Asian Movies in HD!

[Markgway]

"The government" has always told me not to commit murder, but after reading Pod's words I'm starting to feel oppressed. Time to pick up my trusty axe again and see to all those wierdos who look at me in a funny way. You know who you are!!!

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

Have you ever seen the HKL or HKL Platinum to compare?

I never owned either of HKL's discs so cant speak for it. I hear its a great release.

If nothing else this thread has reminded me of one of the reasons i gave up with screen caps.people who don't own the discs are convinced they know more about the disc than the people that own them there's about 5 people over at the blu-ray forum who say it's HD,are they all wrong?i'm sure the disc is HD,not very good HD mind,but HD nonetheless.

Makes sense to me.

[bradavon]

Gladiator (original caps) look like turd,in motion they were nowhere near as bad.

Well bloody said!

So has anyone seen the Iron Monkey BD vs. HKL (or HKL PE, only a better bitrate)? I'm only interested in upgrading, if it's a marked improvement because the HKL PE is already excellent.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

blu-ray.com's review of Prison on Fire

The reviewer thinks this is an upscale. Lets discuss shall we?...?

[Markgway]

Is there any point in discussing it?

Some folks will insist that is HD and anyone who disagrees is branded a hater who doesn't own the disc.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

Is there any point in discussing it?

Sure there's a point. Instead of petty internet fights, we should have discussions like normal people who dont have computers. I dont own this one, to be honest I had no idea K&R even released it. Again, its just a screencap and isnt representative of the actual product. First impression, it actually looks really horrible. Ive actually seen this on spanish TV and kung fu HD (BTW, I miss that channel) and they played the Miramax version. All I can say is K&R's version looks embarassingly bad compared to the kung fu HD version. I beleive it might actually be an upscale. See, I agree with you. Happy?

[Yi-Long]

OMG THAT'S SO SHARP I CAN SEE THAT GUY'S NOSEHAIR!!! I LOVE HD!!!

Nope, transfer sucks by the looks of it. Reminds me of the early days of DVD where we also had a bunch of releases that were pisspoor considering what was possible with the new format, yet were selling purely because they were printed on a DVD...

[Shingster]

Some folks also insist that unless you see absolute clarity in a screenshot then it cannot possibly be HD....

[Yi-Long]

Some folks also insist that unless you see absolute clarity in a screenshot then it cannot possibly HD....

I don't need perfection, but when a transfer looks like a mediocre DVD, then it's not a disc I'm very eager to pick up, especially not for the money they're asking for these BR's.

[Shingster]

And just how sharp do you think a HK film from the 80s or 90s should look in HD or 35mm for that matter? You people need to get some perspective, it's possible that the HK Iron Monkey BD is an upscale, it's possible that it's a HD master nuked by DNR, it's possible that the film never looked that sharp to begin with. All I know is you cannot ascertain which of the three is the closest to the truth based on a single set of screengrabs from the BD alone.

[Yi-Long]

And just how sharp do you think a HK film from the 80s or 90s should look in HD or 35mm for that matter? You people need to get some perspective, it's possible that the HK Iron Monkey BD is an upscale, it's possible that it's a HD master nuked by DNR, it's possible that the film never looked that sharp to begin with. All I know is you cannot ascertain which of the three is the closest to the truth based on a single set of screengrabs from the BD alone.

I'm not saying it's not actual HD. I'm saying the transfer doesn't seem any better than an average DVD, so there would be no reason to get a BR-release over a DVD release, considering the fine job the PS3 does in upscaling DVD's to begin with.

[grim_tales]

That shot doesnt look sharp at all.
As for Iron Monkey, couldnt they go back to the negatives which I'm sure are in excellent condition? (At least they were when HKL made their DVD).

[Markgway]

Some folks also insist that unless you see absolute clarity in a screenshot then it cannot possibly be HD....

Obviously a dig at me... but are you saying that these Kam & Ronson Blu Rays are genuine HD?
How are we supposed to tell if they all look like SD?
Even if the odd film here and there was badly photographed or poorly mastered (hardly impossible when it comes to 80s Hong Kong cinema) that wouldn't explain the fact that all of them (bar Bruce lee titles) look like shit (and these are the prestige titles).
That's too much of a coincidence to have a whole bundle of HD transfers that just happen to look like upscales.
The Disney Blu Ray of Iron Monkey isn't brilliant but looks more like HD than Fortune Star's.
If the substandard transfers were down to inherent flaws then both editions would look equally crap.

[romerojpg]

Hey just do not buy them, if they are barley an upgrade dont go near them, Simple.

Sadly Joe Public doesn't care about what they look like, they are Blu Rays, so they will be AMAZING and then buy them, never knowing they suck so badly.

In the end just dont go near worthless upgrades and let Joe Public shit the format down the drain by not demanding the best of the best in their discs.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

Supercop review.

[Shingster]

Obviously a dig at me...

No, it was a play on the wording of your final post, you're not the only one in this thread to make comments that suggest if a transfer is soft it's not HD.

are you saying that these Kam & Ronson Blu Rays are genuine HD?

No I'm not, I'm saying the issue isn't always so black and white when you're dealing with films that are probably never that sharp to begin with. Noise reduction, focal variance of lenses, film stocks, diffusion filters, masters struck from nth-generation prints can all rob a film of "HD clarity", which is why titles like Picnic at Hanging Rock probably don't offer much of a leap above DVD in terms of "sharpness" but offer strong HD transfers. That screengrab of Hard Boiled tells me nothing really beyond the fact the transfer is grainy and soft as shit, but then I've seen the SHOUT! Factory Blu-ray of a more recent film like Audition, which isn't much different and that was struck from an inter-negative!

saltysam's original challenge to the members of these boards was a valid one: How do you know from one set of screengrabs alone the transfer is an upscale? The answer is that with some titles you can't, you need to either know how the film looks in 35mm originally or have seen the disc in motion to confirm the detail is consistently awful and also have a DVD at hand (or simply SD screengrabs) to compare. Even then it's not such an easy thing to categorically decide upon because an SD blow-up on a HD disc will always give a slightly "sharper", more vivid image than a DVD being upscaled by your player/TV.

Even if the odd film here and there was badly photographed or poorly mastered (hardly impossible when it comes to 80s Hong Kong cinema) that wouldn't explain the fact that all of them (bar Bruce lee titles) look like shit (and these are the prestige titles).

This is the kind of gross simplification of the issue that I'm talking about and my original post playfully mocks. A film can be brilliantly mastered and beautifully shot and still be soft as shit, again I could site the UK BD of Picnic At Hanging Rock. I've seen a lot of films from the 90s on BD where the detail dips below what most would classify as "HD" (Heat being a good example where the choice of lenses lead to some shockingly fuzzy shots, otherwise the Blu-ray transfer is excellent).

That's too much of a coincidence to have a whole bundle of HD transfers that just happen to look like upscales.

Patterns can be broken though, I suspect it has either been upscaled or nuked by NR but I'd have to see the transfer in motion to really get a feel for it.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

Up for preorder:
Crime Story
Hitman
One-Armed Sordsman
Return of the One-Armed Swordsman
New One-Armed Swordsman

[grim_tales]

Hope Crime Story and One Armed Swordsman are good.

[DangerousLeeHandsome]

Im sure the Shaws will be fine. Crime Story & Hitman, buy with caution.

[grim_tales]

I hope Come Drink With Me comes to Blu Ray I enjoyed that one a lot.

[saltysam]

What Company are releasing those Shaws? IVL?

[Markgway]

What Company are releasing those Shaws? IVL?

Yes.

[grim_tales]

They didnt release every Shawon BD did they? Eg Opium and the Kung Fu Master? Well Go released Heroic Ones but I think it's cut. Pity as the IVL of that was a very early one.

[saltysam]

They didnt release every Shawon BD did they?

no.

Well Go released Heroic Ones but I think it's cut. Pity as the IVL of that was a very early one.

What's cut?

[grim_tales]

I'm not sure I heard the Well Go was frame-cut (possibly read it on here).