Blu-ray Community Top Asian Films [Read OP--due Feb 16]

[Grethiwha]

Originally Posted by Mothravka

I disagree. Some scenes are shot in Japan, which I don't think makes it Asian. The majority of the film seems to be shot in New Zealand, that's why it is listed as a country too. It was shot in USA also. Wikipedia lists only USA as a country to take an interesting example.

But the director is American, the producers are American and all of the production companies are American. The same with the crew working behind the camera etc. And it was distributed by Warner Bros. I even think a lot of the awards it got were those that they only give out to American films. As I said, it's more American than Asian.

I agree that it's definitely more American than Asian.

But I also agree with Al, that the best way to do this, is, if an Asian country – basically if it's listed on imdb – then it qualifies, and leave it up to the individual voters to decide whether to include it.

I haven't investigated it, but I assume that, since imdb lists Japan as a country (which it doesn't do, for, say, Silence), that Japan had some small involvement in the production, beyond it just being filmed there. The fact it also features a majority Japanese cast, is set primarily in Japan and features a lot of spoken Japanese might have led me to include it if there weren't, easily, 50 Asian films I liked more.

The American Godzilla films, I probably would have chosen not to include, even if I did love them more than some of the films on my list. Japan is listed on imdb, but probably only because Toho licensed out the IP, or whatever, which isn't reason enough in my mind to consider them sufficiently Asian. But, I wouldn't begrudge others from listing them, if they really wanted to, for the sake of having a single, unbiased authority (however faulty) on what can be included.

Originally Posted by LegacyCosts

Wouldn't it be easier if you just went with the nationality of the filmmaker?

Then Brokeback Mountain would count as an Asian film, and The Raid wouldn't...

[AaronJ]

Right now as I work on my list, In the Mood For Love is still #1. I'm not sure if that will change or not.

[eiknarf]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Right now as I work on my list, In the Mood For Love is still #1. I'm not sure if that will change or not.

2046
In The Mood For Love
House of Flying Daggers
Crouching Tiger
The Handmaiden
I Saw The Devil

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by eiknarf

2046
In The Mood For Love
House of Flying Daggers
Crouching Tiger
The Handmaiden
I Saw The Devil

Hmm. I really like 2046 but I definitely don't see it as superior to In the Mood For Love.

OTOH, I have seen ItMFL like a gazillion times. So maybe it's not a fair comparison.

[Mothravka]

Originally Posted by Grethiwha

I agree that it's definitely more American than Asian.

But I also agree with Al, that the best way to do this, is, if an Asian country – basically if it's listed on imdb – then it qualifies, and leave it up to the individual voters to decide whether to include it.

I haven't investigated it, but I assume that, since imdb lists Japan as a country (which it doesn't do, for, say, Silence), that Japan had some small involvement in the production, beyond it just being filmed there. The fact it also features a majority Japanese cast, is set primarily in Japan and features a lot of spoken Japanese might have led me to include it if there weren't, easily, 50 Asian films I liked more.

If anyone is unsure about a film, I think the best thing is to ask here and allow everyone to discuss about it. Otherwise people will include whatever they want. We've even seen Romanian and French/Mauritanian films listed in this poll early on. But maybe that's along the lines of what you meant too.

I have never heard anyone calling The Last Samurai (2003) an Asian or Japanese film. I have never seen it on other top lists that were about Asian or Japanese films either. I think it's quite obvious why.

Wikipedia lists Japan as a country on the film page for Silence (2016) and only USA on the page for The Last Samurai (2003). Both Wikipedia and IMDb can be edited by any member on the sites.

[Grethiwha]

^I know IMDb is user-edited, and not a perfect resource, but if the rule is, any movie with an asian country (as listed in the wikipedia article for Asia that Al linked) listed on IMDb qualifies, then it's black-or-white – there can be no disagreeing on what qualifies, and it's up to the individual voters to omit qualifying films they don't think are 'Asian enough'. I think that's a good and simple solution and that seems to be Al's thinking as well.

But whatever. It doesn't much matter to me. I'm going to Peru tomorrow. Do what you want. I won't be around to change my list if y'all change your mind about Snowpiercer being allowed though.

[Hucksta G]

I updated my list - removed all the Middle Eastern and Russian films, and slightly controversial choices I had.

Hopefully one day we'll have a bluray.com top foreign language speaking films poll.

[kiwiphile]

I list three New Zealand co-productions for your consideration, that are on Blu-ray.
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (NZ/JP)
The Tattooist (NZ/SK)
The Warrior's Way (NZ/SK)

[imsounoriginal]

This list could probably change at any given time depending on my mood, but here's my best shot as of right this very instant:

Top 25 Asian Films

1. Swades: We the People (2004)
2. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)
3. Pather Panchali (1955)
4. Rashomon (1950)
5. Seven Samurai (1954)
6. Sholay (1975)
7. Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001)
8. Hum Tum (2004)
9. Delhi Belly (2011)
10. Aparajito (1956)
11. Dil Se.. (1998)
12. Devdas (2002)
13. Baazigar (1993)
14. Apur Sansar (1959)
15. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)
16. Talaash (2012)
17. Jalsaghar (1958)
18. Branded to Kill (1967)
19. Dabangg (2010)
20. Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na (2008)
21. Highway (2014)
22. Late Spring (1949)
23. Dil Toh Pagal Hai (1997)
24. Lootera (2013)
25. Piku (2015)

[Joeyseven]

Rough Draft.Movies are going to move up and down.

1. The Sword of Doom (1966)
2. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
3. Red Beard (1965)
4. Ichi the Killer (2001)
5. Samurai Fiction (1998)
6. Rashomon (1950)
7. Mother (Madeo) (2009)
8. The Chaser (2008)
9. Memories of Murder (2003)
10. The Wailing (2016)

11. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
12. 13 Assassins (2010)
13. Oldboy (2003)
14. Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (2005)
15. Yojimbo (1961)
16. The Villainess (2017)
17. The Seven Samurai
18. Harakiri (1962)
19. The Host
20. Battle Royale

[P-Rock]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

Right now as I work on my list, In the Mood For Love is still #1. I'm not sure if that will change or not.

Tokyo Gore Police?

[MercurySeven]

1. Samurai Rebellion
2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
3. The Seven Samurai
4. Enter the Dragon
5. Harakiri (1962)
6. Sword of Doom
7. Red Cliff
8. The Killer
9. Snowpiercer
10. Police Story
11. The Legend of Drunken Master
12. Battle Royale
13. Hard Boiled
14. Brotherhood (2004)
15. The House of Flying Daggers

[Al_The_Strange]

Good news everyone! I took a preliminary count and everything looks smashing so far. There's already 300+ films nominated.

Just a few things to bring to everyone's attention:

• I have a vote for Babel. Even though it has scenes set in Japan and the Middle East, it is listed as a US/French/Mexican production. Unless somebody can point to a source that shows its Asian connection behind the scenes, it would not count in the final tally.
• Many folks have listed Mother, which I assume refers to Madeo, the 2009 S. Korean film by Joon-ho Bong. But there may be other Eastern films by that title, so if you do mean to vote on anything other than Madeo, please make sure you indicate this in some way, either with the year of production or original foreign title. If you don't specify, I'll assume you mean Madeo.
• Red Cliff was released in two parts originally. If you voted on this one, please indicate which part. If you don't, I'll count these towards Part I only. If you haven't seen the full International Cut, you're missing out.
• A Better Tomorrow has been made in Hong Kong and S. Korea, and both have had sequels. If you don't indicate which series you're voting on, I will assume you mean the original 80s versions.

[Jasonic]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Red Cliff was released in two parts originally. If you voted on this one, please indicate which part. If you don't, I'll count these towards Part I only. If you haven't seen the full International Cut, you're missing out.

Personally I think it should all count toward the same singular film. Whether you see the cut version or full nearly 5 hour two parter, it's truly one film experience. Splitting it up would deplete each part's points and lesser chance for higher placement.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Jasonic

Personally I think it should all count toward the same singular film. Whether you see the cut version or full nearly 5 hour two parter, it's truly one film experience. Splitting it up would deplete each part's points and lesser chance for higher placement.

I've been sticking to the same standard that made us split up things like LOTR and Kill Bill in the past. For Red Cliff, I can see myself posting it in the results as one whole entity, given that it had an abridged release, but that was outside of Asia.

What do y'all think, should RC be treated as one or two films?

If we do count it as one, this would be an exception--other series like The Human Condition would still need to be split up.

[imsounoriginal]

Finished my list, I'm sure they're all eligible but just in case any of them aren't, let me know and I'll fix it. Thanks

Looking forward to the results, even though I doubt many of mine will make it the final cut

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by P-Rock

Tokyo Gore Police?

That's definitely the one I'm looking at.

Seriously, though, Woman in the Dunes should arrive in a few days. Definitely lookin forward to that, and from the sounds of it, it very well may make my list.

[Al_The_Strange]

I've been thinking over the Red Cliff issue some more, and I think I will go ahead and allow both parts to count as one whole film. If for no other reason than I've made the same allowance for animes (Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal has a vote as one whole movie, for example).

I'd just ask that other multi-part films that were not intended to be one continuous movie continue to be broken up (such as the Human Condition, Battles Without Honor or Humanity, Lone Wolf and Cub, Tai Chi Zero/Hero etc). If you think a certain selection should be combined into one, let me know.

I really should have treated Die Nibelungen as one whole movie back in the Fantasy poll. Thank you for all your replies and keep on voting!

[P-Rock]

What idiot picked Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal?

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by P-Rock

What idiot picked Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal?

I swear it was there a few days ago. Somebody must have updated their list.