Kiss of the Dragon (2001)

[4K display]

It pains me to post this:

Video 1.5/5

VIDEO:


The video reeks of low grade film or DVD. After seeing the trailer in HD on another Fox title, I feared the worst from this one. And that fear is what I found. It's in detail where this one suffers most. Resolution is extremely wanting by HD standards and fairly wanting even for SD more often than not. The soft lighting and general look of the film doesn't seem to help detail stand out either. Oddly though, the film starts very well, showing a reasonable amount of detail for a title mastered over five years ago. But resolution drops off suddenly and never fully recovers more than a glimpse here and a glimpse there. And there aren't too many of those.

Colors are tainted by the lighting, but lack the brilliance and clarity we've grown accustomed to. The film has a very seedy, dingy look that seems appropriate to the setting and story. But if this is all the photography's got, it's a very poor choice for an opening wave of titles set to sell people on the format.

I don't know what happened with this one, or even if anything did. Compression doesn't appear to have a heavy hand, nor should it considering the drought of extras. I expect the video is superior than SD, but this felt like watching DVD far too much.
35mm

After reading Chad's review I looked around for some D-Theater version reviews (mediocre to average) and it seems something went terribly wrong with this BD. Oh well I wasn't buying this title anyway..hopefully this is Fox's one dud done with and out of the way.

[BTBuck1]

just removed this off my wish list.

[Zvi]

Sux I already bought it. I liked that movie, IMHO one of the better ones with Jet Li.

[KenThompson]

Saw that one in the theater,wasn't that great there

[GTP]

Was not inpressed with the D-theater version either......but I have heard from several D-theater owners that Stir of Echos looks real nice on BD.

[Early Memphis]

I think this is a really underappreciated movie. I've owned the DVD for years but I was reluctant to upgrade because of the crap BRDC video review. With all due respect to Sir Terrence (and especially to Chad - whoever he is) : . It is true that I had to A/B the DVD and the BD thru several scenes over the first 30 minutes or so to be sure, and in the beginning I almost thought the DVD was gonna win out - but eventually it was clear that the BD was a definite, if slight, PQ upgrade (sound was never in question). Is it a 5/5, not even close; but it's more of a 3/5 any day or night than a 2 or a 1-and-a-half! Some folks must expect shiny, polished eye candy in everything. Most of the movie takes place either at night or in overcast and dingy places - not in bright, shiny sunlight. It's a grim tale, hence, much of the time, the grim lighting.

That being said, I'd love to see a better transfer with an AVC codec - it's a crime for this movie to be left this way - but that's probably not gonna happen. However, after shying away for a long time because of those overly-negative reviews, I picked this up for $5 at Target and I'm glad I did. Alas, I still have to keep my DVD because they put it out on a cheap 25GB disc and left off all the extras, but ... if you like the movie and own the DVD, it's a step up and certainly worth $5.

[HotRats]

I don't know if its any better in reality but the specs given for the German Universum issue claim to be MPEG4/AVC http://www.bluray-disc.de/blu-ray-fi...n-blu-ray-disc So if you can play Region B it might be worth a look.

[Sky_Captain]

I have the German disc and it's the same master as the Fox release, albeit, now encoded in AVC. There's not much difference between the two versions. I also think the Fox release got some bad reviews, that bordered on hyperbolic, when I've seen much, much worse discs released, in the last year or two.

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by HotRats

I don't know if its any better in reality but the specs given for the German Universum issue claim to be MPEG4/AVC http://www.bluray-disc.de/blu-ray-fi...n-blu-ray-disc So if you can play Region B it might be worth a look.

I can't play Region B, but Amazon.de lists it as All Regions (the only source which lists it that way). Strangely, bluray-disc.de (your link) is the only source which lists the disc as 50GB - although it also has it as Region B.

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

I have the German disc and it's the same master as the Fox release, albeit, now encoded in AVC. There's not much difference between the two versions. I also think the Fox release got some bad reviews, that bordered on hyperbolic, when I've seen much, much worse discs released, in the last year or two.

Thanks for the info! Can you confirm that the German disc is All Regions (or at least if it's playable in Region A players)? And do you know if it's 50 or 25GB? I certainly agree with your comment on the reviews (as you can tell by the raspberry smiley I used )!

[Sky_Captain]

It's region free, checked it on my US PS3. BD-25.

None of the extras are playable though, as they're in PAL.

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

It's region free, checked it on my US PS3. BD-25.

None of the extras are playable though, as they're in PAL.

Hey, thanks! That sure seems weird about the extras. Maybe it's often that way and I just haven't run into it before. I think the only German BD I've bought was the Tomb Raider double feature, and everything played on that.

[Dragon Lee]

is the german release the "uncut" version or same as US cut?

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lee

is the german release the "uncut" version or same as US cut?

I don't have it, but I don't think any BD is uncut. Amazon.de calls it an "Extended Cut" - but they're all about the same 98 minute time. HD Goofnut's List of International BDs with Better PQ, AQ, and/or More Extras thread says : "98:13 min (the short head-shooting scene in the laundry room is cut)". The US entry says "98:15 min (also missing headshot)".

[Sky_Captain]

It's the same as the US cut. I think the German cut was originally censored further, hence the misleading 'uncut' tag, which frequents German releases.

[slick1ru2]

Has anyone rented it on Vudu? Its $5 for the BD. For $2 more you can take it to Walmart after filling out the Vudu Disc To Digital form here. They give you your disc back and now you have access to the HDX version on Vudu. If its better than the BD, $2 isn't much. Buying the HDX version is twice that total cost. If you already have it on DVD, its $5 for an HDX version. I am converting my favorite DVDs that aren't on BD and probably won't be for a long time.

[slick1ru2]

If you recently ordered this title from Amazon when the price dropped to $5 check your emails because its been delayed so long they need approval to keep your order open. If they don't get it, they are going to cancel it.

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by slick1ru2

If you recently ordered this title from Amazon when the price dropped to $5 check your emails because its been delayed so long they need approval to keep your order open. If they don't get it, they are going to cancel it.

Wow, bummer. If you're stuck in that boat, check out Target. That's where I got mine for $5 and the one nearby still has several copies.

[Akijama]

There's a new edition coming from Anchor Bay on May 5.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/43933309

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by Akijama

There's a new edition coming from Anchor Bay on May 5.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/43933309

[Show spoiler]

Thanks. Damn, the site has nothing so far. AVC & a 50 GB BD might help the crap BRDC PQ rating (2/5) - even if they don't remaster.

[Dragon Lee]

I wouldn't be shocked if this was just a repackaging. A new transfer and extras would surely be appreciated.