My Sassy Girl: Starmax (R3KR) vs Asian Star (R2FR)

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 08 May 2006, 00:27

My Sassy Girl.

The purpose of this comparison is not to see which disc is better (only the Starmax features the director's cut), but only to see which transfer is better (out of curiosity).

Interesting sidenote: Due to a rights problem with the soundtrack, the director's cut cannot be sold outside of Korea. The Edko DC DVD is actually illegal.

Starmax:
2:17:33 NTSC (director's cut).
1:778 anamorphic transfer.
Dolby 5.1 korean track.
Problematic english subtitles (hard-of-hearing).
Lots of extras but no subtitles.

Asian Star:
2:03:40 PAL (korean theatrical cut).
1:85 anamorphic transfer.
Dolby 5.1 korean track
Good french subtitles.
Lots of extras, all subtitled in french.

Starmax:

Asian Star:

Starmax:

Asian Star:

Starmax:

Asian Star:

French DVD is sharper, but not by much.
Starmax picture has a pinkish tint, AsianStar picture has a greenish tint.
It's in the 3rd pic that the french DVD is much better (the Starmax disc is way too pink). Both transfers look good, though.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 08 May 2006, 00:31

I like the Starmax picture better. The Asian Star might look more realistic, but I got so used to the visual tone of the film.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 May 2006, 12:06

I prefer the French DVD too.

I never knew any company outside of Asia had released this. Why can France release it but no bloody English speaking country? :shock:

I own the Korean DTS LE DC.

The Full-rate DTS (if memory serves me correctly it's the only soundtrack on the DVD) adds nothing. I've not heard the DD5.1 to say for sure but I'm confident the film doesn't need DTS.

I bought it on a whim, if I were to buy it today I wouldn't bother and would go for the Korean DC. I originally saw it on the big screen in BKK (great experience, made even better by lots of funny looks by Thai locals while I was really laughing out loud, lots) and it was the DC then too.

Tom2681 wrote:Interesting sidenote: Due to a rights problem with the soundtrack, the director's cut cannot be sold outside of Korea. The Edko DC DVD is actually illegal.

Where did you hear this?

I heard it's a different DC or rather not a DC at all. The My Girl song is gone for example.

p.s - Can we add one rule to this idea and that being captures fit nicely on a 1024x768 resoution. So I guess 800x600 is good. Having to scroll left to right is really annoying.

I use 1152x864 at work and 1600x1280 at home.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 08 May 2006, 12:22

Brad wrote:Where did you hear this?

From Jean-Pierre Dionnet (head of Asian Star). He tried to buy the rights for the DC and this is the answer he received.

Brad wrote:Can we add one rule to this idea and that being captures fit nicely on a 1024x768 resoution.

No, no and no (unless a strong majority vote says Yes

). Anything under 1024x576 leads to a loss of detail for anamorphic PAL DVDs.
MY comparisons will always be fair.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 08 May 2006, 12:37

It is indeed really annoying having to scroll sideways to read all of the writing, though.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 May 2006, 12:43

I seriously doubt the HK DVD is illegal.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 08 May 2006, 12:47

I seriously doubt the HK DVD is illegal.

Last I heard the korean producers were still trying to convince Edko to stop producing this DVD.
I don't know whether the conflict has been resolved or not.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 May 2006, 12:51

Why do they care so much?

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 08 May 2006, 14:03

I could be totally wrong, but wasn't the HK directors cut replaced with the theatrical cut. I bought the korean disc about
6 months ago and remember reading something about HK Dir. Cut not being available anymore.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 May 2006, 14:14

HungFist wrote:I could be totally wrong, but wasn't the HK directors cut replaced with the theatrical cut.

It was the other way around. The DC came out a far bit later.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 08 May 2006, 14:30

bradavon wrote:
HungFist wrote:I could be totally wrong, but wasn't the HK directors cut replaced with the theatrical cut.
It was the other way around. The DC came out a far bit later.

Oh, thanks for correcting me

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 20 Jun 2006, 00:09

Just found this at asiandb.com
Would this mean my LE Sassy Girl 3 disc set, which is still unopened, is worth about 300 dollars?

http://www.asiandb.com/store/detail.pfm?num=3341

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 20 Jun 2006, 00:25

Is it autographed ?

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 20 Jun 2006, 00:25

No it doesn't. First of all AsianDB is always over-priced. Second of all, you'd do best selling it to me for €30. This way it guarantees that you make a little bit of money.

Yi-Long · Post by **Yi-Long** » 20 Jun 2006, 17:24

thelostdragon wrote:No it doesn't. First of all AsianDB is always over-priced. Second of all, you'd do best selling it to me for €30. This way it guarantees that you make a little bit of money.

Ow ok... I'll giftwrap it for ya and send it right over

Tom: I have no idea if it's autographed. I've never opened it.

Ah well, it might be worth more in 10-20 years orso... depending on what direction JJH's career will go...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Jun 2006, 21:20

I own that. I paid about £20 3 years ago when it was just released. I paid out to get DTS.

I wouldn't now (pay so much for an LE), especially when the DTS adds NOTHING to the film. It only has DTS or DD2.0 but I seriously doubt it DTS adds anything over DD5.1. The silly 3rd disc only plays in some CD players as it's heart shaped and has about 2-3 songs.

Get the Korean 2 Disc DC and be done with it. I can't see a better version coming any time soon.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Jun 2006, 23:16

bradavon wrote:I own that. I paid about £20 3 years ago when it was just released. I paid out to get DTS.

HAHA, as if DTS is needed for a rom-com. What a silly decision that purchase was.

Reminds me of the days when Universal used to slap DTS tracks on practically every movie (now they hardly ever, even on action/blockbuster films :shock::evil:). Intolerable Cruelty had a DTS track for example.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 Oct 2006, 16:37

Here's a video comparison between the TC and the DC:

http://rapidshare.de/files/35473843/MSG.rar.html

http://download.yousendit.com/BF96AAD3429C2831

http://www.filefactory.com/file/f37923/

428x240, DivX 6, MP3, ~20mb.

It's the swordplay scene.
-The TC features the (crappy) original music.
-The DC features music from Ashes of Time.

Here's why the TC should never EVER be released again.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Oct 2006, 18:13

Thanks for the link.

tom2681 wrote:Here's why the TC should never EVER be released again.

That's easy for you to say when you have a French DVD

. If it means an actual release I'd be all for the theatrical cut.

EvaUnit02 wrote:HAHA, as if DTS is needed for a rom-com. What a silly decision that purchase was.

Like you've never made an impulse buy. It's a nice LE so no harm there just not worth the inflated price.

I buy virtually no LE's now as 90% are rip-off's.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 04 Oct 2006, 19:29

Ohoh! I can't remember "Ashes of Time"-music in "My Sassy Girl". But I also don't think I own the TC. I have the Korean 2-disc edition. The one where the English subs say who is talking.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 Oct 2006, 19:38

I guess I'm the only one who has the DC with fixed subs :twisted:

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 04 Oct 2006, 19:42

Fixed? Which version, then?

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 04 Oct 2006, 19:46

Tom&Brad wrote:-Here's why the TC should never EVER be released again.
-That's easy for you to say when you have a French DVD

What do you mean ?
The french dvd only has the TC on it (I just bought it for the extras, not the movie).

LD wrote:Ohoh! I can't remember "Ashes of Time"-music in "My Sassy Girl".

Then watch the video I posted. You should recognize the music.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 04 Oct 2006, 19:50

thelostdragon wrote:Fixed? Which version, then?

My own (fansubbed) of course

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 04 Oct 2006, 19:59

tom2681 wrote:
LD wrote:Ohoh! I can't remember "Ashes of Time"-music in "My Sassy Girl".
Then watch the video I posted. You should recognize the music.

I did. But I don't recognize the music from the TC. And I know I'd notice the music from "Ashes of Time" even if it was distorted.