2k! He compared them to his HK-Blu-rays.

Means: Fortune Star is obviously pulling the same stunt they did with almost all their HD releases: selling SD as 2k and now selling 2k as 4k.

So we can be lucky, that these Blu-rays are at least based on propper 2k scans.

And now they even get entangled in their own lies, messing up which titles they falsly sell as being 4k and which not.

Yeah it sucks, but this is common even with brand new movies when they get released on UHD based on 2k digital intermediates.

However if they are falsely stating that it's a new 2k restoration it's way more of a problem if you ask me.

Edit: Sorry, i see now that they advertised the Bruce Lee boxset as "New masters remastered in 4K". But i guess it isn't incorrect either since you can remaster anything in 4k without making any enhancements.

[alexavril]

I think 4k is just a typo.

[OldPangYau]

Originally Posted by The Mole

2K... 4k... A friend of mine recently bought the French 4K-Blu-rays of the Bruce-Lee-movies and was utterly disappointed: They are upscales from 2k! He compared them to his HK-Blu-rays.

Means: Fortune Star is obviously pulling the same stunt they did with almost all their HD releases: selling SD as 2k and now selling 2k as 4k.

So we can be lucky, that these Blu-rays are at least based on propper 2k scans.

And now they even get entangled in their own lies, messing up which titles they falsly sell as being 4k and which not.

From what I saw, Fist of Fury looked to be true 4K. The Big Boss's 4K video was only a hair better than the blu-ray, but Way of the Dragon admittedly looked identical. From what I've heard, Game of Death might be in that same boat.

The only reason I brought up the whole 2K / 4K debate in regards to BCB wasn't even about the validity of the claim that it's from a 4K master... but rather whether or not it's a new transfer compared to the Scandinavian/Nordic blu-ray's 2K master (as per the Fortune Star restoration trailer, labeling BCB as a 2K master). That blu-ray had a true HD transfer, just with a bit much of DNR (not Predator Ultimate Hunter edition levels, but still). It definitely isn't the upscaled transfer that was on older blus, such as the Shout Factory double feature or the Korean Nova Media release, but it was the weakest looking of the 8 films in the Scandinavian/Nordic set.

Anyway, by January we can compare screencaps with 88's release and the Scandinavian/Nordic release and take it from there. I'm at least expecting better compression if nothing else.

[backslashio]

I checked out my HKL copy and I'm going to pass on this. Only seen the movie twice in 20 years and the second time was more than enough, Jackie looks so constrained that I feel sorry for him Editing is about as exciting as Game of Death's excess footage (by which I mean boring). Wish there was audio commentary with Jackie complaining throughout, lol

The additional extras in this 88 release are a lot better, the HKL only ever had a dub option and no subtitles whatsoever & a single interview with Jackie. If you're looking for the superior version of a bland movie this is it

[GR44]

Do these releases -- along with Dragon Fist & To Kill with Intrigue include English subtitles? Because I didn't see they mention any.

[backslashio]

Originally Posted by GR44

Do these releases -- along with Dragon Fist & To Kill with Intrigue include English subtitles? Because I didn't see they mention any.

I'm sure this release will because its got foreign audio options. The other 2 titles are mentioned on their website

Dragon Fist:

Newly Translated subtitles for both Cantonese and Mandarin Audio

Kill with Intrigue:

Newly translated Subtitles for the Original Mandarin Audio

As for the HKL DVD I'm reconfirming there's zero subs, mainly due to the single english audio track. As for the PQ on the DVD, its clean but quite blurry & washed out at times

[Magic Monkey]

Originally Posted by OldPangYau

Anyway, by January we can compare screencaps with 88's release and the Scandinavian/Nordic release and take it from there. I'm at least expecting better compression if nothing else.

I hope 88 films have a permission to alter the transfer, at least to add grain to it.

The Nordic (not the same thing as Scandinavia) release is really bad, I mean one can see green spots in the transfer, just like with old non-restored DVD's.

I have no experience with 88 films before, so I don't know how to react to their "gobsmacking restoration" marketing blurb. But surely they can't be talking about the same master as what was used in the Nordic release...?! The closing copyright screen on the Nordic release stated 2010 as the year, so perhaps there's a better one laying around now, which, for some reason, wasn't used in the Nordic release.. we all know what FS is capable of (EDIT: I mean providing wrong/crap source materials to companies), so maybe there's a hope for better master.

[Burnout29]

Previously cut.

One compulsory cut required to sight of dangerous imitable technique (double ear clap) in accordance with BBFC guidelines.

Guessing this will still stand.