Police Story 1 and 2 (Eureka)

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Killer Meteor

Contender later bought Medusa, apparently just to get the Will and Grace titles! HKL began to fall by the wayside.

There's no accounting for taste.

Originally Posted by snowlax

What happened to the reversible artwork for these, it has been removed from there description? Would be fantastic to include the international cut for PS2 also.

They should use these posters for the reverse art.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by revoloution

But they release about 15-20 of those every year? Why not put that money towards getting 5-10 premium releases from Hong Kong and China? I mean how many people actually bought their release of 'Pieces' ?

It's sad to say but horror films of any quality outsell Hong Kong cinema.

You can put out the biggest piece of shit slasher that cost $10 to make and it'll sell more than most Hong Kong movies.

[revoloution]

Originally Posted by Markgway

It's sad to say but horror films of any quality outsell Hong Kong cinema.

You can put out the biggest piece of shit slasher that cost $10 to make and it'll sell more than most Hong Kong movies.

So true my friend, so unfortunately true

I think The Heroic Bloodshed genre from Hong Kong would sell well here if properly released, the films of Woo, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark, Johnni To from the 80's and 90's are crying out for proper remastered 4K releases.
It boggles the mind that such influential action directors can't get decent releases of their films here in the UK.

I remember watching Ringo Lam's 'Full Contact' and being completely floored by the raw, gritty, neon punk style of it.
Tsui Harks 'Time And Tide' needs rediscovering as it's one of the most visually kinetic action films of the last few decades.

On The Run, Curry And Pepper, Tiger On The Beat, The Big Heat, God Of Gamblers, City On Fire, School On Fire, Killers Romance to name a few would be welcomed by open arms by many fans of not just HK action but Action fans in general.

I would love a box set of films by Actor/Director Sammo Hung released by Eureka - The Lucky Star trilogy, Millionaires Express, Pedicab Driver, Eastern Condors to name just a few of this amazing man's films should be celebrated.

Not just Heroic Bloodshed films from Hong Kong but also fantasy films like Chinese Ghost Story, Swordsman, Zu Warriors and Bride With The White Hair could be best sellers IF the labels do their research and take a chance on them.
One can only hope and pray

[darkness2918]

Originally Posted by revoloution

So true my friend, so unfortunately true

I think The Heroic Bloodshed genre from Hong Kong would sell well here if properly released, the films of Woo, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark, Johnni To from the 80's and 90's are crying out for proper remastered 4K releases.
It boggles the mind that such influential action directors can't get decent releases of their films here in the UK.

I remember watching Ringo Lam's 'Full Contact' and being completely floored by the raw, gritty, neon punk style of it.
Tsui Harks 'Time And Tide' needs rediscovering as it's one of the most visually kinetic action films of the last few decades.

On The Run, Curry And Pepper, Tiger On The Beat, The Big Heat, God Of Gamblers, City On Fire, School On Fire, Killers Romance to name a few would be welcomed by open arms by many fans of not just HK action but Action fans in general.

I would love a box set of films by Actor/Director Sammo Hung released by Eureka - The Lucky Star trilogy, Millionaires Express, Pedicab Driver, Eastern Condors to name just a few of this amazing man's films should be celebrated.

Not just Heroic Bloodshed films from Hong Kong but also fantasy films like Chinese Ghost Story, Swordsman, Zu Warriors and Bride With The White Hair could be best sellers IF the labels do their research and take a chance on them.
One can only hope and pray

As much as I love horror I'd also love to see more HK films on BD. I have so many on DVD that I pick up from an Asian movie store where I live & I think alot of them would appeal to fans of action, martial arts, fantasy & horror.

[Shingster]

Well for a start, all our bleedin' HK discs from the early noughties should be dying of disc rot about now, so we need BD releases!

[ravenus]

Sorry if someone has already posted this info, but I dashed off a mail to Eureka asking if the HK theatrical cut of PS2 would be included and this is the reply I got:

Unfortunately, we won’t be including the HK version as it is not available in 4K, and our production team do not feel a inferior quality version should be included in the release.

I thought it would be possible to make a shorter cut out of the existing longer cut 4K master, but I guess it entails more effort than I imagine.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by logboy

for a market to be "not big enough" for a label, i would read "viable" in it's place - and i'd suggest the condition / preservation (lack of) HK films in general would mean the cost of doing a decent presentation versus the amount of people they'd typically manage to sell to would mean they'd be too expensive.

i imagine that the 'police story' restorations, being done elsewhere and provided by license, makes these viable for a UK release if the licensing cost is not too high. they've certainly not got to source a print and restore it themselves, which is the tough part of the situation compared to small films from other countries?

Another issue I recall Arrow having is that the HK companies wanted to license a large batch of titles and Arrow didn't want to take on bunch of lesser films to get the A titles. That was a few years ago, so the demands of the HK companies may have changed. (It occurred to me that licensing a large amount of titles would work for Janus Films, as they could shovel the lesser, or less marketable, ones to FilmStruck and have Criterion release Blu-rays of the jewels. It is essentially what they've done with Shochiku, licensed over 200 titles, but have released, I guess, about a third of them on DVD or Blu-ray.)

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by ravenus

I thought it would be possible to make a shorter cut out of the existing longer cut 4K master, but I guess it entails more effort than I imagine.

Obviously Eureka don't think it's worth the effort.

In essence, no one cares that the theatrical cut has essentially been discarded to the dustbin of film history.

Of course, those idiots at Fortune Star created this problem, but it's sad that Eureka have no interest in repairing the damage.

If any fans out there have the time, skill, knowledge, etc to take on such a project, best contact Eureka now to offer your services, otherwise I fear this may be it.

[navydavey]

Shame the HK theatrical cut won’t be included for police story 2, is there not a HD version available? Personally I wouldn’t care if it’s not 4K

[Ken81]

Originally Posted by ravenus

Sorry if someone has already posted this info, but I dashed off a mail to Eureka asking if the HK theatrical cut of PS2 would be included and this is the reply I got:

I thought it would be possible to make a shorter cut out of the existing longer cut 4K master, but I guess it entails more effort than I imagine.

Great that you asked Eureka about it. As I (and probably many others) predicted, Fortune Star managed to skip 4k remastering the HK cut..sigh
The thing that surprised us is that they 4k remastered the HK cut of Game of Death which Shout Factory released on blu-ray. That one is even less known than the HK cut of PS2, but somehow they got around to remaster that one but left out HK cut of PS2.

[grim_tales]

Could Criterion be our only hope for releasing the HK cut of PS2?

[dwk]

Maybe. Obviously assuming they have it, I don't think it would hurt to start emailing them (mulvaney@criterion.com) and ask if they will include it, but I think the best shot is if they actually get Jackie Chan involved in the release and he asks them to include the HK cut. However, I don't know how likely it is he would be involved in their release (they are sure to ask, so the ball is in his court), so the second best shot is if the experts/critics (like David Bordwell, who has worked with Criterion) they consult/interview tell them the importance of including the HK cut.

[Shingster]

I would expect Criterion to stonewall any requests until they announce the release, can't hurt to get in touch with them though and get that ball rolling (and I would urge people to do that), but I think it's going to have to roll up a very steep hill if we ever want to see the HK cut in HD this decade tbh because I can't see a distributor caring enough to go to the pains of recreating the HK cut, most likely having to go to SD sources, when they can get away with simply marketing the Jpn cut as "the full 2hr cut for the first time ever in HD".

[EddieLarkin]

I've never seen PS2. What is important about the shorter cut? What is the problem with the longer cut?

[Geoff D]

What if they didn't even have a proper HD version but one of those shitty old SD upscales? I can see why Eureka would say no, although it wouldn't hurt to include it as a curio. As for recutting the long version, look at Kino with their reconstruction of TGTBATU: well intentioned but torn to shreds by the cognoscenti. Not sure it was worth the bother.

[Shingster]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

I've never seen PS2. What is important about the shorter cut? What is the problem with the longer cut?

The 105min cut is the film's original HK theatrical cut. The 2hr is an extended cut made for the film's Japanese release that features tweaks to the original score and alternate edits of certain scenes on top of the extra 15mins of extended footage. (hence the problem with recreating the HK from the JPN)

So basically the 105min cut is the "correct" cut of the film and the JPN cut is just an extended cut. It was not unusual back in the day for HK films to have different cuts in different Asian territories, so I don't want to sound like i'm invalidating the Jpn cut here though. IMO a good release of PS2 should feature both cuts, but the HK cut should take precedence.

[Shingster]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

What if they didn't even have a proper HD version but one of those shitty old SD upscales? I can see why Eureka would say no, although it wouldn't hurt to include it as a curio. As for recutting the long version, look at Kino with their reconstruction of TGTBATU: well intentioned but torn to shreds by the cognoscenti. Not sure it was worth the bother.

indeed, which is why i completely understand why a distributor would not risk that minefield, however disappointing that is to us fans.

[Geoff D]

I do like the JPN cut though. A theatrical version should always be preserved in one shape or form on a historical level, I've argued for it on plenty of other occasions for other films, but purely on a selfish personal level I'm not sore about its omission in this case. Still got my old HKL DVD so that'll do if ever I feel the need to revisit it.

[qw0aszx]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

What if they didn't even have a proper HD version but one of those shitty old SD upscales?

Fortune Star only restored the extended cut in 4K and I believe even the previous material they done (which is a shitty old SD upscale) was the extended cut, not the original HK cut. Is it possible that they only have the extended cut in their archive and didn't feel like finding the HK cut materials in other places?

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

What if they didn't even have a proper HD version but one of those shitty old SD upscales? I can see why Eureka would say no, although it wouldn't hurt to include it as a curio. As for recutting the long version, look at Kino with their reconstruction of TGTBATU: well intentioned but torn to shreds by the cognoscenti. Not sure it was worth the bother.

The PS2 situation isn't quite as complicated.

The TC is available on DVD and that can be used as an exact guide.

A fan project was created for DVD which took the 2hr cut and re-edited into the TC, so it can be done.

All it takes is someone with a bit of time, skill, and dedication (oh, and access to Eureka's 4K materials...)

The loss of the original theme song is criminal.

Stereo soundtrack edit:

Police Story 2 (Soundtrack) - YouTube