Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest 4K UHD and Blu-ray (Arrow)

[JHUJG789]

Originally Posted by newgen2005

Does the Japanese version on the 2023 UHD have burnt in subtitles down the right hand side?

Yes, since it uses the actual print that was shown in Japanese theaters, there are burnt-in subtitles along the right-hand side of the screen.
The missing portion is from around 37:00 to 1:01:00. That section is presented using remastered footage (upscaled from SD), with the burnt-in subtitles digitally recreated.
In any case, as of now, the 2023 release (TWUSS-1351) is the only one that includes the genuine Japanese theatrical version.

[newgen2005]

Originally Posted by JHUJG789

Yes, since it uses the actual print that was shown in Japanese theaters, there are burnt-in subtitles along the right-hand side of the screen.
The missing portion is from around 37:00 to 1:01:00. That section is presented using remastered footage (upscaled from SD), with the burnt-in subtitles digitally recreated.
In any case, as of now, the 2023 release (TWUSS-1351) is the only one that includes the genuine Japanese theatrical version.

Thank you.

Is there anything different on this disc Game Of Death wise?, compared to the Arrow release. I am trying to convince myself to buy it, or justify it

[saturnhst]

Do the other Japanese 4K's have any exclusive content? I thought they were just ports of the Arrow releases.

[JHUJG789]

Originally Posted by saturnhst

Do the other Japanese 4K's have any exclusive content? I thought they were just ports of the Arrow releases.

Basically, if you already own the Arrow box set, there’s really no need to buy the Japanese releases.
However, the disc for The Big Boss (TWUSS-1344) does include the English audio version that was shown during the 1983 re-release in Japan.
This version features the Mandarin theme song during the intro and ending, and some newly added background music.
If you're interested in that version, it might be worth picking up.

[saturnhst]

Originally Posted by JHUJG789

Basically, if you already own the Arrow box set, there’s really no need to buy the Japanese releases.
However, the disc for The Big Boss (TWUSS-1344) does include the English audio version that was shown during the 1983 re-release in Japan.
This version features the Mandarin theme song during the intro and ending, and some newly added background music.
If you're interested in that version, it might be worth picking up.

Thanks. So it has the Japanese cut with the side-titles. I have the 2012 Japanese Extreme Edition blu-ray and the 2020 Japanese 4K+blu-ray box set and neither of them have that cut.

So the new Japanese 4K's have the Japanese cuts for all 5 films? The previous releases only have the Japanese cuts for FoF, WotD and GoD.

[JHUJG789]

Originally Posted by saturnhst

Thanks. So it has the Japanese cut with the side-titles. I have the 2012 Japanese Extreme Edition blu-ray and the 2020 Japanese 4K+blu-ray box set and neither of them have that cut.

So the new Japanese 4K's have the Japanese cuts for all 5 films? The previous releases only have the Japanese cuts for FoF, WotD and GoD.

In 2021, 35mm film prints of The Big Boss (6 reels) and Tower of Death (4 reels) were listed on a Japanese online auction site.
It’s likely that these are the prints used for the new transfers. That’s why these two versions were never included in previous home media releases.
As for the 2023 UHD releases, only those two Japanese theatrical versions are included.

[saturnhst]

Ordered all four of the 2023 Japanese UHD's and three of them arrived in the US in 2 days. Amazon Japan's shipping is impressive. Still waiting for GoD, which for some reason is shipping from Hong Kong.

The UHD discs are the exact same discs that were in the 2020 boxset. The Blu-ray discs that come with the 2023 UHD's for FoF and WotD are just duplicates of the UHD discs (no bonus features).

The only exclusive content is the Japanese 1983 re-release version of BB on the Blu-ray disc.

None of the discs contain any original trailers or any of the bonus features from the 2012 Blu-rays (which were also included in the 2020 boxset).

Interestingly all of the Blu-rays in the 2023 UHD's are region-free, while the 2012 Blu-rays and region-locked.

[FoxMachine]

Originally Posted by newgen2005

Does the Japanese version on the 2023 UHD have burnt in subtitles down the right hand side?

Seems like it based on the second picture

[saturnhst]

It's strange that the Japanese 1983 cut of The Big Boss has the opening and ending theme songs sung in Mandarin, while the on-screen credits and the movie itself is completely in English.

I think it would fit better with a Mandarin version of the movie. I wish Arrow would've made a hybrid soundtrack with the Mandarin opening/ending theme songs paired with the Mandarin cut.

[Takeshi666]

Originally Posted by JHUJG789

The missing portion is from around 37:00 to 1:01:00. That section is presented using remastered footage (upscaled from SD), with the burnt-in subtitles digitally recreated.

Doesn't the Arrow release utilize a full HD master?

[newgen2005]

Originally Posted by saturnhst

Ordered all four of the 2023 Japanese UHD's and three of them arrived in the US in 2 days. Amazon Japan's shipping is impressive. Still waiting for GoD, which for some reason is shipping from Hong Kong.

The UHD discs are the exact same discs that were in the 2020 boxset. The Blu-ray discs that come with the 2023 UHD's for FoF and WotD are just duplicates of the UHD discs (no bonus features).

The only exclusive content is the Japanese 1983 re-release version of BB on the Blu-ray disc.

None of the discs contain any original trailers or any of the bonus features from the 2012 Blu-rays (which were also included in the 2020 boxset).

Interestingly all of the Blu-rays in the 2023 UHD's are region-free, while the 2012 Blu-rays and region-locked.

Thank for the info. I did wonder if my set from 2020 had the same Blu's, as the UHD discs looked identical to the 2023 releases.

I was really only interested in the Japanese 1983 version of The Big Boss and the Japanese 35mm of Tower of Death.

Luckily a friend sent me his 2023 discs to check. I was hoping Fist of Fury and Way of the Dragon would have had some extra goodies but as you've said above they are identical to the older releases.

[saturnhst]

Game of Death arrived today. As with the other ones, the UHD is the same disc from the 2020 boxset. Disc 2 (Blu-ray) has the same content as the UHD, but adds the Japanese cut of Tower of Death as a bonus feature. Disc 3 is Final Game of Death.

Yeah, I was hoping all of the UHD's would all have the Japanese cuts, but no. You have to keep the old releases for those.

So, these are the discs that have the Japanese cuts with the scratches and side-titles:

The Big Boss - 2023 UHD
Fist of Fury - 2012 Extreme Edition Blu-ray (also included in the 2020 boxset)
Way of the Dragon - 2017 Ultimate Edition Blu-ray (also included in the 2020 boxset)
Game of Death - 2012 Extreme Edition Blu-ray (also included in the 2020 boxset), also on US Shout! and UK Arrow releases
Tower of Death - 2023 Game of Death UHD

[Jompa]

May I ask whats so good the Japanese cuts of these movies? I'm happy with my Arrow UHD set.