Vive L'amour, Tropical Fish, Terrorizers, The Personals

[stobbart]

DVDBeaver has a review up for Vive

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/Reviews/vive-lamour.htm

The reviewer does not seem as excited about the release as I am. But the screencaps speak for themselves. Considering this film will probably not get a better release, not to mention any of the other 3 films, I highly endorse these discs.

[PGW]

Interesting. The shot on DVDBeaver of the woman on the bench seems to indicate this has the same bluish tint as "Dust In The Wind." It's certainly very different from either of the DVDs pictured.

[Dan Average]

The Personals has pretty much the same thing going on, though even more pronounced, I think. Skin tones also have a very noticeable red push. Still a vast improvement over the First Run DVD, but the remaster's color scheme screams "2011."

[PGW]

I received mine today from yesasia. Surprisingly, they were packed well and arrived undamaged.

The packaging is quite nice, though as someone pointed out earlier, it does look like it would damage easily, so you'll need to be careful just trying to figure out how to get the shrink wrap off.

I would have also preferred that the extras be put on the blu-ray. It seems pointless to me to have to buy a DVD that I'll never watch along with the blu-ray of the same movie - not to mention the extra cost this incurs.

Ah, well. It is what it is. I look forward to cueing one of 'em up tonight .

[stobbart]

I have watched all of them and think they are all great movies. Here is the order I would rate them in.

The Personals, Vive L'amour, Tropical Fish, The Terrorizers.

And from watching my copies that blue tint is not an issue. It is only in scenes where it makes sense, like early morning, late day, where blue light is picked up naturally unless there were filters placed on the camera. Like that scene at the end of Vive, that could be how it was originally filmed, as I am leaning to believe since the restoration work done on these releases and on previous releases the color was tweaked with.

The Personals does not (on my system at least) have a pronounced blue tint as mentioned a few posts back. I am very happy with all of these releases. Tropical Fish was the biggest surprise for me.

[Dan Average]

The blue tint on The Personals is not consistent, but the red push is present throughout (and even here some blue creeps in, producing tones verging on purple). There are certainly scenes where this is justified by light sources (e.g. red lanterns), but what disinclines me to believe this is "how it was originally filmed" is that a comparison with the old U.S. DVD shows numerous instances of crushed blacks and blown-out whites in the new transfer, which points to contrast boosting. This isn't to claim that the DVD was more detailed overall or even that it was a good DVD -- it was actually pretty terrible -- but the comparison is there. The BD was fine but there was clearly detail sacrificed for a color scheme that subjectively strikes me as garish.

[PGW]

I watched "Tropical Fish" last night. I enjoyed the film, but don't quite see quite what qualifies it for the restoration it's been given (it's not in the same league as "Dust In The Wind", IMHO).

The blu-ray looked great. Lots of detail. Film grain. No artifacts. The color scheme looked 100% perfect, to me (nothing overly blue at all).

[death valley]

Watched The Personals yesterday, saw no disturbing issues (blue/ red);

I've got one critical point, several times there's Chinese text in the shots (I think it's gives some info on the person in the shot, like a profile) but it's not translated; don't know if I miss much but it's a shame

I really like this effort and I'am looking forward to more editions (have the above mentioned 4 from Yesasia and ordered Dust last week)

[stobbart]

Originally Posted by death valley

Watched The Personals yesterday, saw no disturbing issues (blue/ red);

I've got one critical point, several times there's Chinese text in the shots (I think it's gives some info on the person in the shot, like a profile) but it's not translated; don't know if I miss much but it's a shame

I really like this effort and I'am looking forward to more editions (have the above mentioned 4 from Yesasia and ordered Dust last week)

If I recall correctly that information just says the persons name, age, and occupation. Most of the time you get that information during their conversations, but its an ode to a personal where you just get information from a person. Very appropriate for the film but nothing critical is lost.

[death valley]

Originally Posted by stobbart

If I recall correctly that information just says the persons name, age, and occupation. Most of the time you get that information during their conversations, but its an ode to a personal where you just get information from a person. Very appropriate for the film but nothing critical is lost.

Good to know, thanks ! watched Vive L'Amour yesterday, liked it very much and PQ is very good

Can't wait for the next titles to come out !

[Yami]

Has there been any news/rumours about a third 'wave' of titles?

[Immersion]

Originally Posted by Yami

Has there been any news/rumours about a third 'wave' of titles?

Interesting timing, as I was just about to bump this thread to inquire about this, as I finally got around to ordering Vive L'amour last week. Sadly I've seen no discussion or news anywhere relating to potential future releases, which is a real shame as I was expecting them to pick up the pace and maybe release on a few occasions a year. Even at $40 a Blu-ray I would be happy to see more Tsai films on Blu-ray! Maybe not many people purchased the films?

[stobbart]

Originally Posted by Immersion

Interesting timing, as I was just about to bump this thread to inquire about this, as I finally got around to ordering Vive L'amour last week. Sadly I've seen no discussion or news anywhere relating to potential future releases, which is a real shame as I was expecting them to pick up the pace and maybe release on a few occasions a year. Even at $40 a Blu-ray I would be happy to see more Tsai films on Blu-ray! Maybe not many people purchased the films?

I think they announced they were only doing 6 transfers. And the last one is rumored to be "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" or "The River". They maybe doing a change in packaging as they did between the release of the first title and these 4. And it took over a year between the releases

[Immersion]

Originally Posted by stobbart

I think they announced they were only doing 6 transfers. And the last one is rumored to be "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" or "The River". They maybe doing a change in packaging as they did between the release of the first title and these 4. And it took over a year between the releases

I remember reading about the River ages ago, but nothing seemed to surface. I really hope it is The River, as that is my second favourite Tsai film, and it would be a nice way for them to finish off. Honestly I can't see any other distributors releasing his work on Blu-ray. His prior films have all been so poorly distributed and many with low quality transfers, apart from the French labels who released his work where the transfers are decent but are without English subtitles.

[stobbart]

Originally Posted by Immersion

I remember reading about the River ages ago, but nothing seemed to surface. I really hope it is The River, as that is my second favourite Tsai film, and it would be a nice way for them to finish off. Honestly I can't see any other distributors releasing his work on Blu-ray. His prior films have all been so poorly distributed and many with low quality transfers, apart from the French labels who released his work where the transfers are decent but are without English subtitles.

Criterion has been trying for years to get some Tsai films, but I doubt anything will come of it.

What is your favorite Tsai film?

[PGW]

I'd love to see "Goodbye Dragon Inn" on blu-ray (and "Dragon Inn," too, now that I think of it!). I have U.S. and Taiwanese copies, and I'm pretty sure neither are even anamorphic widescreen.

[Immersion]

Originally Posted by stobbart

Criterion has been trying for years to get some Tsai films, but I doubt anything will come of it.

What is your favorite Tsai film?

It would be interesting if Criterion were to release one of his films, or maybe MOC. I don't Want to Sleep Alone is my favourite. I basically love all of his films, and this is how I would rate in preference of my favourites:

I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, The River, The Hole, What Time is it There? Face/Visage, Vive L'amour, The Wayward Cloud, Goodbye Dragon Inn.

Originally Posted by PGW

I'd love to see "Goodbye Dragon Inn" on blu-ray (and "Dragon Inn," too, now that I think of it!). I have U.S. and Taiwanese copies, and I'm pretty sure neither are even anamorphic widescreen.

I've wondered whether both versions of Goodbye are out of print, as I wasn't sure where to find them. If I remember correctly, one of them has the short film The Skywalk is Gone.

[PGW]

"Skywalk" is on the American DVD. The Taiwanese DVD has Lee Kang-Sheng's "The Missing" as a second feature.

[Telstar]

Man, aren't there ever any deals on these? I'd love to get my hands on Terrorizers, but can't see spending more than $20 - $25 for a title. Am I pipedreaming?

[TwelveMind]

Originally Posted by Telstar

Man, aren't there ever any deals on these? I'd love to get my hands on Terrorizers, but can't see spending more than $20 - $25 for a title. Am I pipedreaming?

Had family visit Taiwan a few months back, and it was hard to find along with the three other titles. It wouldn't surprise me if these blu-rays will eventually be out of print. Also, stopping short of flying to Taiwan, you won't find imports ranging for that price.