Shout Acquires Golden Princess Library...The Killer Hardboiled, etc

[Martin_31]

Originally Posted by Pete Rock

I wonder how Vinegar Syndrome was able to obtain the rights to Undeclared War?

I recently watched this movie, and I thought it was really good—excellent action flick.

[apollo828]

We'll see but I'm sure Shout will go 4K whenever possible. Whoever actually holds all the original materials is obviously open to such remasters, as seen with A Better Tomorrow and Once a Thief. Shout may be forced to go through Ritrovata or whomever for scans but it's better than nothing, and presumably they'll be able to do further color correction, as seen with Disk Kino's ABT box set in mainland China. Either way, 4K = More sales opportunities, possible theatrical screenings (2K is obviously doable but not ideal), etc. They're not gonna pass up any opportunity to recoup what I'm assuming was a very large bank transfer in order to get the rights.

[CreasyBear]

I'm literally almost crying. The Killer. Hard Boiled. Bullet in the Head.

Finally.

I think Shout realizes what a big deal this is and will put the effort into these releases. I've been very impressed with their Jackie Chan sets and it seems like their other martial arts sets are equally of great quality.

[Sleazeaddict]

Originally Posted by apollo828

I assume the Cinema City catalog is also included. I can't swear to it but it'd make sense. That should bring the total right up around 156. It'd be these films and these films.

some cool Happy ghost + cat III flicks

[themp3000]

Originally Posted by apollo828

The devil's in the details, of course, but I think it's safe to say Shout will provide the original theatrical audio and, whenever possible, original English dubs. They've done a good job of that with their HK box sets. I see no reason to believe that this will be any different.

That’s why I’m choosing to be cautiously optimistic about this whole thing. I’m hopeful there’ll finally be definitive releases. I’ll wait for reviews and breakdowns from reputable and reliable sources.

[CreasyBear]

These films have looked like shit for their entire existence on home video. Literally, a half-assed 2K scan and encode would look marvelous in comparison.

[DukeTogo84]

Man, I haven't watched Hard Boiled in a decade because I was really disappointed with the Blu-ray. I can't WAIT to be able to watch it again. That intro tea house shoot out set the tone for the entire film and never lets up.

[The Sovereign]

[apollo828]

Huh. I'm curious why you were disappointed in the Blu (presumably the JP one and not the HKR bootleg). The audio wasn't all that hot but I thought it looked quite good. A bit overly bright, maybe, but still miles ahead of old releases.

(That said, I'd imagine fans will riot if it doesn't get a full 4K remaster. No complaints here if we get it, especially since the old scan is probably 15-ish years old at this point.)

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by apollo828

Huh. I'm curious why you were disappointed in the Blu (presumably the JP one and not the HKR bootleg). The audio wasn't all that hot but I thought it looked quite good. A bit overly bright, maybe, but still miles ahead of old releases.

(That said, I'd imagine fans will riot if it doesn't get a full 4K remaster. No complaints here if we get it, especially since the old scan is probably 15-ish years old at this point.)

If you're referring to me, it's because there is a little brown bar at the bottom of the screen. It would bug the hell out of me to the point where I couldn't enjoy the film because of that damn brown bar. (Dragon Dynasty Blu-ray)

[MrGarmonbozia]

Anybody know who has Aces Go Places films? I keep hearing these films mentioned in the supplements of stuff. Is it Golden Princess?

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

If you're referring to me, it's because there is a little brown bar at the bottom of the screen. It would bug the hell out of me to the point where I couldn't enjoy the film because of that damn brown bar. (Dragon Dynasty Blu-ray)

Ahhh, gotcha. Yeah, considering the crew working on all the HK films that have been getting re-released, I'm assuming stuff like that will get caught. We'll see but I'm not worried.

Originally Posted by MrGarmonbozia

Anybody know who has Aces Go Places films? I keep hearing these films mentioned in the supplements of stuff. Is it Golden Princess?

Yep, GP. AFAIK, these are included in the deal. (I could be wrong but I doubt it.)

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by MrGarmonbozia

Anybody know who has Aces Go Places films? I keep hearing these films mentioned in the supplements of stuff. Is it Golden Princess?

Yeah, those are all Golden Princess films.

[Sommerswerd]

Does Shout Factory do new restorations for their releases or do they just usually release whatever masters that is given to them?

[WorkShed]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

Does Shout Factory do new restorations for their releases or do they just usually release whatever masters that is given to them?

Depends on the license but they've done restorations

[GenPion]

This is fantastic news and a huge acquisition for Shout. I am extremely excited for the news and the incredible roster of Hong Kong classics to come in the future.

I hope at least a few of the standout classics receive 4K UHD deluxe treatment - even if the rest (or most) are released in box-set format.

[AnimalCMan]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Know if they're gonna have John Woo involved with remastering them? Know he's stated before on how he was hoping to get them released on 4K.

No idea, but I'm sure they will definitely try. From what I've heard they typically try, but if they can't reach someone, they may proceed forward and get them to at least approve it.

Considering this deal meant they picked up most of his Hong Kong films, I have to imagine he is at the top of their list.

[tomblu]

Excellent news!

Really hope these are somehow available in the UK - of course will be importing if not but still.

I've been eyeing up various releases of John Woo's most popular films, but managed to hold off from getting them. I do however have the Nova release of City on Fire, which was great, a 4k of that please too.

They just need to make sure everything is as good as it can be, encoding, QC, etc.

I do wonder will 88, Eureka, try to distribute in the UK. Maybe they could try and sub-license certain titles from Shout! or perhaps Shout! will start releasing in the UK.

I'm guessing it will still be a good while before anything is released though, 2026 perhaps?

[WorkShed]

Sublicensing in the UK. Shout will be working with other labels.

[grim_tales]

I saw this on Facebook and did a double take, unbelievable.

I thought the company a) weren't interested in releasing these at all or b) wanted millions of $ to release them in just one country