Official Showbox Media/Cine Asia Thread

[pro-bassoonist]

This thread is dedicated to the discussion of the Cine Asia Collection. Please treat our insider with respect and courtesy. Cine Asia Insider: Chris


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Showbox Media brings Hong Kong Legends

Here’s a piece of news that sure to delight Asian film fans – Showbox Media Group, home to the Cine Asia DVD and Blu-ray label, has just announed the re-birth of the fan-favourite Hong Kong Legends label.

Showbox has signed a deal with EntertainmentOne (the current owner of the former HKL film catalogue) that will allow it access to the company’s extensive library of Asian movies for release under the new banner ‘Cine Asia presents HKL.

Between 2000 and 2007 HKL was considered by many as the gold standard in Asian cinema releases, unleashing a library of more than 100 classic films on DVD including Jet Li’s Once Upon a Time in China series, Jackie Chan’s Police Story 1 and 2 and Donnie Yen’s sensational Iron Monkey. Along the way, the label thrilled fans with its meiticulous restorations and exhaustive supplementary features.

Re-packaged two-disc Ultimate Editions of the Bruce Lee’s The Big Boss, Fist of Fury, Way of the Dragon and Game of Death will mark the first releases under the ‘Cine Asia presents HKL’ banner, hitting the streets on May 30 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the martial arts legend’s birthday. On the same day, Cine Asia will also release the brand-new film Young Bruce Lee on DVD and Blu-ray.

‘We are absolutely delighted to be working with EntertainmentOne and thrilled to be handling these prestigious classic titles again’ stated Showbox exeutive director Steve Rivers. ‘We are excited about this famous library being handled by the Asian film experts Showbox; we think that the combined lineup of Cine Asia and HKL titles provide a compelling proposition for trade and consumers alike’ added EntertainmentOne director of home entertainment Jon Bourdillion.

Source:
http://tvworld.bithustler.us/archive...rom-the-grave/

Fantastic news for a fantastic label!

Pro-B

[insomniac013]

Oh, come on! I've spend months collecting the now OOP titles on DVD... I just bought Dragons Forever for £20!

Sucks for me, but i'm happy for everyone else i guess. Damn...

[DetroitSportsFan]

Looks like these have a good chance of being region free too.

I wonder how these Lee titles will compare to the Hong Kong releases?

[insomniac013]

Does this mean that ALL the HKL title will come on Blu Ray at some point? "Once Upon A Time" and "Meals On Wheels" included?

Me being a HUGE fan of Martial Arts, i'll be willing to buy them all again on Blu Ray IF properly remastered and containing the awesome Bey Logan commentaries and behind-the-scenes stuff!

[RDA]

Great news! I really hope to see a lot of the HKL releases on blu-ray such as 'Police Story', 'Armour Of God', 'Moon Warriors', 'Meals On Wheels' and 'Project A' to name but a few. Will hold off importing the releases from Hong Kong now.

[toddly6666]

Does this mean that they will most likely release a blu-ray version for every DVD that they release?

And can someone post the whole list of films that they have rights to?

Do they have rights to Stephen Chow films?

[Mike dk]

I'm not sure that we will see blu ray releases of the old HKL titles. They don't mention anything about it, and I also doubt that they have acces to REAL HD masters. Most of the classic Hong Kong films released on blu ray in Hong Kong is just upscales and not real HD.

I hope I am wrong about this as it would be awesome to see all the classic Jackie Chan, Sammo hung etc. films in HD!

[zombeaner]

Yeah, so far there is NO NEWS of any kind confirming Blu-ray upgrades for these.

[richieb1971]

If they were not upgrading them then the announcement is kind of pointless.

As long as they have film they can make a HD master out of it.

[pro-bassoonist]

Note:

We are going to have an official representative (insider) from CineAsia on the forum shortly. You will be able to communicate with him directly and ask questions about CineAsia's release schedule/releases, etc.



Pro-B

[insomniac013]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Note:

We are going to have an official representative (insider) from CineAsia on the forum shortly. You will be able to communicate with him directly and ask questions about CineAsia's release schedule/releases, etc.



Pro-B

Oh my god, i'm so excited for this! I even wrote an e-mail to Cine Asia about the HKL merger but no reply yet... I guess i didnt have to since a reprensentative will come here

[Tech-UK]

Great news!! I am a big fan of Cine Asia & their releases . Their catalog is almost perfect, apart from The Guardpost, which is a great film and release but only includes a lossy Dolby digital 5.1 track. Although I assume it is not down to Cine Asia/Showbox, this film really does deserve a lossless track . I am looking forward in seeing the future releases that they have in store for us .

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Note:

We are going to have an official representative (insider) from CineAsia on the forum shortly. You will be able to communicate with him directly and ask questions about CineAsia's release schedule/releases, etc.



Pro-B

Great news!
I hope the majority of their blu-ray releases will be older Hong Kong films. There really is no need for blu-rays of newer Asian films since they are already well-represented on current UK, HK, and Taiwanese blu-rays.

Even if CineAsia has the same type of masters that K&R have, isn't there a good chance that CineAsia can play around or fix them up better than K&R's quality control?

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Even if CineAsia has the same type of masters that K&R have, isn't there a good chance that CineAsia can play around or fix them up better than K&R's quality control?

Toddly,

These are the types of questions you should ask the Cine Asia insider when he arrives. I could not possibly answer your question

Pro-B

[Mike dk]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Note:

We are going to have an official representative (insider) from CineAsia on the forum shortly. You will be able to communicate with him directly and ask questions about CineAsia's release schedule/releases, etc.



Pro-B

This is excellent news

About Cine Asia releasing HKL titles in real HD I realise that it might be possible after all...at least on some titles.

On the back cover of HKL releases like Dragons Forever, Millionaires Express and Knockabout it reads "DVD transfer created from a High-Definition Master".

It could mean that they have acces to Real HD masters Will be my first question to the Cine Asia representative.

[Mike dk]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Great news!
I hope the majority of their blu-ray releases will be older Hong Kong films. There really is no need for blu-rays of newer Asian films since they are already well-represented on current UK, HK, and Taiwanese blu-rays.

Even if CineAsia has the same type of masters that K&R have, isn't there a good chance that CineAsia can play around or fix them up better than K&R's quality control?

I think that is great that Cine Asia is releasing newer Asian films on blu ray. They often offer stuff that is not available on Hong Kong releases (Bey Logan commentary for one) and some of the Asian releases is region A which most people in Europe cannot see unless they have a region free BD player.

I think that the main reason that most K&K reelases suck is the lack of a real HD masters. There is only so much you can do with an SD upscale.
I don't support upscales at all and will only upgrade for REAL HD.

[Dragon Lee]

Ugh I just wish they'd create NTSC standard def extras. Just bought Fist of Legend, I cant access anything aside from the film.

[insomniac013]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Note:

We are going to have an official representative (insider) from CineAsia on the forum shortly. You will be able to communicate with him directly and ask questions about CineAsia's release schedule/releases, etc.



Pro-B

So how is the representative coming along? Will there be Blu Rays? I'm dying to know if i can retire my HKL DVD's

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by insomniac013

So how is the representative coming along? Will there be Blu Rays? I'm dying to know if i can retire my HKL DVD's

He is registered already so the official thread should be opened shortly

Pro-B

[wesslan]

Very exciting. It's a shame when K&R release great movies with bad transfers with no remaster and such. Luckily showbox/cineasia are doing a good job on newer movies.