Hero

[bongozoid]

Originally Posted by Chareth

I ordered the Japanese DVD years ago to have the more evocative subtitle track from my first viewing: this may make the Imprint set a must-have for upgrading to HD.

The Nova release no doubt uses the same master for the director's cut and is on a BD-50, so pretty sure there won't be much difference. The Imprint certainly won't be better. And is double the price.

[Chareth]

Originally Posted by micpp

Haven't watched through the film yet, but at least in the opening prologue text both the original theatrical cut and director's cut use the "all under heaven" phrasing. It seems to be just the US cut that uses the "our land" translation.

Great news, thanks for confirming.

Originally Posted by micpp

The director's cut is on a separate disc (along with the extras) so it's not TOO bad. For what it's worth, the director's cut takes up about 30GB of the disc it's on (not including the extras, which add about another 6GB or so), but the theatrical cuts are about 20GB each on their disc, so maybe a bit bitrate-starved by comparison?

Sorry yes, I meant each theatrical cut. Imprint wisely putting the extras on the disc with one cut, plus the extra 10 minutes in the DC, miiight mitigate the issue sufficiently then. And given the masters are probably not the greatest per earlier posts and that Reddit thread, it may make less impact.

Originally Posted by micpp

Mostly I kinda find it unusual the differences between the transfers on the three cuts, like comparing the screenshots they're all at slightly different aspect ratios, and even with the two that have soft subtitles, the subtitles are in a different font. It sort of makes me wonder if Imprint had to get their masters from several different sources?

Wouldn't be surprised given the history of this film. I don't recall the US theatrical being different from the original theatrical apart from subtitles and the on-screen text, which could be handled by branching (if Imprint ever does that - guessing not?). And if the only way they could source the US subtitle track was with this burnt-in US master, that would explain the extra master. The DC was probably produced as a separate master at a different time too.

Originally Posted by bongozoid

The Nova release no doubt uses the same master for the director's cut and is on a BD-50, so pretty sure there won't be much difference. The Imprint certainly won't be better. And is double the price.

Hadn't caught up on its distribution on Blu but now have. True, the Imprint set is steep so I'm a bit on the fence. Is the Nova edition still available from Korean retailers though? Haven't bought from there before. The only eBay listing costs $50.

But the Imprint does seem to be the first set anywhere that packages the theatrical and director's cuts together, and both the US and original theatrical cuts to boot. That's worth something to me. I've never seen the DC so maybe it makes the original theatrical redundant, but the options are welcome.

Never knew about the Cause documentary until your earlier post though - thank you (over two hours!). Do you know if this was ever released on any disc of the movie? Not on the 2019 Nova one, based on the back cover. Seems scarce everywhere so Imprint may not have been able to secure it.

[bongozoid]

Originally Posted by Chareth

Never knew about the Cause documentary until your earlier post though - thank you (over two hours!). Do you know if this was ever released on any disc of the movie? Not on the 2019 Nova one, based on the back cover. Seems scarce everywhere so Imprint may not have been able to secure it.

I've only been able to get it on DVD from the UK (and I believe there was a limited DVD set back in the day from Korea that included it with the theatrical cut of the movie), and the picture quality on that is certainly lacking... but it really is a tremendous watch and gives a wonderful insight into the process and the meaning of the film.

I'd be very happy if someone were ever able to get the rights to it and give it a decent release. The Director's Cut also needs a fresh master (the one being used is likely the same used for the DVD). Good on Imprint for including all 3 cuts, for sure, but the DC is certainly the one I recommend.

[manicsounds]

I didn't realize there was a difference between the theatrical cut and the US Miramax cut. Is there a significant runtime difference?

[Chareth]

Originally Posted by bongozoid

I've only been able to get it on DVD from the UK (and I believe there was a limited DVD set back in the day from Korea that included it with the theatrical cut of the movie), and the picture quality on that is certainly lacking... but it really is a tremendous watch and gives a wonderful insight into the process and the meaning of the film.

Thanks for the tip. Just got a used copy on eBay for $10 - stoked!

Shame the picture quality is rough, but probably the only option, it seems.

Originally Posted by manicsounds

I didn't realize there was a difference between the theatrical cut and the US Miramax cut. Is there a significant runtime difference?

The Miramax and non-Miramax theatrical cut DVDs all have a 99 min run time. From memory, the differences were all text-based: a different subtitle track and closing cards at the end. Maybe there were opening cards too but I haven’t seen either version in over ten years.

Movie Censorship only compares the theatrical and director’s cuts so no help there.

[LMFAObros]

What’s the audio specs on all 3 cuts

[Chareth]

Originally Posted by LMFAObros

What’s the audio specs on all 3 cuts

Via Vision's page specifies them:

• Theatrical: Mandarin DTS-HD 5.1 Surround + LPCM 2.0 Stereo (U.S. Cut only) - same as the Korean Nova TC disc, so we've been spared the lossy Mandarin track of the Miramax discs; wonder if the 2.0 is an optional extra or the only US cut audio

• Director's: Mandarin DTS-HD 6.1 Surround - same as the Korean Nova DC disc

https://viavision.com.au/shop/hero-2002-imprint-asia-5/

So Imprint have gone with the best available options, fortunately, and haven't bothered with English dub tracks.

[micpp]

Originally Posted by Chareth

Maybe there were opening cards too but I haven’t seen either version in over ten years.

Yep, the opening prologue text differs between the international and US cuts as well. Also the US version opens with a Miramax logo for what it's worth, the other cuts just go straight into the opening credits.

Originally Posted by Chareth

wonder if the 2.0 is an optional extra or the only US cut audio[

The US cut seems to have both 5.1 and 2.0 as an option. It seems a bit odd but I guess it's down to what materials they got for each version.

[cooey]

Is there any point holding out hope for a boutique release from a UK label?

[the13thman]

Originally Posted by cooey

Is there any point holding out hope for a boutique release from a UK label?

I figured no and pre-ordered, of course that means 88 or Eureka will probably announce it...

[cooey]

Originally Posted by the13thman

I figured no and pre-ordered, of course that means 88 or Eureka will probably announce it...

Thank you for your sacrifice

How much was it if you don't mind me asking?

[grim_tales]

I'd be interested in this one, depends how much it is of course.
A film like this deserves to be a Masters of Cinema release, with HK theatrical cut and Director's Cut.

[grim_tales]

Is this only available on Imprint's site, or other places too? Looking at it, it appears to be 2 normal cases in a box, so not a space saver. But must be worth having if we don't know if it'll be picked up over here - was wondering how long these usually take to sell out?

https://viavision.com.au/shop/hero-2002-imprint-asia-5/

[Jim Pez]

Originally Posted by grim_tales

Is this only available on Imprint's site, or other places too? Looking at it, it appears to be 2 normal cases in a box, so not a space saver. But must be worth having if we don't know if it'll be picked up over here - was wondering how long these usually take to sell out?

https://viavision.com.au/shop/hero-2002-imprint-asia-5/

I got mine from orbitdvd.com

[n0tredom]

Got my set today from Diabolikdvd. Would have preferred a single case with slipcover like my other Imprint releases.

I now have 6 releases of Hero on Blu-ray: USA (Miramax), Spain (Sony), Japan (TC Entertainment), Germany (Constantin Film), South Korea (Nova Media), and Australia (Imprint). When I get the chance, I may try to compare them.

I really hope the next worthwhile release is a 4K UHD...

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by n0tredom

Got my set today from Diabolikdvd. Would have preferred a single case with slipcover like my other Imprint releases.

I now have 6 releases of Hero on Blu-ray: USA (Miramax), Spain (Sony), Japan (TC Entertainment), Germany (Constantin Film), South Korea (Nova Media), and Australia (all). When I get the chance, I may try to compare them.

I really hope the next worthwhile release is a 4K UHD...

I would love a 4K UHD release, too. Short of that ever materializing, the Imprint set seems like the best option. I still need to import it soon.

[n0tredom]

Originally Posted by GenPion

I would love a 4K UHD release, too. Short of that ever materializing, the Imprint set seems like the best option. I still need to import it soon.

I fully watched the US cut tonight and scanned the USA Lionsgate/Miramax disc afterwards to compare. A benefit is the Mandarin audio is lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 48kHz on the Imprint vs lossy Dolby Digital on the Lionsgate/Miramax. The colors are definitely more muted on the Imprint and the bitrate stayed around 20 Mbps for calm scenes and around 30 Mbps for action scenes. For the Lionsgate/Miramax disc, the bitrate stays in the upper 30s most of the time and the image detail seems better as a result. However, it really seems like they boosted the colors on the Lionsgate/Miramax. So, I actually enjoyed the overall look of the Imprint version better. It would have definitely benefitted from its own disc for higher bitrates, though.

I scanned through the original/international cut afterwards and think it looks slightly weaker than the US cut. It is 24p vs the US cut's 23.976p. The content and colors of the subtitles are different than the US cut and the opening/ending sections are different as well, which was to be expected.

I took some timestamps to see if there is really any difference in story content between the original/international and the US cut:

- The opening horses appear at 0:01:08 for the original/international and 0:01:34 for the US cut.
- The Great Wall appears at 1:32:32 for the original/international and 1:33:03 for the US cut.
- Based on this, there are 5484 seconds of "story" in the original/international and 5489 seconds for the US cut.
- Multiplying the original/international by 24/23.976 for the frame rate differences increases its length by about 5 seconds to be equal to the US cut.

So, there seems to be no difference in actual story content between the original/international and US cuts.

[lateralspin]

Originally Posted by n0tredom

I now have 6 releases of Hero on Blu-ray: USA (Miramax), Spain (Sony), Japan (TC Entertainment), Germany (Constantin Film), South Korea (Nova Media), and Australia (Imprint). When I get the chance, I may try to compare them.

I had the Spanish release but the audio track is faulty when being decoded through a separate discrete decoder. That is why I bought the Nova Media release, which has the extended cut. The extended cut is fine; it doesnʼt ruin the experience, rather extends some scenes only slightly.

The Nova Media release has better PQ than the Spanish release.
However, the subtitles space out numbers. For example, 12 would be printed as 1 2

[Brown Jenkin]

Just finished the TC. It scared me at 1st because the text was in English and I didn't realize Mirimax had anything to do with this version of the film. I was further put off by the only language choice being "English." Thankfully, once Jet started his narration my fear was abated. I've never seen the DC, so I look forward to getting to that eventually.

[grim_tales]

Did you watch the "US theatrical cut" rather than the HK theatrical cut?