Arrow Films acquires Hong Kong classics from Shout Factory for the UK market

[Jackie Scanlon]

Originally Posted by Broomey

I want them all but I really do wish at least half of them would get bundled into sets so we're not paying at least £20 for each film.

Assuming, for the purposes of this discussion, every single one of the titles does get a physical release, there is absolutely no way the comedies and romantic dramas that have never previously been released here won't get bundled up. The comedies (stressing again the ones that previously never got a release here - they would typically be comedies that relied more on dialogue than physical humour) particularly will be extremely hard sells as individual releases because they just don't travel outside of that part of the world, because there's so much localised language and humour which is impossible to translate into English. I can't remember if it was Bey Logan, Mike Leeder or Rick Baker who said it would be like trying to sell Reeves & Mortimer to the far East, and they don't even travel well to other English speaking countries. Mind you, there doesn't appear to be as many gambling comedies (another HK sub-genre which doesn't travel because of so much localism in the material) as I was expecting, so there's that. But many of the also-ran romantic dramas are super schmaltzy and sentimental soft-focus films which are like feature length soap opera episodes and will also be hard to justify as individual releases.

I'd be surprised if most or all of the action films didn't get releases one way or another (I'm quietly hoping that Gunmen - a film which most people think is average at best, but one that I've long had a soft spot for since I saw it in the cinema in the early-mid 90s - will get a physical release in some form), the horrors and comedy-horrors will almost certainly get proper releases as they've always been popular sellers right back to the days of VHS, and the upper-tier dramas like The Day On The Beach and All About Ah Long will get releases too I imagine because they were the beginning of and fed into the HK new wave, which is obviously such an important part of world cinema. And it wouldn't surprise me if the earlier chaff that John Woo, Ringo Lam, Chow Yun Fat and Johnnie To did (coincidentally mostly comedy) before they all found their groove got releases too purely for their involvement alone. After that it's mostly slim pickings and I doubt we'd be missing too much if the rest were digital only or sold on to another label to deal with.


It'll be interesting to see if Shout and Arrow physically and/or individually release films the other label doesn't for whatever reason. I don't think US and UK tastes are that different when it comes to HK cinema, but the labels might have different views on the product they have.

[cooey]

Originally Posted by Broomey

I want them all but I really do wish at least half of them would get bundled into sets so we're not paying at least £20 for each film.

I'd say box set bundles are pretty much a given

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by Jackie Scanlon

It'll be interesting to see if Shout and Arrow physically and/or individually release films the other label doesn't for whatever reason. I don't think US and UK tastes are that different when it comes to HK cinema, but the labels might have different views on the product they have.

Don't forget that there will be other markets too, like France. I assume somebody over there will pick up at least a handful of titles. It's always possible they'll do something crazy and commission a restoration of a film that nobody else wants.

[Jackie Scanlon]

Originally Posted by apollo828

Don't forget that there will be other markets too, like France. I assume somebody over there will pick up at least a handful of titles. It's always possible they'll do something crazy and commission a restoration of a film that nobody else wants.

I'm terrible for double/triple dipping for my favourites, so I've promised myself I'm not even going to look at what the other territories' labels will be offering up with these and will restrict my interest to Arrow and Shout only. Which obvs means France will get three different versions of Gunmen in 4K and Australia will get an enormous Umbrella box set for Triads The Inside Story whilst both of those will be digital only in the US and not available at all from Arrow. YOU CAN BE SURE OF IT!

[Broomey]

I totally understand how many of these films were for very local tastes but find it unfair that lots of Japanese films easily get away with being sold on their crazy unique wackinessin when it comes to comedies and dramas.

Surely the whole appeal is how different they are.

[Jackie Scanlon]

Originally Posted by Broomey

I totally understand how many of these films were for very local tastes but find it unfair that lots of Japanese films easily get away with being sold on their crazy unique wackinessin when it comes to comedies and dramas.

Surely the whole appeal is how different they are.

The crazy and wacky HK comedies probably will get a release. As I said in my earlier post, it'll be the comedies which rely on comedy through their dialogue rather than physical/slapstick antics or universal jokes that are unlikely to get individual physical releases, if they get releases at. Mandarin and Cantonese speaking countries have a very unique sense of humour through untranslatable wordplay. You know when you've seen a moment in a martial arts film where they say something rhythmic and then the subtitles put in something like A Pocket Full Of Posies or This Old Man and the like? That's because the wordplay actually being used is impossible to translate into English. The comedies that rely almost solely on this for their humour are unlikely to get individual or physical releases I would say because they simply will not make sense to anyone who isn't fluent in Mandarin and/or Cantonese. Hui brothers and Karl Maka type comedy is more universal so they'll get a good showing, but a mahjong gambling comedy is going to have zero sales.

Japanese comedies aren't really a good comparator to use.

[Yurakucho]

Wait, so Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb isn't a Golden Princess film and labels haven't released it out of choice?

(I've not actually seen it, it sounds wild.)

[fatboyslim142]

Looks like Shout buggered up the subtitles on their first release (Hard Boiled). Hopefully Arrow fix them for the UK release & any other release that Shout also bugger up in the subs department.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Looks like Shout buggered up the subtitles on their first release (Hard Boiled). Hopefully Arrow fix them for the UK release & any other release that Shout also bugger up in the subs department.

Disc isn't out yet, and I believe the digital version has like one typo? Relax.

[GlacierTuba]

Any sign of Curry and Pepper getting a release in this mix of 97 trillion titles? I think its still in VHS limbo?

Can't wait for Tiger On The Beat 1 & 2, The Killer (might be able to retire my Criterion Laserdisc), A Better Tomorrow and of course Hard Boiled.

Bruce Lee #Dentgate2 incoming?

[MifuneFan]

From the US thread:

Originally Posted by Irongod2112

Hey guys! Just wanted to clear things up regarding the subtitles for these upcoming Shout Factory releases.

This whole thing that the subtitles suck is totally off base and it's very disappointing to hear after so much work has gone into them.

Please also be advised that the streaming versions are most likely earlier drafts and the discs will have gone through additional QC.

The subs for both CITY ON FIRE and HARD-BOILED were done by someone who has done tons of great subtitle translations for both 88 Films & Eureka and works with Markgway as well helping him out with his sub translations.

I also had some input to make sure that some of the older translations that we have grown to love stayed in, but subs still remained accurate.

Below are some of the translator's feedback
on his work on CITY ON FIRE and the negative comments made, hopefully everyone can rest a bit easier that the subtitles for these films are in good hands.

As Dylan said himself that 'Cantonese is as vernacular as it gets', there is no perfect equivalent in English most of the time. It's up to the translators to make a choice, and it's usually very subjective. There's no definite right or wrong answer, and any translations would have room for improvement.

Dylan gave one example of City on Fire and made his suggestions. Some of his lines are improvements, sure, and some other word choices can be seen as second-guessing the character's intentions and spelling it out for the audience. When it comes to the translation, it's a choice between translating it straight and as close to the original language used as possible, or reading between the lines and clarifying everything, including any unspoken information. It's a personal preference, and clearly, there are different opinions out there.

Maybe I'm leaning towards accuracy instead of a more poetic approach. The audience can also make up their minds whether Chow was being self-deprecating or not by watching his tone and facial expressions. Film is a visual medium after all.

[Anthony Thorne]

If the subs are perfect, helpful online critics will move on to b*tching about the subtitle font, then the colour of the font, then the size of the subs onscreen, and finally the duration of how long each sub remains onscreen before we see the next one, so settle in, our journey is just getting started.

[Doomhunter]

Yellow font, yuck

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by GlacierTuba

Any sign of Curry and Pepper getting a release in this mix of 97 trillion titles?

It's not included.

[GlacierTuba]

Originally Posted by apollo828

It's not included.

Darn. Can't see this one ever getting a release then. I don't think it even has a moody Blu in .hk, or DVD for that matter. Probably lurking on VCD somewhere.

Last I saw of it was a UK VHS, possibly Made In Hong Kong, or Hong Kong Legends. Something along those lines. Great film. What a shame.

[Jackie Scanlon]

Originally Posted by GlacierTuba

Darn. Can't see this one ever getting a release then. I don't think it even has a moody Blu in .hk, or DVD for that matter. Probably lurking on VCD somewhere.

Last I saw of it was a UK VHS, possibly Made In Hong Kong, or Hong Kong Legends. Something along those lines. Great film. What a shame.

There's a pretty decent quality version with English subs on Daily Motion. That might be the best you'll get at the moment.

[GlacierTuba]

I wonder who can unravel the red tape on Curry and Pepper if it's not in the Shout/Arrow deal? If it's in legal limbo could 88 or Eureka possibly get it? (and of course, Bruce Lee Fights Back From The Grave while they're at it! )

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by GlacierTuba

Darn. Can't see this one ever getting a release then. I don't think it even has a moody Blu in .hk, or DVD for that matter. Probably lurking on VCD somewhere.

There were two DVDs, one from Universe (non-anamorphic) and one from Kam & Ronson (anamorphic). There's also an HD streaming version but I'm pretty sure they just upscaled the K&R transfer.

[GlacierTuba]

Originally Posted by apollo828

There were two DVDs, one from Universe (non-anamorphic) and one from Kam & Ronson (anamorphic). There's also an HD streaming version but I'm pretty sure they just upscaled the K&R transfer.

Is that the same Universe that used to (still?) do all the fancy VCD's in slips? I think I still have my copy of Magic Kitchen (another one in Blu Ray hell, alas) somewhere and am 18.66666%recurring certain it was them who did that. Also Taxi 2, I have that on a Universe VCD somewhere.

Those were the days.

Never heard of Kam & Ronson. Sounds like a brand of sketchy darts someone's friend of a friend's next door neighbours second cousin's brothers nephew's aunt's brother in-law's neighbours uncle's dad - twice removed - who works on an oil rig would bring back from time to time with health warnings in microscopic Aramaic down the side.

Usually accompanied by a 3 litre bottle of Sang Thip (the methamphetamine version) and a Happy Shopper carrier bag full of moody VHS tapes of films still in cinemas but strangely available to buy in Greece or Malta.

But I digress...

[stigdu]

The 4 I remember loving the most as a young man (excepting John Woo's films) were Nobody's Hero, Full Contact, The Heroes of Tsim Sha Shui East and I think it was called Warriors of Zu? Looks like I can cross Full Contact off my wishlist now.