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Anchor Bay's Goodbye Bruce Lee VS IVL's New Game of Death
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 02:03
by Old Pang Yau
Well, this is a comparison that is certainly strange on several levels. Anchor Bay, the company that had been known for years for releasing old horror films, especially the 4-disc/3-cut edition of Dawn of the Dead, decided to release a DVD of Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game of Death a few years back. Without a doubt, it was the best a Bruce Li film EVER looked... on possibly ANY format. Too bad it's not one of Bruce Li's best films
So when Celestial announced that it had this film under its original "New Game of Death" title as part of their restoration process (and just recently finding out it was one of their HD masters), I got a smidgen curious. So, I pre-ordered the IVL DVD of Celestials new master, and it arrived today... now, let's see the screencaps:
AB:
IVL:
AB:
IVL:
AB:
IVL:
AB:
IVL:
AB:
IVL:
AB:
IVL:
AB:
IVL:
AB:
IVL:
VIDEO: Well, it's a mixed bag. The Anchor Bay disc is a bit sharper and is encoded in NTSC progressive scan, but as you can see, it's heavily cropped all around, the contrast is a bit high, and the color is washed out... and it's cut. The IVL disc is much more colorful, and there's a lot more visual information, plus it's the original (previously rare) uncut Hong Kong print, but as usual with IVL's Shaw DVDs, this is an improper PAL-to-NTSC interlaced transfer, causing the "double motion blur".
AUDIO: Well, pick one disc or the other. The AB disc only has the English dub while the IVL disc only has the Mandarin, both in mono. So, while IVL has the original language... it's missing the oh so wonderful "King of Kung Fu" theme from the English dubbed version
In fact, many of the music cues in the Mandarin version are different, and the original opening theme is "Love's Theme" from Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra.
EXTRAS: Neither disc has an abundance of extras, but IVL slightly edges out. The AB disc only has an English language theatrical trailer, while the IVL disc has not only the usual Celestial-edited trailer, but even has the original Hong Kong theatrical trailer. Here are "screen cap collages" from both:
Celestial Trailer:
Original Trailer:
Overall, if I had to pick one... well, it'd be the IVL disc. Better colors, far less cropped, original language, original theatrical trailer and uncut (aside from the usual Celestial frame cuts). But, for those who want a "cheesier fix", pick up the AB disc
P.S.: I'll be putting together an alternate versions list of what scenes are in what in the Asian DVD section too... stay tuned!
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 09:20
by thelostdragon
What's the audio track like? Does it have the fancy song "King of Kung Fu"?
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 09:28
by thelostdragon
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 09:54
by Killer Meteor
I think the skintones on the IVL are a tad too hot, like some of their other releases - Savage Five and Mighty One look like that too
Thanks for the review!
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 11:44
by saltysam
i have the uk arrow disc which looks nice but is english dub only.
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 13:20
by HungFist
Thanks. Great comparison.
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 16:01
by Old Pang Yau
thelostdragon wrote:What's the audio track like? Does it have the fancy song "King of Kung Fu"?
As mentioned above, "King of Kung Fu" is only in the dubbed version, which is something I kinda predicted anyway. The opening overall of the Mandarin version is bizarre because it does indeed start with the classic Shaw Brothers "Shaw Scope" logo, then goes into a shot of clouds with the production company credit appearing, following with "The New Game of Death"... as "Love's Theme" begins playing!
Also, hopefully I can finally put up an alternate versions comparison later today. I'm trying to do it "Schnittberichte style" with a bunch of mini screen caps and descriptions of the differences. The first full deleted scene I noticed is an extension of "Ho Chung Tao as himself" talking to his girlfriend about whether or not he should accept the part of Bruce Lee's role, when they'll get married, if he can pull off acting in front of the camera, etc. More info soon!
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 16:31
by Linn
FYI, King of Kung Fu was actually a song lifted from the film of the same name. It was never actually "supposed" to be on the film. It was added by the distributor for international release.
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 16:36
by Old Pang Yau
Linn wrote:FYI, King of Kung Fu was actually a song lifted from the film of the same name. It was never actually "supposed" to be on the film. It was added by the distributor for international release.
Huh... that's new to me. I know a 45 single of the song was released, but it's incredibly difficult to find. But, I guess that's where they got the "Goodbye Bruce Lee" title since the singer screams "BYE BYE BYE BYE BRUCE LEE!"
Posted: 13 Jul 2007, 19:46
by Killer Meteor
King Of Kung Fu - who's in that film?
The Arrow disc uses the same transfer as the Anchor Bay
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 00:05
by Old Pang Yau
Ivan Drago wrote:King Of Kung Fu - who's in that film?
The Arrow disc uses the same transfer as the Anchor Bay
I went looking up King of Kung Fu... and as usual, it was a disaster trying to figure out what movie was what. One box showed Bruce Le, another said it was an alternate title for Young Bruce Lee... so in other words, Linn might have to help us out here
And yeah, I've read that both Anchor Bay and Arrow used the Atlas transfer. Strange thing is, the Anchor Bay, while properly progressive scan NTSC, sounds like it has PAL speed up, at least in comparison with the old Tai Seng VHS I have... which has left me more than a little confused.
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 00:12
by Killer Meteor
Bruce Le didn't do any Bruceploitation until after this film was made
The Young Bruce Lee...that's the title for my Goodtimes DVD of Bruce Lee Superstar, a Bruce Li movie made around the same time as The New Game Of Death. The film has the same dubbing artists as Goodbye Bruce Lee
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 00:14
by thelostdragon
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 00:36
by Old Pang Yau
Err... DAMN CONFUSION! Trying to figure out the names of "Bruceploitation" films have always been a royal pain in the ass... but that "Valley of the Double Dragon" film looks interesting... apparently it has Robert "Petrov" Baker!
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 01:10
by Killer Meteor
Enter The Game Of Death was released in 1978. I've seen a US lobby card calling it King Of Kung Fu
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 12:00
by saltysam
no bruceploitation movie can live up to the majesty that is the dragon lives again
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 12:06
by Knetan
hey,
that's a lovely film. Bruce Lee in the afterlife along with James Bond, Clint Eastwood, Popeye and the One-Armed Swordsman!
Posted: 14 Jul 2007, 17:58
by Old Pang Yau
I still need to watch DLA! One of many movies I have, but haven't actually watched
Got it as part of Video Asia's "Bruceploitation Seizures" collection... I swear, the quality on those movies are so bad, I started to get a headache... I don't even want to get into the disasterous quality of Enter the Game of Death!
Re: Anchor Bay's Goodbye Bruce Lee VS IVL's New Game of Death
Posted: 07 Feb 2026, 02:46
by Killer Meteor
Turns out "King of Kung Fu" was written by Rebecca DeMornay of Risky Business fame!