Heroes & Villains Three Films starring Jet Li (Eureka Classics) - 20th November 2023

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

We’ll probably never get proper unf*cked versions of Fong Sai Yuk, Fong Sai Yuk 2, Tai-Chi Master, and Fist of Legend, four of Jet’s finest films.

Does Miramax now Paramount still have rights to these? Would have thought they'd have reverted back to their original HK owners for international distribution by now (30 years)

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Originally Posted by drush9999

Does Miramax now Paramount still have rights to these? Would have thought they'd have reverted back to their original HK owners for international distribution by now (30 years)

Originally Posted by SpaceBlackKnight

A company called Eastern Heroes (formed from the remains of Eastern Productions) owns them. The US Ronin Flix releases mention them on the back cover and they repurposed the Miramax HD masters (with poorly edited Canton/Mandarin audio tracks).

China Star Entertainment (who supposedly owns Asian rights to the Eastern Productions titles) had reportedly completed brand new 4k restos of Fong Sai Yuk 1&2, Tai-Chi Master, and Fist of Legend. They had also did a new transfer for The Bodyguard from Beijing/The Defender, but remains banned in China and HK since after it's initial release (Censor boards objected to certain themes that "disrespect or misinterpret meanings from the government parties). It might be getting theatrical runs through distributors in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan since those countries had no problem with it and was quite popular there.

Question remains is if whoever in the UK can work with Eastern Heroes for getting these new transfers, since Ronin Flix (who are a much smaller outfit) just used whatever they could get.

[cooey]

Looks like this is shipping now from Eureka. Hopefully the contributors managed to work their magic and get the extra cuts of Dr Wai included

[The Mole]

Originally Posted by cooey

Looks like this is shipping now from Eureka. Hopefully the contributors managed to work their magic and get the extra cuts of Dr Wai included

It will be included as a hybrid of HD and SD footage. At least that is what was told in this thread.

What I pitty is that Eureka could not be convinced to use MY FATHER IS A HERO as a title instead of THE ENFORCER.

[cooey]

Originally Posted by The Mole

It will be included as a hybrid of HD and SD footage. At least that is what was told in this thread.

Both Ken and IronGod have said they were trying to get it included, but nothing was confirmed.

Originally Posted by Ken81

An effort by us contributors and Eureka will be made to include the Dr. Wai alternate version(s), fingers crossed

Originally Posted by Irongod2112

Just to let everyone know...

This release is currently being put together and the Cantonese tracks for Hitman & Dr. Wai will be 5.1 not Mono.

I'm also looking into including the International Cut of Dr. Wai. at the very least a SD version will be included with the English Dub.

I will hopefully know more soon.

[cooey]

Just had a look at the Eureka unboxing vid and the slipcase shows 'Alternate "International" presentation of Dr Wai (with English and Mandarin options)' is also included as well as a brand new commentary track for it

Awesome!

[psychik]

If they managed to reconstruct the international version using a mix of HD and SD sources, we must really congratulate them because the small differences are many in addition to the unique scenes.

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by cooey

Looks like this is shipping now from Eureka. Hopefully the contributors managed to work their magic and get the extra cuts of Dr Wai included

This started shipping last week to the U.S.

[Pochacco]

Mine has been despatched, along with The Royal Tramp Collection.

I noticed from the unboxing video that they've used the original title of 'My Father is a Hero' on the cover insert and it's mentioned by title in the booklet, despite the slip and disc saying 'The Enforcer'

[ShawDonkey]

Seems this time they dispatch it randomly. Am in Eu, placed order within hour pre-order became open but very little chance to get it before release date, it`s not on walkers stage yet.

[cooey]

Originally Posted by ShawDonkey

Seems this time they dispatch it randomly. Am in Eu, placed order within hour pre-order became open but very little chance to get it before release date, it`s not on walkers stage yet.

Yup, I pre-ordered in it becoming available, it was despatched the other day and I received it (and Royal Tramp) 2 days ago

[Pochacco]

I watched Mr Father is (a) Hero today. Solid enough transfer given the age of the movie but there's one subtitled line that goes right across the screen and is cut off either side slightly - which is jarring to say the least.

[russweiss1]

Originally Posted by Pochacco

I watched Mr Father is (a) Hero today. Solid enough transfer given the age of the movie but there's one subtitled line that goes right across the screen and is cut off either side slightly - which is jarring to say the least.

It's surprising that Eureka didn't catch the error. Subtitles used to be really problematic during the laserdisc/DVD timeframe. I saw a lot of movies that not only had low PQ but put white baked in subtitles over white background so you couldn't even read the words sometimes. Many releases were incorrectly framed as well so sometimes the subs would get partially cut off.

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

It's surprising that Eureka didn't catch the error. Subtitles used to be really problematic during the laserdisc/DVD timeframe. I saw a lot of movies that not only had low PQ but put white baked in subtitles over white background so you couldn't even read the words sometimes. Many releases were incorrectly framed as well so sometimes the subs would get partially cut off.

I remember I used to be thankful for those white burned-in cut-off subtitles on my HK VHS and LDs! I’d say, COOL, it has subtitles! I can actually pretty much understand what’s going on if I squint hard enough! How times have changed. I now have myself an embarrassment of remastered HK riches in beautiful HD with (mostly) proper subtitles and a wealth of different versions, soundtrack choices, extras, reversible cover arts, etc. Such a great time to be a HK film fan!

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Pochacco

I watched Mr Father is (a) Hero today. Solid enough transfer given the age of the movie but there's one subtitled line that goes right across the screen and is cut off either side slightly - which is jarring to say the least.

Which line?

[russweiss1]

I watched My Father is a Hero yesterday and was really pleased with how good it looked. I'll admit I didn't notice the subtitle flub but perhaps it happened during a scene I was really caught up in. My only other viewing was on laserdisc back in 1995 so I know this is a far superior release. I haven't seen The Hitman or Dr. Wai since the 90's either so I'm looking forward to revisiting them.

[Mr. Chaverria]

Mine shipped out on the 13th. I am anxiously waiting in Oregon, USA for this one. I get so excited to get HK stuff from the UK.

[The Mole]

When starting the international version of DR. WAI, a text informs you that this version had to be recreated using the HD master of the HK version and SD footage. So far, so good.

When starting the CONTRACT KILLER version of HITMAN, you get no such text, but the version has also been recreated using the HD master of the HK version (with Chinese credits during the opening scenes) and the English opening and closing credits spliced in from SD footage.

I don't mind, because I watched CONTRACT KILLER once and found it almost unbearable because of the awful Hip Hop soundtrack. So I will not ever watch it again. But for those interested in this version should know what to expect.

[russweiss1]

The Hitman overall had a very nice transfer. There was however a scene beginning a little over the 22 minute mark that has blurring that lasts for about 35 seconds. The subtitles looked fine during this scene so I'm not sure what the issue was. I can definitely say I'm a bigger fan of Li's period piece films as compared to the modern ones, although I do like The Bodyguard From Beijing.

[The Mole]

Originally Posted by russweiss1

The Hitman overall had a very nice transfer. There was however a scene beginning a little over the 22 minute mark that has blurring that lasts for about 35 seconds. The subtitles looked fine during this scene so I'm not sure what the issue was.

Just checked my HKL DVD. The scene you mentioned (Martin (Kim Yip Kwong Kim) entering Tsukamoto's (Sato Keiji) office) is blurry there as well. Seems like the camera was out of focus during the shoot.