88 Films USA Discussion Thread

[peruguy]

That almost 3 month delay surprised me a bit, even for 88.
I hope they get any problems sorted out and taken care of, because I am really looking forward to that set.

[asianguyvwhk]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Magnificent Warriors is so hard to find with a slipcover. I can’t find it at all. Already emailed all the boutique stores.

It probably also didn't help that there was the Everywhere All At Once/Michelle Yeoh hype train going on when Magnificent Warrior dropped.

[MifuneFan]

Two new releases coming from 88 Films tentatively in March.

88 Films will be releasing The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 (1989) on Blu-ray tentatively in March.

Bonus Materials

• Brand New 2K Restoration From the Original Camera Negatives
• High Definition (1080p) Presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
• 2.0 DTS-HD MA Cantonese Soundtrack with newly translated English Subtitles
• 2.0 DTS-HD MA English Dub Soundtrack
• Audio commentary with Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng
• Interview with Actor Anthony Carpio
• Leading the Top Squad - An Interview with Director Wellson Chin
• Hong Kong Trailer

Hong Kong's toughest team of fearless lady cops are back on the beat! These female furies are forced to take on both their male counterparts in a battle of the sexes and a team of foreign mercenaries. Action legend Jackie Chan's lethal ladies include Shaw Brothers icon Wai Yin-hung ('My Young Auntie'), Sibelle Hu ('Fong Sai Yuk') and the bodacious Amy Yip ('Robotrix'). The film's stunning action scenes are again delivered by the Jackie Chan stunt team, who also co-star in the film. 'The Inspector Wears Skirts 2' lays down its own brand of law with a madcap action comedy blend of the mirthful and the martial!

88 Films will alos be releasing the epic period film Beauty of Beauties (1965), the most expensive Chinese-language film of its time, on Blu-ray tentatively in March.

Rarely screened, this spectacular historical epic swept the Golden Horse awards, winning for best feature film, director, actor, color cinematography, and art direction. In a story drawn from China’s legendary Warring States Period, the King of Yue, Goujian, is defeated and imprisoned by the King of Wu, Fucha. But when Goujian returns to his much-maligned homeland, he is determined to defeat Wu once and for all, with a secret weapon: a local beauty named Xi Si, who is sent to serve Fucha and lure him to his doom.

[NathanLurker]

Oh, very nice. Beauty of Beauties should be a good change of tone from the chinese cinema that is currently being released on the market. I do love Girls with Guns, Kung Fu and Wuxia, but I'm also very interested in checking out this non-shaw epic period piece. I hope this works well for them and we get more.

[MifuneFan]

Yeah, I'm pleasantly surprised to see Beauty of Beauties from 88. Hope it opens the door for some more Taiwanese films. The Swordsman of of Swordsmen (1968) would be great.

[filmlover22]

Huge sales at 88 right now. Most titles 9 pounds, including Jackie chan titles, martial arts, and even the recent God of gamblers movie

[hainesdogg]

Woah Beauty of Beauties! I hope this does well for them but I don't have high hopes. I would love for more Li Han-hsiang

Also, I think I saw a teaser from 88 for Inspector Wears Skirts III.

[DaveyJoe]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

Huge sales at 88 right now. Most titles 9 pounds

That seems pretty heavy for a brulay.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by hainesdogg

Also, I think I saw a teaser from 88 for Inspector Wears Skirts III.

Where was that teased?

Crossing my fingers for more films along the lines of Long Arm of the Law.

[hainesdogg]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

Where was that teased?

Crossing my fingers for more films along the lines of Long Arm of the Law.

Instagram

They had a picture from the third film with Amy Yip (hard to miss) and someone in the Hong Kong Cinema group said it was from Raid on Royal Casino Marine (Inspector Wears Skirts III)

[qw0aszx]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

88 Films will alos be releasing the epic period film Beauty of Beauties (1965), the most expensive Chinese-language film of its time, on Blu-ray tentatively in March.

There exists a detailed essay on the restoration of this film on TFAI website. The Beauty of Beauties was first released as two films in 1965, runs about 220 minutes in total according to the information submit from censorship. In 1975, this film was re-edit into one film, the running time was shortened to 152 minutes. When TFAI started the restoration project, they found most existing materials of this film was the shortened version. However, a screening print of complete part two (runs 93 minutes) and a bunch of negatives cut from the longer version still exist. The print for part two was scanned in HD and compared with the shortened version and the cut negatives. They found the cut negatives in the archive include some but not complete cut scenes from both parts. 11 sequences were cut from part two for the shortened version and four of them exist in the cut negatives they had. There are still five complete sequences from the cut negatives, so they assume these were cut from the first part. However, due to the lack of information and materials about the original first part of this film, TFAI still chose the shortened version for this 4K restoration, the final running time of this restored version is 154 minutes. With HD scan of second part and cut negatives preserved for archiving purposes.
I suppose 88 films only licensed the 4K restored version for the blu-ray presentation. However, I truly hope they managed to get the scanned files of the print for second part and cut negatives, in this way, they could use 4K restored version and cut negative scan to reconstruct a better version for the original second part of this film.

[MifuneFan]

The Inspector Wears Skirts 2 cover art

[DukeTogo84]

I'm guessing Blue Jeans Monster and The Inspector Wears Skirts will not make their street date as 88 usually starts mentioning that the discs are done a month or so in advance. Looks like Long Arm of the Law will make its new date, as the discs seem to be done.

[Brown Jenkin]

How does 2 compare to the 1st?

[BunyipPouch]

Forgive my ignorance, but is the Inspector Wears Skirts series like a comedy/exploitation/sleazy type of series (along the lines of Robotrix or Erotic Ghost Story) or is it a more serious martial arts type of thing?

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by BunyipPouch

Forgive my ignorance, but is the Inspector Wears Skirts series like a comedy/exploitation/sleazy type of series (along the lines of Robotrix or Erotic Ghost Story) or is it a more serious martial arts type of thing?

Heavy comedy and action. Not cat III.

[BunyipPouch]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

Heavy comedy and action. Not cat III.

Ah, alright, thank you. Was hoping for the opposite

[whiteberry]

Yeah they are silly comedies with action. Jackie Chan Stunt Team handle the action for the first two movies.

Trailers:

The Inspector Wears Skirts

[Trailer] 霸王花 (Inspector Wear Skirts, The) - HD Version - YouTube

International trailer

Top Squad - Original UK VHS Trailer - Cynthia Rothrock + Sibelle Hu - YouTube

The Inspector Wears Skirts II

[Trailer] 神勇飛虎霸王花 (Inspector Wear Skirt II, The) - HD Version - YouTube

The Inspector Wears Skirts III (Raid On Royal Casino Marine)

ã€�ä¸*國星電影】霸王花系列《皇家è³*船》é*�å‘Š | Raid On Royal Casino Marine Trailer - YouTube

Inspector Wears Skirts IV
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x37ftuy

The fourth one is the silliest and you get Cynthia Khan, Moon Lee, and Kara Hui together in the same movie

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by BunyipPouch

Ah, alright, thank you. Was hoping for the opposite

For that you have to see The Inspector Doesn't Wear Skirts

[DukeTogo84]

So 88 Films announced a ton of stuff today, but all for the UK, but still interesting news so far. The big news is that they are expanding to Japanese cinema, but curious if they will be aiming for more titles that already have US releases like their first three or ones for both markets?

Witchfinder General in 4K is also huge and wonder if that will get a release in the US from Shout?

Street Law with Italian audio finally. Code Red's release seems to be out of print, but not sure.

So Close is also pretty epic, but I guess Sony might still have the rights in the US? Either way, only two new US titles in quarter 1, so hopefully there is a bit more in the second.